First Family trip
The first family trip, decided to work around budget and sacrifice star ratings for money saved. We booked this 4-star resort.
Resort View: The grounds were well kept, staff was always smiling and willing to help in any time of need, The hotel is not huge (400 rooms) and the grounds are small and this made it easy to maneuver, the pools were overlooking the ocean and were always cleaned. However, you can tell that this hotel has not received a large upgrade in some time and has seen some good times. Night entertainment was great and fun active shows
Room: When we arrived I thought it was a joke when they put us in room T004R Lower level on the Tropical side, these rooms were supposedly renovated!! I would say they had not touched this room in 10 years, we had no art on the walls, and the bathroom was a discussing mess, it felt like a dungeon. When I went to the front lobby they told me I would have to wait until the next day, but I was instant (not rude) that they change me ASAP. And they did, they moved me to T006B and this was a beautifully updated room. We had a spacious suite with sitting area, balcony, and 2 Twin beds
Food: Restaurants 2.5/5 - Food here was nothing to write home about, no fresh fish, lobsters, crazy fruit, it was just basic food. I got sick from my uncooked burger at route 66 and advised others not to eat there. I ate 3 bites to see the burger was not cooked and because of the language barrier, they did not understand. The Jade (Japanese) was AMAZING and highly suggest eating there.
Kids: They have a water park onsite (5 min walk from main resort) it seemed to be fun (my kids loved it) slides were fun and entertaining and safe. They have a different level of slides and kid pool was always warm and fun.
The Kids program was a work in progress. The kids were in a Hot room outside with no Air-conditioning and were not properly catered to kids of different ages (they had coloring books that were al scribbled in and broken crayons) no arcade or indoor activities. However, my kids did have fun with the daily activities (daily games) and always asked to go to the child entertainment at night time.
First World Problems: No ATM with money on site, they wanted you to take a taxi to local banks to get money out (on your own dime and risk) the resort is older and you can tell as the “shopping” district was all vacant stores and no activities.
Value: This is a great budget hotel is a true 4 star, not anything more. DO not hesitate to ask for a different room if you have been provided a bad one.
