Mid 40s, husband and wife, no kids: this is, hands down, our favorite resort. We have two visits under our belt already, and we're heading back again in the beginning of October. I think this video is spot on: all the pros and cons listed absolutely mesh with our experiences. We're SCUBA divers so we breakfast early, spend the mornings diving away from the resort, then come back to the resort for a late lunch followed by poolside lounging and dinner, then (hey, we're not as young as we used to be) usually skip the night life and head to bed to be ready for the next day's diving. For us some cons listed here (beach condition and lack of night life) really aren't that impactful, and the service and attention to detail are just unbeatable. I'm already looking forward to the October trip so much that I found this video by searching for videos about the resort, just so I could get a little mini-vacay today. Stuff that comes quickly to mind: there is really only one big option for breakfast (the massive buffet) but the buffet is very good and early-morning room service provides an awesome "pre-breakfast" (think continental breakfast stuff) that can get you started before even leaving your room. The restaurants all have a large menu with very moderate serving sizes, don't be afraid to order something from every single course: you'll get lots of different flavors without feeling overstuffed at the end. When the date of your trip is approaching but BEFORE you travel, call ahead and make reservations for a dinner restaurant for the day of your arrival, so you know you'll have a good dinner option; waiting until you arrive may mean restaurant selection is limited for that first day. The gym/fitness area is actually very well equipped, if you can pull yourself away from the food and pools to actually get in a workout. Check out the little coffee shop near the lobby that serves pastries and coffee all day, I'm addicted to coffee so it's a frequent haunt for me. One additional "con" I'll add, and it's really more of a cultural behavior that is more the fault of the clientele (i.e. you and me), is the way the pool area fills up with loungers that are "reserved" with a towel or a clothing item and then abandoned for hours at a time, making it difficult to find loungers for people who actually want to, you know, lounge in them. I wish the resort staff would be more proactive in cleaning up unused towels to free up chairs for those looking for a spot to actually lounge in the sun. The drive to and from is a bit of a grind, but SO worth it. This place is GOLD, give it a shot, you won't be disappointed!
@vivalatravelista oh thats reasonable. I was out pricing myself thinking 500$ min usd for the whole 7 days. Do you have a general tipping matrix youd suggest? Like mininum amounts for each service youd say to hit to avoid any inconvenience no matter how bad the service? Like the room cleaning, is 5$ a day too much, the personal butler....would it be recommended to tip 1 large amount or also like 5$ a day? Just want to have the best experience, but weve noticed we can be sometime to generous and blow through the cash too quickly.
Housekeeping is typically $1-$5 USD per day and $1-2 per bag for the bell staff. Then the local host and servers you can just tip at your discretion by splitting the remaining between them
(In USD, for a party of two) We usually do a buck or two per round of drinks at the pool, a fiver for breakfast or lunch meals, 10-20 (tops) for dinner service, and 10 or so a day for room service. So yeah, we're probably 40-50 USD a day. We usually don't do really service-intense stuff like the spa, if we did I imagine we'd tip a bit more there. Staff is incredibly attentive and I've never once felt tipping was even expected, but I like making sure a little extra goes directly to the people who are impacting our visit most.
Mid 40s, husband and wife, no kids: this is, hands down, our favorite resort. We have two visits under our belt already, and we're heading back again in the beginning of October. I think this video is spot on: all the pros and cons listed absolutely mesh with our experiences. We're SCUBA divers so we breakfast early, spend the mornings diving away from the resort, then come back to the resort for a late lunch followed by poolside lounging and dinner, then (hey, we're not as young as we used to be) usually skip the night life and head to bed to be ready for the next day's diving. For us some cons listed here (beach condition and lack of night life) really aren't that impactful, and the service and attention to detail are just unbeatable. I'm already looking forward to the October trip so much that I found this video by searching for videos about the resort, just so I could get a little mini-vacay today.
Stuff that comes quickly to mind: there is really only one big option for breakfast (the massive buffet) but the buffet is very good and early-morning room service provides an awesome "pre-breakfast" (think continental breakfast stuff) that can get you started before even leaving your room. The restaurants all have a large menu with very moderate serving sizes, don't be afraid to order something from every single course: you'll get lots of different flavors without feeling overstuffed at the end. When the date of your trip is approaching but BEFORE you travel, call ahead and make reservations for a dinner restaurant for the day of your arrival, so you know you'll have a good dinner option; waiting until you arrive may mean restaurant selection is limited for that first day. The gym/fitness area is actually very well equipped, if you can pull yourself away from the food and pools to actually get in a workout. Check out the little coffee shop near the lobby that serves pastries and coffee all day, I'm addicted to coffee so it's a frequent haunt for me.
One additional "con" I'll add, and it's really more of a cultural behavior that is more the fault of the clientele (i.e. you and me), is the way the pool area fills up with loungers that are "reserved" with a towel or a clothing item and then abandoned for hours at a time, making it difficult to find loungers for people who actually want to, you know, lounge in them. I wish the resort staff would be more proactive in cleaning up unused towels to free up chairs for those looking for a spot to actually lounge in the sun.
The drive to and from is a bit of a grind, but SO worth it. This place is GOLD, give it a shot, you won't be disappointed!
were there next month swim up
You’ll love it!
Those dinner places that were mentioned, is all the food al la carte? Or does it have al la carte options?
Yes the dinner restaurants are a la carte
Im goijg for 1 week, 2 people. How much in tips should i plan for? 20 a day for the personal helper, 5 for cleaners? Like 3 for a sit down meal?
I’d recommend bringing about $40-50 USD per day in cash then you can use it for tips, taxis, smaller purchases, etc
@vivalatravelista oh thats reasonable.
I was out pricing myself thinking 500$ min usd for the whole 7 days.
Do you have a general tipping matrix youd suggest? Like mininum amounts for each service youd say to hit to avoid any inconvenience no matter how bad the service?
Like the room cleaning, is 5$ a day too much, the personal butler....would it be recommended to tip 1 large amount or also like 5$ a day?
Just want to have the best experience, but weve noticed we can be sometime to generous and blow through the cash too quickly.
Housekeeping is typically $1-$5 USD per day and $1-2 per bag for the bell staff. Then the local host and servers you can just tip at your discretion by splitting the remaining between them
(In USD, for a party of two) We usually do a buck or two per round of drinks at the pool, a fiver for breakfast or lunch meals, 10-20 (tops) for dinner service, and 10 or so a day for room service. So yeah, we're probably 40-50 USD a day. We usually don't do really service-intense stuff like the spa, if we did I imagine we'd tip a bit more there. Staff is incredibly attentive and I've never once felt tipping was even expected, but I like making sure a little extra goes directly to the people who are impacting our visit most.
Did you tip with dollars or pesos?
Either is fine!