Riviera Maya Mexico - Luxury Bahia Principe Sian Ka'an Adults Only

January - February 2017, 7-nights with Friday arrival, King Jr. suite #41223

We enjoyed our week at Luxury Bahia Principe Sian Ka'an, and hope to be able to visit again. This post takes up where one of my previous posts, Travel between Lansing, Michigan and Cancun, Mexico..., left off. Our check-in and arrival experience is covered in that post.

Sunrise from guestroom balcony 41223

More photos and information about Bahia Principe can be found in my Travel Reviews Facebook album.

Guestroom 41223

This room is located on the top floor in building 12 near the two main pools and Cenote snack bar. Our room number designated the exact location, just as I had read in a post by someone else: 4(resort - Sian Ka'an) 12(building number) 2(guestroom) 3(floor). There were two guestrooms at the top of the stairs to our room, and the room number across from us was 41213.

Cancun, Mexico / Holiday Inn Cancun Arenas

February 2015, Weekday, 3-nights, King ocean view guestroom #2415

view from balcony

We stayed at Holiday Inn Cancun Arenas around the holidays at the end of 2011, and a review from that stay can be found here. One change I saw online before this stay, is that the words "all inclusive" have been removed from the hotel name. I think that was a good move because this hotel offers guestrooms that are all-inclusive, and they offer rates for only the guestroom. I never had a problem knowing which kind of room I was reserving, although I have read complaints from others who expected their stay to be all-inclusive, and then discovered it was not when they arrived. 

Montego Bay, Jamaica / Sandals Royal Caribbean

December 2014, 7-nights--Christmas Day to New Year's Day, Caribbean premium room #1219

I want to provide a little background about our prior visits to Jamaica, to help readers understand my point of view. We have been to Jamaica at least six times--by cruise ship and in resorts, and even though this visit was not 100% perfect, it was by far our best Jamaican experience! The service at Sandals Royal Caribbean was exceptional. The servers and bartenders work hard (as did everyone we observed), and I was impressed with how well they always knew who was next, and who wanted what. I never observed an incorrect food or beverage item served, and there was only one time I observed a bartender ask who was next because he was not sure.

Sunset over Thai restaurant and private island

I do not have reviews for all of our previous visits to Jamaica because some of them occurred before I started this blog. Here are links to reviews of our previous experiences in Jamaica: Hilton Rose Hall Montego Bay, Holiday Inn Sunspree Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios from Freedom cruise ship.

This is a lengthy review with a lot of detail. Additional photos are posted on my Facebook travel page.

Castries, Saint Lucia / Sandals Halcyon Beach

November 2013, 6-nights, Building #9, Guestroom #313 ~ Fabulous stay!

Arrival experience

Before our trip, I had read comments online from other guests about the porters at the airport. Guests had thought that they were being greeted by someone from Sandals, and then the baggage handlers dragged their bags around the corner and expected a tip. Because we knew this, and we only had one bag and a carry-on, we exited the airport with our own bags. We did not see the Sandals lounge, and initially we wondered if we were headed in the right direction. 

Here are directions to get to Sandals lounge from the Delta baggage claim (I do not remember if there were other baggage carousels or exits, although I think everything was in the same area): We went out the exit door just to the right of baggage claim. Facing the roadway/drive, we turned left, and walked along the front of the airport building (this is when we wondered if we were headed in the right direction because the Sandals sign was not visible, and I had expected the lounge to be inside the airport). After just a few steps, we saw the Sandals sign and entered the lounge. A staff member took our information, gave us tags for our luggage, we were offered rum punch, and we took a seat in the lounge. The lounge was comfortable, and there is a nice restroom in the lounge. The tags that we had been given for our luggage ended up being our room number.

After we had been waiting several minutes, and I observed two buses depart to the other Sandals resorts, I asked the employee at the podium about the shuttle to our resort. I am glad I did, because she then directed us to the door where the other two shuttles had left from, and we boarded a bus for immediate departure after we provided our information to the staff member at the door. I wonder if we would have ended up waiting for the next taxi/shuttle, if I had not inquired about our shuttle status just before this. 

