We spent two nights at the Ritz Carlton in a club retreat suite and enjoyed it very much. I don't like resort hotels so I was glad that i spent the money to stay in the higher end villa area. It is off season and there are a modest number of people here. I booked a one bedroom club retreat suite. I am titanium and the hotel kindly upgraded us to ocean view which I really appreciated. We were also given a very early checkin. Our fight arrived at 7am. By the time our rental car agency opened (8am), we were at the hotel by 9am. We were given breakfast (included in our rate the next two days but a kindness on the first day). By the time we were finished brealfast, our suite was ready.
The suite was large with a very big living room adjacent to an equally big bedroom. It would have been nice to have a sink in the mini bar area instead of always having to use the sink in the bathroom off the bedroom. Regardless, that was a small hiccup. We had a large private patio with loungers and chairs. We had a downward flight of steps to get to our suite. I think all the suites that extended onto lawn had steps to reach them. We had a golf cart parked outside the building with my name clipped onto the steering wheel.
We were slow to get to the club as first we slept, having been up since 2:30am to catch a 5:30am fight, and then driving an incredibly narrow switchbacked road to the north side of the island. We had a midday meal at a Michelin restaurant. We decided to continue on around the island to return to the hotel. It was a one hour drive north, then 2 hours on a nice divided highway to return. There are airports at both the north and the south side of the island. We flew in and out from the south, just half an hour from the hotel.
Parking is free, whether valet or self parking. I appreciated the benefit, extended to all hotel guests. We had a hotel car drop us off at the lounge which is adjacent to the Mirador Restaurant and the structure closest to the ocean. The club lounge has its own pool.
Please find below the culinary and beverage programming for the Retreat guests:
Breakfast: 7:30am to 10:30am
Hors d'oeuvres: 12:30pm to 3:00pm
Pastry delights: 3:00pm to 5:00pm
Evening cocktails: 5:00pm to 6:00pm
In addition to our signature presentations, beverages and light snacks are available to Retreat guests throughout the day from 11:00am until 7:00pm.
Many of the hotel staff are enthusiastic young people on 5 month internships while attending college for a hospitality degree. We were very impressed by all whom we met. Guillermo manages the club and is native to the island. He is excellent, very service focused. He checked my husband out on the golf cart to be sure that he was comfortable driving it.
The first morning, we had breakfast in the main building. The following two mornings, we ate at El Mirador as I prefer being as close to the ocean as possible. The view was beautiful. We then walked the short distance to the funicular to go to the beach. I was very impressed with the beach set up. There were many loungers under umbrellas, a nice sandy cove, and a beach bar/cafe with extensive seating. There was also a paved path along the water. There was a landing area for boats at the far end. We didn't see any water sports and aren't sure what could be booked to go out by boat.
Hot and cold tapas are served from 12:30 to 2:30 and suffice as a meal. I wasn't impressed by anything other than a delicious gazpacho.
I was very glad that I paid the money to book a club suite. I don't like large resort hotels and this is an intimate hotel within a larger hotel.
As for the island itself, we found it bland, I was fascinated by how much of the island is covered by banana groves. While I would never fly from the US to stay here, it was a comfortable break between Marrakech and travel within France. We flew in on RyanAir and out on easyJet, budget airlines within Europe. We were told that the island has sunshine and warmth year round. We chatted with an intern who lives in the Netherlands. He was very enthusiastic about the break from northern European weather.
