Just had a lengthy stay here. Interesting mix of "above and beyond" and "wth"?

Check In: We arrived mid-evening on a weekday. There were three valet attendant sitting at the valet desk playing on their phones. None could be bothered to help us attend to our 5-days' worth of bags. They gave me a luggage cart, but quickly returned to CandyCrush, TikTok, etc. Plenty of staff available, but none motivated to help us check-in. The front desk agent was supremely helpful. He provided us with a list of daily activities at the pool, a coupon for Starbucks, a coupon for the on-site restaurant, and premium Wi-Fi network access. We were asked if we wanted to "opt in" to daily housekeeping, which we did. When we arrived at our room, we found the door open and unlocked, and multiple housekeeping supplies (chemical bottles, etc.) remaining in the room.


Room: We booked a 1K suite without a balcony. Not sure if it was intended, but we were put in a corner room with floor-to-ceiling windows, facing away from the water. The room was huge. Oddly, and mirroring our previous experience with the HVAC, the air conditioner cooled the bedroom to ice-box levels, but left the main sitting area warm and dank. We discovered that the return and filter were clogged and one of the two registers in the main area put out zero air flow. The floor was so sticky that walking in flip-flops was hazardous. We asked the front desk to have housekeeping clean with a mop and water, and we were told that the sticky residue was from the cleaning chemicals. Two of the doors (bathroom, main entry) wouldn't close without significant effort or a stiff shove with the shoulder. The glass shower leaked terribly, necessitating a full-size towel being used to sop up water after each use. It was obvious engineering knew about it due to the patching and repainting of the wall, but they were unable to fix the root cause of the issue (seal between glass and wall).



Amenities: The pool is the highlight of our trip. The pool is at least 100’ long. One end is zero-entry, one end has large stairs. There is a large hot tub nearby. Pool towels, toys, etc. are plentiful. The gym is great for a property of this size, but oddly, the HVAC wasn’t working and the gym was uncomfortably warm. The pool staff lines up kid-centric activities each day like potato sac races, treasure hunts, water balloon contests, and snow cones. Our kids, and dozens of other families loved the pool and utilized it from open to close each day.



Housekeeping and Engineering: Stay-over housekeeping is by “opt in” only. We opted in, and found that the housekeeping staff only dropped off towels and toiletries inside the door of our room. Nothing more, nothing less. On the 4th day, the housekeeping staff entered the room and took out our trash and made the bed, but did not change the linens. We routinely saw 2-3 housekeepers on our floor. Plenty of staff available for enhanced service. The HVAC in our room was only operational in the bedroom and we let them know. About 2 hours later, we received a call from the front-desk manager and she said “there was nothing we can do” and they offered to move us to an ocean-view room. We opted to stay where we were because the move would be a smaller room, and we’d already unpacked and moved in for a 5-day stay.



Dining: Breakfast is free for all guests and is a full hot buffet. Each day, we were presented with a self-service buffet of eggs, potatoes, protein (sausage, bacon, etc.), waffles or pancakes, grits, pastries, etc. This was a highlight for us in terms of quality and quantity of food. The afternoon reception is in full effect and includes beer/wine AND well cocktails for all. Specialty drinks are available at a reasonable premium. Diamond guests are given a 15% coupon for the in-house restaurant, but it’s only good for dine-in only. Odd choice during a global pandemic. We opted for take-out and ate in our room, and the restaurant staff was adamant we could not use the coupon. Regardless, the food at Harvest and Reel is excellent and we’d highly recommend it. Pool-side drink and food service is great, despite its severely limited hours (noon to 5PM).



Misc: There is an additional wing being built. Construction noise is minimal. Despite our check-in related concerns, day-to-day valet was prompt. They absolutely refused to touch any of our bags at check-in or check-out, but our vehicle was brought around swiftly each time. On-site laundry facilities are available, but coin-operated only. Neither the front desk, Starbucks, or the gift shop was able to offer change for quarters. Valet is mandatory and is $29/day.



Overall: This is our second lengthy stay at this property. We love the area, the amenities, and the complementary dining options. However, it appears Covid-related staffing issues have reared their ugly head in terms of poor valet service and engineering-related issues. We’ll definitely come back, but we hope that management sees the lingering issues relating to the upkeep of this beautiful property.