Apple Vacations
Reviews and Complaints

I brought a Acapulco package on [protected] to 10-09-2018 went my husband and I landed in Acapulco on [protected] no one from Apple vacation was there waiting for us
so we waiting to see what happen. after 10 minutes I show someone my Confirmation
document they don't know anything. so we went to someone else and he look at his
listing both of our name was not no that listing so we had a SHOUTING match. so he
decide to help me call Apple Vacation which took another 15 minutes so straight that
out. finally they took us to Copacabana Hotel Resort. is not the first time I travel with Apple Vacation but I think maybe is time to go somewhere else. Very Very DISAPPOINTED.

NEED A LIVE PERSON TO FILE A COMPLAINT AND TO RECEIVE VOUCHERS AS PROMISED.

JUNE 27TH 2018 FLIGHT 87 Frontier had mechanical issues, which had to be grounded as is was being repaired. Not sure if we flew out on this plane or if another one was rerouted, but we ended up staying another day in Cancun. I know right, poor us. Accept by the time you finally got us to the resort that Apple covered it was already dark and most that we could do is have dinner and go to bed. I own a company that employees & customers are counting on me, and my Fiance is employed where customer personal ask for her and is booked most of the time. Estimate of $750 loss plus the $100 for airport meal for 3.

So we all told that our flight will be hear at 1 pm leaving out on June 28th. So we are all picked up and transported back to the airport to only find out that our flight is now delayed because we have no flight crew. We could have stayed at the resort, but apparently Frontier has other agendas. Frontier told the flight crew the wrong flight schedule and they were still at there own resorts when the plane was to leave. So around 4 pm, the fight crew shows up & we board the flight finally. Yes, we are heading home, another day worked missed. So should be back in St.Louis in 3-4 hours tops. Not! So a storm in St.Louis prevents us from landing, and for whatever reason Frontier didn't fill up the plane with enough fuel to wait it out, therefore we are now rerouted to Kansas City Airport to fuel up. We are here for maybe an hour. Get back in the sky heading to St.Louis it's around 8 pm and we land, but the cluster f%@K of Lambert of all the other airlines that had the fuel are all in line, and since we were an international flight, we have to wait on the tarmac for another 2 hours for US CUSTOMS to figure out what to do. I have a complaint about CUSTOMS, they ask how was your flight, I told them it sucked. Then ask the stupidest question ever. As if I shouldn't be upset about the chain of events.

Ask me if Frontier offered any snacks, foods to be at least purchased. NO! So serious getting thirsty and hungry, as well as I am Diabetic and my sugars were starting to be an issue around 7 pm. we finally get to get off the plane close to 10 pm.

* St.Louis original at 4:25 on 6/27/18 instead got back at 10 pm on 6/28/18 ---30 hours later. Spending extra money at the airport to eat for 3. Lossing out on full days pays for 2 adults.

Now I have called Frontier and talk to them, and they said: "Since I booked this vacation through Apple Vacations, that its policy that now Apple Vacations provide the flight vouchers." I called the number listed on the internet that is a number provided for complaints and would believe there is not an option to talk to anyone reference complaint, only booking.

This is not our first problem with Apple Vacation & Frontier Airlines at this happened trip taken by the same 2 adults in this vacation on 5-5-2018. Stranded for a full day, because the plane had to be quarantined due to a mid-flight death.

We are looking for something that will keeps us booking with you guys in the future.

