My husband and I went to Media Luna on our honeymoon from January 30, 2012 to February 6, 2012. The weather was horrible it rained 5 out of 7 days. This could not be prevented at all but was disappointing for a holiday vacation from the snow back home. Media Luna that claims to be a 4 and a half star resort was lacking huge in service, food quality and very poor management. They ran out of Rum and we were told we could not have rum even though it is included in our all inclusive package and a good 12 year bottle was sitting right there on the bar staring us in the face. Then we were told it was a 2 drink maximum per person for service at the bar and when we asked when this rule came into play as it was not in force for the whole week they had the audacity to blame it on Sunwing! (which is a straight out lie) There was never anyone directly in charge or someone who would take responsibility or the blame when it came down to it. No phone's in the rooms to contact anyone for help, no alarm clocks in rooms or wake up call's available you were on your own. The food was bland and the same thing for lunch was served at dinner, breakfast was the same day to day. No variety. The entertainment was childish for an adult only resort with dancing and trivia games, kareokee one night and Disco all the rest of the time with mostly Italian music. There were 30 Canadian there vs. 110 Italian's. The difference in treatment that we received vs. the Italian's was insulting and discriminating. Once the Italian's arrived 2 days after we did special snacks were brought out on the bar in the morning's for them to have with their cappuccino's and espresso's, they brought their own chef and their own Italian singer, they had special cake's delivered to their table's at dinner as well as wine's and a special a la carte dinner that was not available to us Canadian's. They would separate us in the dinning room Canadian's were to the left and Italian's to the right and they had white linen table cloth's and candle light dinner with salt and pepper shaker's on their table's while our table's were bare. They had server's serving them while we had to get up to get our own food, water, wine, coffee ect. we even had to clear our own plate's at times as they would pile up on the table.
The beach at Media Luna is very tiny only about 30 people can tightly lay out on the beach at a time so it is a fight for those spot's early in the morning. The sand flies are terrible I do not care what anybody else say's I have been home for 1 week now and I am still scratching and have scars and welt's left over from them. Off Deep Woods 8 and Off Skintastic does not work. I think it attracted them more. The resort does spray twice a day and it smell's horrible. However they still get to you.
The resort is new and is beautiful to look at, if you want a resort to hang out by the pool then this is your place. The entertainment staff have alot of energy and are very friendly.
Just be aware that the resort caters to Italian's and it is owed by Italian's and they are not very pleasant to us Canadian's they would bud in front of you at the buffet line's for food, shout over your shoulder for drinks when you are at the front of the bar (by the way there is only one bar for the entire resort and no one serve's drink's you have to get them yourself). The one day we were playing a game of volleyball in the pool and I asked a gentleman (Italian gentlemen) his name his reply " I do not speak English, I am Italian" really? Wow the audacity, just plain old ignorance. We could always feel them talking about us and pointing and laughing. Like I say never in my life have I felt so discriminated against for doing absolutely nothing but being kind and Canadian.
We will never be returning to this resort and would recommend that you try the West End and stay at the Mayan Princess as we had an amazing first week there for our wedding with friends and Family a group of 30 of us who all absolutely loved it! It was like night and day!!

My husband and I went on our first ever AI vacation (for our 25th anniversary). Our experience at this resort varied from 5* to 2-1/2*. The reasons for this are:
5* - hotel was set in a beautiful setting. The cabanas were very nice. We only paid for a standard cabana but requested to be as close to the dive hut as possible (noisier by the main building). When we got there we were assigned an oceanfront cabana which was an added bonus. The landscaping around the resort was gorgeous. Our chambermaid was super friendly (even though neither her nor me understood each other) but this might be due to the fact that we tipped her quite well. Decided to tip her better than the Italian staff (bar tenders, etc) as we felt they probably needed the money more than the Italians. The snorkeling was very good too. The life underwater here was just amazing. Go to the dive hut and swim out from there - you will see so much and be awed. My husband did the Discover Dive through the Dive Shop and then went on one dive. He now wants to do the full course in Ontario so that he can do more dives the next time we go away. Jose took good care of the "newbie divers".
If you don't like beer - definitely try the Lemon Daiquiri's!
I will say I came over prepared for the bugs. I had Off, Raid, Avon Skin So Soft, Benadryl - but needed none of it. For some reason (maybe due to all the rain we got) I never saw one mosquito. My husband had a few sand flea bites but I believe that is because he snorkeled off of the beach a few times. I didn't spend time sitting in loungers on the sand. Stay up on the decks where there are plenty of loungers. The "beach boy" was always watching out for people sitting on chairs without cushions and immediately brought one to you.
We did two excursions while at the resort. Went zip lining with Caribe Sky and had a blast! It was a very professional and well run company. I would definitely recommend them to anyone! On Saturday we did the West End / West Bay tour. The glass bottom (actually sided) boat tour was very cool. We became the fish in the aquarium. Then off to the Dolphin show which was nice (would have been good if I understood a word the guy said who ran the show). After that we all went to West Bay. Julio our guide got us a water taxi (additional $15 but very worth it) and took us out snorkeling. Then lunch and tanning at the San Simon Restaurant. Good day out.
The peace and quiet of the resort was very relaxing. Definitely came home well rested.
Most of the staff was super friendly and always trying to include all their guests. From Aqua Fit, Pilates, Pool Volleyball and various dance lessons - they were there trying to motivate everyone.

