Trouble in paradise started before I left home. My card was supposed to be charged in full upon booking. “Something went wrong” and it was not. My travel partner was scheduled to arrive 3 hours before me and I didn’t want her to have any trouble checking in. So, upon receiving an email 10 days in advance saying I’d have to pay in full upon arrival, I contacted Marriott. They gave me the contact info for the property who took 8 days to process my payment. Alas, my friend had no problem on check-in except that I had requested two queen beds and we got a king. I understand it is a request not a guarantee. It was a very nice room on the top floor with a view of the ocean.
I do not think anyone cared much that I’m Marriott Gold and booked through Marriott.
When I got to the property my phone was not working so I couldn’t get in contact with my friend. Everyone was very nice and helped me get to her.
Butler Contributions
I requested to see the butler after and they hooked us up pretty quickly. I asked what they did for us and they did not mention the packing/unpacking that’s listed on the website. I don’t know what would have happened had I requested it but we decided to do it ourselves.
Dinner reservations times (which the butler hooks up) were not consistent in the butler and restaurant’s records for two of the three nights we made the reservations.
Food Experiences
The fourth and final night we didn’t know when we’d be back from our boat cruise so decided to plan to try the buffet.
I’m gluten intolerant. There are markings on the menu in all 3 reservations restaurants but they are not accurate; more options are available. I agree with the other reviews that the French restaurant is the best. They even had gluten free bread for before the meal!
For the buffet, they introduced me to the chef and had her show me around. Would have been great except I’m not entirely convinced the chef had a good working understanding of what gluten was and how it might appear in dishes. There were no gf markings on the buffet itself.
Also for the buffet I requested to purchase the coconut. Long story short I’ve been waiting for a coconut for 13 years so I seized the chance. It was a very, very, very complicated process. I don’t regret it – just be warned.
We ordered room supposed 11PM-7AM room service at 4:15 AM (long story as to why we were up). I’m still waiting for it. We tried again at 7am and that order was delivered.
The lunch situation. There’s a lunch buffet which we didn’t get to try because it doesn’t open until 1230PM. Neighbors, the Diamond Club only beach restaurant, serves 12-4. As GF I could only eat one thing on the Neighbors menu so I did – 3 days in a row.
For Diamond Club there are always drinks (alcoholic included) available and often food available. This helped greatly in a pinch several times because the restaurants have short hours.
Facilities
The facilities are GORGEOUS. The view from the room can’t be beat. There’s a diamond club dual infinity pool with a swim up bar. The Italian restaurant (where the diamond club breakfast is) is breathtaking. The diamond club breakfast is also completely the bees knees and came equip with GF pancakes.
Beach Access
There is security on the beach. Despite this I stopped going to the beach after having to avoid a photo guy, a guy selling necklaces (Marvin), a woman selling shawls, and a man selling I don’t know what as I ran away as he was calling after me.
Fitness Offerings
I took two of the fitness classes: aquafitness and sunrise yoga. They were both excellent (but short about 30 minutes). The fitness center itself has lots of equipment and a lovely view. I imagine the HIIT class would have been more intense but didn’t try it.
Transportation
The diamond club area is over a hill from the main hotel. We had absolutely no trouble getting golf cart escorts quickly when we wanted them.
Housekeeping
The maid service was great. There was a problem with our door, the maid discovered it first, and alerted the proper people and it was taken care of rather shortly. I was disappointed that they didn’t refill the fruit bowl in our room after our first morning.
Tipping
My biggest complaint was the tipping situation. We brought a $100 bill along with smaller bills and because it had a wrinkle in it they called it “torn” and said they couldn’t break it down. There was no ATM on property for us to get more money at. Our smaller bills didn’t stretch very far and I felt very guilty that we couldn’t tip as much as I would have liked for all the excellent service we were receiving.
Tours and Excursions
There are Nexus tour people on site in the lobby to help set you up. They were fabulous and very accommodating. We took a boat sunset cruise. The cruise appeared to break down a little while we were out in the ocean. All three staff put their heads into the engine for awhile and then the boat started working again.
One of our tours was through Viator (we booked it on the Marriott website) and we were 3 minutes late due to a medical semi-emergency and they held the tour for us and were very nice about it! The tour guide who’s name I don’t remember deserves major kudos for the excellent job he did all throughout the tour.
Don’t miss the little coffee/gelato shop in the main building!
All In All
I’d do a Royalton again (if it wasn’t so far from home – over any hotel I’ve ever stayed at). But I would highly recommend getting a diamond club room. I also had a little envy for the people in the swim-up suites.
I love the people in Grenada so much that as much as I’d love to try new places, I’m likely to go back.