The ride to Sandals Halcyon Beach was less than 75 minutes. It was comfortable and scenic. The road is curvy, although none of the passengers in our van had a problem with motion sickness. We had a good driver, and we gave him a tip at the end because we learned he was not a Sandals' employee. I am actually not sure if this was necessary, though. In the states, I have sometimes been given a taxi ride to the airport from my hotel, which is covered by the hotel, when their shuttle is not running. This has happened to me so often, that I asked at the hotel if a tip is already included when this happens, and I was told yes. 

At the resort, all of us from the shuttle bus were taken into the concierge room, so I assume that everyone had reserved a Club room. We were offered rum punch, given a brief orientation, and then a staff member escorted each couple to their room. Before we departed to our room, I asked our concierge, Che, if we could make our dinner reservations, first. We sat down at the desk, and he said that he needed to talk with us about our room. He said that the Club rooms had been oversold, so we had been relocated for the first night. He apologized, and said he was offering us a candlelight dinner for two, or a spa credit for the inconvenience. He also assured us that we would still receive our Club amenities. Our first night, and a good portion of the next day, was somewhat of an inconvenience, since we did not unpack or have our room attended to until late, because we thought we would be moving to another guestroom. We ended up staying in the first guestroom, although this was not finalized until the next day. Sandals took excellent care of us, and I will talk more about some of the details of our experience throughout this review.

Guestroom

The guestroom was already stocked with Club level beverages when Che escorted us to our room -- vodka, whiskey, gin, rum, and cabernet wine were on the shelf, and Piton beer, white wine and champagne were in the fridge. 

Tipping at all inclusive resorts - Sandals vacation

November 2013

Our departure to paradise--Sandals Halcyon Beach in Saint Lucia--is just around the corner! To say that we are excited would be an understatement. We have stayed in several all inclusive resorts, although this will be our first stay at a Sandals resort. We are looking forward to fabulous service and good quality. The Sandals' website boasts about The Sandals Difference with items like: luxurious accommodations, top-shelf drinks, Beringer wines, entertainment, motorized water sports, and all tips and gratuities included.

Our first visit to an all inclusive resort was in 2000, and many resorts at that time said that all tips were included. We did not tip any extra the first few years that we went to all inclusive resorts. We always had great service, although sometimes the food and beverage quality was not very good. I think that was more related to the resort quality, though.

In 2004, we noticed that guests were leaving tips, and that the quality of the service and beverages seemed to be related to whether the guest had left a tip or not. After that trip, we started to bring small bills with us, and we also joined in leaving additional tips at resorts that said tipping is included. 

Today, I think that those of us who gave out extra tips when we were not supposed to, created the tipping problem prevalent in many resorts today. I have noticed this get steadily worse since 2004. We do not like the way we were made to feel, if we do not leave a tip, and we do not like employees acting like they expect one, when this is supposed to be included. One of the things we are looking forward to at Sandals, is not having to worry about tipping, and having better quality service. 

As our trip draws closer, I started to read some of the recent reviews online. I found so many references to poor service, poor quality, and discreet ways to leave tips, that I became alarmed. I immediately contacted my travel agent, who had this to say: There is absolutely NO tipping whatsoever to any Sandals employee.  Their employees will be fired on the spot if they are seen taking money.  Now you can tip the porters for your luggage. Your service will NOT be any different. She also assured me that premium beverages and good quality food are served.

Some of the negative reviews that I read did not make any sense to me. One guest complained about a dead frog in her room that had not been removed all week! If I found a dead frog in my guestroom, it would be removed that day--one way or another. Another guest complained that she stood at the bar for over half an hour, and the bartender did not wait on her, so she went to complain to management. That is another thing I would not do--stand at a bar and wait to be served for over half an hour. There is more than one bar and one bartender at the resort, as well as other ways to get assistance before going to management. I read a lot of complaints about a rude wine waiter in Kelly's, who is trying to upsell bottles of wine. I read these complaints from happy and unhappy guests, so I tend to think that what I read about this experience is accurate. Hopefully, Sandals has dealt with this by now. We plan to carry a beverage/glass of wine with us to dinner, just in case.

We have a club room reserved, and plan to experience our stay the Sandals way--great service, and good quality food and drinks, without tipping staff members we are not supposed to tip. I will share our experience after we return. In the meantime, safe travels, and Happy Thanksgiving to my American followers!

