25 reviews
Not recommended during high season
We met family at Las Mareas (a group of 10) to celebrate the holidays as well as some family milestones (birthdays and a 50th wedding anniversary). Overall, I would not recommend this hotel during high season. We paid a higher price for VIP assuming that would provide a higher quality of service recognizing the likely busy nature given the timing. It wasn't worth it. Below are specific issues we faced during our trip that will hopefully help others who are planning a trip to this resort.
We learned quickly that if you didn't arrive to the pool early, chances of getting chairs were very slim. Every morning, one of us walked down to the pool to reserve chairs by the pool around 6am (the pool doesn't open until 8a). If we were not there before 6:30a, the chances of finding chairs by the pool for our group was minimal. We didn't look for 10 chairs together recognizing at most we would only need 6-8. Only one day did we get 8 chairs together. If you are traveling during high season, plan to account for this in your daily schedule or proactively reserve cabanas - I believe the price ranged b/t $50-75 USD. When we inquired, all cabanas were booked for where we wanted to be. While there is a preferred club space, it isn't large nor specific to preferred guests (or at least there isn't any verification about where folks are staying).
Overall the food is mediocre and, for extended visits, limited in terms of options. We were only able to eat at the Mexican restaraunt and Oceana restaurant as a large group, the rest of the time we ended up at the buffet. The Italian restaurant is adults only and as we had two young kids, we did not eat there. The four people who were there and didn't have young kids ate there and said the food was great - just know if you are traveling with children it might not be an option. If you don't have children make sure you take pants (for men) as the dress code is enforced.
The buffet was fine for breakfast but for dinner it wasn't quite the experience we had hoped for (or at least we were ready to not see another buffet by the time we left!). There are no reservations for the restaurants save the sushi and hibachi restaurant - unfortunately we were unable to secure reservations to those restaurants. The reservation system opens each Sunday at 8a. As we arrived on Monday evening, we found no reservations available. We returned the following Sunday morning at 8a to reserve the hibachi restaurant for our last day (Monday). There was a line when we arrived and by the time we were able to speak to someone, the only reservation time available was 9p. While not ideal (we had 2 young children) we made the reservation hoping for a nice meal as a group to close our vacation. Unfortunately, when we arrived in time for our 9p reservation, we learned the concierge had booked it for the following day, our departure day. Not a great way to end the trip.
The spa is lovely and the staff are great. We booked several services in advance of the trip through the website. I needed to cancel one service which concierge assisted with. However when I arrived to the spa for the other services booked, I was told I would be charged for the canceled massage as it wasn't canceled through the website (and at that point, it was past the cancelation window). Ultimately, the issue was resolved and I was reimbursed the $225. This was after spending 2 hours between the spa, concierge, and central support (via phone and email) to resolve. Not exactly time I wanted to spend during my vacation.
While the service we experienced was not great, the property is beautiful and the grounds crew/staff work clearly work hard to keep the property in great shape. The beach is clean and a great spot for swimming and sunset watching. There are a number of water activites (kayaking, snorkeling, paddelboarding) which we took advantage of and enjoyed. We also appreciated the wildlife we were able to see while there including howler monkeys and iguanas.
