What a GREAT experience! My partner and I have stayed at many four and five star resorts and hotels in the Caribbean – staying at Sunset at the Palms ranks in the top three! From our arrival to departure the staff made our stay delightful! We found the resort quiet, beautiful, relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable! The resort is quite intimate as it only has eighty-five rooms. We never felt it lacked in amenities compared to larger resorts. We would strongly recommend a stay.
Room Number:
714
Arrival:
The reception area is simple and unpretentious; staff in this department was very efficient the entire week. We were given cold towels upon arrival to refresh us and a tropical drink. We were finished checking in and seated in the main restaurant which is delightfully airy and open and surrounded by beautiful gardens, for lunch in less than 15 minutes after arriving.
Rooms: The cleaning and maintenance staff did a very good job. Our bright, large, Bali feeling and decorated room (picture a delightful, romantic tree house) featured a comfortable king size bed with fine cotton sheets. Our room had ample storage and closet space. The marble clad bathroom had a five nozzle head shower. One time when our shower curtain rod fell down, maintenance fixed the problem within fifteen minutes of our calling. Our room had a large balcony which contained two chairs and a table (and more importantly), a good size day bed, perfect for afternoon naps and extended reading sessions.
Restaurants and Bars: Two buffet restaurants. Plus, four nights of the week an ala carte restaurant also opens. It really didn’t matter where we ate as the food was always varied and well prepared. The dining and kitchen staff were over the top friendly and professional! The tables always looked clean, appetizing, fresh and cared for.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: The beach was beautiful, with clear, clean, warm water and sugar cane coloured sand. The beach is over two kilometres long. The beach is a short (under two minute) walk from the resort main buildings, over a road that has a security person stopping traffic whenever we needed to cross; having stayed at several (+500 room) resorts in the past where walking a great deal is required, walking across the road was a non-issue. On the beach there was never a need to ‘reserve’ a lounge chair first thing in the morning as the resort had a large supply; there were many options of where to set up our lounge chairs as there are loads of beautiful, mature trees to sit under if you didn’t want a sun only location. Often at lunch we stayed on the beach and feasted on really superb red snapper that was freshly grilled to order. There is both a beach bar and take out grill that serves food if you don’t want to go back to the main buffet style restaurant for a meal. The grounds were always immaculate, stunning, well maintained and extensive! We enjoyed strolls through the grounds and were continually finding different native and non-native trees, plants, geckos and birds. We have never heard and seen more variety of birds on a vacation. There was a Dr. Bird (hummingbird) that perched on a bamboo tree branch right beside the walkway leading to the main buildings; it was really cool to watch this bird as it swooped around from flower to flower. The quiet air conditioner worked really well in our room, but we found the room ceiling fan was often all we needed at night to be comfortable.
Other Comments: Speaking of staff – other than one negative (and not worth mentioning experience with the beach equipment manager) – EVERYONE was friendly, helpful and professional. The staff collectively seemed genuinely interested in being helpful and supportive to the guests and collegial to each other; hands down the people who work here were the best and friendliest we’ve ever experienced in any of our southern vacations!