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Created on Friday, 01 June 2012 13:23

We had a great trip to Sandals Whitehouse! We really enjoyed our room and the fruit tray we received. Everyone was so attentive we received 3 calls checking on us and asking how we were doing. Thank you for all your work, everything was seamless!


Katrina

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Created on Thursday, 31 May 2012 18:46

Hi Mitch and Ruth.

Just got back to the office – relaxing trip to El Dorado Maroma!  Thank you.

Alexandra and I were talking about likes dislikes and unfairly comparing to Sandals Antigua……….we called you relatively last minute prior to a holiday weekend, asked for a one way flight, all inclusive around $2000……we couldn’t be happier…..nice trip!

For your feedback file:

1. Flight smooth…..AIRTRAN…..after we deplaned due to maint failure, they worked pretty quickly, pilot punched it and we landed about 90 total minutes later than expected….pretty good for a plane exchange…….on the way back we opted for the $50 per person business class upgrade…….crashed all the way home…

2. Upon arrival – Lobby staff advised they wanted my credit card for a $375 deposit.  They said would refund at departure if no services were utilized against room charge (bottles of wine, spa, stolen robes, J, etc).  Not an issue, but was unexpected and was presented poorly by them…….was uncomfortable.

3. Our Concierge, Gabriela (Gaby) led us to our room.  You, them, somebody upgrade us to the TOP SHELF….Presidential Suite on the place…….Was an amazing room, but not quite what we wanted…….2 floors, 2 bathrooms, full dining room, full kitchen…….HUGE!!  overlooked a courtyard that was being reworked vegetationally (Like a hurricane hit it a few years back)…..either way, felt like it was our house and we needed to cook or clean something…..we opted to ask if we could just keep the inifiniti pool room with an ocean view……..this also got to be a little strange….she didn’t expect that reaction or conversation and seemed perturbed with the idea and kept pushing “why, this is better”…….head Butler, Daniel, got involved, gave us other options and we stayed on the 2^nd floor or originally planned room with a pool view………room was awesome…….how Gaby handled it was very awkward…..but she comes through later!   So, in short, if you upgraded me to the Presidential Palace, Thank you….gorgeous room.  Additionally, Daniel continually sought us out on the resort checking on our every need, coffee delivery times, exact number of bottled waters in fridge….guy is great with follow up.

4. Transfers….OLYMPUS - Private transfers flawless, courteous, on time, etc.

5. On Resort food – simple, worked fine….breakfast Omellettes were great….beach view great…..beyond that, nothing that great on their “Italian, or Japanese” place.

6. Gaby comes through.  We wanted to dine off campus one night….looking for lobster, referred and reserved Lorenzillo’s, set up taxi, etc, etc…great job!

7. Beach is gorgeous (all pics on wife’s camera, to follow).   The clear lagoon style water was awesome……many shallow and deep pools as well to play in.

8. Observation – The staff is very welcoming and extremely accommodating……I got the sense that ownership/management had recently changed as they were asking for surveys like crazy……after each meal, on the beach, upon checkout……really drove down data feedback.

9. The atmosphere was very quiet and peaceful….the Sandals Antigua was very activity driven and of course hundreds of people bustling about.

10. Another plus…….with the dock one property over, if you want to book snorkeling, deep sea fishing, parasailing or any other water excursion, you simply leave breakfast and walk next door, versus losing transfer bus times.

11. Free Excursion….while taxiing to Lorenzillo’s lobster feast, a wicked caravan goes flying by, fully flanked by armed Militia with a turret guns, hummers, etc.  Turns out the President of Mexico regularly hangs out at the Moon Palace….

IN SUMMARY:  An awesome trip to get away for an extended weekend – especially considering a 2:15 direct flight time from San Antonio and tight budget!!  Home to Beach waters was 5 hours……that’s a plus when time is being crunched.

Joe H

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Created on Tuesday, 29 May 2012 15:47

Mark,

Our trip to the Valentin Imperial Maya Resort was amazing.  You did a great job and thank you so much for the snacks on the way to the resort and the bottles of champagne.  Those were really a nice special touch.  My in-laws thank you so much and loved Mexico and cant wait to come back.  You will have repeat customers.  Lomas did a great job for transportation and everything was very well organized.  We all were able to get into the buildings and rooms we wanted which was great.

As for the resort itself we liked it better than the El Dorado Royale and any of the others we have been to.  In comparison to the Royale the Valentin beach was much much nicer and the pool was awesome. Beach and pool drink service was much better. Every 15 minutes they would come back around. The rooms were much nicer and up to date than the royale and the grounds more scenic. The food at the Valentin we were surprised how good it was.  It was pretty much on par with the royale.  The royale might have had a slight edge on dinners but not by very much.  Overall we were very happy with the resort and would return in a second.

Thanks again and my inlaws may want to make it a yearly trip. 

Shawn

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Created on Wednesday, 23 May 2012 04:17

Hi Jennifer,

We had a fantastic time and are so glad we stayed at the Iberostar Grand Bavaro. Here is a tripadvisor review that I just finished writing that sums it up:

We have traveled the world with this being the 30th country we have visited and this is ranks as one of the top for all-inclusive resorts. Staying at an all-inclusive can be tricky, the important things we were looking for were great food, comfortable beds with inviting rooms, beautiful beaches. The Iberostar Grand lived up to all of these and then some. We consulted with Jennifer Toren at TripGuy Travel to help narrow down or choices. We told her what we were looking for and she strongly suggested that we stay at the Iberostar Grand. Thank you Jennifer! The hotel is beautiful with a definite 5 star luxury feeling and decor. We knew we had made the right choice the moment we walked in. The employees were all very nice and genuinely interested in making sure all of the guests were happy. The rooms are a moderate size but have everything you need in them including a balcony. Try to get a room with an ocean view or facing the inner courtyard if you can. The food was delicious. The Japanese and Surf & Turf restaurants were our favorites. We had reservations every night of the 7 that we were there and by the end of the week, found ourselves just wanting to eat at the buffets because of the huge variety of delicious food. A few highlights include lobster & all kinds of seafood, yummy made-to-order pasta & omlettes, pizza and my favorite Nutella crepes. The beach is beautiful. There is quite a bit of seaweed in the water that washes up onto the shore but the hotel does a fantastic job of cleaning it up every morning. You can walk down the beach a bit to find water that doesn't have as much seaweed in it if you want to play in the water. With that being said, I would still stay at the Iberostar Grand over the other hotels. According to the different people staying at some of the other hotels, they were very large and had to walk 15 minutes just to get to their pools. The beauty of this hotel is that you can do as much or as little as you want. There are activities to participate in all day long including Tennis, kayaking, archery, dance lessons, volleyball and much more. They have a fun entertainment staff that goes around informing guests on upcoming activities. We attended two of the shows in the theatre. The first was Fantasia shown on Saturday. My husband and I were in stiches throughout the show, although I don't believe it was the intention. We were later told that this was the "B cast" and that the rest of the nights were much better. A couple of days later we went to The Michael Jackson show and it was. The dancers were great fun to watch. Overall, we will definitely miss the Iberostar Grand and dream of visiting it again sometime in the future.

Thanks

Deiudon

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Created on Tuesday, 22 May 2012 03:47

Hi Fayette,

You were right, the Live Aqua Resort was beautiful!  The food and the service was absolutely wonderful. One nice thing about the Aqua Club was that we were able to get a higher room guaranteed.

The food there was great!  It was much better than the Valentin and Emerald Bay.  We definitely think we prefer the "resort" type locations.  This would be a good long weekend get away.

All-in-all it was a great hotel and would definitely go back.  Thank you for the great suggestion!

Pam