Let me begin by saying that dealing with Bob Mehl was a tremendously pleasurable experience. When I first inquired about renting from him, there were no villas available. However, while at the resort, he was able to acquire accommodation for us and because he had one of the best rates available, we booked a three bedroom villa through him. Not only were his rates very good, but he had also secured one of the cheapest all-inclusive rates of $57.50 per day, which I believe he has locked in until 2014.
Any questions, comments, concerns I wrote to him about, were responded to immediately and honestly. I had read several reviews on the Lifestyles Holiday Vacation Club (including all of the terrible ratings) and asked Bob why these people were so disappointed. He was able to answer all my concerns and put my mind at ease. One also has to note that people's opinions are subjective, not objective, and something that may bother one person, may not bother another.
I know, I know, get to the review of the resort. As guests of Bob, he started off our vacation on a high note, when a stretch limo picked us up at the airport. While others attending the resort had to fit into a traditional mini bus, we were transported to the resort in luxury, with alcohol and soft drinks on board. Please note that access to the limo was based on availability, as members get first dibs.
Upon arrival at the Villa Reception, were were checked in very quickly and taken to our villa (9B), which was a three bedroom villa. Each bedroom had a king size bed, it's own ensuite and access to the exterior via patio style doors. There was a kitchen, a large living space (i.e. dining area, living room) and most importantly, our own private pool. We were shown around the property by Sybille, an extremely kind villa representative, who explained how everything on the resort worked, booked us a restaurant and dealt with any other requests we had.
Unfortunately, due to it being high season, we did not receive our golf cart on the first day. Nor could we book any of the restaurants for the first few nights. However, after contacting Bob, via email in the villa reception office, we had a golf cart by the second day and as mentioned earlier, Sybille managed to get us into the Bellini Italian Restaurant and organized a BBQ at our villa. It turns out that it was probably for the best that we didn't go to an a la carte restaurant each night, as my 17 month old son threw a fit at practically every meal and my wife and I felt bad for the other diners.
Being guests of Bob's, we had access the VIP areas on the resort, however we didn't use them enough to provide much of a comment. Most mornings we took the kids to the VIP beach. The beach beds were usually all spoken for when we arrived, but it didn't really matter, cause the kids wanted to play in the sand by the water line. Had it just been my wife and I, one the beds might have been a nice touch. There were several bars and places to eat throughout the resort as well. However, we stuck to the kid's eating schedule, so we weren't able to take advantage of all of them.
As far as meals went, we had the maid cook breakfast for us on 5 of the 7 mornings we were there. Breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, french toast, pancakes, fruit, breads and juices. On the other mornings we ate cold cereal, which was provided to us in the little individual boxes, and which I think the kids enjoyed more! The majority of our lunches were eaten at the Casablanca buffet, which I found had a lot of variety and high quality food. The dinners at Casablanca were all themed and offered even more variety. The only restaurants we attended were the Bellini (as mentioned above) and Trapiche (Mexican). Both were very good and would have been excellent if my wife and I had used the babysitting service to leave the kids at the villa.
If you're wondering why I didn't give the resort a 5 out of 5, it's because of the villa. We were in the older section of the resort and thus had an older villa. I requested a new or newly renovated villa at check in, but was told they didn't have anything else. You could see that the villa was older once you went inside, but it was kept clean by the maids and served it's purpose. There were a few issues with leaks, the television and closet doors, which weren't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but enough not to award the resort a perfect score.
In conclusion, renting from Bob scored a 5 out of 5 and had we been lucky enough to get one of the newer villas, this could easily have been an Excellent rating. Therefore, just remember that when booking at this resort, the members can only do so much and I suggest you book through Bob.
Enjoy,
Scott
- Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Hotel