Now for the lower rating:
First of all, I would not have had to lower the rating if some of the upper managers at this resort treated the Canadians the same way they treated their Italian guests. My biggest complaint about the resort would be this. As the week went on it became very evident that some of the staff definitely paid more attention to the Italians than they did to us. The wait staff did the best they could in cleaning off all the tables. It never really bothered me that I had to go get my own stuff but this is mostly due to the fact that we haven't experienced other resorts and how their staff treats its patrons. Mostly two of the upper managers seemed only to care about the Italians. I believe I hardly heard them speak a word of English or saw them "chat" to us Canadians. I have no problem with people having reserved tables (especially if they are with a large group) but here they separated the Italian guests and their reserved tables from the "regular" guests. The Italians got the better half of the dining room (away from the buffet section) and us "lowly Canadians" got the other half.
At one point the resort ran out of the cheaper rum and one of the Canadian men insisted that we get the premium rum (it wasn't our fault they ran out) which they gave us. Shortly after that the cheaper rum became available. What was the worst part of it all was one manager told a Sunwing guest that it was Sunwings policy that their customers only get two drinks at a time. I double checked this with my travel agent and that manager blatantly lied to us.
When Lucy & MC Tours are at the resort they, at times, were treated badly by the Italian tour rep. One of the drivers from MC Tours said to us that every time he comes to the resort this man hassles him. It is like he doesn't want his customers to see any other tour company at the resort. Media Luna must work with both the tour companies and have them work more cohesively together or else they will lose many Canadian guests. The internet is a powerful tool and most people do their research prior to booking their trips.

The food was just okay. My husband would have preferred to eat hot food and not lukewarm food. One of the best meals to eat then was the omelet because the chef prepared it right before your eyes - you could pick what all you wanted in it. The other meals I didn't have a problem with but having hotter food would have been better.
The wine (at least the white wine) was horrible. After two night of trying it I decided to buy my own. We went into town on Wednesday and I bought some I knew I would like (they do have wine at the grocery store that we have at the LCBO).

I heard from others that the other resorts run by the HM group in West Bay and around the island didn't have these same issues (especially the over biased managers). So, my recommendation to other people who maybe thinking of going to Roatan, go to the West Bay (maybe try the Mayan Princess or the Henry Morgan Resort) but DON'T GO TO MEDIA LUNA until they change their ways.

We just returned from a great week at the Media Luna. The rooms were beautiful. The diving was FANTASTIC.....Flaco at the dives shop was very helpful. The dive masters Jose and Nelson were amazing, seahorses, green morays, schools of angels, coral, sponges, the reef was overwhelming in it's beauty. If you are a diver, Do the shark dive, Flaco will arrange it, what an awesome experience. The food at the resort was good, if at times not quite hot enough. DO take your own travel mugs or you will get your drinks in tiny plastic cups. As I read in other trip advisor reports you still cannot get rye, so grab some at the duty free before you go. You get 2 bottles of water in the fridge that you need to refill from the lobby for the week, but you can also buy water for $1 at the dive shop. No beer in your room, but we went into town for $10 per person and grabbed beer for the fridges in our rooms....which if you don't like the local beer you will want to do this since corona is $4 at the bar. Do take snacks, since the buffet is open from 7-9,12-2 and 7-9....some days they had snacks at the bar and the lobby and other days not. We loved this resort, the views were spectacular, the staff was very friendly and helpful, We loved Nelson, the cushion boy at the beach, Ilsa, Elise, Marco and the other activities people...Gerson was always around trying to make things better. If you are a diver the super saver dive rooms are the same as the other rooms, just maybe a bit closer together.
To the Media Luna....there should be service on the deck and the beach, more shade umbrellas, coffee available before 7:00 am, snacks available between meals, labels on the food at the buffet so you know what you are getting, you should be able to be served from the regular bar as well as the buffet bar during meals, the maids should not take away your towels unless they have new ones for you.To us this was not a huge deal, but to others it my be.
We will definately be back, I am sure that the Media Luna is monitoring these reviews and that when we get there next time these issues will be resolved.

