TRS Turquesa: Grand Palladium - Such Poor Service, You Won't Even Realize You're At A 5 Star Resort!!

If we said that our honeymoon at the Grand Palladium Turquesa Punta Cana was anything short of terrible would be kind. We bought an all inclusive package that cost over $6,100Cdn for a 5 star, adults only resort. It was our honeymoon so we opted to spend more for what we presumed to be a better resort. I had been to Punta Cana a handful of times, and the Dominican Republic approximately a dozen times. I have stayed at 3 star, 4 star, and 5 star resorts. Sadly, the service we received at thi [... read more]s 5 star resort on what is supposed to be your most memorable vacation was worse than any other resort I have stayed at in the Dominican, or otherwise. The nice thing about the resort is that we had our own concierge, but that's where the good service ended. First, most people we interacted with did not speak English. My husband only speaks English, I spent the majority of our trip being his own private interpreter. Second, despite speaking Spanish fluently (it is my first language) I would ask questions in Spanish and not get answers to my question. For example, "que es este ingrediente?" Respuesta "Es un ingrediente". Or in English, when asking "what is this ingredient?" Response "It's an ingredient". This was actually a conversation I had with one of the servers. Thirdly, I have dietary restrictions that only allow me to have all natural drinks. I would ask for a "banana con leche" or Banana milkshake and was told I was unable to get what I was requesting. Having been to a dozen all inclusives before I had never encountered being told they could not mix milk, with banana for me. At no point in the first week was it explained to us that only one bar in the entire resort could meet my requests which is upsetting because I paid for an all inclusive experience and I could not for the first week get the drink I was ordering. Fourth, I found out the only way I could have a drink my way was to go to the spa bar, which we did not know was included in our package. So if I have a dietary need, obviously the only solution was to tell me to go elsewhere rather than finding a better solution that would allow me to drink at the bar closest to me. Fifth, we were not informed by Air Transat or the staff at Grand Palladium that we had an orientation to attend the first morning of our visit that could have clarified some of our miscommunications about the resort. Sixth, scents (perfumes, or strong odours) affect my health. Unfortunately, the lobby had such a strong smell to it, that I could not go in. Same is true for the disco. The difficulty with the lobby however, was that apparently that was the connection to the ocean. I constantly had to walk through the lobby just to get to the pool and ocean, until we found other ways around it. Thereby flaring up health issues for myself. Seven, upon our arrival they tried to up-sell us, disguising it as an upgrade for this being our honeymoon. It was not apparent from the conversation at first that they meant we would have to pay for the upgrade. It originally sounded like they were upgrading us because it was our honeymoon. Eight, there was a distinctive treatment between us and others at the same resort who looked older. This was especially true at bars and restaurants. Most of the time we were ignored. Waiters often overlooked us. Did not give us water, coffee, and when I asked in Spanish politely was given attitude. Nine, we were often forgotten about. This was clear when we went to the steakhouse. A few of us were seated at the same time. Everyone else seated at the same time as us were given menus. I had to ask our waiter for menus. He realized we were the only ones without one, so he brought us one. Everyone else got their own menus, but we were made to share, which is quite difficult when you are seated across your partner. Thankfully the menu was in Spanish on one side, and English the other, so we were able to manage. That same night, since it had been quite a while since speaking to our server we got up to go get appetizers from the buffet a few feet from our table. Our invisibility to staff was clearly solidified when we turned around to see our table being picked up and moved to make a table for a bigger group. When we approached the staff they laughed it off and said it was their mistake. This would have been more so an excuse had we not been the table each staff member had to pass by to get to their section of tables. Ten, our orders were either suggestions or just plain forgotten. There was more than one occasion where we did not receive what we ordered, but rather what we can only anticipate they believed we should have. It is unclear why they wrote our orders down at all, if everything we told them was made wrong, or not given to us at all. Eleven, it got to the point where the sit down, 5 star restaurant associated with our hotel would just plain ignore us. So much so that we started timing how long it would take the waiter to give us water (which often did not occur even when we asked for it) and take our order. We sat down, took out a timer after a while of waiting and noticing the waiters assisting the tables all around us but not us. Interestingly, it took at least 10 minutes before a waiter came to take our order. When we pointed this out politely, the waiter was extremely rude to us. So much so we started going to the buffet at the 4 star hotel next door because at least there we could serve ourselves. Twelve, often our water and/or coffee we ordered at the beginning of the meal (when we managed to get a waiter's attention) would not arrive until the end of our meal. Thirteen, no one could answer questions about ingredients in the food. We went to the French restaurant one night, and it took asking 3 people before we got an answer. Thankfully, that night the manager took it upon himself to ensure there was something I could eat. I was sick more than half the trip and apparently trying to get anything I could eat was a feat. All I wanted was rice and bread and mint tea but this was apparently unavailable for some reason. The manager at this restaurant was the first and almost only person the entire trip that tried to work with me to have something I could eat. He even summoned the chef to speak with us. Fourteen, we tried to do room service a few times because of how ill I was. The food was really unappetizing and the quality was terrible. Fifteen, there was a butler door in our room for room service. Now being on our honeymoon (highlighted by a sash on our door) and having a swim up room meant that the idea is that with the butler door when you order room service they are supposed to leave it in the little area, and light up the red light to let us know it arrived. Instead room service would only bang on the door incessantly, and if you didn't answer they would call us, even though the light worked perfectly