Almar Resort Luxury LGBT Beach Front Experience

I've stayed at this resort 3 times in the last 3 months. Overall, it's a great location, and I've enjoyed every stay. However, there is one thing that has been an annoyance...the constant sales pitches by the concierge and the club membership staff. Apparently, they don't understand what "no, thanks. I'm not interested" means. They don't take "no" for an answer at all. Seems I got someone telling me about this several times a day, even from other guests, which makes me believe somehow these members get some sort of benefit for recommending other guests to sign up. ||The bad news about this is that the sales pitch begins as soon as you check in. They will not give you your room key until you get the concierge/sales people to give you a brief overview of the program. This is when they will offer you a free breakfast and a 60 minute presentation. Apparently, I "promised" the concierge during my last visit that I would go to the presentation/free breakfast, but before doing so, they needed a $40/USD from me in cash. Not sure what that was all about, probably for the "free" breakfast. At any rate, I asked for my key and told him my partner and I had reservations in 45 minutes, and we had to leave. ||The following day, I went back to let them know we weren't interested. He then escorted us to one of the sales guys. We told him the same thing - we are not interested. He kept trying to tell us about all the wonderful benefits. Finally, I just said, thank you, and left.||The lobby staff is quite annoying for this. All three trips were spent at Eden, which I really enjoyed as well as the pool/bar staff. While the masseurs are also very nice, the constant massage services are pretty constant and annoying. If I say I am not interested, it probably means I'm not interested 15 minutes later when another pair of masseurs shows up. ||While I have thought about going back, as I write this, I am now having second thoughts due to the two negative points.

I was there for my birthday trip in the summer. My partner and I had a great time. The three resorts that make up the compound were amazing. Breakfast was amazing at the top floor. We had lunch at both poolside areas. Staff was amazing. Definitely a bit pricey but worth it. Just be mindful of the eagerness of the sales team to offer timeshares. I mean they have some good offers but they are unyielding. I would also say book through the hotel directly versus a travel agent. You will pay 2x than what you should.

I just came back (November, 2024) from a great four-night stay here. A lot of things mentioned in recent reviews are technically true, but barely noticeable or relevant to most travelers: 1. It's true that they make you put down a credit card at check-in even if you've already paid, for incidentals. I don't think I've ever been to a hotel that doesn't do this. 2. Yes, they have you go talk with Cynthia or another member of the concierge staff to tell you about some of the features, and ask you if you want to hear a timeshare presentation. We told her no and she made a sad face, but then moved on. The whole thing took five minutes, and that included her telling us about where to find and how to access the amenities throughout the hotel. 3. Yes, they also check your mini-bar during the check-out process, but the front desk just radios up to housekeeping to do it. We went through this twice (once for my room, once for my friend's), both times it took approximately 90 seconds. 4. Mildly irritating that in-room coffee isn't included, but not that big of a deal to me. We just got coffee with breakfast. Overall, it was a really wonderful time. The rooms and pool are beautiful, the views are amazing (I had a partial ocean view room, and it included excellent views of the ocean from the balcony). The staff were very friendly and most of them were fully bilingual (Spanish and English). The resort is up the hill just a bit from the ZR, but it's still a quick walk to get to all the bars and restaurants, and it meant that we had pretty quiet nights (fell asleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach). I would absolutely consider returning here next time I'm in PV, and would recommend it to any of my friends.

There are lots of plusses. The rooms are nice. The service is great and it attracts a fun crowd. The beach club and quieter pool bar are great spaces. A few things - the beach club is a bit pricey, but I guess to be expected and we had a good time there. There are a lot of rules at this hotel - I felt like checking in included a lot of going over the rules and then sitting down for the hotel overview and sales pitch. I didn’t think the sales pitch was that big of a deal or even that pushy - but after travelling for about 10 hours, we kinda just wanted to shower and change. All in all - we liked this hotel and would stay again.

The location and views at Eden are truly fantastic, making it a great spot to visit. However, I feel that the pricing doesn't quite match the overall value offered. While there are moments when the service shines, these instances seem to be infrequent. Given that the hotel attracts a steady stream of guests, there may be less incentive to enhance the experience. It would be beneficial for the staff to focus on finding ways to better meet guest requests and questions. Additionally, I think there are certain expectations associated with a luxury hotel that this establishment could work on to align more closely with those standards. Overall, with some improvements in service and value, Almar has the potential to elevate its offerings significantly.

My initial experience staying at the hotel had been MUY MAL! The room I was assigned is on the Eden pool level with a somewhat private patio that is shared with 2 adjacent rooms, and obscured from the main path to the pool with plants. Due to this location, I’m not able to sleep with the door open as A/C gives me sinus issues. I have asked the front desk several times for a different room, as well emailing reservations with NO responses.||I spend as little time in the room as I can’t breathe. Maybe the prevalent smell of mold and slimy surfaces attribute to this? Based on the high prices and my recent stay at the wonderful The Tryst in PV, I’ve had better stays at cheap motels. And the decor - like bad porn settings. ||Highly recommend NOT booking a room at this hotel. The Beach club is fun.

Unfortunately I had an overall negative experience. It is sad to realize how bad management can affect the overall stay. The positive: it’s a large property with good potential. The negative: the area around the property has become the cocaine alley of PV and it’s really unsafe to deal with multiple dealers every time you come in and out. Do not even try to bother with the top floor restaurant; the food, the service, the menus, everything requires a serious overhaul. The rooms are aging so the property is falling behind compared to what you can get in the same area, even the “VIP” rooms. Despite all of the above, the most aggravating problem of Almar is how the staff is trained to ruin your vacation just to get more money out of the guests. Very simple examples are how the so-called VIP rooms do not even replenish the filtered coffee (not even the pods, filtered) in the rooms unless you paid extra and, how the web states a reasonable check out time but the front desk imposes an earlier time with the clear intention to make you pay more. I also had the silliest issue with a room with 2 queen beds that was supposed to be a king bed (as this was my honeymoon) but the staff refused to understand, listen and provided any solutions unless I showed them my credit card. Expedia agreed to reimburse for this mistake on behalf of the property. In general, this is a no-go property - it’s probably why it was not even 50% at capacity during the Xmas and new years holiday season.

This is a good, not great, place to stay in PV. The food for lunch and dinner is fine. The breakfast options are just alright. The rooms are spacious and colorful, most with good sea views. The staff is friendly and helpful, putting hospitality first and tolerating the many self-important people who tend to make this hotel their playground. I have stayed here a few times, but I will look elsewhere next time. This decision made largely on the location of the hotel which feels somewhat removed from the hustle and bustle I enjoy in PV. Depending how you approach the resort, you may also be going up some steep and unpleasant hills.