Caribe Hilton

I honestly expected a lot more from this hotel experience. I’ll start with a positive note. We arrived early and expected to just drop our bags and find a beach, but was directed by the Bellman to go to check-in. I was surprised they were able to check us in very early, which was definitely a plus. This enabled us to go to our room and change and start using the pool immediately. The problem I had with check-in was that there is a diamond line for diamond members, but you might be better off standing in the regular line because they don’t take the diamond members at the two desks directly in front of the diamond line prior to taking guests from the other line. I also paid for a two queen room in the ocean wing with an ocean view and asked for an upgrade. The desk clerk said she would upgrade us as it was a milestone birthday for me, but we did not get an upgrade. We got the room I paid for, two queen beds ocean view. Maybe she thought moving me up a couple floors was the upgrade? The room wasn’t any bigger or had any special feature different than the original room I booked. We quickly changed and went down to the pool. They had water aerobics which I participated in. It was fun, but the class went a little too long for the three of us that were participating. I think 30 to 40 minutes is appropriate for a resort class an hour is just much too long . But that’s my personal preference and was the preference of the other two women who were participating in the class. My daughter participated in the Pilates class during our stay and said the class was great. We had chairs facing the waterfall in the pool. There was trash under the chairs that we realized must’ve been from the night before because there was a used condom under the chair. My daughter was sitting on. Two days later, the trash was still there. The cleanliness of the pool area left a lot to be desired. There was a beach area, but we did not use it because it was full of seaweed. I understand seaweed is part of what happens when you go to the beach. But any other place I’ve stayed, there are people raking and putting seaweed into garbage bags in the mornings to keep the beach looking clean and inviting. On a positive note, the bathroom products are Crabtree and Evelyn. Unfortunately, there was no conditioner in the container that was hanging in the shower of our bathroom. When I went out to ask the housekeeper for conditioner, I found them sitting in a room texting so I just helped myself off the cart. Probably the biggest positive for us during our stay was the soft water. Our hair never felt so good. Several times During our stay, we would walk by and see the housekeepers in the rooms doing what seemed like nothing. Perhaps they are just very slow. There was trash in the hallway near our room and I purposely left it to see how long it would take somebody to pick it up. It stayed there overnight, even though there were several carts in the hallway that entire day. The wristbands they give you function as your key. Unfortunately, ours kept stopping working. So again back downstairs to have a new key made so we can get in the room. And again standing in the diamond line just meant I had to wait longer than people who were standing in the other line. I’m not sure what that was about. It was very strange and frustrating that I had to wait for three guests to complete check in just to get a new key made so I could go upstairs and change out of my wet clothes. As a diamond member, you usually get a daily credit to use for food and beverages at the hotel. This hotel does not have their policy. You get a continental breakfast, which kind of brings the hotel down to a Holiday Inn level. If you want anything hot, it’s an additional $20. The girl that brought us to our seats did not explain very clearly what was going on and after the second day, we realized she probably really didn’t know what was going on. We should have been asked if we would like a menu to order from the à la carte menu or if we would like the buffet. So we paid $20 each for two fried eggs that were fried crispy not over easy and they were the cheap eggs. They were definitely not pasture raised. The yolks were very light yellow and they tasted awful. Maybe if we understood how expensive their breakfast was, we would’ve been those people that helped our self too the little jars of jelly and pockets and purses, full of fruits and peanut butters to make lunch. That would have maybe justified the expense. So if you choose the buffet, I highly recommend making sure you also get enough food for your family‘s lunch. We also had lunch poolside after we did the piña colada tasting. The piña colada at the tasting was delicious. The piña colada we got with our lunch did not taste like the one that we experienced at the tasting. Completely different. I felt duped. We ordered the ceviche. It was just OK. It could have used some jalapeño maybe chopped onion or tomato. Maybe I was spoiled from my recent trips to Mexico and eating delicious ceviche every day. There were a couple other minor issues, but not even worth bringing up. I hope this helps you make a sound decision about your vacation.

This hotel has seen better days. They said I was in an updated room. Shower was old and stopped up. The view is nice, but hotel needs an overhaul. I am here for work, but would never pick this hotel for a vacation. Went to bar to buy a 17.00 drink. He never said hello or smiled. Seemed pissed that I was there.. Pizza down the street is good!

Stupid rule about the pool. Traveling with a nearly 14 year old, and we couldn’t even stay in sight of the pool bar. Kicked over to the children’s pool with a bunch of 3 year old kids. In addition the manager was rude and filmed our conversation when asked about the issue. Made us read the jacuzzi rules which announced not any under the age of 12, which anyway isn’t the case for us….

The exterior of the hotel is incredible. The private beach option was great. However, after a very long flight, check-in took a good deal of time, as there were only three clerks. The rooms are outdated and the only option is tub/shower combo.

Up front, check in took forever. Then we were hit with a $300 fee for " possible damages". We weren't made aware of this beforehand. The rooms are dated, the staff is OK, a couple of the people were pretty rude. It is pretty expensive as well. 3**