Hawks Cay Resort

We were at 7214 in the sanctuary in one of the villas, we had fun with the activity’s of feeding fish and Justin was very nice and sporty and chill. Justin played a song game with us also

Tennis with Patricks was great! Nice drills keeping the energy up all the time.

Tennis Pro Patrick was awesome!! Very accommodating and knowledgeable in helping me get back out on the court!!!

June 11 – Arrival, Villa 7083 Upon entering our original villa, it was immediately obvious that the unit had not been properly cleaned or maintained. Among the issues we encountered: ● Cockroaches running on the walls ● Large dark brown stains throughout the carpets, including significant stains in the master bedroom and on the staircase ● Cracked tile on the flooring and carpet that clearly hadn’t been vacuumed ● Dirty men’s socks left behind in the closet of one of the bedrooms ● A strong mildew odor throughout the villa ● Water-damaged furniture in the master bedroom that appeared to be rotting from prolonged moisture exposure. The condition of the villa was shocking. Given the odor, visible moisture damage, and overall condition of the unit, there was no way we felt comfortable staying there. I immediately reported the issues to the front desk. What was equally disappointing was the response. The manager on duty never came out to speak with me personally. Instead, the front desk employee repeatedly walked to the back to consult with management and returned to tell me there was nothing that could be done because the resort was sold out. As a result, my family was forced to spend the night in a villa that should never have been assigned to guests in the first place. I have photographs and video documenting every issue described above. Later that evening, my husband went to the front desk to obtain Wi-Fi information. The night auditor was extremely rude and dismissive. When he asked for the internet password, her response was simply, “We don’t have a password,” with no smile and no effort to provide any additional assistance or hospitality. 100% attitude as though we were an inconvenience to her day. June 12 – Second Villa, Same Problems 7086 The next day, we moved four adults, two children, luggage, and approximately $450 worth of groceries into Villa 7086. Shortly after settling in, we discovered the air conditioning was not functioning properly. Maintenance responded and measured the villa at 78 degrees. The temperature later climbed to 84 degrees. We were told management would be notified and the issue addressed. That never happened. On top of that my son had bugs crawling all over his bed. Comes to find out they were termites! Not, one or two but dozens – in the pillow cases, sheets, etc. The only reason this issue ultimately received attention was because later that day the Director of Engineering Danielle happened to ask how our stay was going while I was in the gift shop. Once she heard what had occurred, she immediately stepped in and began working to resolve the situation. Danielle deserves recognition because she was one of the ONLY employees during our stay who demonstrated urgency, professionalism, and a genuine concern for guest satisfaction. Later that day, Danielle arranged for us to move yet again—this time into two connecting rooms in the main hotel while also securing a third room for my brother and his girlfriend. When I asked what we should do with the groceries and supplies, she advised us to leave them in the villa and stated that the villa would be taken out of service until the air conditioning could be repaired. At that point, we had spent a significant portion of our vacation packing, unpacking, relocating belongings, coordinating food storage, and dealing with issues. June 13 – More Service Failures The next morning I took my daughter to breakfast at the café. We sat for approximately 10–15 minutes while multiple employees stood nearby talking among themselves. No one greeted us. No one acknowledged us. No one offered menus. No one checked on us. Employees walked by our table repeatedly and even cleared nearby tables while completely ignoring us. Eventually, I got up and left. A female staff member who was cleaning a nearby table noticed me leaving and hurried over to ask me to stay, but by that point we had already waited far too long without any service. I am confident this entire interaction would be visible on the café’s surveillance footage. The café provided some of the worst service we experienced during our stay. The staff the works there barely speaks English and had zero sense of urgency to serve guests. After everything that had already happened, this was simply another example of the lack of attention and customer service we encountered throughout the week. Additional Concerns I also learned that my brother was repeatedly approached by staff members in the room that Danielle had assigned to him and questioned about him, receiving knocks on his door multiple days during the trip even when the Do Not Disturb sign was displayed. While I understand security procedures, repeatedly questioning a registered guest made him feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. What was especially troubling was that a male staff member knocked on his door and asked, “Are you supposed to even be in this room?” That type of interaction is completely inappropriate. Treating a paying guest as though they don’t belong there are accusing them of basically being a squatter was embarrassing, disrespectful, and is 100% classified as harassment vs. hospitality. Perhaps the most disappointing part of this experience is that Danielle informed me that the GM Bob L. would be contacting me directly to set up a in person meeting regarding the issues we experienced. When that didn’t happen she said he would call me- he never did. When that didn’t happen I emailed him 3x and never got a response. I think the most disappointing thing about all of this is the fact that my family and I had just spent a week in Hawks Cay for Spring Break and we had such a great experience that this time back we chose to bring family (and friends) and it was embarrassing to say the least to bring them there. Where Hawks Cay Got It Right Despite the terrible experience we had, I do want to be fair. I want to recognize Danielle for her efforts. She was professional, responsive, and genuinely cared about resolving the situation. She had amazing communication and overall was a joy to work with. This woman deserves a promotion. In my opinion, she should be running the resort. I would also like to recognize the bartenders at the Tiki Hut (Jacob, Markendy) and at Pillar, who consistently provided excellent service throughout our stay. I also saw Jett again (she took our family pictures during our first stay) and she did a great job of working the pool and entertaining the kids. Unfortunately, those positive interactions were overshadowed by the numerous failures described above. I also want to give a huge shout out to Salt & Ash for their amazing food and service. If only the rest of the resort acted like Rylee (our server) and Andres (the manager) because clearly they have been trained very well. Best experience/food and Key lime pie we have ever had! Requested Resolution We did not spend 650,000 American Express points and travel to the Florida Keys to spend our vacation dealing with cockroaches, mildew, dirty accommodations, broken air conditioning, multiple room relocations, indifferent service, and a lack of management follow-through. This was not a minor inconvenience. It impacted nearly every day of our vacation and significantly diminished the experience for our family and the guests we invited. Bottom line, it was the worst vacation we ever had and I’m flying home in tears as a result. My Advice If you plan to go to Hawks Cay, do NOT stay in the Villas. What they don’t tell you is that each villa is individually owned and that each one looks totally different. The first villa we had was a corner unit, fully upgraded, spacious, clean and wonderful. Villa 7083 looked like a trashy fraternity house and if I’m being honest compared to our first villa, it wasn’t much better. Consistency in any resort is key and simply you will not get that staying in the Villa. There should be a minimum standard of cleanliness, furniture expectations, technology upgrades (all the TVs were old and outdated/ no smart TVs). The washers and dryers are terrible in all three units none of them dried on the first round because they are so old. Hawks Cay, you have officially lost a customer. While I appreciate the $330 off you provided us, that was a slap in the face to what we went through especially given that you should have also took off $192 worth of AMEX credits that never came off our bill. As sad as this is to say, we will NEVER come back to resort despite how beautiful the pool/lagoon are because they way this place operates is trash. I pray someone from the resort reads this and does something about this because it’s a shame we were treated like this.

Absolutely horrible. Don’t ever come here they don’t care about you. Only send your worst enemies.