Newark, Delaware
2017-06-22
5th stay was unlike the previous 4 :(
Here is my letter to Melia:To Whom It May Concern:As I stated on your Facebook post, we are repeat guests at the Paradisus Cancun, always staying in the Royal Service side. This past trip was our 5th stay with you, so we knew what to expect and looked forward to many of the comforts of coming back to a place we love so much. We are also MeliaRewards members, and know they receive a few extra small perks.I reached out to Larazo Asencion about a week prior to our trip, as I had done the previous stays. I informed him of a few small requests, and our arrival time. As it was an early arrival (10:30am) I did not expect a room to be ready, but I kindly requested a Bali bed as we planned to get into the resort and take a nap by the pool before we would be shown our room. Amazingly enough, our room was ready when we arrived, which was a pleasant surprise! We also requested a specific butler, Daniel C, who was also available during our trip. So far so good! Our dinner reservations at Market Grill were also confirmed for that first night, as was also requested.Previously we had always received a room upgrade (the last trip, at the end of November, we had a FANTASTIC room in Pyramid 4, more on that in a moment) but we were not offered one this time. Not a big deal, but since all of our other trips had this added feature, we were slightly disappointed not to have it offered this time. The reason we received such a splendid room at the end of November was due to Pyramid 5 going through upgrades and being closed. Had we known that prior to booking, it may have changed our minds, and we commented to such, so they generously upgraded us and our other party to better rooms - we landed into a beautiful suite with two balconies. Again, since we have been here before, there were certain small comforts we were looking forward to, such as a relaxed breakfast in the atrium in Pyramid 5 every morning, watching the fish swim while we enjoyed a cappuccino. Its the little things. I had gone on TripAdvisor to read the most current reviews of Paradisus before departure, and I learned that the sister property, M by Melia, was under renovation and that guests were being switched to Paradisus. None of this really worried me, as in our previous stays we’d never received anything less than outstanding service, regardless of how busy the resort was. This time, however, was different. Even though we had our requested butler, we hardly saw him. His shift was totally opposite the times we were in the resort (we like to go off-site for shopping in the afternoon and dinner), so any needs or wants we had during the day had to be handled by other butlers. Thankfully, because we were repeat customers, many of the butlers knew us and gladly helped us out (the tips certainly didn’t hurt either). It was not what we had expected nor what we were used to. It’s not the Royal Service we were accustomed to. We spent the majority of our stay out by the pool, and I have to give a huge thank you to Eddie and Valeria - they are EXCELLENT at their jobs, and always go above and beyond. They received a larger tip at the end of our stay than our butler, only because they actually did more and took better care of us. I’m not laying any blame on Daniel, he didn’t have control over his schedule, but he had too many guests to properly take care of ANY of his guests. I watched him attend to at least 8 other couples when we were lounging at the pool - previously I had only ever seen him with 3 or 4. Clearly he was overextended, and to this I blame management. Truthfully, ALL the butlers were - I never actually saw anyone stop and have a real conversation with their guests, it was always very short, and then they’d run off to the next guest. This was part of the Royal Service experience that disappointed the most - the butlers typically spend time with their guests getting to know them so they can take better care of them, but that’s not possible when you have too many guests to take care of. They are obviously short the number of staff they need to properly cater to their guests. We did not let the above situations dampen our trip, though. We enjoyed our time by the pool, and we enjoyed the new menu outside in the Royal Service restaurant, La Palapa. It was MUCH better than our past experience, and we actually ate lunch there more this trip than we did any of our other trips. The quality and freshness was evident in every dish. As always, the cocktails and drinks by the pool were also wonderful. The food inside at the Royal Service “snack” area also saw an upgrade - we thoroughly enjoyed the new additions of jalapeño poppers and other warm foods in the early afternoon. Previously it had always been meats, cheeses and fruits, these casual snacks were the perfect accompaniment. So, in conclusion, although we love Paradisus, we feel our last trip there has made it evident it may be time for us to try some place new. We love Royal Service, but until they hire additional butlers, we feel we are not getting the true “royal service” that is advertised. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any additional questions you may have regarding our last stay, or any of our 4 previous visits. ********* I loved Paradisus but I will be looking at other resorts for our trip in September.