My husband and I (early 40's) stayed at the Media Luna from Jan. 31st until Feb. 6th. I truly believe the success of a vacation is based on the expectations you set before going. I booked this trip in August 2011. I did a lot of research on this resort, messaging my fellow Tripadvisor members and going through the reviews and forums. Given the reviews previously written, I was nervous about going. I think if you sweat the little stuff, this resort may not be for you. I stayed at a 3.5 star in St. Lucia a few years ago and felt this resort’s service was below that standard. There is no way this resort is a 4 star. Hopefully my review will shed some light for you. Feel free to message me if you have any questions. Thank you to those who answered my many questions.

SNORKELING GEAR – You can pack this separately in a duffle bag and it is not part of your 20 kg luggage allocation. You are entitled to 20 kg of Scuba equipment at no additional charge.

ARRIVAL – The airport is very small. The have one x-ray machine and ALL bags are x-rayed. So after getting your bags from the carousel you need to head to the x-ray machine. Luckily we got our bags quickly, but I understand that there was quite a line up and not much direction on what to do or where to go. We met Lucy and she told us to go outside to meet the guys in the red shirts. Well, let’s just say I am extremely cautious and when I had guys in grey MC Tour shirts and red shorts approach me, I went back in to check with Lucy. Perhaps she initially said red shorts, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Yes, I think I ticked them off, but I wanted to make sure. The MC Tour Guides are responsible for taking our luggage and putting it on the truck (much like a food delivery truck) and then they took us to van. The ride to the resort was approximately 30 minutes. Expect lots of hills. The check in at the hotel was well organized. You will have to provide a credit card imprint for any incidentals, but do get the copy back at the end of the stay should you not have any additional charges. You are also given the remote control for the AC and TV which has to be handed in upon check out. Also, you are provided with two towel cards.

ROOM – The cabins are beautiful. Lots of space, clean, beautiful deck and bathroom. Everything was clean. Our shower did spill out so we placed a towel on the floor. Occasionally we did not have hot water, but when this was brought to the attention of the front desk, it was fixed immediately. The power did go out a few times so maybe something needed to be reset. There is a safe in the room – free of charge. At one point I thought our battery in the safe was going and maintenance came to fix it right away. The housecleaning staff was reliable. Two 500 ml bottles of water are provided in the fridge. Water stations are located in the lobby and main bar to refill your bottles. Bring a few empty water bottles from home so you have more water on hand. You cannot drink the tap water.
WI-FI - Free Wi-fi is available in the lobby. Some were able to pick up the signal on the porch of their front door.

BEACH – Yes, it is small, but never an issue for chairs. It does get hot as there are no umbrellas or papalas on the beach. The decks overlooking the water are amazing and there are lounge chairs with umbrellas available on them. Again, no need to get up early to reserve a chair. They did add more lounge chairs on the pier (no shade) the week we were there. Off to the right, there is another deck with loungers and a beach. The snorkelling out front was great. You can also snorkel over by the dive shop which was even better. Just swim about 100 yards diagonally out to the main waters. The kayaks were always in use and they have life jackets available on the beach to use. I found the sand flies not to be an issue with me, but I did see others with lots of bites. They say that oil is the best to repel. I did use Skin So Soft and that seemed to work. The guide suggested Cactus Oil. The staff member working the beach was great. He was always there to get you a cushion for your chair.

