TL;DR - amazing and fun property, entire front desk staff should be replaced with a kiosk

I didn't see any comprehensive Breathless reviews since the acquisition, so this is going to be unnecessarily long. The stay was in the last week of March.

Booking - When Hyatt announced the increasing point levels for all-inclusives, I cashed in 112,000 points for 4 nights after buying 110,000 points for $2,000 earlier in the year. $500 a night was cheaper than the $800-900 a night the entry-level rooms were selling for. A concierge from the Globalist 800 number was able to apply and confirm an oceanview suite "upgrade" (more on that later) certificate at the time of booking. At that point, any benefits from the World of Hyatt program came to an end.

Pre-Arrival - a few days before the stay, I was emailed a questionnaire from the hotel that asked about my arrival time, but was mostly fishing for upselling opportunities. In the questions section, I asked if my oceanview suite upgrade could be confirmed, and the reply was "Please allow us to confirm the status of your room request upon your arrival to the resort as this is based on availability and not a guarantee in advance." Uh, no, that's not how a suite upgrade certificate works. It took another call to my Globalist concierge to confirm the "upgrade".

Arrival - the worst two things a front desk agent can be are 1. untrained, and 2. unempowered. Every single person at the desk I encountered over my stay was both. I arrived at noon and was aware that there was a 3 pm check-in. As the resort is all-inclusive, I was told to just drop my bags and wander around the resort, have lunch, etc. At 3 pm, my "upgraded" suite was not available. I figured it must be a great upgrade! Every 15 minutes, I was told that it will be ready "any minute now", so I hung out in the lobby for several more hours, watching everyone else arrive and immediately be provided rooms. Between 5 and 6 pm, I was given my room, and it was ... the standard room type on a middle floor. They keep a couple of low-floor obstructed view rooms for award redemptions, and everything else is a standard "oceanview suite". At one point, I made the mistake of asking if, as a Globalist, I could be given ANY room (they had many room types still for sale on the app) and switch my room on the 2nd day. I hate having to throw my status out there to get something. The front desk employee, standing behind the "World of Hyatt - Globalist/Explorist/Discoverist" sign first asked me what Globalist means, and then said they would "call a manager". She got on the phone and then denied me but again told me it was "almost ready".

At no point during my stay did I see anyone at the front desk who could make a decision. Every question, even the simplest "can I convert some $20s for $1s and $5s for tipping?" resulted in a phone call to the back office, like Howie Mandel on "Deal Or No Deal".

Rooms - Amazing, sexy, fun. This is not a property for a couple of friends or relatives to cohabit. The shower stall is floor-to-ceiling glass in the -center- of the room with an overhead waterfall (I enjoyed throwing dollars every time she took a shower), and the artwork above the bed is a woman in stilettos and thigh-high stockings bending over to grab her ankles. Oh, mama. There is a wonderful hot tub on the balcony and several modes of mood lighting for the room, along with a continually stocked fridge full of beer, wine, soda and water. When you are in the main pool, you will probably get a glimpse of someone showing off the goods on their balcony. The crowd was mostly in the 30-50 range and, like us, were getting their money's worth at the bars.

Property - LOUD. ALL THE TIME. If you love big techno anthems during the day and thumping deep house/downtempo at all other times, you will love it. I loved it. She did not. As soon as breakfast is over, a DJ pops into the booth at the pool and starts spinning. The rooms are all in one concave building facing the pool and are not soundproofed for it, so it can be a bit much. Don't believe the website - there are 3 restaurants and 3 bars, one each by the pool, on the lobby floor, and on the rooftop. Just because they can walk a drink from one bar 20 feet over to a sitting area doesn't make it a completely different bar. There is no waterfront access at Breathless, but you can escape to a "Breathless-only" private beach a couple of blocks away, nestled within the Secrets property. There are theme nights throughout the week with burlesque shows, dance parties, fashion shows, etc. There is a lot of energy here.

I loved the rooftop pool, the bartenders and the 360 degree views of the island, and spent much of my stay there. The rooftop restaurant/pool/bar is supposedly for people that pay to be in the "Xhale Club", the Breathless version of Regency Club. Xhale Club members receive a room in a special section of the property and are given a personal butler for the stay along with access to the rooftop. My Globalist concierge mentioned that other Globalists she has booked have received full Xhale Club benefits, but I was not offered the Club room at check-in, although that room type was showing availability on the app. I also asked about this and, after a phone call to "the manager", was flatly denied. In the end, it appeared as though anyone who wanted rooftop access got it.

Food/drink - fantastic, with numerous choices. The liquor was solid mid-shelf selections and the beer was ice-cold Red Stripe. There were copious opportunities to "upgrade" to a bottle of wine (at 4x-6x the US retail price), but the included house bubbly was decent. The Hyatt all-inclusives have their own app, and it gives maps, menus, restaurant times, etc. It was excellent in looking at what was available at any given time. The breakfast buffet was very good, with dozens of choices and a make-your-own bloody mary and mimosa bar. The food/drink staff was 11/10 - super friendly, welcoming, funny. They really liked working there. I kept a list of names to include in my review back to the hotel (Altitude - Oshaun, Nico, Nicole, Chevonne; Fish Nets - Devaughn; Spoon - Theo; Lobby Bar - Keino; Sofrito - Paul) because they made our stay unforgettable. And tip the employees! I cannot believe how many pathetic people stiff their servers and bartenders.

Other services - we did not do the spa or go on any excursions, but there are two desks in the lobby for selling you add-ons. We were given a $200 coupon book that was like restaurant.com "coupons": things like $20 off a $350 dinner-on-the-beach, $10 off a $100 bottle of wine, etc.

Secrets - Breathless guests have full access to the two Secrets resorts across the street (but not vice versa, and it was strictly enforced), with another dozen bars/restaurants, water sports, several pools and a very long beach. That crowd seemed to skew a bit older and more sophisticated than the Breathless scene. There are 150 rooms at Breathless and the Secrets properties seemed to be about 4x as large. There were times that the Breathless property was nearly empty, while Secrets always had a crowd.

Checkout - a continuation of the check-in. At some point during the week, a front desk person mentioned that due to my check-in snafu, I was given a $200 room credit. Sensing more front desk BS, I asked what it covered, and was told "services, drink upgrades and the gift shop". I then asked which gift shops were included and was told "any of them at Breathless or Secrets, including the Rum Shop". Really? I did not even know they had a booze shop until I was told this. At this point, you see where this is headed... I immediately ran off and procured $200 of distilled island goodness.

At checkout, my only charge showing was $200 for two bottles from the Rum Shop. No, I said, that is covered by my room credit, which is the only reason I paid $200 for $50 worth of rum. The front desk automaton then insisted that I was supposed get another $200 coupon book or something like that for my earlier troubles. At that point it got a bit hostile. I absolutely stood my ground and after a phone call "to the manager" and a trip to the back to "talk to the manager", the employee spent 10 minutes filling out a huge report with carbon copy triplicates to document the credited items. This is what happens when no one at the front desk is given any training or authority at all - every employee has to go ask permission to answer any question. And I never interacted with a single manager the entire time, especially after having issues.

In all, a lovely property marred by a disastrous first day and a 30 minute showdown at departure. For a future trip to this part of Montego Bay, we would probably stay at the more sedate Secrets. We then headed over to Zoetry Montego Bay to continue our vacation, which will be a shorter and much more pleasant review.