“Beautiful little island, amazing food, but some improvements needed.”
The island is lovely, everything is doable on foot, and there is a beautiful house reef all around the island that is very accessible with plenty of fish and sharks; we even saw a few turtles and a manta ray during our stay. The overwater villa was amazing, we had the first one in the row, giving us an extra panoramic view of the south. The amenities were plentiful and I can hardly find anything to complain about regarding the villa. The room attendant kept the room clean twice a day, and the minibar was replenished daily without having to ask for ice or lime/lemon after the first time. The villa and the staff were excellent. I would rate the island 10, the villa 10, and the food 9. We really liked the food at the sea grill, and also the food at the Mexican and Japanese restaurants was excellent. I forgot the chef’s name, but the chef in those two small restaurants was kind and a great entertainer. The reason I gave a 9 instead of a 10 is that I think the island management and staff still need to improve to match the island and villa experience. We were assigned a key staff member for the week who picked us up from the seaplane and handled our check‑in; after that, the handling of information and activities felt very passive. We received a complimentary champagne sunset cruise upon arrival, but when we tried to book it halfway through the week, there was only one date left, which was first mentioned as “full”; only when I asked if there was no other way did they suddenly have a space. The next day, I asked about a “manta ray excursion,” but because another couple had already booked a private tour for the only possible day, it was not an option. The point I’m making is that the island relies on guests being proactive; with only 30 villas, there is effectively only one “trip opportunity” per day, so you need to book very early—if one couple decides to go solo, the other 29 villas can’t do that or a similar activity that day. Finally, the main reason I wasn’t fully satisfied was a miscommunication between staff on our second evening: we ended up with no food or drinks while the tables around us were being served their mains. My gripe is that the resort doesn’t give every customer the same experience because they assign different staff members to different tables. We left before getting any dinner that night because we felt completely ignored. I heard later that the resort owners were on holiday, which explained a lot. It was clear that there was no proper hierarchy among the F&B staff, leading to more than one disappointing meal experience.
FrankНеделю назад