fine. They proceeded to wake me up one of the days I hadn't slept all night and had finally just fallen asleep despite being in severe pain. We can only assume that this was their way of trying to get a tip. Sixteen, room service would mess up our entire order. For example, there was one day where I hadn't slept all night because I was in excruciating pain. My husband ordered room service for breakfast. He asked for toasted bread and mint tea with hot water. What was given to us was rolls of bread. Not toasted, not heated, no mint tea. For this however they knocked down our door. For lunch we told the concierge our problems with room service so they ordered for us. We asked for myself who could barely walk, hot water (we gave up asking for mint tea), bread (we gave up on asking it be toasted), rice, and the concierge suggested chicken broth. What came with our order was no bread, no rice, no hot water, and some sort of tomato soup with veggies and such in it. They pounded our door for a tip on that delivery too. Seventeen, from the beginning of our stay our toilet acted up. It continued to do so for the entirety of our trip. We told them the first day, it seemed they had fixed it but alas that was not the case. Over the course of the time we spent in our room our sink wouldn't drain, our jacuzzi tub was loose, our shower head would fall down constantly, and our tub started having a bad odour. Eighteen, we told people the entire trip it was our honeymoon. The only person who did anything was a waiter at the Indian restaurant whose first response was, "why didn't you tell someone, we could have done something". To which I replied with "we did". So he undertook to make it a more special evening, designing a very pretty table with flowers and champagne. Nineteen, despite being sick and telling people at each restaurant or buffet almost no accommodations were made to ensure that I could eat the food. Instead most of the time my needs were ignored and instead my orders were suggestion. It was amazing how difficult it was to get plain rice to help me get better faster. Twenty, despite asking several different servers different questions about the menu or food items. Most of them were rude or had no idea what was on their menus. This made it difficult to eat for the two weeks were at this hotel. Twenty one, the excursion we bought off the Hotels Extra guy selling in the hotel lobby was very misleading. Twenty two, the first day we were left a gift tag at our door stating that they had a gift for us in the lobby. We went to the lobby, despite the smell, to try and pick it up. Apparently it was a sales pitch because we spoke to an agent that set up an appointment for us the next day. So the next day we went to see him, he had told us that we should not speak to anyone else, but we could not find him. After waiting for him for quite a while, someone offered to take his place. We were in our swimsuits because it was the middle of the day and we were at a beach resort. The person taking his place told me that she was going to take us on a tour of the resort, but that I had to go put on clothes before she could do so. We then found out that the gift that we had shown up to claim was only provided after completing the entire resort tour. Twenty three, about four days before our departure I was finally able better enough to make a complaint to the resort staff. Up until then we couldn't complain because of my condition and the fact that my husband does not speak Spanish. We asked to speak to a manager. The manager, Ronny Avila, Gerente Habitaciones Royal "Room Division Manager" came to speak to us, and after we gave him our list of complaints he said he had to talk to his supervisor to see what he could do for us to compensate us for all our troubles. He promised to have an answer for us by evening, or morning at the latest. The next afternoon my husband went to investigate (as I couldn't be in the lobby) and there still was not a reply. The next evening when we returned from the horrible excursion we had purchased through the hotel the concierge told us what we were being offered. Either we could have a couple's massage or a candlelight dinner on the beach to compensate. We were not interested in either option but suggested the dinner would be the better of the two options. Twenty four, when we chose between the two options presented to us they tried to get us sign a contract that did not make any sense. My husband and I are both lawyers, we understood what the contract was trying to accomplish, it was trying to get us to take this compensation to waive any liability the resort had for its less than 5 star service while engaging us in a gag clause. We are ethical people and despite knowing that it was an unenforceable contract, we did not wish to sign anything for a dinner that we didn't want in the first place. When we told this to the concierge, he told us that that would mean we would get no compensation. To which we replied that we knew this, because a dinner on the beach really is not much in the way of compensation when the entire two week experience had been so terrible. Twenty five, the next day we found a trip advisor agent, Charlie, and told him our difficulties. Later that day we were contacted by the Manager's superior Almudena Mosteiro Mun/oz, Asistente Director Adjunto Habitaciones "Assistant Director". When we told her everything we had been put through at her hotel she was shocked. She had also not been contacted by Ronny about how to compensate us, and indicated to us that what was offered to us is normal any time there is a complaint, that Ronny did not need her permission to take such a step, and that she was glad we did not take the compensation. As she put it, it was not compensation enough for everything we had been put through. All in all, we couldn't eat almost anything at the resort without getting sick. Anything we ordered was a suggestion and rarely did we get what we asked for. We couldn't get vital information to help us get better. It appears we were lied to by the Manager, Ronny. Air Transat almost forgot us at the hotel. Nothing about this experience screams 5 star. Had we paid half the price and gone to another lower star resort we probably would have gotten better service. All in all, between Air Transat, the Grand Palladium, and the Hotel Extras excursion no part of the honeymoon was a positive memory. We spent so much money to go here for a pleasant experience and we couldn't wait to come back home so I could get bread, rice, and people who at least didn't scoff or give me attitude each time we ordered. All that to say that there are a few employees that were extremely nice, reasonable and helped make our most memorable trip at least tolerable. We cannot under good conscience ever recommend this hotel to anyone, and in fact did not sign the gag clause for just that reason. Thank you for ruining the trip we've looked forward to our entire lives!!!

