Didn't live up to expectations
After reading some great advertising and 'professional' reviews we had high expectations for our stay at Culebra's Club Seaborne. Overall stay was a bit disappointing. Let me start with the positive. The cabins were nice, clean and comfortable. Bathrooms were clean, water pressure fine, and the hotel had complimentary soaps and shampoo in the room. We stayed in Cabin #1 and it has a great balconey view over the bay.
We were aware of this in advance, but for the curious the hotel property is not on a beach. We arrived by boat and pulled up to a meager dock surrounded by trees and mangroves to tie up and then walk across the street to the hotel. If you stay here plan to have a rental car or boat to visit other beaches on the island. Call in advance if you plan to arrive by boat (dock space is limited).
The grounds of the property were pretty and well kept, lots of colorful native vegetation, but it seemed as if the septic system was overflowing. Large portions of the property had a terrible stench in the air, including in and around the check-in and restaurant.
The outside bar was nice, the bartender was very friendly and helpful. Great service at the bar. He mentioned he was new on the staff.
The restaurant was full on the night we had dinner there. We had reservations at 8:30PM however another family arrived and hour late for the reservations ans instead of the restaurant penalizing them they got our table out in the restaurant area and we were relegated to a back room. Our waiter was also new and could not answer any questions about the food on the menu. He forgot our drink order and it took a good 40 to 45 minutes for both our appetizers and drinks to be served. No one in our group was happy about that. The bottle of white wine was barely chilled, as if it has been on ice for only 15 minutes or so before it was brought to our table. The main course arrived in reasonable time after the appetizers. Average main course prices were $18 to $24. The presentation was nice on the plate and the fish dishes we ordered tasted good, but they were barely above room temperature as if they had been sitting out to long after coming off the grill in the kitchen.
The breakfast buffet in the morning was a small buffet of cereal, breads, scrambeled eggs, juices, coffe, milk, etc. Everyone in the group was satisfied with it. I noticed with disappointment that there was no coffee maker available in the room.
In summary, they need to fix the cause of the horrible stench floating over the grounds. Also, this place seems to be suffering from a lack of staff, and the staff that is there seems to be suffering from a lack of training, at least during our visit. At least one staff member mentioned to me that they are having a hard time keeping people. Not sure if the pay is too low or it is just too boring to work at s boutique hotel on a small island (mabe not much to do in your off time if you live and work there on the island). For someone who is looking for a nice room to stay in this might be a good place to try, but skip the restautant. For all the hype that this place has received it did not meet my expectations. I know choices are slim but I will try an alternate place and an alternate restaurant on my next stay.