Check-in literally took almost 5 hours, the room that was advertised online was not the room I got. Took 2 1/2 hours at check-in before I got into Rm #2121 filthy couch and a few other dirty areas, tried to make our appt. for return COVID test (system was down), waited 1 hour before anyone came to help move our luggage back to lobby. Got to lobby and waited another 2 hours to be reassigned a room w/swim out pool after we paid for an unexpected addt'l upgrade This room had a pool cushion with bird poop all over it, electrical lighting issues, 2 towels, toiletries for 1 person and nonworking safe. Next day realized we were supposed to get an upgrade credit that was applied, a resort booklet and orientation, had no idea where anything was. Had to go back to the lobby to receive, tried to make COVID appt (again a no go told to come back after lunch). 3rd day in: vacation itself going pretty good but COVID test appt. still pending. After lunch gave our info and email address to receive the appt, which took an additional day. Finally was told to go to the 'hard to find' nurses station and was told that we were not on the list for that day and to come back at 3:30pm we went back and got tested(nurses were very friendly and tests came back fine). Finally at 11pm the night before leaving we got 2 messages saying to come down for COVID tests. By then we had enough. Last straw: Same day while eating I met the GM, explained all that was going on. Due to my experience I was to receive a partial credit for the upgrade I paid for (I AM BACK IN THE US 15 DAYS NOW AND NO CREDIT HAS BEEN ISSUED. Again great location, great hospitality staff, great food w/local fare, great gym facility, terrible upper management service. Mgr. Bernadine, Hospitality staff member Averdeen especially made our stay MOST comfortable as they were consummate professionals. Oh and the night before we left we finally got a new clean bird poop free pool cushion ! So much for speed service.

Firstly, I just want to remind everyone reading this, if you are traveling right now you are part of an infinitesimally small portion of the global population that can do so. To be hosted at a resort that usually sees 1600 guests at capacity make it work under strict capacity restrictions, health protocols is an absolute gift and rarity especially with the last year that the world has endured. Please keep this top of mind, and remember the people who are welcoming you have had months of entire shut downs of hotels and resorts in a hospitality-dependent economy.

Please think of your own experience, your own stresses in showing up every day to your job if you are lucky enough to have one and how we all go home at the end of the day with a deep wish to provide for ourselves and loved ones. This time should remind us as human beings how profoundly connected we are. So look for the abundance of good and good fortune in coming to this absolute slice of paradise.

We were fortunate to be here for 10 days and honestly in seeing only the positives, we have nothing but rave reviews for the location and more importantly the people we connected with who extended so much love and hospitality to us. None of this was done with a single bit of expectation on the other side, just kind hearts who are grateful to have people visiting. The resort made us feel significantly safer than at home and we truly do not want to leave! It is all-inclusive and we never felt an ounce of pressure to do so, but if you can afford it, tip generously as you would at home. And remember the many people such as the lifeguards, housekeeping, gardeners and maintenance around the property working tirelessly to host this beautiful stay.

Some specific call outs and I know we are not including everyone;

Doshane - a true gem and person born to be a light for other people. Beyond being exceptionally attentive he made the many people he saw every day feel like friends. You cannot fake character and he has this in spades. Someone in our hearts forever, we cannot wait to see you again our friend. You are a superstar.

Abbey, Kerisha and Sheree at the coffee shop - you guys make the BEST coffees and are the BEST and brightest way to start a day. We could chat with you all day. I also want to call out from day one, several times they ran to the other side of the resort to make sure we had things like soy milk and decaf coffee after knowing our coffee order. Even when we said it wasn’t necessary with a smile they insisted. No one HAS to do this, they all consistently go above and beyond!

Kaneesha - at the gift shop, we ended up chatting and cannot describe the kindness Kaneesha showed us as we discussed an important life event. Again this was done with absolutely nothing but human kindness in mind. We are so grateful for crossing your path!

Nurse Lindsay - thank you for people like you in healthcare! You are an absolute angel and helped up when we had to leave a few days earlier. Not once did you ever not welcome us in with questions with open arms and a patient ear. We cannot wait to come back and see you - hopefully with less questions :)

Andre the amazing fitness instructor (take his classes, he is passionate and knows his stuff - he is an absolute blast to be around), Tamara the omelette master, Melodie, Tashaya, Shawna, Courtney at the pool, Oshane, Allison and Kaydian who greeted us every morning and dinner to start and end our day, Andren at the pool bar, the Vibe team and spectacular events, Tyrone, your enthusiasm, kindness and wonderful personalities made memories we will hold on to always. Oshane you are a fantastic trainee and we truly can’t wait to see you back here. It didn’t matter if there were 5 or 500 people you showed up for everyone and made it magical!