Grand Palladium Vallarta: very nice grounds

Exceptional grounds , well cared for forest and walkways. Very small decks on the third floor , barley room for 1 chair. The best choice of food in our 15 other trips. The pools were very good and clean. Dinning areas were very clean. The only real complaint was the # of stairs. over 100 stairs to get from our room to the breakfast and dinning areas. I saw 6 people fall down , some of them were hurt. There no lighting on most of them and some steps were 4 inchs high.

Grand Palladium Vallarta: Wonderful All-inclusive Resort

Wonderful resort. Well kept rooms and nicely groomed grounds. Nightly entertainment was of high caliber. I especially liked The Tenors when they performed on Sunday nights. Food at the main buffet had quite a varied selection and was very good. A la carte restaurants...some were better than others for food and service. Staff from front desk to servers to cleaning staff to grounds maintenance people were friendly, polite and cheerful. Everyone works very hard to make your stay memorable.

Grand Palladium Punta Cana: Would not return:

This resort has amazing staff. The staff are friendly and work very hard to attend to your needs. The grounds and pools are very clean .The bar service and entertainment at the pools are also very good. The buffet is very small and has few vegetarian choices. The wait time for the al a carte restaurants are very long ( 1 - 1 1/2 hours). Our room was only cleaned 4 days during our stay . We called housekeeping but this did not help . This created a shortage of towels for us. The shower is in  [... read more]a soaker tub with a small section of glass for the wall and the water sprays out all over the bathroom floor . On the other shower wall is frosted glass and if the shower points this way the bedroom floor is covered in water You need to use the towels to clean up the water . When housekeeping did not clean our rooms we were short of towels.

Grand Palladium Palace: Had a wonderful holiday!

Our bed was the most comfortable that we have ever had on a holiday and the room was clean and spacious. We loved being close enough to the beach to walk their easily. The resort was very clean and easy to access the many bars and restaurants. The staff were very friendly and provided excellent customer service. Thanks so much!

TRS Yucatan: Luxurious, relaxing, vacation

We had impeccable service and friendly hospitality, a well-maintained, gorgeous grounds with fabulous food. Access to three other resorts was great value. Lots to do on-site; we never felt we had to leave the resort for entertainment.

Grand Palladium Jamaica: Best resort ever!

