TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Exceeded our high expectations. Restaurant at the edge of the beach with spectacular sun sets. Friendly and very professional staff, taking care of our needs and requests. Most of the resort has been totally renovated over the last two years and presents it self as very exclusive.

Overall, the experience was great. The dive professionals at Toucan Diving were fantastic and very helpful. The food in the restaurant was very good with a wide variety of offerings. The shower in my room was somewhat funky. The controls were on the back wall, a glass wall in the front and the sides were open. When showering the floor on each side became quite wet. I simply asked for a couple of extra towels each day to lay on the floor on the sides. There's also construction going on which detracts from the beauty of the facility and adds some noise. It didn't interfere with access to the facilities. This is what progress is like and will enhance the experience in the future. I'll definitely be making a return visit.

Generally speaking, we had an excellent stay. We were at this same resort 19 years ago (also a great stay) and so much has changed. In terms of food, this was probably one of the best buffet setups we've seen at a larger resort, both in terms of quality and variety. The incredibly fresh pieces of daily tuna, marlin, and barracuda on ice for you to choose, then have cooked to your liking on the spot, was delicious. Sushi, lumpia, empanadas, curries, pasta, various other meats, and fresh bread were several of the many, many other options. And that was just dinner. Toucan Diving is one of the most professionally run, yet friendly, resort dive operations we've ever encountered. My son completed his Junior OW certification on this trip and can't stop talking about how wonderful Steve was. My wife and I agree. Toucan, don't ever let him go. While we really enjoyed the dive guides (Spider and others) on our two-tank boat days, their house reef, "18 Palms", is excellent and literally just steps in front of the resort. The staff was generally very friendly and helpful. Fyi, the resort is VERY close to the airport, so you will hear some jet engine noise occasionally during the day. It's not a super busy airport, so we didn't find this off-putting at all. The only very minor suggestions I would add for improvement are: Our "Royal Residence" 2 bedroom apartment had a kitchenette with glasses and plates but no utensils. It's not super necessary given the all-inclusive food available, but we could have used something when your team very kindly provided a cute little cake in our room upon arrival for my wife's birthday. This didn't stop the kids from devouring it, though. :) Our fridge was stocked (and restocked daily) with Coronas. Nice, but the bottles were not twist-off caps and there was no bottle opener. We improvised. If you're North American, you'll likely need to pick up adapters for European Type F Schuko (I think) sockets for your electronics. They're very inexpensive. Our apartment also had two USB A in one bedroom, then all others sockets were these Type F. The front desk has some to loan but had a waitlist. I very much like that this is a Dutch-forward resort that doesn't specifically cater to Americans, but to the resort itself, please consider: Why not make a few bucks and sell them at a hefty mark-up in the gift shop? We ended up walking five minutes down the road to Sunshine Market to grab a few, so no biggie. Sunshine is closed on Sundays. Similar comment for the in-room clothes washer/dryer: No biggie that rooms don't come supplied with laundry detergent, but why not make a buck and sell something eco-friendly in the gift shop? Again, Sunshine is just down the road. Tips for those who haven't been: Get your towels for the day first-thing (from the front desk). They can run out by the afternoon. Also, don't lose your towels, or they will charge you. Make your dinner reservations for the night at the hostess counter when you walk into the restaurant for breakfast. You can't reserve times for the entire week (if you're staying that long), so just make it your morning ritual. The infinity pool over by the Royal Residences (two foot bridges away from the main resort pool) is a very nice and relatively quiet spot that has its own bar and quick bite menu. The sunsets are breathtaking. We love this place!

Anyone who is a frequent traveler, sees quite soon after arrival that this resort isn’t worth five stars at all. Staff isn’t friendly and there are so many things not right at the resort. The lobby and the restaurant look beautiful, but when you pass the hotel rooms you can see the bad state they’re in. There is too much noise from the renovations, who are currently next to the swimming-pool area. The hotel certainly has a lot of ambition, but the first project hasn’t been finished yet and they’re already starting a new project. Everything is being done half. I stayed in a new appartment. On first sight this looked good, but here are also many things that were only done half, like electric wires hanging out of the walls. It’s clear to see that everything has been designed by men. Maybe they should have some women having a look at the renovations. For example on the toilet and in the kitchen there are a sink and soap, but no towel to dry your hands. There are no mirrors in the apartment, except for a small mirror in the bathroom, where the light is extremely bad. Doing your make up or shaving is impossible. There’s no bin in the bathroom. The curtains are dirty and are full of holes. You have to have the curtains closed 24/7, because everyone can look inside and there are staff members (like the gardeners) looking inside. The mattrass and pillows are very bad, they are way too soft. The safe is in a weird, dark, place in the cupboard. The tap water is supposed to be drinkable, but tastes like chloride. The whole apartment is full of cockroaches, insects and reptiles. Cleaning is very poorly and there’s never enough toilet paper. The sheets weren’t replaced once during my stay, which isn’t very hygienic in such warm weather conditions. The tv hardly every works and the wifi connection is often gone. The resort is getting way too many guests for the area they have, which results in the staff not being able to cope that well anymore. The pool area and the beach are getting too small for all the guests. Maybe the should get rid of the volleyball area on the beach, which isn’t being used anyway. That way there’s room for more sunbeds. The restaurant looks beautiful. The staff at the restaurant looks far from motivated and they all look like they don’t want to be there. Restaurant staff only consists of Spanish speaking people and Asian people. No one speaks English nor Dutch, which makes it awkward when you order something, because they don’t have a clue what you mean. The food is more or less the same every day and the buffet area is far from hygienic. At the buffet it’s around 30 degrees Celsius and food isn’t being kept cool. On the cheese you constantly see drops caused by the heat. The meat is usually half raw and even the desserts with cream are being kept in a fridge. After two days I got serious food poisoning, which ruined my holiday completely, because the rest of my stay I was too weak to do anything at all. Later I found out that more people got food poisoning. No doubt this was caused by the poor hygiene at the buffet. Staff at the restaurant and the bar doesn’t like solo travelers. When you’re on your own they ignore you completely and it’s impossible to order a drink. During the dinner buffet I always had to try and get a drink myself, because the waiters refused to ask me for my order. On the beach they also ignore solo travellers. So if you want to drink something on the beach you need to bring some water. When you run out of water you need to go back to your apartment to get some tap water. They don’t have bottled water by the way. Staff at the reception are all interns, who don’t really seem to know what they’re doing. When you make a complaint they just listen and won’t try and help you in any way. When I had food poisoning I sent a WhatsApp message to the reception asking for toilet paper. I had to wait for five hours to get two toilet roles, after having sent a few reminders. When you are looking for a luxurious resort, this isn’t the place.

This resort was nothing short of amazing. The accommodations and all inclusive food and beverages were 5 star. The dive shop Tucan was excellent with professional and personable staff. Highly recommend and will be going back.