Just returned from Grand Riviera / Sunset Princess

[konaman]

Beware... leaky showers, Bugs, Bad trip reports.. It sure scared me before I left. However Don't Believe it. We had a fantasic trip. Room was great, shower never leaked. I did see one mosquito in the elavater. No line ups at the buffets, never waited more than three minutes to get my omlette or to have my eggs cooked. We had 5 ala cartes everything went fast the longest we were at any meal was 1.5 hours. The one thing I was dissappointed with was the lack of tipping from many people!!! Check in was smooth took about 6 minutes. I would go back to this resort tomorrow if I had the time. The first three days there were alot of loungers being saved at pools and beach. However there seemed to be a large inspection a week ago Saturday by some very important looking people and since then some things seemed to change. Example... security picking up all towels left on loungers at pool and beach so there were lots available anytime. Lots of maintainance people painting etc. The last day i was there maintainance came to my door accompanied by security so they come put of a sign of the back of my door. All in All a great time had by all. Bus runs to playa at 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, and 1:00 and if you are at the drop off point you can catch a return trip back at about 25 minutes after the hour or try to catch it at 6:00 pm. Don't be afraid to stay at this resort!!!

[kc-to-playa]

Yay, this is so good to know! We are headed there in July with a group of 14!

Which ala carte restaurants did you choose and how were they?

[IScubaSlo]

That is sooooooooo good to hear!!!!!!!!!
We are going November 28-Dec 6th, so I figured that most of the bugs should be worked out by then........

[sherbear2007]

Leaving on Friday So happy to hear!!

[hildyp]

We are going in June. So glad to hear things are good.

What type of room were you in?

[BigErn]

Thanks for posting!! 16 days for us.

Mike

[konaman]

kc-to-playa
the ala carts we liked the best was the japanese....keep in mind when booking here you have 3 choices with in the restaurent to eat. 1= sushi 2= where they cook in front of you 3= typicial
we really enjoyed the itallian had the veal is was fork tender cooked perfectly.
seafood was ok not what i would consider my type of seafood it was more fish. I perfer more shellfish
we stayed in a deluxe jr suite. room was excellent

[bellaa]

Konaman, thanks for the great review. It made me very happy to hear everything.
One question... you were in a Jr deluxe and had 5 ala carts? I had heard just three.

[playaluva]

So glad to hear, we will be there in one month. Question.....what is the dress code for restaurants and what about evening dinners at the buffet? Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brugal]

Hi bella,

There's a poster on another site currently there and staying in a swimout room. She said she's booked 4 a la cartes for her week and that she could book as many as she wanted. There's been no mention of a limit.

Maybe as things have slowed down they've decided to let the a la carte limit slide.


-Brugal

[sun seeker]

We just got back too. We stayed in the Plat. Suites on the Sunset side April 5-12.
We had no problems with our room. Checked in, showed my email requesting ocean view, 3rd floor. Told, sorry, no OV, but you got 3rd floor. I smiled and said that was fine, walked into my room, and the first thing I saw was the ocean!! I think they understand OV to be oceanfront.... Great view of beach to the right and Plat pool and one of the party pools to the left.
Bugs: I got bit quite a lot, daughter got bit a lot, but not until last 3 days, and hubby never got bit! Do yourself a favor and just wear the repellant. Saw a lot of people with really NASTY bites and some adverse reactions to their mosquito bites....
Food: Main buffet was terrible in our opinion, BUT, we only ate there the first night and never went back. Room service great in Plat. Our 15 year old ordered breakfast every day, and lunch several times. We had dinner 2nd night as we couldn't get a reservation for that night either. Really nice grouper, club sandwiches, cheeseburger, pasta, pizza (pan style- just okay).. Great perk and left my daughter a supply of $$ to tip them.... Miso Teppan was great x2, Mama Mia great, Mexican (fajitas best item there) very good, Vaqueria Grill (pass on this one, better than buffet, but that's it). I heard the French was very good, but didn't go there. Didn't make the Plat Beach party either- it is Friday night (for now). The buffet by beach & pool was fine for breakfast & lunch, but earlier is better for fresher food and less people. Private area for Plat. guests which we used for better service. Menu service, but quicher to just get your own food, so we just used it a couple of times.
April 5th thru the 8th was PACKED, but by the 9th, the crowds went down at least 30%, and it was wonderful.

