Surprising - not what I expected
To be honest my expectations going to this resort were VERY low. When I originally started looking at resorts Splash was at the top of my list, then I started reading reviews, and reading more reviews, nothing good or above 2-3 stars. From there I took it right off my list and started looking else where. Due to the timing of our planning, traveling as a family of 7 with a minor and time of year we were travelling, our options were getting slim. So on a family members opinion my parents decided this is going to be our choice, I was not happy about it, but was out numbered, if it was as bad as I expected, it wasn't going to be my fault.
We arrived and first impressions, i was impressed! Beautiful, bright, open & spotless lobby. Bell hops everywhere were right there as we got off our bus ready to help us navigate to the proper place for us to check in. We upgraded to diamond and it was SO well worth it, not a ton of extras, but enough that it just took our stay to the next level. There is a private lounge where we waited our turn to check in. The lounge itself had a small buffet with snacks, a bar and lots of comfy seating. Check in was quick and simple, then we waited for our butler to take us to our room.
Now this is probably the only REAL NEGATIVE to our stay, we were approached while waiting by Alexandria, who started showing us all these specials and coupons available to us being diamond members for our stay. We told her there were a few we might be interested in but had to consult with the rest of our group who were arriving later. She then kept pushing, even after being told MANY times we were not committing to anything at this time. She ended up booking us a "complimentary" breakfast with her the next morning. At that point is when we realized that those were not coupons for us to use, they were a way to entice us to go to this breakfast, then you would be their stuck sitting through the sales pitch for you to sign up with them, THEN you would get the coupons. To top it off, that night when we got to our room, she had a bottle of sparkling wine and a reservation reminder with the WRONG names on it! Did not leave a good taste in our mouth, felt super slimy, made us really uncomfortable and question our choice of resorts. Be upfront, let us make the decision, if we are interested, let us seek you out, don't try and trick your guests.
At this point our butler Alonso saved us! He took us to our room, showed us around, went over all the amenities we had available to us, and helped us get set up with the app we needed to keep in contact with him. He also informed us that we would have a 2nd butler on hand when he was not working. That was Christian. We have stayed at other 5 star luxury resorts and hands down the service we received from these 2 men was ABOVE & BEYOND anything we have ever received before! They checked in with us every time their shift changed, visited us every day at the pool, but were never overbearing or pushy. They were polite, very professional, yet at the same time very personable and times down right funny. They were the absolute cherry on top of our holiday. Any question we asked, issue that came up or request we made was dealt with asap, no questions asked.
As far as the rest of our stay - everything, our room, pool area, poolside bars, the grounds themselves, staff, restaurants & food were top notch. The sales people who go around asking about you about the spa & excursions were respectful, if you said no, they moved on, they did not push or try and change your mind.
Like other resorts, especially if traveling in a larger group, reserving your dinner reservation times is a must, but if you don't their buffet restaurant is massive with tons of options for pretty much any ones tastes or food restrictions.
Side notes
- the mini fridge/snacks in your room - are disappointing - there is no microwave, fridge is restocked daily with drinks, but if you are looking for snacks like at other resorts, they give you a tiny box of a few options & once they are gone, they do not restock those - so if you are craving chips or things of the sort - bring your own, or you are paying a fortune for the ones at their store!
- AVOID the Cave restaurant - its unique inside - but food is bland and what you are think you are ordering is not actually we you get, sometimes not even close to what you thought you were getting - we left hungry, very confused and disappointed.
- lunch time can get a little crazy - especially if its rainy! We were there over march break - so we expected things to be busy then normal, but one day of rain and they were not prepared! Restaurants that served lunch had line ups that were beyond excessive, including the food trucks. The take out pizza place ran out of dough & pepperoni - and they still had a line up that snaked around a large area. Room service had a wait time of 2-3 hours and even the cafe ran out of cream and some other items. That day there were A LOT of very hangery people walking around super frustrated.
- we were travelling during march break so we expected it to be busier than normal, but it did seem like in the diamond section they may have over booked - but still not to the point that it put a damper on our stay.
- the play center where the arcade/laser tag/arcade looked really fun - we never made it there.
- the waterslides are huge and look really fun for those into that - again I an not so I just appreciated the enormity of them
- splash pad area - really big and spacious, everyone enjoying it seemed to be having a blast
- there is no shortage of nightly entertainment - hours of different shows or events - lots of fun for everyone of all ages & for the adult night owls, the Cave had a disco that started at 10:30pm
All in all these are the stand out points good and bad - I could probably go on but the take away is this. THIS RESORT IS AMAZING! As a collective family there is no question we will return & depending when, we would definitely try and request Alonso & Christian to be our butlers.