UPDATE: Our stay was fabulous! Excellent service, good quality beverages, and the food was amazing! We did not tip any extra for services that were already included. I think that is Sandals intent, and that is what we had been hoping for. A full detailed review will be posted soon.

Sandals Halcyon Beach

Montego Bay, Jamaica / Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort All Inclusive

Christmas week December 2012, 5-nights, King ocean view jr. suite #1437

partial beach & island view

Platinum status perks

I was able to reserve an ocean view guestroom when I redeemed standard points (35,000 per night) for this stay. I sent the hotel an email before our stay to ask about dining reservations and room location; however, no one replied to my email. Check-in service for platinum PCR members, was provided by the concierge at a desk across the lobby from the check-in counter. I did not observe PCR signage at the desk, so I went to the front desk when we arrived, and was then referred to the concierge desk. Fortunately, there were not any guests at the counter, so I did not wait in line before I was referred. The concierge referred to my platinum status several times, so I am not sure if the perks we received were solely platinum perks, or if some were basic PCR perks.

We received an upgrade to an ocean view Jr. Suite on the top floor, a massage for two, and the concierge had made dinner reservations for us for the first three nights of our stay. We received different color wristbands than most of the other guests, which did not seem to make any difference with the service we received. The wristband was nice because it was smoother, softer, and more comfortable than the band we had just worn at the Hilton resort. The wristbands most others were wearing looked the same as the ones we had worn at the Hilton.

Jamaica / Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa

December 2012, Weekend before Christmas, 3-nights, King ocean front guestroom #255

early evening view from balcony

view from our balcony

Gold perks and check-in

I redeemed 60,000 points per night for this stay (the standard amount). The room types available with standard reward points were "resort view" and "tropical view," so we reserved a tropical view guestroom.

I sent the hotel an email before our stay to ask about making dinner reservations, and to inquire about a room upgrade. The concierge contacted me by email about my dining requests. When I checked our reservation online a couple of days before our stay, I saw that we had already been upgraded to an ocean front guestroom!

If you are a Hilton Honors member, look for the concierge desk with the HHonors sign, located across from the check-in counter. There were no guests at the concierge desk when we arrived, so we were assisted at the desk for check-in immediately. Concierge Andrea confirmed our dining requests, and then she provided a reservation card for each night of our three-night stay. As a gold member, I received a coupon good for 10% off a cabana rental, and I received an internet access code for the complimentary internet perk for gold and diamond guests.

Guestroom #255

Before assigning a guestroom, Andrea read my profile preferences for a top floor king bed, and then she said there was not an ocean front guestroom on the top floor available for the length of our stay. She said that she could assign a guestroom on the 2nd floor right away (we arrived before check-in time), and that if we wanted to wait, the only higher floor room that would be available later was on the 3rd floor. This resort has 7 floors, and we did not think there would be much difference between floor 2 or 3, so we took the room on the 2nd floor. 

Cancun, Mexico / Holiday Inn Arenas - All Inclusive

Christmas time 2011, Weekday, 5-nights, King suite #2419

Status perks

We received an upgrade to a suite, and a small welcome cake was delivered to our room after check-in. It was delicious!

Guestroom

The guestroom was located on the top/4th floor in the wing above the lobby. The first number of our guestroom must represent which building we were in, and the second one must be the floor level.

view from entrance

The room was great, except that our view was overlooking the street rather than the ocean. An ocean view would have been nicer; however, since we had paid for our room with points, and the suite was an upgraded room, we were happy to have received the suite upgrade.

There was a full size fridge in the kitchen area, as well as a stove, microwave, sink, coffee maker, two bottles of water, table with two chairs, and a couch.

Aruba -- Holiday Inn All Inclusive

We stayed at this hotel for a week with points as a Platinum member February 2010.

Status perks

We received an upgraded ocean front room in the Aruba tower, and different color wristbands that designated our status. There was a cheese and fruit welcome basket in our room.

Guestroom

The room and balcony were both spacious. The room had been recently remodeled and contained a table & chairs, couch, large fridge, safe, and coffee the first night.