This was my 8th trip to the Mayan Riviera, the first stay at the Riu resorts, and for the first time in my travel experience I was counting down the days to coming home. I have previously stayed at the Grand Palladium, at the Grand Bahia Principe, and at the Iberostar, so when the Riu was suggested, (a 5Golden Apple property, the same rating as the palladium and the Bahia) I thought we'd be staying at the same quality resort as the aforementioned. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT as soon as we arrived! We were initially placed at the Playacar. Having read reviews prior to departure, we were aware this would be a smaller property. What we didn't expect was a filthy, old, tired resort where everything you came in contact with, from bedding to couches to blankets smelled of URINE and STALE SWEAT. DISGUSTING! Our beds were falling apart, the sheets were frayed, and the mattress was covered in rubber sheets. The stench of the blankets and the dirty bedspread quickly made us realize that this was not a 5 Golden Apple property as described by Apple Vacations. We had to spread towels on our beds to sleep on, as we didn't want to touch the bedding. When we asked the front desk manager for a bed topper, we were told it would be provided the next day. Nothing came. The shower had BLACK MOLD, triggering an allergic reaction, so off to the pharmacy to get meds! The a la carte dinners are a joke! The steak at the makeshift steakhouse restaurant looked and tasted like bad hospital food. We left halfway through dinner completely disgusted. The pool was cloudy and yellow. No toilets available in the pool area, so the natural conclusion is, pool probably urine infested too, just like the bedding. This hotel is 20 years old, and according to staff, in need of major renos! By the third day of sleeping on towels and doping myself with allergy meds before entering the room, we were shocked to discover cockroaches. We killed one, then saw babies crawling into the wood doorframe and On the night table. Then, I found a COCKROACH in one of the drawers. Realized it was time to LEAVE. Went next door to the Riu Yucatan and asked if they could accommodate us, having seen one of their rooms. We spent half a day transferring to the Yucatan, but nonetheless the rooms here looked slightly updated (fresher sheets). When we went into the lobby to relax, we discovered that the couches and chairs at the yucatan were just as foul and decrepit as at the Playacar. Ripped up, sagging, again stinking of old sweat; DISGUSTING! We spent most of our days on the beach and walking around playa del Carmen to get away from these foul resorts. Couldn't even relax in the lobby, as the furniture was too foul to sit on. This was the first time I got sick from the foods spent a night purging (not a drinker so it had to be the food). The first time I wanted to stay away from the resort. RIU is a COLOSSAL DISAPPOINTMENT ! Upon return, I contacted APPLE VACATIONS and filed a complaint. After 3 months of waiting, I was offered a $100 voucher with restrictions on travel (can only be used during winter travel). INSULTING! Riu resorts offered a 4 night voucher at their lower end resorts (again, restrictions). This, after 10 years of travel exclusively through Apple Vacations, and investing $30, 000 in these trips.

Hello... My name is william the agent for peirson travel, I had two guest arrive at montego bay airport on friday march 22, 2013 around 09:53 am it took them about 1/12 hours to find a shuttle to take them to the resorts, two excorts trying to help them to rui negril clubhouse, no one was there to help them, all tranports saying they don't know what was going on, I thought there was a guest agent there to welcome them in at jamaica, so the two ladies had to paid $25.00 each for transportation. They was very upset about all the worries, so, airport agent call me and ask me was I going to pay for their tranfers ride to the resort, I said know it was included from apple vacations after the second call back to jamaica. The two ladies names are: mary alice walthall & diane rone, please refund their money back to them, thanks again you can reach me @ [protected] - william. P. S. When they check out on tuesday morning they gave them back their second $25 ea. Back, which they had paid for to get back to the airport, the was the first time they saw someone from apple vacations.

Confirmation #:[protected] apple vacations packaged. Purchased the on the go connection travel that was offered by apple vacations to connect to u. S. A. Universal travel intl. Told me that I would be getting a loaner phone when I get to cancun, mexico. Apple vacations representative told me that my cell phone is not compatible with what they offered and contact my travel agent for refund. I called my travel agent and won't help me instead hanged up the phone on me. Olga, the owner of travel agent told me that it was only $15.00. I told it was the principle that she sold me this offer and she doesn't know the product. Olga was very rude and refused to help me contact apple vacations. I tried to call again to ask for help, olga in return told me not to call back and hanged up the phone on me again.

I booked a vacation through Apple because I thought I was getting a good deal with a reputable company. Boy was I wrong! Well, talking to the agent I stated Tuesday and the wrong date (not knowing at the time) the date I stated was for Monday however the agent NEVER corrected me while booking and booked it for the Monday NOT the Tuesday like I wanted! I didn't notice the error until AFTER they charged my credit card and received the receipt and itinerary. I called told them about the error. I explained to the customer service representative that when I booked I told them I wanted to stay till Tuesday because I didn't want to travel on Monday my Anniversary. They told me they had to review the call recording and did. They told me I could stay but I would have to pay the additional cost for the airfare for the following day. WHAT?! I thought at the time of booking that the price quoted to me was for that additional day. They told me they were already “eating the cost for the original airfare and wouldn’t eat the cost for a second. I told them I was cancelling the entire vacation with them and they could eat all the costs involved! I also told them I was going to write complaints and tell everyone I know about this situation and they told me “that’s fine”. This is 2 days before my vacation I am so upset and spent all day trying to get this worked out they were rude and not sympathetic at all. Prices have gone up more since I booked with Apple because it is last minute. They already charged my credit card and it takes a few days for the charges to be replenished. So now I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place because I do have a limit on my credit card. They ruined my entire vacation plans. I am so stressed and angry. I did make other arrangements but I’m still furious over this whole blunder I’m afraid I won’t be able to have a good time. I will NEVER book through them and urge anyone I know to book elsewhere. Ugh!

