We just came back after spending 5 nights at Tides. After some debate we decided not to book the preferred club and we didn’t feel like we missed out. Pros: - Room was modern, clean and honestly just beautiful. - At arrival you receive a cold towel and glass of pink champagne. Check-in was efficient. - The breakfast buffet was impressive. The selection was great, the staff blew us away (thank you Fanfan). We never needed to ask or look for a refill on a beverage (always nice to start the day with a mimosa!). We ate around 8:15am and it was quiet and the staff made it feel like you were at a sit down restaurant with how attentive they were. - Lunch choices were plentiful. We enjoyed the beach bar, a few days during our stay there was a bbq set up on the beach, we dined at Seaside Grill which was nice to get out of the sun and the service and food were great! We even ordered room service from the beach one day and it was waiting for us in the room when we got there. - Dinner we never waited long for a table. - All the staff were friendly & happy. What I thought was impressive was we were asked a few times for feedback from staff (for example the host at the buffet, the food and beverage manager). It’s a nice touch especially in the early stages of the hotel being open. - We never had to worry about getting a lounger at the beach or pool. Really nice when on vacation. The non preferred pools have the same cushion loungers that the preferred pool has (and honestly the non preferred pools were more empty which was nice). The beach non preferred area had plenty of palapas and you didn’t feel like you were squished in. - I was impressed that there were staff walking around at the pool and beach offering to take your drink order. There was never an expectation of a tip but definitely appreciated. - The beach was excellent, the staff cleared it many times during the day to get rid of the sea****. - One of our favourite experiences was dinner at Seaside Grill, if you go ask to be at a table where “SuperDuper” is serving. The man is so fast and funny and just wants to give you the best service! Areas of Improvement: - We found the drinks and food to be inconsistent. Sometimes you would get a well balanced drink (mostly at the restaurants, lobby bar and theatre bar were excellent) but other times they were either over sweet or the complete opposite and needed more mix to give it flavour (pool bar). But the staff at the pool bars were so friendly and happy! Food, the flavour at the restaurants could be upped, we also found the food at the Italian restaurant over sauced and a little disappointing overall. - Similar to other reviews we had to call the first day to ask for our room to be made up, after that housekeeping seemed on top of it. - The minibar in the room was also hit and miss. Some days it wasn’t refilled and they didn’t leave snacks. Overall, a really great trip and we would go back.