Ok firstly I don't understand how anyone can write a good review about this hotel I feel like we're talking about a different hotel and had to check the photos on the internet to make sure I had the right one. Maybe if you think spam and plane food is quite tasty you'll like this hotel. I love the sun and needed just a quick fix before our summer started so me and my boyfriend who are well travelled went in April this year - we were going to New York later in the year so didnt want to spend a lot. We came across this one through Thompson holidays. When we turned up I straightaway felt uneasy especially after reading the crime reports etc on Trip Advisor. Hotel was a lot more basic than I was expecting but the maid was vigorously cleaning the floor so felt better and it was the caribbean andthe sun was shining - I thought you can deal with anything as long as the sun is shining and it was a week you can survive a week right? No you can't , not unless youve done a week in prison. it had the most awful food I have ever known on an all inclusive. One night I just snapped and went to complain to the receptionist (who although dressed in jeans everyday and wasnt professional looking did speak extremely good English in an american accent). He just laughed at me and the usual "ah the British thing" as if all we do is moan. The food wasnt labelled up so I had no idea what I was eating and thought I was eating beef stew - a common meal in all inclusives cause its cheap. It didnt taste like beef turned out to be liver - great I nearly threw up all over my plate - the only choice was liver stew or meatballs. Only rice to go with it no potatoes and that was it. Never any deserts. Only one bar was open which was the pool bar which was advertised as having two bars but the one upstairs was being renovated so wasnt even allowed into the whole top floor - thanks First Choice thoguht you're supposed to call/email customers and notify them of things like this isn't that why we pay you guys loads of commission? The building work also went on all through breakfast til lunch banging , drilling, hammering really noisy enough to give you a headache so because of this everyone went to beach no one stayed around pool which was a shame cause pool was actually really nice and looked tranquil- on the pllus we could always get a sunbed because of this! theres no way especially in peak season you'd be able to get one - people in the ground floor rooms had actually pulled a sunbed or two outside their patio doors as if staking a claim to it - bit cheeky. The final straw was halfway through the week on the weds night. We realised couldnt go into town as had heard so many reports of it being dangerous . Hotel was full of old people from England 60's pllus who went off to " have a nice cup of tea" at 10pm never to return or read their books on their balconies before retiring to bed -needless to say you can get a really good nights sleep in this hotel. germans etc stayed up but had no intention of mixing iwth the British. No entertainment. Went into town one night and had things shouted at me by men hanging around outside Senior Frogs and I dont think it was "you have lovely eyes"- have been to a few Senior Frogs and they are all awful but this one particularly bad full of locals and spanish who like noise lots and lots of shouting and noise - try to do funny games which they think is hilarious but sadly lacking in sense of humour- Margarita is a (-----), you can tell the tourist industry started in the 80's and it never really progressed from there I think loads of tour operators pulled out and unfortunately and sadly it was left - everything the decor etc screams 80's. This is down to the people they want tourists but dont want to have to put any work in or keep the beaches etc clean or take any rseponsibility. They are lazy and would rather turn to crime to get their money. A lot of graffiti telling stories of gangs and crime on the island - making you feel very uneasy. Not a civilised country at all. Moved to Dunes hotel had to pay extra £30 each (I broke down crying to rep and manager don't think they knew what to do with me) - was much better but still stuck in the 80's tired and wornout not the 4* it was advertised to be and surprisingly was not as clean and rooms werent as nice as the Palm Beach but was safer and had more going on and more amenities. I think in the end what finally broke me down with the Palm Beach was being asked to play scrabble by an older couple one night and having to watch the two young bar staff do salsa lessons when they weren't even that good at it to just five people sat around the pool, none of whom were British we were the only ones. I actually started to believe I could die from boredom, It was a toss up between starvation and boredom. There was hardly even any Americans there which said a lot cause they are often in the Caribbean so even they knew to stay away from Margarita.
Please don't go to Margarita or the palm beach only go if youre a windsurfer or surfer cause there were loads of them as its really windy and sea is reallly choppy (you can tell by the fact theres so many of them at airport getting their boards that you're never going to be able to go in the sea for a swim! red flags were out everyday. Only go if you want to pull a surfer that trully is the only reason. The weather was also rubbish cloudy and rainy all the time and the temperature actually dropped when it rained which is quite unusual abroad. As A final mention i'll say this one couple in our hotel said a group of them had walked down to the beach one day a pack of dogs were following them (remember these are stray dogs which could also have rabies) they ran off suddenly into an empty house and then came out ripping a dead dogs carcas between them to the group's horror - this was a common story lots of people reporting seeing dead dogs on the side of the road. We walked to the pharmacy one day - wish I hadn't car drivers are mental nearl run you over drive really fast - no road laws. You have to almost walk in road because shrubbery is not cleared back, awful smell of poo all the way there, and othe smells awful but didnt recognise worried was going to trip over a dead dog and would never get that image out of my mind. Dont understand it , being poor isnt an excuse lots of poor people in all countries around the world who dont live like this. Only good things about hotel were rooms clean, cleaned everyday, reception spoke good english , pool nice and tranquil setting .
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
