For give me as I am not a gifted writer like some on here.
My wife and I met a few friends in Mexico for some R&R. Background: my wife and I have been to EPM x2, Excellence Punta Cana, an Iberostar, etc. So, we have a good feel for All inclusives both in service and quality of food and drinks.
So anyway we looked at EPM for this but the rates were high and I heard they were finally doing some updating. A friend of ours is travel agent and gave us Atelier as an option. It looked very nice and what we wanted.
She got us upgrades to Inspira which is essentially Excellence Club. Private concierge and check in. Upgraded liquor in the rooms. Private pool and beach areas.
First things first, my wife and I were on the plane with one of the other couples. We left Houston fairly early in the morning getting to the hotel right at lunch. Supposed to have a cocktail waiting (sparkling wine like Excellence), but my wife and I were not offered anything.
We were escorted to the Inspira check in once they realized that was on our reservation. My friends were escorted another direction given the wine and then 10 minutes later brought into Inspira.
As we are checking in, the concierge speaks decent but not great English. No problem my wife is Venezuelan.
So, lucky for us, our room is ready. Awesome. Our friends room is not quite ready. But, they will call as soon as it is. Should be no more than 45 minutes to an hour.
Our travel agent had been calling the resort all week trying to get us reservations for Maria Dolores which is their "signature" restaurant. She finally was able to get a hold of someone that said they were no longer taking reservations prior to arrival because of too many people canceling later and this restaurant is open to people not staying at the resort. "The Inspira concierge will take care of them as soon as they arrive."
We ask the concierge about reservations and she shows us the app. We start looking at the restaurant time availability and everything is like 75% booked for the next 3 nights. Our stay is 4 nights. The concierge tells us there is nothing we can do. But, that we should book some stuff and come back at 9 am the next morning to book Maria Dolores. Ok.
So far the attitude and general level of service is not up to Excellence. Anyway lets head to our room. Get taken to our room which turns out is very nice, and I would say a level above EPM. We did the swim up suite which turned out very nice.
The 4 of us decide to grab lunch at Suspiro which is the outdoor dining near the main pool. The lunch was excellent to the point that we were telling our friends I hope the rest is like this because this is probably the best meal we have had at an AI. (it was not to be)
As for our friends, they never got a call or a message through the app. they finally went back to concierge at around 3:30 only for the lady to say oh yes its been ready for awhile. Thanks appreciate that.
Our other friends were coming from Oregon. They got delayed in Denver, so did not arrive until dinner time. Only to find out that the resort gave away their room, and moved them to another side of the property which was not close to us.
That's the start.
More to come.
My wife and I met a few friends in Mexico for some R&R. Background: my wife and I have been to EPM x2, Excellence Punta Cana, an Iberostar, etc. So, we have a good feel for All inclusives both in service and quality of food and drinks.
So anyway we looked at EPM for this but the rates were high and I heard they were finally doing some updating. A friend of ours is travel agent and gave us Atelier as an option. It looked very nice and what we wanted.
She got us upgrades to Inspira which is essentially Excellence Club. Private concierge and check in. Upgraded liquor in the rooms. Private pool and beach areas.
First things first, my wife and I were on the plane with one of the other couples. We left Houston fairly early in the morning getting to the hotel right at lunch. Supposed to have a cocktail waiting (sparkling wine like Excellence), but my wife and I were not offered anything.
We were escorted to the Inspira check in once they realized that was on our reservation. My friends were escorted another direction given the wine and then 10 minutes later brought into Inspira.
As we are checking in, the concierge speaks decent but not great English. No problem my wife is Venezuelan.
So, lucky for us, our room is ready. Awesome. Our friends room is not quite ready. But, they will call as soon as it is. Should be no more than 45 minutes to an hour.
Our travel agent had been calling the resort all week trying to get us reservations for Maria Dolores which is their "signature" restaurant. She finally was able to get a hold of someone that said they were no longer taking reservations prior to arrival because of too many people canceling later and this restaurant is open to people not staying at the resort. "The Inspira concierge will take care of them as soon as they arrive."
We ask the concierge about reservations and she shows us the app. We start looking at the restaurant time availability and everything is like 75% booked for the next 3 nights. Our stay is 4 nights. The concierge tells us there is nothing we can do. But, that we should book some stuff and come back at 9 am the next morning to book Maria Dolores. Ok.
So far the attitude and general level of service is not up to Excellence. Anyway lets head to our room. Get taken to our room which turns out is very nice, and I would say a level above EPM. We did the swim up suite which turned out very nice.
The 4 of us decide to grab lunch at Suspiro which is the outdoor dining near the main pool. The lunch was excellent to the point that we were telling our friends I hope the rest is like this because this is probably the best meal we have had at an AI. (it was not to be)
As for our friends, they never got a call or a message through the app. they finally went back to concierge at around 3:30 only for the lady to say oh yes its been ready for awhile. Thanks appreciate that.
Our other friends were coming from Oregon. They got delayed in Denver, so did not arrive until dinner time. Only to find out that the resort gave away their room, and moved them to another side of the property which was not close to us.
That's the start.
More to come.
