K Larkin

Review of Watermark Beach Resort

Our stay was certainly been less than perfect, wit...

Our stay was certainly been less than perfect, with issues on the daily. From check-in to check-out, there were things that certainly need ongoing improvement that will be detailed below. Deep, from the management team listened to our (many) concerns, and was able to turn around the situation the best he could. Although it did not improve our stay or erase the issues, we appreciated him taking the time (esp during a hectic day for Watermark) to listen, and implement changes.

1 - Cleaning & Sanitization: needs serious and more CONSTANT attention. Rooms, common areas and pool loungers are prime spots for germs in general - and critical during a pandemic. UPDATE Aug4: Dr has confirmed parents bites are from bed bugs. We advised hotel during stay, but were told might be mosquito bites. Review amended back to 1 star!
It felt no different to any other "pandemicless" summer. Rooms were not cleaned properly, and with a 5pm/10am checkout & no housekeeping during the stay, this is a big issue. We had to re-wash almost every dish, wipe down surfaces, and called housekeeping back in to redo the entire flat, esp bathrooms & common spaces.

2 - Modified check-in/out: guests are now losing 2+ hours of their stay due to "extra cleaning procedures" and yet paying the same rate. We arrived at 230P, were told room was not ready until 5, returned at 450P and were told room might not be available until after 5P but they didn't know when. Unacceptable, esp given state of room once we got in.

3 - Room key: each room was given 1 key card as hotel had run out and was expecting a new shipment in the next few days. The majority of rooms had a minimum of 2-4 adults. Imagine if someone lost/forgot that 1 key, or people had different plans..

4 - Operating capacity: hotel was incredibly busy, no surprise for summer and given travel restrictions. However, would suggest more control of human traffic/flows and interaction as this was a huge concern during the stay. No guests or staff (except a few cleaners) were in masks and yet most were customer-facing, and building setup had guests repeatedly touching doors/handles/buttons/carts & squeezing by each other in halls/doorways. Given the nature of clientele/families, would highly recommend stronger social distancing enforcement.

5 - Noise: if it wasn't being woken up by screaming kids from dusk til dawn, there were a few instances of excessively loud guests on their patios well into the night.

6 - Units/property: common spaces are incredibly small. We were told different specs during booking. Room fittings seemed worn, beds were super uncomfy. Washer/dryer were a nightmare to use. Price does not reflect value for these rooms, esp when other hotel services are down or limited.

7 - Pool: loud, often rammed, and you need to bring towels from your room. Room towels are tiny, some apparently larger than others (but most cleaners don't know this and leave you tiny towels) so you end up burning half your body on the loungers. Cleaning improved over course of our stay.

8 - Operational issues: boiler pump broke overnight on day 4. Water was turned off without notice for majority of the day, causing many to cancel plans as couldn't shower/brush teeth, etc. Although out of hotel's control, the guest comms piece was VERY poorly handled.

9 - Guest comms/service: majority of staff were new/unknowledgeable, careless, or purposely unhelpful/rude. Guests are paying a premium to be in a resort where this aspect should be top. The facility is fine, but service will differentiate it from competitors.

Overall, there were a few key members who went over and above to show exemplary guest service: Raj Bains (kept absolute calm in times of stress and went above and beyond), Deep (listened to concerns, implemented changes, and had the power to make a terrible stay turn back around), Courtney (helpful, maintained full professionalism & seemed to be working nonstop), Kerry & Cory "pool guys" (constantly working on something, keeping irresponsible guests in-line, and offering a friendly helpful manner at all times).