The hotel was massive! So much to see and do on the property one week was not enough time to see and do it all! The two resorts in one truly feels like one very large resort! The beaches were clean and it’s the first time I’ve been south and not come home with sand flea bites! A true testament to the well kept beaches! The king bed was massive and comfortable with many awesome pillows! The foldout couch was the most comfortable futon I’ve ever slept on as two nights I slept on ours w [... read more]ith my grandson! I had a very decent nights sleep without back ache!! The food was spectacularly prepared and all restaurants and buffet’s were fully stocked and fresh! Staff were friendly and helpful each and everyday! It was our first time at this resort and we were all very impressed! We would return there! The grand pool is indeed grand it was never crowded because the size of the pool is massive and holds many! The infinity bar entertainment in the evenings was the best! The live singers were professional and their genre was diverse! Sunset cove was a gem. We found it day 4 and enjoyed it for two days!! My daughter got married there and the team of planners and set up staff were awesome! Our whole experience was pleasant and memorable! We all had a relaxing vacation after the wedding was over. Wonderful to have a vacation along with the wedding! The shuttles were prompt and available to take us everywhere we wanted in the property when walking wasn’t an option! There were NO vendor selling wares on the beaches!!! This was a surprise! A pleasant one because when I go to the beach I want to relax not be pestered to shop.

Grand Palladium Vallarta: Great escape

Very comfortable accomadations . A lot of stairs to climb Held a fantastic super bowl party. Has something for everyone old and young. There were a few nights that two of the four alacarts were closed for

Grand Palladium Vallarta: Third time there!

We have loved our time there each time. They continue to improve the resort. The staff are great and always go above and beyond to make your stay enjoyable. Love watching the whales and dolphins from the poolside. We will definitely keep this on our list to return.

Grand Palladium Vallarta: OK Resort

The hotel room was great, clean and very friendly cleaning staff. Was not up to the Palladium standards compared to the Riveria side of Mexico at the same hotel chain. Kinda disappointed with the food at the buffet most times cold and not a lot available. The restaurants rotate days they are open so if missed that day out of luck and very hard to book. Beach BBQ was by reservation and was terrible. Loud rock music playing, not enough food (no dessert left for 2nd sitting) Not a pleasant expe [... read more]rience.

Grand Palladium Kantenah: Oceanfront oasis

This was our 5th stay at the resort and our 3rd in the Mayan suites. We go for the beach and love the oceanfront room. The resort has changed their buffet style so we will likely not return. They used to have theme nights for dinners, which offered variety, but they now have the same dinner buffet selections EVERY night. Food at each breakfast and lunch location is also the same everyday. We did try 2 a la cartes, which we enjoyed very much, but we prefer the more relaxed experience of buffets.

TRS Yucatan: Great resort!

Wonderful hotel! Food: 5* - within the TRS restaurants, lunch at Helios didn't start until 1pm. Don't bother going to the non trs restaurants. Location: 5* - learn to use the collectivos to get around instead of paying hundreds on tours. Cost of collective was around 2-3$ cad each person, each way. Tulum cost 70 pesos each (5$ cad). Akumal was free on the free beach (don't rent a life jacket and bring your own snorkel) and we visited one cenotes (sink hole) called jardin del edin for 100  [... read more]pesos each (7$ cad). Bars: 5* - they all had drink menus to help you, at Helios we didn't even have to ask for specific drinks, the bartenders were making us whatever they wanted and it was always great. Rooms: 4* - even though they were newly renovated, we stayed in the old Riviera section instead of the old TRS section which has the jacuzzis on the balcony that fit 4 people. Instead our room had a jacuzzi tub (very different) which fits 1 person in the middle of the hotel room. The toilet wasn't installed at the correct height which left me (5'5") with my feet not able to touch the floor when using it, many small design issues in the room. Sports center: 4* - riffle range and archery were amazing. Make sure you book a private hour to not be a part of a group. Guillermo also took us out snorkelling in the hotels bay. The mini golf sucked. Lobby: 4.5* - looks beautiful. There wasn't a currency exchange desk but we brought pesos from our bank at home and just wanted change and we were able to get large bills from the check in desks. Not tipping/ 20 or 50 pesos bills though. The check in process was very fast and check out was easy. The bracelets are your room key which was very very handy. Butler's: 4* - it was weird for us to need butlers but they were helpful for reservations. One thing that was seriously lacking at this hotel was information on events and restaurant times. The butlers knew what show was on at 9pm at colonial each night but we missed so many activities like the chocolate bar, the tequila tastings, the crocodile feeding which only happens once a week, and the cooking classes that apparently happened at the infinity pool. We learned about events from bar tenders or by walking around outside of TRS for some things but I was upset that there wasn't a print out of the entire resorts events listed by day and time and location so that we could plan better. Also we accidentally went to the white sands buffet one morning which had screaming kids everywhere because there wasn't information about which TRS restaurants are open at which time of day. The maps should say that capricho is breakfast starting at 7am, and Helios is lunch starting at 1pm and then reserve somewhere for dinner. Our butlers also made reservations for us for bahia brasa but we spent about an hour looking for the restaurant to find out it was actually called o' pavao. The information sharing really needs improvement at this resort. Pools: 5* - the infinity pool is beautiful but cold. The salt water pool is great but they should add a sign that says don't touch the bottom (let the coral grow). The lifeguards were making up rules as they went like that you couldn't enter the ocean beyond the salt water pool which wasn't on any rule boards. Also they wouldn't let you feed the ocean fish which wasn't a rule.. the spa pool is heated and it's the best. Make sure to go to the spa and the smoothie bar in the spa. Beach: 4* - very rocky, bring water shoes. They cleaned it every morning. They always had many many chairs available. I liked that they had an area protected by a camera to make sure your hat a stuff would be there when finished in the water.

