Almar Resort Luxury LGBT Beach Front Experience

I don't usually post negative comments, but if this will help another traveler make an informed choice, I thought I'd let you know a couple of things. First, I booked a junior suite with an ocean view. The rooms are very nice and spacious. However, our ocean view was actually of telephone poles and wires and the thatched roof of the club across the alley. I admit, the ocean was in view, beyond these obstacles. Our original room was on the 4th floor and the first night our roof sprung a fast leak due to the downpour outside. It was mostly cleaned up and we were told to let the front desk know in the morning that we needed to move rooms. I would have thought that due to the inconvenience of having to re-pack everything, that they would have given us an upgraded room. Instead, they gave us a junior ocean view suite on the 3rd floor with a closer view of the wires and rooftop. This room also had only one patio chair so even if we wanted to sit out on the patio, we wouldn't have been able to together. The resort itself has nice amenities.

We loved it so much we bought a time share of sorts great deal. Can’t wait to come back. Special thanks to Andrea and Leo.

The staff were not very helpful. And there were many extra charges that I didn’t get back even though the staff said we would get our money back after checking out. (A deposit fee on top of a reservation fee)

The hotel was under significant construction for the entire duration of our stay. From around 10am until approximately 8pm there were jackhammers and loud construction noise throughout the property, which made it very difficult to relax or enjoy the hotel. During our stay the elevator was temporarily out of service, which meant guests had to walk up several flights of stairs to access different parts of the property, including the beach. On some occasions the usual stair access was closed, which meant guests had to pass through areas of the building that were clearly part of the construction zone, with debris and broken materials on the ground. The hotel was also quite empty during our stay, yet when we asked about moving rooms we were told it would cost an additional $75 per night. To be fair, we did not specifically check for construction notices before booking. However, after the issue came up we looked on the hotel’s website and could not find any clear notice explaining that the property was undergoing major construction or that key facilities might be temporarily unavailable. The staff themselves were friendly and helpful and were clearly doing their best, so this is not a criticism of them. However, the property in its current condition does not offer the experience most guests would reasonably expect when booking a hotel stay.

Overall the resort was great. It was very clean, the staff were very pleasant and the gym and other facilities were fantastic. We were disappointed with our view but we blame this on ******* - the listing said it was a "bay view" and it was the side of another building. On the Almar site it does say "no view" but we didn't see that until after we booked because we went through *******. It is a very loud hotel - the beach club plays loud music from 12pm - 7pm but that was ok with us because most days we were at it. Unfortunately, it was also loud due to construction of their new spa right below our unit. On our last night we complained to the front desk because they were still drilling concrete at 9 pm with no plans to stop. They did offer to move us rooms, which we did, however it was only 2 floors up and was just as noisy. It would have been appreciated after enduring all that noise for the week, if they had move us to the tower to escape it, especially given the hotel was quite empty. (the week after the cartel incident)

The hotel resort fee is way to much. Couldn’t get a chair on the beach 2 days we were here. The area with people trying to sell you something right in front of the hotel should be looked at. The hotel construction was ok.

Zero accommodation to cancel notwithstanding impossibility to travel because of cartel situation and travel advisories. Not even basic responsiveness to messages

The resort was well kept and beautiful, room was spacious, clean and cleaned daily. For the price point food was average, service at pool and beach club was poor, couldn’t help but notice that we didn’t fit into the crowd as it was not diverse. We felt constantly ignored while others around us got repeated service. Bed was uncomfortable and sunken. The room was advertised with jacuzzi but after asking 3 consecutive days in a row for the jacuzzi to be turned on we gave up. Limited beach chairs and umbrellas are reserved for guests while the majority are sold to non-guests. Overall stay was ok but would not stay here again or recommend it to anyone we know.

Staff here is great - incredibly hard working and attentive! We enjoyed the location, breakfast, and pool options.