We paid for a vacation package which included a “non-stop” flight (charter) and 7 nights at the Riu Bambu. The Allegiant Air flt #4601 was to depart Boston at 8:45 a.m. and arrive in Punta Cana at 1:35 p.m. However that was not the case.

JANUARY 15, 2011 CHAIN OF EVENTS:

We arrived at Logan at 6:45 a.m. When we checked I requested seats at the front of the plane but was told there was only seats left towards the back. This surprised me since my Apple paperwork said the ticket desk would open 2 hours prior to departure. I was a bit disappointed but no big deal…..till I got on the plane. The seats were in row 34 right beside the engine and it was the loudest I have ever experienced on any flight I have ever been on. My husband and I could not even hear each other talk and by the end of the flights I had an extreme headache. In fact almost every passenger that was in the line waiting to use the bathroom asked me how could I stand sitting here, the noise was unbearable.

Our 8:45 a.m. flight was delayed over one hour, actually may have been an hour and a half before we were able to board because the water pipes were frozen and had to be thawed before we could board. (I do not have the exact time we departed since my watch battery went dead that morning). (Still optimistic, I thought OK these things happen, just wait it out).

We were in flight for 3 .5 hours when the pilot announced that we could no longer fly over the ocean and had to move inland due to gas consumption or something to that affect…..I couldn’t actually hear him due to the engine noise but the flight attendant said something to that affect when I asked her what was happening. So it was going to take longer before we got to Punta Cana. (OK…. More disappointing news but I thought positive and said to myself, Oh well at least we’ll be on the beach by later that afternoon.)

A little bit later the pilot then announced that we were going to have to stop in Orlando, Fl to refuel BUT we would not have to disembark…just fuel up and be back in the air. I again spoke to the flight attendant and she told me that Orlando was their home base and we may have to wait for a new flight pilot crew to fly us to Punta Cana which may take a while if they have not called them in yet.. I think it was around 1:30 PM when we landed in Orlando. (Now I’m getting a little discouraged).

So we get to Florida and after arriving at the airport, the pilot says there has been a change and we need to change planes so everyone will have to get off the plane and board the other plane at the gate beside us and we will have to wait to transport the luggage to the other plane but they will get us back in the air as soon as possible.

So we all get off the plane and they usher us to the boarding ramp which was just around the corner and we all start boarding the plane. Half of the passengers are now seated in the same seats they had on the previous plane. Since my husband and I was at the back of the plane/line we were still waiting in the bridgeway to board, when a person rushes up to me from behind and tells me and the other passengers to back up into the small room we just had previously entered. He then went on the plane and told everyone to get off the plane. So like a herd of cattle we are all backing up and tripping over each other and crammed into this small “holding room”. No one knows what is going on. There are no flight attendants nor pilots around us, only security offices. We then overhear that the plane needs to be serviced before we can board.

So we are all packed din this small room with many passengers requesting to go to the bathroom. Since we were an “international flight” we could not leave that small room we entered when we departed the plane, so they made us line up in groups of 5 at a time and escorted us to a bathroom. Again we were delayed hours in Florida before actually departing to Punta Cana.

Then to add insult to injury, as we were in the air, the Allegiant male flight attendant announced (exactly as noted in quotes below) that he knew how upset everyone was and that Allegiant “had several surprises for us to make up for the inconvenience that would make us all very happy”. (Well I thought at least they are going to do something for us.) BUT THEY DID NOTHING! When the male flight attendant walked to the back of the plane much later in the flight, I asked him what the surprises were and he said, (I quote)… “A smile” and kept walking. It was bad enough with everything that was happening but to have an attendant make a false announcement such as that just to keep the passengers from complaining when he knew it wasn’t true is incomprehensible to me.

In fact, when doing the beverage service they started from the back row of the plane and moved forward. I ordered 2 diet cokes for my husband and I. No one told us, nor was there an announcement that they were going to give each passenger a free cocktail or beer. So we never got one. It wasn’t till later when waiting for our luggage, that I found out from other passengers that they gave a free cocktail to you if you requested one.