Grand Palladium Vallarta: The good out weighs the not so good

Hotel was nice, rooms were larger than other resorts I've been too and the service was great. My only con, would be the buffet however the cliental it is focused toward would appreciate it more than say myself who enjoys spicy food and flavors. The restaurants were fantastic and if you go right when they open at 6 and are willing to wait 30-45 minutes you don't even need a reservation. I really don't have a bad thing to say. You are in Mexico at a resort, not the Wynn in Vegas. Tons of activitie [... read more]s to do throughout the day, enthusiastic staff and an overall great atmosphere. We had a great vacation.

Grand Palladium Select Bavaro: In a nose dive. Good care taking of gardens and beach. Visitors not a priority but rather resort policy. Fourth Time there but now the last. Resort seemed extremely empty compared to last 3 visits. Food quality way down. Rooms 3rd one of this holiday sub standard. Rooms we always had and requested were " not" available but were no problem if we paid for an upgrade of $ 500.00 for the 10 nights. Asked for bath robes 6 times but never got them. They promises are hallow.

Grounds good . Beach good. Visitors not first priority. Food poor to fair. Rooms are below 3 star. Rooms we request are not available unless we were to pay an upgrade fee of $500.00. 50$ per night. No rum and fruit basket in room, no bathrobes, not even after 6 times promised, one by manager who was in our 3rd room due to Safe not opening. Worms on room floor. Many room problems and half assed bandage type fixes. Done visiting and promoting this resort.

Grand Palladium Vallarta: Loved it !!!!!

All staff was Amazing I would like to personally thank Omar & bartender (beach bar) Jesus (everywhere awsome) Victor (surf instructor) Eder (surf instructor) Life guards Bernardo (disco) Jasmin (disco) Adult pool staff And many more Thank you for making it the best vacation ever :) !!!!! The Tenors were beyond incredible WOW!!!!

Grand Palladium Kantenah: 5th trip to Grand Palladium Kantenah and still loving it!

