I booked a 7 day holiday to ASC through Transat Holidays for $5062 for my spouse and myself, expecting to receive what was advertised by the tour company & resort.
A week before our trip we contacted our travel agent, Transat Holidays, Almond headquarters in Fla., and the resort director at ASC to express our concerns about the empty pool, hot tub, low water levels and bed bugs mentioned in the Feb. 2010 reviews on a hotel review website (along with the link to show the pool/hot tub photos).
Transat Holidays had our full payment and refused to allow us to switch to the sister property of Almond Morgan Bay and Almond headquarters assured our travel agent that the pool situation had been rectified before our stay.
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| Your Arrival |
On our arrival we noticed the water levels were well below the skimmers, one pool was less than 1/2 full, but people were still trying to use it and the hot tub water level was below the jets for most of the week. The pools were dirty every day even after some cleaning took place.
While we were at the resort we contacted the director about the dirty, 1/2 empty hot tub/pools and asked if they could be taken care of. We also filled in 2 surveys while there expressing our concerns re: cleanliness, condition of pools, hot tub and the thief of our travel documents when the reception people were watching our suitcases while we were sent off for lunch at the children's buffet at check in time.
Speaking to other guests who had been at the resort for 3 weeks, we found out that the pool situation had been the same for the entire time. They were told there was a drought and the resort was not filling the pools to conserve water and the one pool had a leak. So those were the excuses being given, while the water flowed freely in the restaurants. Your glass was never empty. Lots of ice was being used in the drinks, as well.
We were also told by other guests about 3 cell phones being stolen from the guest rooms, so we carried our valuables with us, as the safes could not be relied on.
On our 5th day there, we noticed pool maintenance & management people taking a look at the condition the pools. It was evident that this area of the resort had been neglected for quite a while. Clean up started at that point. Someone came out to the hot tub with liquid cleaner and a rag to scrub it down. Someone came out to test the water in the adult pools and on our departure date the 1/2 empty pool had been filled.
We spoke to people who stayed at 3 other resorts on the island the same week and they were aware of the drought, but had full, sparkling, clean pools to enjoy. Not so for ASC, we did not swim in the pools because they were so dirty and uninviting.
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| Rooms |
We had a garden room behind the Piton Lounge. The room was basically clean except for the ants crawling around the bathroom floor, counter top and tub. The air conditioning worked well and we had water for showers, but no towels on our last day. Trying to get atleast 2 towels & washcloths was quite a task. Reception kept promising someone would bring them. It took 3 & 1/2 hours for that to happen. We went to dinner dirty.
You will see a variety of reviews about this resort. It shows inconsistencies. Having been former Almond Resort guests in Barbados, I must say Almond Smugglers Cove doesn't compare at all and we would not recommend it.
We did speak to others at the resort who said they'd been upgraded to a suite and they paid so much less than we did for their vacation there, which prevented them from expressing their concerns to management.
We didn't get what we paid for.
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| Restaurants and Bars |
The restaurants and bars would be considered average for an all inclusive. They ran out of diet coke our last two nights there. Bottles of water had to be bought in the gift shop. You order your item, go to reception room to pay for it and then go back to gift shop to pick it up.
Bars generally opened around 10 am.
Reservations were needed for all restaurants for dinner. |
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| Beach/Pools/Grounds |
The beach is a dark sand and murky looking.
Grounds were well kept, except for room service trays being left outside the neighbour's doors.
Pools-reported at beginning of review. |
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| Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel |
| Went to lobby for archery group to meet. No one showed up. Left after 1/2 hour. No archery although it was advertised in the program. |
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