Ric Schank

Review of The Henderson, A Salamander Be...

The bar and wait staff were way too few at peak ti...

The bar and wait staff were way too few at peak times. In 3 days around the pool, only once did any waiter ask if we wanted anything, even as I tried to flag one down. Went to the bar - took 30 minutes. So when we wanted another round, I drove to the liquor store across the street instead and brought our own back poolside "illegally" (the reservation stated that they allow no coolers or offsite-purchased food/bevs throughout the properties - rooms, pools, beach). And yes I was back and had drinks served to us well before the couple next to us who had managed to flag down a waiter at the time I was leaving. Towels were often unavailable poolside.

One waiter at lunch (the only time we had a real sit-down meal on premises) was clearly new and untrained. Warm water, no ice, didn't refill (we walked around and found our own water) never asked if we wanted anything else to drink, no silverware until after food arrived. Two other negative food experiences: first night we checked in very late, sat down at the bar and ordered a medium-cooked burger to split. Came with a side of roasted veggies which were amazing - but I cut the burger in half and it was definitely rare, so we sent it back. 15 minutes later (a little long for fixing a mistake), they arrived with a new burger - identically rare to the first. They insisted on trying a 3rd time, and the burger was cooked correctly medium as requested (but way salty).

A little irritating that they don't allow you to bring your own beach chairs - must rent from Henderson Inn, with whom they have a recriprocal agreement for their fitness center. They don't seem to police that rule as I saw a few non-resort chairs.

Housekeeping didn't clear dirty glassware until we asked, didn't replace coffee pods until we asked, and didn't replace shampoo/conditioner once during a 3-night stay. (And yes we spoke to a housekeeper, a supervisor, and the front desk staff about it).

The resort is really beautiful - nice pools, nice rooms, beautiful decor, good location. Our room on the west side of resort overlooked the beautiful state park and had ocean views - highly recommend that side of the resort if you go. Hotel is a short walk from the beach. Sure, it would be better to be actually beachfront, but this wasn't a big deal. Most of the staff were very, very nice, and most are good at their jobs. The food was really good and pretty reasonably priced for a resort - we ate at the bar several times (serviced by the same kitchen as the on-prem restaurant, Primrose). Pork tacos with pineapple salsa were made with very tender pork and great salsa, and we happened to find that at happy hour (4-6 daily) they were a decent deal at $10/3 with a small side of good fries (no, fries and tacos shouldn't go together, but whatever...). Veggie rice fritters also very good (and $5/5 during same happy hour), as were heirloom tomatoes.