We just returned from a 9 night stay in the Azure Cottage (highest room Category on property). We paid over $12k for this resort (figure does not include airfare). We read so many reviews before booking. So many people loved this resort and are frequent repeaters. So glad that those folks found a place that they love. For us, this resort was lacking in so many levels. Definitely don’t feel as though we got value or service for what we spent. We will never repeat this resort. Room- location is amazing. Cottage set up a hill a bit up from the beach with a great deck. Felt like the deck was in the water. It’s absolutely beautiful to sit out there. Watching the hummingbirds at the feeder was entertaining for us. The outside claw foot tub that looks so luxurious on all the advertising is, in actuality, a rusted out old tub. The faucet on ours constantly ran and ran. It’s not plumbed into a drainage system but drains directly into the ocean. I did not use the tub. It looked gross and I would not feel right dumping soap/bath salts directly into the ocean. It’s littering- but worse! Plunge pool- used it once. It was fine. Bed was hard as a rock and the flattened pillows have clearly had a lot of use. Storage- very small closet with a small nightstand size table with 3 small drawers. Bathroom: is very dated. Lighting is very dark. Strong sewer gas smell coming from the drains. Woke up everyday to cockroaches in our room. BIG ones. We did ask them to spray. I assume they did spray as we asked, however, we spent most of our time at the beach and I did not see anyone there. If they did spray. It did not work. Don’t tell me that it’s because it’s the Caribbean. I travel to the Caribbean at least 3 times per year and have NEVER found roaches in my room. Never!! Mini fridge- it is advertised that this is restocked everyday. However we had to ask everyday to have items re-stocked. Should just be done. Shouldn’t have to ask daily. They did restock as soon as we asked. Housekeeping did a great job everyday. Dining. The menu is very limited and is very seafood heavy. There is always a burger on the menu each night along with a steak, shrimp and a seafood Mac and cheese. The food we did have was good. Not amazing, but good. Better than mass produced all inclusive food. There were about 2 nights where the menu did not have anything that appealed to us so we ordered the burger. It was a 45 min wait (after we already had our apps) to get the burger. We thought it might just be a one off. Another night my husband ordered the burger again. 45 min after we finished our apps our meals still had not arrived. I asked and was told the burgers take a while (why? You offer it on the menu every night. Should have some defrosted and ready to go). After that we called it the “45 min burger” and never ordered again. Desserts are hit or miss. Ice cream is always good. It is a 7 day revolving menu. We stayed 9 nights so had a few repeat menus which was disappointing. They sound have at least a 14 day menu for those who stay longer than a week. We did eat lunch at the Grille a few times. The food was good (the vegetable noodle bowl is DELISH). But again it takes about 45 min for your main course to come. Breakfast- they have one special that changes daily- other than that, it is the same offerings everyday. It took 45 min for a waffle to arrive to the table. The wait times for meals is what really killed it for us. I get it-“island time” but it really should not take about an hour for the main course to arrive- especially breakfast!! Not at any time during any of our meals did anyone ever come back to check on us to see if we needed anything or a drink refill. Service is really lacking here. The cats. I love my pets as much as the next person, however, feral cats do not belong in a dining room/restaurant. There was one day where the orange one was trying to get on our table. The waiter asked if we minded the cat—should that even be a question where food is being served! One of the cats had very recently been in a fight and had an open and bleeding wound on its neck and face. Not something you want to see while you are eating. If the resort is so fond of these cats, this cat should have been collected and taken for medical care. It was disturbing to see while you are eating!!! Coffee shop- I am not a coffee drinker so I can’t comment on that but the available pastries are terrible. Especially the cookies. Don’t waste your time. Paninis- 2 choices each day. The one I did have was OK. Drinks are ok- bottom shelf liquor. Beach- the beach at the resort is very pretty. Never an issue with getting chairs. There is a beach attendant who brings drinks but he is definitely not in a hurry. Can be a while before you see him again. I have no problem getting up to get my own drink, however, it is an amenity that is advertised and it’s very poor service. We are decent tippers but that does not seem to make a difference to this guy. Ffreys beach is about a 3 min walk and well worth it. Prob one of the most beautiful on the island. Powder soft sand and beautiful turquoise water as far as you can see. Beach was mostly empty most times and we felt like we had it to ourselves! Great for finding shells and sea glass. I have to say, the resorts proximity to this beach is its best feature. Towels- ran out of towels most days. Unacceptable. Buy more towels and be prepared. We travel