Back from Tower Isle! Wonderful Trip with a few minor issues.

[Vee]

We had a shortened trip back to CTI and just arrived back to reality (sigh) today.
All in all, we had a wonderful trip and will definitely be back sooner vs. later. (Our next trip will be back to our first love, CSA, though.)

Because we are not complainers and tend to look on the bright side of things, I would rate the trip a solid A-. A big (HUGE) part of that is the staff on the resort -- the bartenders, servers, chefs, trainees, etc. I would like to offer some constructive comments, however, as some who are not 10x Couples repeaters may have been a bit turned off by a few of the issues we had.

1. Due to a family issue, we arrived one day later than our reservation. We effectively lost that night. (Yup. Kiss it goodbye.)
Two things happened here:
**we were NOT under any circumstances expecting a refund. It was our deal, and we knew we were out for the night. We were hoping, however, for some kind of "throw you a bone" type of thing. Kick us a $50 resort credit, or send up a bottle of sparkling wine or SOMETHING.... We just missed out on $400 worth of our stay. Come ON! When we enquired at guest services, their response was basically, "too bad, so sad." and it wasn't much more conciliatory than that.
**the second thing was our room was not ready when we arrived. Now... again, under normal circumstances, wouldn't bother me. We arrived well before check in time. BUT -- we had PAID for the previous night. Shouldn't the room that we had paid for be ready for us when we arrived --- 24 hours late?

2. We were celebrating our anniversary this trip. (13 years.) It was indicated on our reservation and on our pre-check in. Not a single acknowledgement of the event occurred during our stay.

3. Housekeeping this trip was mediocre at best. We went 3 days with NO body wash, and I finally had to flag the housekeeper down in the hallway and ASK for some. One day, our beach towels were sitting on a chair in our room, and the housekeeper came early. (Yes, I am one of those who cleans before the housekeeper arrives.) She left them in a crumpled heap on the chair. The space behind the sink was filthy. And I mean GRODY gross. I noticed this because my toothbrush fell behind the sink and when I went to get it out, (ewwww) I saw that in addition to an obscene level of yuck, there was an old toothpaste cap stuck back there.

4. We didn't receive turn-down service once. Now, this is mostly a scheduling issue. Turn-down wanted to come to our room between 6:45 and 7:00 -- right at the time that we were getting ready for dinner, as we like a later reservation. There HAS to be SOME way of coordinating guests' dinner schedules with turn-down. I don't expect it every night, certainly. But nope, not a single time did it happen for us this trip.

5. Our minibar was filled only 1x in 4 nights at the resort. It was a big bummer, since we really do like the Ting in the bottle. (mmmm.... going through withdrawals already.)

6. Pre-check in did nothing. I had to ask 3x for our repeater benefits; the minibar wasn't stocked; and upon checkout, I had to spend 20 minutes at the front desk getting our repeaters' credit applied to our account. And granted, it was 6am, but the young lady at the desk seemed to want to "I'll get it fixed and get back to you." Sorry, but I'm not leaving without resolving this one....

7. No snack pack. Now, I know this is not a huge deal, but I love my little lunchbox and granola bar on the way out. It's my reminder of my stay at Couples. (and honestly, I could have used the darn granola bar....)


All that being said -- and cool, rainy, overcast weather aside, we really did have a wonderful wonderful trip! And met some great people. It would just be nice of some of these things would be addressed however, as they do NOT put Couples' best foot forward, especially for a new guest.

Can't wait for July and Swept Away!! Trip #11 Soon Come. (Wall of Shame, here we come.)

[WE <3 COUPLES]

WOW! we never had any of these issues at CTI. Were they brought to the attention of Mr. Henry, the Manager, while you were there?

Paul and Debbie
Loyalists since 1980

[grayturtless]

Its actually nice to hear a honest review, as sometimes this message boards gives people that impression that Couples are absolutely perfect, when in reality its not always that way. Thanks for taking the time and effort.

[keki60]

Actually, I don't think what you wrote was bad, these are things everyone expects when on vacation, I am curious as to what Couples is going to do about some of these issues, You are long time guests. and hopefully these issues won't be repeated


kelly

[madtown mom]

ouch, that really is a shame! we are heading there next month, our first time to cti, but fourth to couples. i really love the morning breakfast delivery, hoping that is one area they are on top of. as far as I'm concerned the room not being ready is absurd! honestly, it would have put a really bad taste in my mouth. I'm so glad you were able to get over it and enjoy yourselves. nowhere is perfect, but boy do we have high expectations for our beloved couples. that being said, it is because they set the bar so high. i hope they continue to strive for excellence!

[shasbro66053]

I do hope this gets resolved before our first time arrival in Feb. For a repeater guest with as many couples trips as you have had, I do hope it is a fluke. I have read so many positive reviews, but negative feedback has been on the increase. If this is the same experience we are treated to, it will be our last. It is a delayed honeymoon and we have saved long and hard for this. We are also bringing two other couples with us to celebrate. Please 'Couples' fix these types of things so we will want to be repeaters too!

[Mona_and_rob]

Agreed. More issues than before. I wish I could say our last trip home in november was without them. I did review the resort, however I did not post it here. Room service was a very bright spot. Fantastic service across the board. Our housekeeper was very very good, but she kept taking our swim towels every night at turn down. Got to where i had to hide them if I wanted a swim after dinner. We found the towel hiding more funny than annoying.

One thing I would like to mention that I havent up until this point and this is NOT on Couples. I noticed a great deal of glasses and plates laying about all over the resort the last time we were there. I couldnt beleive it! We are not ten here people and we certainly don't need people to have to pick up after us like that. It will not kill you to bring your glass back to the bar when you are done drinking it. It detracts from the ambience for the rest of us. paradise....with garbage! Fantastic!

[Capt Ank]

Very upbeat report given the issues stated..Goes to illustrate the loyalty we've extended to Couples..Glad you managed to enjoy yourself. Take care!

[KrisJamie]

We had an issue with housekeeping/laundry as well this year, but that was pretty much the only issue we faced that caused any real drama.

[Karon]

Hi Vee,
Happy New Year!
Sorry to hear you had some disappointments on your last visit but I'm happy to hear you will be coming back to CSA. Things like you have described just shouldn't happen and I know you are not a complainer.
Don't think we'll catch up with you this year as we are going in April. It will be our 11th visit to CSA and 13th visit to Couples. I think (didn't check) we had a picture posted on the Wall when we were there for New Years. Thought we would have made it to the Wall our previous visit in April 2011 as it was our 10th visit to a Couples resort but found out it had to be 10 times at one resort. So we finally made it.

Hope they do something special for you in July. You certainly deserve it.
Karon