We got to snorkel everyday, enjoy the stunning pools, crystal ocean and stretches of sand surrounding and enjoy incredible events that were still held for what was obviously a much larger scale audience but nothing was cut back at all! They literally spent 2 days building a sound stage and entry way for an outdoor beach party. We never had an issue making reservations for dinner although due to capacity there are understandably a rotation of restaurants nightly vs all being open every night. Reception was prompt in attending to any questions we had, changing cash for us and being generally helpful. Room service contrary to some posts was always prompt and warm when it got to us.

We genuinely will miss this special and kind connections we made and we plan to be back soon. Say hi to everyone and soak in the true hospitality and friendship. Make the connection and get to know as many of these incredible people as you can. We are wishing for a swift end to this pandemic and a resumption of tourism and a renewed appreciation for the ability to enjoy places like this! Thank you thank you!!!

Much love and gratitude,

Andi and Tony

Due to the US new Covid Testing laws of presenting a negative test in order to return back to the US, my cousin took her complimentary test at the resort on the morning of Day 2 of our stay. I went with her to reschedule my test because I was leaving on a later date. Three hours later we receive a phone call in our room saying that my cousin's results came back positive and we were told that we must evacuate our room to be quarantined in another building. At this point we were not given nor emailed our results like we were told we would be. After waiting in our new room for about 3 hours uninformed fo the process we were finally presented with medical papers. I was given a paper with my name and negative results but I hadn't even taken the Covid test yet!

At this point the hotel had already called Ministry of Health who was standing outside of our door and saying we had to sign papers saying we are not fit to fly and must quarantine. I expressed my uncomfortability in signing these papers because I was presented with false paperwork but they immediately started threatening to call the police to detain us and take us to a government facility.

We asked the nurse who performed the test if I can take my complimentary test, but she said only one test is free per guest. I restated that I had never took my test in the first place but a nurse never came! We were also told a nurse was going to check on us twice a day to monitor temperature and health but no one came in the 3 days we were in that room. After calling and requesting a test from a private company we had to pay 200 US dollars per person to retake a test by a doctor who came to our room. I tested negative.

From the initial phone call I asked the hotel manager what the next steps were in this process, but she was not able to tell me anything except that we must stay in our rooms. The first night in quarantine I called the front desk and housekeeping over 5 times to bring us a blanket and water bottles, but we never received them. We couldn't control the a/c and were freezing all night and couldn't sleep. They eventually stopped answering the phone even though we were told at check in that there would be someone at the front desk 24 hrs. Guards and security sat outside our room 24 hours each day.

I have family in Jamaica and I had asked the hotel manager from the first night if we were allowed to quarantine in a private residence instead of the resort. She told us that the private residence must de evaluated and we must provide information on the address, but never got back to us on how to proceed with that process. We called the hotel manager every morning every two hours.

On the day we were supposed to originally check out the hotel manager didn't call us back until the late afternoon to say that we must pay for our additional night. Not only could we not afford this, but she had not mentioned that we had to pay for our quarantine especially if I already requested to move to a private residence days prior to our check out. She had also not told us that this was required when we were first notified of the positive test result. After going back and forth with the hotel manager she complimented the night.

The next morning we called the hotel manager and she didn't call us back until after 12 when she said that we can call a private driver and can leave whenever they arrived. She did not follow through with whatever evaluation process she said was necessary to leave.

In order to leave the room the hotel manager had to physically walk us out of the room and then said that we must sign more papers. This paper was a Non disclosure agreement saying that I can't saying anything negative about my experience on social media. I refused to sign this paper because I had been treated very poorly from the beginning and did not feel comfortable signing. She then told us if we are not going to sign then we have to pay for the night. We immediately asked for her bosses email or to speak to him and she kept saying that she won't give it to us. She was very upset and pestered us to sign for about 15 minutes when I asked her where the exit was and managed to stride past her and open the door to see my grandfather waiting.

The hotel manager then starts hassling my grandfather to pay for our night. Finally her boss arrives and he says we can leave.

After returning to the US I have tested positive for Covid within a day from being released from this hotel. It is only possible that I got COVID while I was being forced to stay in a room with someone who tested positive.

This was truly a traumatic experience. There was no sense of communication, customer service, procedure, or respect. I do not recommend staying here to anyone. It truly felt like I was being held hostage.