Arrival: Feb 12-26 We thoroughly enjoyed this resort 2 years ago and could hardly wait to go back again, we went for 2 weeks Feb 12-26th Check in was super quick, we were in our room in under 20 min and unpacking!
Rooms
We had a standard room with a king bed that was more than adequate with excellent maid service, fridge stocked with pop, beer and water.
Restaurants and Bars
We enjoyed the Buffet for breakfast, excellent service, nothing lacking food wise, I often had the fresh fruit (especially the bananas and grapefruit), while my husband would get his eggs made to order, the little croissants are to die for!! they also serve breakfast at the Beer Garden, we tried it once, but we preferred the buffet where they were always filling your cup with fresh coffee
Restaurants:
As stated in other reviews there are many. We went to the Romantico,(fabulous), Grill and Seafood twice and the Italian once, all quite good While we were there the Beach Grill,(which is usually the Seafood at night) was still being repaired due to hurricane damage but it was due to open in a few days, but not before we left!! so the Seafood restaurant was still relocated at the Trattoria at night, during the day they served a variety of dishes, the pizzas are a little strange, one even had a fried egg on it
We were really looking forward to going to the Beer Garden again, however we were very surprised with the very reluctant service, the first time I was there for at least 15 min, and no one came to the table even though the place was half empty! I went to the bar to order a drink and when I ordered the food the waiter even rolled his eyes!! I have never encountered this before, anyway the food we did try was dry and very greasy, although I must say the pickled lobster was still quite good, we did try going back a few times to see if things changed, but they had not, but who knows maybe we just went on bad days? Although other return guests we spoke to had the same comment. On the other hand, everywhere else the service was excellent, especially at the Grill by the pool, your glass refilled before you could even ask, excellent choice from the hot and cold buffet, one day they even had oysters on the half shell!! Wine pretty decent, they serve Spanish at the buffets, and even have Rose, and at the restaurants they have good selection of Chilean as well.
I must say, we cancelled out on our 2nd trip to the Italian as we were really enjoying the buffet! what with the freshly prepared shrimp, fish, and salads, we preferred the smaller buffet rather than the large as you didn’t have to go far for your food, although the flambe crepes and bananas at the large buffet are really addicting, as is the ice cream which is served at both. Strangely enough while I was in line waiting for my freshly prepared shrimp to cook a young man beside me stated he was having trouble finding anything he liked to eat!! Good Grief On Tuesdays at the little promenade, there would be a pig roast, which was served around 3:30, along with several salad selections, pretty yummy As returning guests, we were invited to a special "gala" evening, it was held in the banquet room, beautiful table settings, excellent food, cigars for the men and roses for the ladies passed out at the end of the evening,!! Very impressive!
BEACH
We were actually surprised to see how many trees did survive the hurricane although their branches are greatly reduced from before, the one thing that we really loved about this beach was all the shade these trees had provided! but they seem to be recovering nicely!! we were also told all the palapas had been destroyed, but many of these have already been replaced, since we are beach people and early risers, we never had any trouble getting one of these, but if you did not get to the beach by at least 0800 all the shade huts were taken! as the resort was quite full while we were there. We took our own snorkel gear, quite a few beautiful fish to see by the point Weather was great except for 2 days that were windy and coolish.
TRIPS
We only did one, took the little train (cost 5 cc) into Guardalavaca, it left at 0930 and returned at 1300, it was a lovely trip through the countryside, not much to see at the market so we took a beautiful walk along the ocean, passing the Club Amigo, Brisas and the Brisas Villas, which helped to pass the time.
Other Comments
I had read quite a bit about people getting bites in other reviews, we didn’t have any 2 years ago but I did come prepared with benadryl lotion and tablets, and since by the second week my husbands lower legs were covered in itchy bumps this came in quite handy and was quite effective. Another good thing to take (just in case)is the "After Bite" stick you can buy at the drug store. We never saw what was biting him! the staff said this was from tiny flies, strangely enough I had no bites, so go figure!! I can only surmise that some people must have some sort of allergic reaction to these? as only a few we spoke to were afflicted Both my husband and I as well as others we had talked to were appalled at some of the thoughtless littering by other guests both on the beach and around the pool, people walking away leaving empty cups and straws beside their lounge chairs, and near the edge of the pool, often with garbage containers in sight!! we also saw empty glasses early in the morning left on benches, walkways, and around plants, obviously with no thought as to what could happen if these glasses happen to fall and break on the pavement and someone gets a bad cut as a result I do wonder if the same people who complain about the dirty beach and pool are those that contribute to the problem in the first place!! then there are the cigarette butts people leave in the sand, why couldn’t they put sand in the empty cup and put the butts in these, then take it to the garbage, how hard could that be Anyway staff are on the beach before the crack of dawn every morning raking up any debris and work very hard keeping this resort beautiful
I would not hesitate in recommending this resort, we are already looking forward to returning again next year!!
Photos: http://travel.webshots.com/album/570323918nvQQYf