Dawn A.
Yelp
My cousin and I booked a mid-week, 2-night stay to "get away" for a treat without our husbands ...
Resort Overall - the resort itself is very nice, set on the side of a hill (bring your climbing shoes!) with great views and lots of greenery ... very pretty gardens and a bright red Alfa Romeo Spyder to rent for a few hours (I'd try that another time!) ... we both felt that it did not measure up to the pricey rate that we were charged ($535/night including taxes and breakfast) ... for that price, we would expect things to be much more "on" than they were for us. Too bad ... it's a great location and could be a fabulous experience ... ours was not that.
Rooms - the room we had was comfortable, 2 queen-sized beds were excellent, pillows a bit too firm and air conditioning was great. A bar fridge was available for us to chill water and some snack foods we picked up on the way to the resort. A large soaker bathtub in the middle of the room was a bit odd - perhaps for a more romantic trip, although it wouldn't even appeal to me for romance! The bathroom has a large walk-in shower and 2 sinks, which is great for 2 people getting ready at the same time. Overall, the room was great. Note - there is no room service for the restaurant or bar ...
Spa - we both had set appointments at the spa. The online "booking" system is more like a "request" system, as none of the times we requested were available when we were emailed as a follow-up to the online "requests". One of us had appointments confirmed, the other did not ... we phoned to follow up on the day of our arrival and one of the appointments had not been booked, Fortunately, we were able to then confirm a time but this is a definite "gap" in service. While one of us was in the midst of receiving service, the water pump was either shut down or stopped on its own, leaving treatment creams, salts and other ingredients not able to be showered off ... 20% off of the service was provided, but this feels like another service gap. It was a very uncomfortable experience. The lounge for pre/post-service is comfortable. There were no changing facilities, and we had to change in a restroom ... all other services were fabulous and the products available for purchase are top-quality (Phytomer).
Pool - the pool is inside an enclosed area, making it a very warm space in hot weather, which we had during our stay. It is located away from the spa, at the top of the main part of the resort. There are lots of towels available at the pool but you wouldn't know it until you get there - maybe it would help to have a little card in the room to say pool towels available at the pool. There are several outdoor seating areas near the pool, with nice patio furniture. There seemed to be large swarms of wasps hanging around the seating, making it uncomfortable to relax there. We did not stay long, as the wasps were quite aggressive.
Restaurant - we were quite excited to try the restaurant, as we had seen many good reviews and the menu posted online looked delicious. Unfortunately, the restaurant was disappointing. The menu was changed from the version that was posted online, with many of the dishes we had wanted to try being changed to other, unappealing dishes. The tuna crudo that we decided to share as an appetizer was tasty but tiny, thus we each got approximately 2 bites of it. The short rib was fork tender but the barbecue sauce was too sweet and the plate was covered, and not attractively arranged, with edamame. The broccolini served with the short rib was tasty. The "special" was a pasta dish with short rib, spinach and cheese that the server pronounced as "porkerino" - my friend said it was quite tasty... the bite that I tried tasted like potatoes. Our second dinner was a bit more successful, but (yes, but!) we ordered a dish of scallops that were actually served to us at a mediocre-warm temperature. They were served with a tasty, warmer orange-ginger sauce and the large-sized scallops were seared but definitely not hot enough. The tenderloin steak was delicious and cooked as requested. My friend had the short rib this time, requesting the barbecue sauce "on the side". She enjoyed hers. We ordered after dinner lattes that were very poorly made, mostly milk. We decided to just not have coffee and returned to our room with our wine, which was discounted for "Winesday"! Our booking included breakfast in the restaurant, which was very good both times. The service both for dinner and breakfast was not great, very slow and somewhat uninformed.