DAY TRIPS – We did the Island tour and West End/West Bay trip. Both trips cost $70 each through Sunwing. Each tour transported us by a mini bus. I felt safe with the drivers and the guides were very good and engaging. For the first trip, we had Julio and actually requested him for the second trip which Lucy gladly accommodated. On the Island Tour we stopped at the ‘look out’ which had souvenir vendors. The guide’s motto was, ‘if you like it, buy it because you won’t see it again’. He was right. Oh, they also had another motto, ‘ask and if we don’t have it, you don’t need it.’ We travelled through town and stopped at the Iguana/Butterfly farm. We learned a lot about the animals in Roatan. Then we went to a private island called ‘French Key’. We took a barge to get there. Our tour group was the only one on the island and this is where we had a delicious lunch. A lot of the group did snorkelling here or just chilled in the loungers. You do get a drink with your meal. Additional beers cost $5 each or soft drinks are $3 each.

The West End/West Bay trip included the glass bottom boat and a 30 minute stop at West End to do some shopping. After that, we went to the Dolphin show which was very good. For the afternoon we spent it at San Simon on West Bay Beach where we had another delicious lunch and were able to use their beach chairs. You have an $18 ‘credit’ for your lunch/stay and if you go over that then you pay the extra. Our guide arranged for a couple of boats to take our group out to the reef to snorkel. This did cost us an additional $15 per person. I did not go, but my husband did and he said it was well worth it.

BUFFET/DINING – One word to describe my experience – inconsistency. If there is anything I could fault this resort for, it would be the service in the dining room. Some nights they would bring drinks to your table, other nights they would tell you would have it get it at the bar yourself. No coffee service in the morning, again go help yourself. The pasta bar wasn’t ‘made to your order’, it was made to order what they were serving. So sure, it was fresh, but you had two choices – plain or with seafood/meat. The omelette station was the best. Oh and if you see the donuts, don’t hesitate to take one, cause they go fast! The availability of red wine was in question. Our first two nights we were told they didn’t have any. After talking with the Guest Relations (who approached us throughout our stay many times to check that we were enjoying ourselves), red wine appeared that night at dinner. We were asked if there was anything else we would like. My husband mentioned bananas for breakfast and wow, they appeared they next morning. If you wanted to dress up, you could or you could just go in t-shirt and shorts. It really did vary. There is no dress code. The hours of the dining room are: Breakfast – 7am – 9am, Lunch – 12:30pm – 2pm, Dinner 7pm-9pm (entertainment started at 8:30pm). We did not do the a la carte, but heard different experiences on this. A few couples had no issues and thought it was a good meal, others waited 1 ½ hours and it was cold. Snacks were available by the bar throughout the day which consisted of cookies, mini quiche, chicken nuggets, nachos – would vary daily.

MASSAGE – I did have a full body massage and I would recommend it.

EXCHANGE RATE – Typically 18 Lempira’s to US$1. It’s best to take down small US$ so that you don’t get a lot of Lempira’s in change.

FOR THE CHILDREN – Prior to leaving Roatan, I contacted a local who put me in touch with a soccer coach. My daughter’s soccer team cleared out their closets and donated their gently used jerseys and shorts to the soccer program. We took a cab over to Sandy Bay. The coach was so pleased and it was such a fantastic experience for us. Shoes are hard to come by on the island so when the children saw the soccer cleats, their eyes lit up. I am sure they would appreciate more soccer equipment. I would be able to give you my contact info if you message me. We brought down 60 sets of jerseys and shorts. I could have brought more, but unfortunately Sunwing would not support this humanitarian effort. I did this last minute and Sunwing require six weeks to process your request. If you have Elite Plus and are not using all of your weight allocation, this may be an option.

MISCELLANEOUS – Many people raved about the lunch available at ‘the hole in the wall’. Very good seafood. This was arranged through the hotel and you travel by boat to get there.

We did stop in at Elden’s, a big grocery store on the way home from one of our day trips (ask your guide to stop) and bought cheap liquor there, picked up some diet coke for our room fridge and snacks. No duty free is available at the airport to purchase and the resort’s liquor is ridiculously expensive.

I found it odd that there wasn’t a ‘built in’ front desk. Basically it is a few fold-up tables that the customer service sits at. There didn’t appear to be anyone on site that looked official or like management. I think the partnership between the hotel and Sunwing could be strengthened. I sensed some tension. Lucy was on site from 9am – 11am, T – F and was also available by phone and was helpful.

Overall, I found the resort beautiful, clean and the staff friendly. Would I go back? ~ Probably not and that is mainly due to the dining service. Upon speaking to other passengers on the plane, I think I would explore other A1’s should I return to Roatan. I hope you found this helpful. I'd be happy to answer any questions.