Like camping with good food
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 8/14/05
In PHL we missed our over booked flight. I called Playa Real at 7:15 AM to say we would not becoming for a Sunday to Thurs stay, but could we come for Mon-Fri. I called back and forth 7 times and no one could help me. Fortunatley at 10:00 my travel agent call and got it straightened out.
Our luggage did not make the trip. DR US Air said that it should be in Tuesday or Wed around 7:00 PM. The shuttle was only 20-25 minutes.
Upon arrival I thought the hotel looked shabby. We checked in with communication problems. They could not direct us to where to buy necessities and the hotel shop could not give us a receipt. We went to our room before we went to buy "necessities"..
The elevator was not working. Our room was hot, no screens on doors. There was a safe, but no key. We had to pay for the safe. When we went up to lock up valuables, there were small white flies in the bath and the AC was not cooling. A service man adjusted the AC, still wasn't working. We requested a new room. The elevators were now working. Although not up to my ideal basic standards new room was an improvment. Still no screens on doors. At around 4:15 to the afternoon snack pavillion. We were in line for an hour. A server would bring a dinner plate with maybe 7 slices of pizza for a line that came and went of about 12. Finally they brought a one 14 inch tray of rolls and a small platter of some kind of white sliced chees. We decided to go swimming. At 4:30 towel cabana told us to come back tomorrow 9:30. Now I needed a drink. They could not make Pina Colada or a margarita. I discovered the the bar by the adult pool was better. The barkeep could make a nice rum drink with fresh pinapple. The liquor was weak. The local beer was good. Improvement needs to be given to alcoholic . I think that many people are attracted to all-inclusive for the open bars. But the quality was low.
I called the airlines the next day, not until the 7th visit did they pull a girl from the back to intelligently direct them to the resort and describe our baggage. US Air said that they only had one and it would be there Tues OR Wed. So now we couldn't even book a tour not knowing if we would have our things.
Both our bags arrived around 8:00 PM. The very helpful bellman searched us out with the news. I thought the fine dining experience was nice. AC, glassware in the Mexican and always good service. The buffet meals the service was excellent. The food manager was always present. It was not gourmet, but it was nicely prepared with a variety of local dishes and traditional dishes, fresh tropical fruits and beautiful desserts.
I thought the beaches and water were nice at the bordering two hotels under construction. The security guards were real nice. The water was clean, clear, blue, undisturbed and with sandy bottom. Very private.
The maid service is doing the VERY best job they can with what they've got. If you show appreciation for their service, it goes along way. The activity staff was great and talented. I thought that the shows were kind of hokey, but doing the best they could with what they've got. The free horseback riding is one ride PER ROOM. You experience the country side.
The trip was indeed an adventure and a great learning experience. For the money, it was OK and relaxing. We stayed for 5 days, but 4 is enough. The culture is gentle. Once we got our luggage and discovered the area we enjoyed our Caribbean experience. I think the front desk needs some "serious, intensive" customer service training, and english speaking. In conclusion, if the customer service, condition of rooms and the quality of the bar ingrediants were improved (even with just fresh fruits) the hotel would have a lot more happy campers.