A great four star hotel - could be even better with a few tweaks
Nov 5, 2024 Hayley S
We stayed here for seven nights, leaving on Saturday, 2nd November. Overall, we loved the resort; our overwater suite was stunning and in a fantastic location. We were close to the beach, restaurants, bars, and pools, which made everything convenient. On arrival by boat, we were warmly greeted, and check-in was smooth. Although our room wasn’t…
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We stayed here for seven nights, leaving on Saturday, 2nd November. Overall, we loved the resort; our overwater suite was stunning and in a fantastic location. We were close to the beach, restaurants, bars, and pools, which made everything convenient. On arrival by boat, we were warmly greeted, and check-in was smooth. Although our room wasn’t ready right away, we met up with friends at the resort, so this wasn’t an issue. We changed and headed straight to the beach, where we met the lovely Osi for the first time. He quickly remembered our favourite orders, and throughout the week had them ready for us before we even asked!
Food
On the whole, the food was good. I’d recommend sticking to the fresh food counters, though, as the items in the chafing dishes tended to be quite dry. The curries, however, were excellent and great variety. For us, the food selection was a bit limited for a full week, so a two-week stay might have been repetitive. Breakfast was okay, but again, much of it was prepared in advance and quite dry. The fresh/egg/waffle station, however, was fantastic, and the chef there catered to different tastes with ease. The breakfast hours of 7.30–9.30 felt too short; without the kids, we were hoping for leisurely mornings, and this restricted our options. All the restaurants offered the same menu, so visiting a different restaurant didn’t give us any new choices.
Drinks, on the other hand, were excellent—top-shelf selections and no complaints at all.
Service
Service was mixed. Sattar, Osi, the salad lady, and the fresh food counter staff were outstanding. However, we seemed to get the resort’s unhappiest waiter assigned to us most of the time, which was unfortunate as the rest of the team was quite good.
Entertainment
The entertainment was hit and miss. The Prism band was fantastic and made our last night memorable, but crab racing and karaoke felt low-budget. The poor girl in charge of entertainment was clearly trying her best, but crowd participation was minimal. There were some extra events available, but at $85 for a Halloween BBQ (which we felt should have been included), it seemed overpriced.
All-Inclusive?
This was probably the least inclusive "all-inclusive" we’ve experienced.We couldn't find any daytime snack and no simple bar snacks like peanuts or pretzels. Apart from two beers and some water in the room, there were no complimentary drinks. One day our friends asked for milk jiggers, which were provided, but it was removed the following day.
Activities
Definitely try the sunset cruise—it was amazing! However, I’d skip the dolphin-watching tour, as we actually saw more dolphins on the cruise. The glass-bottom boat tour was lovely, though we didn’t see many turtles on the snorkelling trip.
Overall, it was a beautiful place to stay, but certain aspects could benefit from improvement to make the experience truly exceptional.
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