We were very happy we booked Plat. We loved the quiet Plat pool area, OV, loved the lounge, room service, etc.. so felt it was worth the money. Everytime I walked past those darn wave runners I got mad at the thought that they never honored the original advertisement of 1 hour free per Plat guest. I refused to rent them on principal. Honestly though, the best part of the trip was the great people we met and hung out with. 75% Canadians, 10-15% fron the US. Great people and so friendly. I learned more about Canada this past week than I had in my whole life. Man, you guys know how to party
Bottom line though: I totally believe the bad reports as well as the good. We had a very good time, but they definitely need to improve a lot of things. People had thefts (not us), people slipped guilty...., lots of people didn't get their swim outs (overbooked) but were upgraded to Platinum, buffet needs lots of work, understaffed, and too many Indians and no chiefs... Also, a word of caution. One nice lady with her kids at the Plat area reported that her 17 year old son was robbed of his cash and threatened while walking alone at 1am from the lobby area by 2 security guards. Management told her the next day that it was robbers pretending to be guards (hmmmmm.). Her daughter slipped on the marble 2nd day and was in room for next 3 days with a concussion and black eye. We saw at least 1 person daily go down on the marble by Plat lounge so be really careful. It was not due to drinking either as some were kids and older folks (I was sober at the time too).....

[bellaa]

Originally Posted by Brugal

Hi bella,

There's a poster on another site currently there and staying in a swimout room. She said she's booked 4 a la cartes for her week and that she could book as many as she wanted. There's been no mention of a limit.

Maybe as things have slowed down they've decided to let the a la carte limit slide.


-Brugal

That would be wonderful. I am not much of a buffet person, but I can make do if necessary. I am hoping it won't be so busy when we are there in August and they will be more accomodating.

[Maureen]

I just got back from the Grand Sunset Princess and had a great trip; we had many problems, all of which have already been outlined by other people so I won't go into them. If you didn't book platinum, you shoud upgrade because the service is much better. We were upgraded with the bands (not put in the platinum rooms) because they didn't have the rooms we booked. The management is awful and thus makes it difficult for the staff to keep everyone happy. It was very sad seeing so many people angry on their vacation and yelling at waiters/waitresses - - the people that weren't responsible for the problems. You make your vacation good or bad, so don't let the problems at the Grand Sunset ruin your time. There are many staff members that are great and go out of their way to make sure you have a memorable vacation.
I don't see how this resort can ever be a 5 star because of the class system they have in place and the size of the resort. I'd rate it a 3.5.

[Rixx]

Where is the resort located?? I can't seem to find it anywhere. All I can find is it's 10 mins from PDC. Neighboring resorts???

Thanks!

Rixx

[kc-to-playa]

Originally Posted by konaman

kc-to-playa
the ala carts we liked the best was the japanese....keep in mind when booking here you have 3 choices with in the restaurent to eat. 1= sushi 2= where they cook in front of you 3= typicial
we really enjoyed the itallian had the veal is was fork tender cooked perfectly.
seafood was ok not what i would consider my type of seafood it was more fish. I perfer more shellfish
we stayed in a deluxe jr suite. room was excellent

Thanks for the reply!

We are booked for a Junior Deluxe and to be honest, not willing to pay for an upgrade to Platinum. So questions I have about meals for those who have stayed there very recently:
1) How many ala cartes restaurants do you get with Junior Deluxe?
2) Room service is NOT included in Junior Deluxe, correct?
3) If you are in Junior Suite, there are a couple of ala carte restaurants that you cannot go to, but you are free to go to all of them in Junior Deluxe, correct?

Thanks!