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This resort is well past its prime and do not be fooled by the excellent web site this is the only thing they can do well. The valk.com web site states this "is a unique 5-star resort" no kidding it is unique in its poor service.
Our trip started badly when our pre-arranged transfer simply did not appear. As we had arrived from Lima at around 2 in the morning this did not go down well and had it not been for the kindness of the bus driver who was transporting the flight crew to their hotel taking pity on us I swear we would still be at the airport. On arrival the skeleton night staff seemed to think it was funny that they had not picked us up as you can imagine this was not a good start to the trip.
The next morning we found that we had to sign for the $15 dollar per person breakfast on entering the restaurant. Having signed we then found that the hotel had no milk for tea or coffee. The breakfast itself was one of the poorest displays I have ever seen and the cold food was not chilled, the bread and pastries selection was almost non-existent.
The manager received a visit at this point and we were eventually refunded the breakfast money but did not receive an apology for the lack of transfer all we were told was that things would improve during the course of our stay.
Sadly they did not. The beach bar ran out of bottled water and coca cola surely staples for a beach resort. The restaurant in the evening, The Banana Tree, had many things missing off the menu these seemed to be fish or chicken based dishes, maybe they had a problem with their refrigeration unit because having had a meal there I was taken ill for several days. The service was appalling 30 minutes before our order was even taken and then when the food finally appeared about another 30 minutes later it was not what we had ordered indeed they had come up with some concoction that was not even on the menu.
The hotel makes the excuse that it is on an island and cannot always get supplies may we suggest that they visit the supermarket a mere 15 minutes walk up the road which is well stocked and indeed even had a large fish and chicken selection the day after the hotel had removed these from their menu.
The suites are not suites but large rooms. The one thing I would concur with on their website is that the rooms are large the bathrooms are not luxurious and are in need of a facelift. The hotel smells of sewage in many areas and the standard accommodation block area felt depressing we were thankful to be staying in a Grand Ocean View Suite but beware some of these are on the ground floor and you will not see the ocean at all. On the plus side it is convenient for the airport and you get the pleasure of watching the flights arrive across the beach. You also get the pleasure of hearing them take off in the middle of the night.
You will pay extra for everything at this hotel and honestly, it is not worth it go to the local supermarkets, go out to eat or just come to your senses and do not stay here at all. The safe (a necessity based on former reviews) is $2.25 per day. The Internet connection is $3 for 15 minutes and they block java so dont think about using this for any sites that use java applets i.e. flights, hotels, etc. In addition the lobby where the Internet access is located is full of bugs I got 19 bites in just 15 minutes.
There is nothing luxurious about the resort, the staff or the food and I would concur with one of the previous reviewers that I would rather camp than stay here again. |
