John Doe

Review of konokono beach resort

This report should actually be entitled: Honeymoon...

This report should actually be entitled: Honeymoon in Paradise
But far from it!

The positive:
- the view is great
- the sand on the beach is as fine as powdered sugar
- The food in the resort is extensive and delicious.

Now unfortunately the negative:
Getting there:
Unfortunately, we arrived on the island late because our flight was changed. When we arrived at the resort in the evening we were greeted in a friendly manner by a young man in traditional clothing and went with him to the reception area .

There were two men (one younger, one older) and a young lady (who sat on the armchair that was intended for the visitors and did not consider it necessary to rise to greet them).

It seemed difficult to find the documentation for our booking. The younger man and the lady were busy with their smartphones.

The older of the two seemed to be responsible for the guests and tried in vain to give a professional impression.

After a short back and forth we were able to check in and were taken to our beach pavilion.

The room:
This is where the nightmare really started. Wear and pollution wherever you looked. Dirty grout, dirty sheets, dirty towels. Dirty toilet, crumbling walls and worn furniture.

Too much for my wife, who left the room crying. We didn't want to spend a night there, but because it was so late the agency was unable to organize other accommodation at such short notice.

The hotel complex:
After we got through the night, we tried to get an overall impression early in the morning. Unfortunately we only found more things that confirmed our impression of the previous evening.

Weathered sun loungers, worn sun beds, littered beach and overgrown paths.

Not at all what we hoped for in a 5 star resort.

The service:
We ended up going for breakfast which, like dinner, was plentiful and tasty.

After we finished, we sat down in the "chill out area" with a cup of coffee and waited for the agency to give us feedback.

We sat in front of our empty coffee cups for 2.5 hours without a person (and there was plenty of staff present) asked whether we need anything, whether it is going well or whether we could be helped in any other way.

Finally it was time for lunch. I ordered a club sandwich for 14 and a beer. My wife had long since lost her appetite.

In the meantime we got a message that we would be picked up soon.

The departure:
After we finished lunch we went to the reception. There received and the guest manager, whom we told we want to check out. We had our suitcases fetched and the little man disappeared.

There was still a bill from the previous evening that I paid to the younger of the men. However, not the bill for the food and drinks consumed on the day of departure.

We hoped that we would be waived these costs. Wrong thought! The phone rang and the gentleman was informed about the outstanding invoice amount. We were asked to pay the amount.

(Note: When we arrived as a newly married couple, we were invited for a 30 minute massage and a romantic dinner. We did not use any of these)

We refused to pay the outstanding amount. The older man and another man came over to discuss whether we should be exempted from the amount or not.

The word "rating" was mentioned very often and after about 10 minutes we were waived the amount and the checkout was ready.

The sometimes unknown gentleman threw us a nasty "happy honeymoon" after us and our experience at the Konokono Beachresort was over.