I recently returned from a trip to the Lifestyle Crown Villas, and it was quite possibly the most memorable vacation experience of my life. Our group booked through Your Vacation Dreams and dealt extensively with Mark Austin and David Charon. The booking process could not have been easier and more streamlined. Mark Austin and David Charon were a pleasure to deal with, and most importantly, all of the promises they made regarding our accomodations were accurate.

On a previous occasion, our group booked through a different entity, and we had numerous problems receiving the promised accomodations and other representations that were made. This time it was a completely different experience!

Upon arrival we provided with the promised transportation to the hotel and received an excellent villa as promised. The villa itself was amazing and was more spacious than we anticipated. The pool at the villa was exceptional as well and was well maintained by the resort staff. The resort is beautiful and Serenity Beach is more or less the beach from the Corona commercials. The all inclusive rate is great value for your money, as the drinks and food are both top notch.

I would highly recommend this resort to anyone, and definitely reccomend that anyone contemplating staying at this resort book through Mark Austin and David Charon to make sure you get the best value for your dollar at the resort. We will definitely be back!

Check in day was a disaster. Traveling with 12 family members, I booked a 6 bedroom villa in February and while I understood I was not guaranteed a 6-bedroom, I was told if one was not available I would receive 2 3-bedroom villas side by side. The six bedroom was not available and we were given two 3-bedrooms 5 villas away from eachother. Even though a special request was put in on numerous occascions the need for a 6 bedroom villa, as we were traveling with 3 families each having 2 children ...This quite frankly upset the whole balance of the families.

Even though I rented directly through an owner, there were many privileges we were not privy too (private beaches, restaurants, ice cream parlor). You were hounded by salespeople constantly and member services constantly passed the buck on who was responsible to help with what issues we may have had (not getting into our villas until 6 pm even though check in is 3:00 pm, lights going out every nite in one of our villas, golf cart breaking down, etc.)

Food was awful. The restaurants were slightly better that the buffet and while we made it a point not to drink the water, our whole party was sick at one point or another with bad cramps and the runs .... instead of shots of tequila, we were doing shots of pepto ... no joke! I am home now 4 days and still have the runs, as well as my daughter!

Entertainment ... the same crew that was poolside by the day running exercise programs and games, were the same crew doing the nightly entertainment. I think they choreographed each show themselves. Very unprofessional and not so entertaining.
The only entertainment I truly enjoyed was the huge Welcome Party on Sunday night!

Such different levels of service, all on the pretense of selling you a membership. I spoke to a guest on our last day, and was told they were picked up at the airport in a helicopter. Their shower head broke and the water needed to be shut off for 2 days before they fixed the problem! And after they didn't purchase a membership, return trip to airport was in a van. (I saw them on the plane going home, they were sitting in first class! As you send the resort your itinerary, they obviously knew they traveled first class, hence the helicoptor pickup from the airport!!!)

My girlfriend who was also there, purchased a membership prior to our arrival and experience (she is now questioning why she did), however, and she was sent back to the airport in a stretch limo. My party of 12 were shoved into one van with no a/c!
All in All the resort was beautiful. don't drink the water and watch what you eat. don't expect too much from the live entertainment. We made the best of our vacation with what we had to deal with, but quite honestly, I won't return again.

First let me say I'm a VIP Gold owner at this resort, and you could verify that with the resort!

Now, there are mixed reviews here, but you kind of get what you pay for. The resort is broken into two sides. Owner (members) and guest (RCI, Cheapcarribean). The owners for the most obvious reasons, have a higher level of treatment, and I'm not saying regular guest will be treated poorly, just limited in options.

Some people seem to have booked through owners and didn't get what they expected and some even claim to have to booted from their Villa! This is where the level of ownership comes in.

NOT every owner is guaranteed certain accommodations. Every owner may request certain accommodations for guest but if someone like me (just an example) request a 4 bedroom Villa, I will get that accommodation because that's what I purchased, and anything lesser than that too (3 or 2 bedroom). Many owners are very low this on chain. They may only be guaranteed a Jr.Suite, or a Penthouse, or a 1 bedroom Residence or what ever they purchased. Check with the owner you are booking, request an email from the resort inquiring about owner level, I mean do some research.

There is a level even higher than me, and thats platinum. They can get 6-7 bedroom villas are then top of the chain. I think if you take the time and do some research you will find this place to be just awesome. Also those of you booking through Cheap, expect the sup par accommodations. Those of you booking through RCI, you will be okay. Those of you booking through owners you should be in even better shape, and pickup is included. Those of you traveling with an owner, best shape of all.

I have plans on returning Feb 2012 with a group of 10 or so. We'll be staying in the presidential suites...should be fun!

I feel torn about given the Lifestyle Crown Villas a 3 (average) review. I'll highlight the positives. The people here are warm and friendly. Our concierge Yenise was great and catered to our every need. Our cook/maid Yudy made us breakfast every morning and keep our villas spotless.

The entertainment staff - Scooby, Sexy Face and Bon Jovi (their nicknames) were great, extremely friendly and treated us like family. The pool at the villa was great along with the VIP Pool and even the one at the Tropical. The beach beds were cool and although the beach was nothing to write home about, I enjoyed sipping drinks while laying out in the sun.

That being said, if you tout yourself as a worldclass resort should you spend some money on a water purification system? I rather have water I can trust then a helicopter or limo ride. Some of my family got sick, I believe it may have been the water or food. The sales staff was arrogant and pushy.

I just don't feel that the vacation was as memorable as others I've had the past few years and don't believe we got our money's worth out of all-inclusive.