테나카티타 비치

The only all-inclusive resorts I’ve been to before this visit were Excellence and Beloved, so I am sure that my expectations were not in keeping with this sort of all-inclusive resort, which is more family-oriented and modestly priced than then Excellence properties are. Here are some things that surprised me, shared for the good of the order: 1) The coffee and snacks that are in your room on arrival are not replenished daily. They are an amenity for your arrival. If you look sad enough, and beg hard enough, you can buy more coffee for 30 pesos. There is coffee (around 5:30) in the pool area. I awake at 4, so the coffee situation needed a workaround. 2) Meals start a few minutes AFTER the posted hours. I arrived at 8:01 for 8:00 breakfast, and was made to wait until 8:08 to enter. Not a big deal, but something worth knowing. 3) The food is good, but bland. Luckily, there’s more authentic food available in the streets nearby. 4) The staff are great. I’d put them up again the staff at Excellence resorts. They’re attentive, smart, resourceful, and very competent. To my mind, they deserve to be tipped more often and more generously than I observed occurring. Other observations: the ocean views are stunning, and the water is warm. If you can, I suggest bringing your own beach chair. Theirs are uncomfortable, and they go fast. Bring your own, find yourself a little piece of sand, and just enjoy the sights, smells, and sounds.

We give this a 10/10 for a 4-star stay. For it being a facility that is not strictly a hotel, we were amazed by the experience. We must open with that the staff did a phenomenal job with communicating early and even assisting with surprising my girlfriend with flowers, a snoopy gift item, and wine. They also facilitated excursion reservations and helped us select them. They were extremely detailed and answered literally all of my questions. The building itself was very well maintained and the staff was always greeting us with a smile and always happy to help. Booking through Expedia gives you daily room service which was a great plus. The minor details that impacted score were that when we arrived, although we notified when we would be arriving, we waited about 20min for someone to greet us and walk us to our room. Once checked in and settling in for the night, we found some trash under our nightstand while plugging in our charger. The door handle to the bathroom wasn’t fully secured and slid off when going to close the door. And finally, one of the reclining chairs was not operational. Our experience at the rooftop pool was both extraordinary but also felt restricted. They have a strict policy that is predatory in nature. I want to be very clear about my choice of words- you are not allowed to bring ANY outside food or beverages… not even the welcome water bottles or previously purchased bottles from the same bar. All of our drinks tasted good but poured with a light hand.