Very clean resort. Staff are friendly and helpful. Activities are fun, and overall the food and drinks are excellent. Been here 5 times and still loving it! Here are some key differences from last year: First the BAD. 1. The resort complex is made up of 5 hotels. One of which is TRS - The Royal Suites. It appears that TRS is the big focus now as they have taken one of the 4 other hotels and merged it into TRS. What this means is that unless you stay at TRS (Adults only) you no l [... read more]onger have access to the Saltwater pool. This was a disappointment to my kids as we usually snorkel in that pool as there are lots of fish to see and it's a safe environment. 2. Steak House - El Dorado Overall the food was decent, but our waiter messed up about half the orders and some of the steaks weren't cooked as per the order. 3. Service at Grand Azul - They seem to be under-staffed at the Grand Azul, as the service can be quite slow. It's an outdoor buffet, so the only service required is drink orders and table clearing. Prompt table clearing is important as the animals will come into the seating area to pick food from the plates if they are not cleared away. Need more staff here at lunch time! 4. Umbrellas in the room! - It rained a few times while we were there and it would have been nice if there was a courtesy umbrella in the room. 5. Beach Bar table service was a bit slow. 6. Breakfast Buffet - Always seemed to be a shortage of ketchup for some reason. Now the GOOD 1. They expanded the beach bar which now has more seating. 2. Breakfast buffets are still absolutely amazing...everything you could want. 3. Hector from La Hacienda provided wonderful service at dinner. 4. New ping pong tables are top notch and the central location is also better than under the trees. 5. Big Chess is back!!! Thank you!! My kids and I LOVE the big chess board and pieces, and given that it was always being used, I guess lots of other people do as well! 6. Daniel (bartender) at the beach bar was excellent. 7. Alberto who delivered drinks by the pool near the Grand Azul was excellent and always stopped to ask if we wanted drinks and never messed up a single order! 8. The Animacion team are fantastic, specifically Axel, Alexia, Alejandro and Brandon 9. They implemented TV screens in the lobby that shows the GPS location of the inter-lobby trains....very cool as you can now see how long you need to wait, and can make an informed decision to walk if you prefer! 10. At O'Pavao restaurant Lorenzo, Alberto and Federico provided Excellent service. Although the cuts of meat were sometimes chewy. 11. New Buffet: La Dahlia: This was going to be a negative point originally, as they removed the giant Kabah buffet and replaced it with this smaller one. But it is fantastic! Service was excellent, food was amazing, and the decor was just great. Loved this place! Froylan gave us excellent service there as well! 12. The Animacion team would walk around with large sign boards explaining what activity was happening and when. This is a great idea! Very easy to see what's going on. 13. Casino night was so much fun!! Well done whoever dreamed that up! You need more tables and chips for next year! 14. Portofino Restaurant - Being of Italian descent, I was skeptical about this place but my wife wanted to go. I thought the food overall was very good, and Basilio provided great service! One tip for the chef...the centre of my ravioli was cold....make sure you let them heat through properly! 15. Lots of live music all over the resort. Very nice touch. 16. There were "Pop up" bars making specialty drinks in the White Sands resort which was a very nice touch and allowed you to try something you might not have otherwise considered. Great idea!! 17. Don Julio Reposado - Excellent Tequila. Thank you for stocking this wonderful spirit! Overall we were extremely happy with our choice and would likely go back again!

Grand Palladium Vallarta: Fantastic resort for our family

This is a very family centered resort from the kids club to the mini club to the staff at the sports shack on the beach. Even the bar tenders were great with our two little girls. We will definitely be going again in the future. Where else can you work on trying to surf for free?

TRS Turquesa: Great place!

All staff were very friendly. A bit of a language barrier with some. Great pools but didn’t see any hot tubs which would have been nice. Food was amazing and so much to choose from. Fruit was fresh. The premium alchohol was an added bonus! Was nice to find snacks and beverages in fridge at no extra cost. My only complaint would have to be that our room smelled quite musty and there must have been smokers in either side of us because the cigarette smell was awful. I think they should hav [... read more]e separate areas of rooms for smokers so the non smokers can be comfortable.

TRS Turquesa: Royal Suites Turquesa

We really enjoyed the Royal Suites Turquesa. The staff were very kind and helpful . We enjoyed our comfortable room, the pools, the fabulous food and walks along the beach and beauty of it all ! Thankyou for arranging !

Grand Palladium Kantenah: Palladium Kantenah/Colonial Relaxing

We requested a resort with good food, beach and entertainment. Grand Palladium is truly grand meaning it’s huge. I knew it was going to be a large complex but was not prepared how big. Upon arrival we where greeted with a refreshment and checked in. We decided to switch hotels from the Kantenah to the Colonial. We switch because the Colonial was more central and close to the nightly entertainment. The grounds and public area where very clean and well maintained. Staff was very friendly [... read more]. Room was a good size. The beds where extremely soft and a little uncomfortable for our liking. Dinning rooms where very well decorated. Staff very tentative. A La Carte restaurants where good. No reservation was required but we did have to wait for 20 min to get a table. We mostly ate breakfast and lunch at the buffet. Unfortunately, we noticed that the food was the same everyday. The selection did not rotate much. Also, we found that the food at the buffet was cold. I was expecting the food to be much better. We found it was equal to the food we had in the Dominican Republic last year. We booked “Room Deluxe Imperial Club”. We don’t remember what we where suppose to get with that. We did receive the $1250 coupon book but the deals where better at each location. For example: the coupon book had a $30 coupon at the spa. We received half price from a spa representative on the beach. We did get a bottle of sparking wine in our room. It was fun to see the pink flamingos in the lobby and the crocodile cage. Lots of iguanas and weasel like animals in the mangroves. Unfortunately, mother nature did not provide sunshine but that was no fault of the resort. It was very cloudy and cold the week we where there. Had a little sunshine on our last day. We would not go back to this hotel.