several times a year to (higher end) all inclusive resorts. This resort is really lacking in personal touches and service. When researching this resort everyone raved about the service. We just did not see this. No nice towel upon arrival. No welcome drink. Nothing. We met with our room ambassador, Kemlin on arrival and didn’t hear from her again at all during our entire stay. The next time we saw her was upon checkout. We spent over 12k for the Azure Starfish Cottage. I do not feel that we had any service at all. There is NOTHING here that screams luxury or attention to service or detail. I have had the same experience in terms of service staying overnight at an airport hotel. This hotel is in a magnificent location. It is apparent that the owner does not put any investments in the property. It’s is so out dated (I know some of you refer to this as rustic Caribbean- if that’s what your happy with so be it). But when I am Spending over $12k, I want more for my money. Even little things are lacking. The lighting in the bathroom is horrific, glass in windows is cracked, multiple areas of rotting wood through the cottage and decking. Cheap mattress and pillows. Aged decor in the room (switch on bedside light broken) No bottled water available in the room. This could be an amazing resort if the owner put some money back into it. We just kept saying to each other, “it’s like there is no service here”. No, we are not Karen’s. Other than asking for the room to be sprayed for roaches , we did not complain or ask for anything. As a frequent traveler, and the rate that I paid, I expected a lot more. If you’re looking for/ expecting luxury and good service. Don’t stay here. It’s not worth your money.

We spend April 11-18 at Cocobay and truly enjoyed it. The one thing that truly sets this resort apart is the customer service. Every person from the groundskeepers to housekeeping to the front desk, beach staff, bartenders, waiters and water sports staff bend over backwards to be kind and outgoing. Not once can I think of any employee there failing to say hello. We stayed in the Nevis building as part of the Silver Sand package. Upon arrival we got a full tour of the premises and of our room. The rooms are air-conditioned by a split system and we had our set at 16 degrees C (about 60 degrees F) and it was all it could do to keep the room cool. The rooms are older but incredibly comfortable. Ours sat atop a hill so we had a great view. The room came with a lovely front veranda with some chairs, a hammock and our own plunge pool which I highly recommend. We also booked a romance package which included a massage, “exclusive dinner” and in room sushi boat dining one afternoon. The sushi boat got dropped into the pool and took some damage but was still good. The cliff side dinner was a bust due to rain. We were rescheduled one night and the following night left hanging without anyone telling us was was going on for more than 35 minutes waiting for our table that never happened. We decided to just have our dinner at the restaurant which was still good but lacked the ambiance. We spent most of our time on the property. Breakfast daily was pretty much the same options daily with one “special” each day. I spoke with another couple wh had been there five years and and told tales of a breakfast buffet with omelette station and pancake station which certainly sounded better. For lunch we either at at the main restaurant to had a panini from the lower pool or on the beach. The lower pool is lesser known than the main pool and is route to the beach. The young lady behind the bar there is an amazing drink maker and panini chef and once we found her lunch at the restaurant faded into the distance. The beach staff was very attentive about bringing drinks and lunch if you’d like. We did the nightly dinner at the restaurant with the exception of one night eating at Sheer Rocks which was well worth it It’s a separate venue but they can make reservations for you at the front desk. My wife had just undergone neck surgery about 6 weeks prior to our trip so we didn’t book any excursions but some of the friends we made along the way booked boat trips, private island tours and personal watercraft through the hotel that were very personalized and for which they were highly complimentary. I wish there had been an option to book a room with television but we made do without. There was barely enough in room internet to stream from our home satellite network and DVR. As is typical of all inclusive hotels the bar’s liquor and wine is made up of brands you’ve never heard of with the exception of the odd bottle of Jim Beam. Any time we wanted a little more in the drinks it was freely given. Overall we’d give it a 9 out of 10, falling short only on the room AC (which I could never imagine keeping up the cool in the hotter months) and the limited menu at breakfast. It is supposed to be adults only be we saw a few kids less than 10 roaming around - which was weird. Some employees who really stood out were Jermaine and Denise at the restaurant; Denise, Mel S, D’Wanica and Shenika at the restaurant wait staff, Jess at the front desk; Mr. Gore who is everywhere and finally at the lower pool and beach “Miss V (I can’t recall her whole name) behind the bar and both of the guys on the beach, Kirk and J (whose who name I cannot recall) who never left you needed another drink.