So now we get to the hotel. It is now 9:30 pm and we are finally here. A day from *** starting at 6:45 a.m. We are starving cause we have not had any food all day other than one or two pretzel snacks and diet cokes. We get checked in and rush to our room to drop off our coats and carry on items and leave our luggage in the lobby to retrieve later after we eat. It took a half hour to get checked in and to our room. We were at the buffet by 10:05 pm only to find out that the buffet closed at 10 p.m. So we had to wait until the next morning before we could eat anything.

RETURN FLIGHT ON JANUARY 22, 2011

We departed our hotel at 11 a.m. for our 2:35 pm return flight. We asked the Apple rep if our flight was on time and he said yes. We got to the airport and waited to board. At 2:15 pm there was still no boarding announcement. No one in the terminal knew whether our flight was delayed or what the status of it was? There was no one there to let us know what was happening and when we asked we were told they didn’t know. Finally I found someone who told me the flight out of Boston was delayed 35 minutes so I figured the plane from Boston should have been there by 2:10 pm Punta Cana time but it was not. There was nothing on the flight screen showing Allegiant air at all . After another half hour passed I asked a different person about our flight and was told Ryan Air was transporting us back to Boston instead of Allegiant. (Again no announcement to let us know this.) So our return flight was to depart at 2:35 pm and did not depart until 4 p.m.

Needless to say I wrote Apple Vacations and they DID NOT even acknowledge my letter and I sent it to Customer Service and to the Vice-President.

My friend and I purchased an all-inclusive vacation package to Jamaica-Negril (Riu Negril)from Apple Vacations. The departing flight from Boston to Montego Bay on April 10 had one connection (Miami); the returing flight American Airlines #1812 on April 17 was indicated on the company web site as a direct flight, and we had to pay an extra fee of $65 per person for it. On the day of our return (April 17)at the airport we were unable to check in and informed by the Montego Bay airport customer service that the flight #1812 is a one-stop flight through Miami. In fact, no direct flights between Boston and Montego Bay exist at this time. After we finally managed to check in at the airport, we realized that we have been misinformed and overcharged by Apple Vacations.I checked the company website yesterday: the flight #1812 is still advertised there as a direct flight, and other travelers are still charged significant extra money for this flight. Liars!

In January 2011, I decided to book my vacation at the Riu Guanacaste Hotel in Costa Rica through Apple Vacations. According to Apple Vacations it is a 5 star hotel. Unfortunately this hotel deserves 3 stars at most.

On January 16th, 2011, my boyfriend and I arrived at that hotel. We brought our luggage to our room and left to spend the day outside. In the evening, as I was showering, my boyfriend turned the lights off in the bedroom and fell asleep. Due to this, I slept without observing the bed sheets.
When I got up the next morning, I was shocked to find a huge red spot which appears to be blood on my pillowcase, about the size of an orange. There were also traces of small black spots on the other side of the pillowcase. I immediately took pictures of these findings, wrote a complaint, and brought the pillowcase and my complaint to the attention of Mr. Santamaria Cerdes (public relations department) and Mr. Ricardo Alfaro Rojas (sub-director of the hotel).

Unfortunately this event completely ruined our vacation due to the following:

1. I was uncertain of whether or not I contracted any infections. Some
of the diseases such as HIV, can be seen only after six months pass.

2. It was difficult for us to fall asleep because of the discomfort we felt after
spotting the pillowcase.

3. Every time we ate, we felt afraid that we would end up in the emergency
room with a food poising infection.

4. We had doubts about the sanitary conditions of the pools and bars.

5. The stress I felt because of these circumstances gave me palpitations.

It is easy to explain why we worried about the food and pools. If the hotel couldn’t even provide clean sheets, we became skeptical of the level of cleanliness everything else had. On January 22nd, 2011 we wrote a second complaint to the attention of Mr. Ricardo Alfaro Rojas, sub-director of Rui Guanacaste, in which we included everything that was mentioned above.

We are also very angry about the fact that the hotel keeps horses on the beach within a few meters from the place where people want to spend their day near the ocean and in the shade. The hotel doesn’t provide beach umbrellas, and the only place to remain in the shade lying down on the beach chairs under the trees was by the horses. We had to smell these horses and watch people take horseback riding tours. We often saw remains of the horse’s poop on the beach and in the ocean. It is known that if a person gets an infection from the horse poop, it can lead to tetanus and may be fatal. We chose the Riu Guanacaste hotel because we were hoping to enjoy the ocean beach. Because of the horse’s poop, we didn’t swim at all.

In addition there were issues with optional dining (reservations required in advance).
"La Toscana" Italian restaurant (main course with table service; buffet starters and dessert)"Furama" Asian restaurant (buffet) Grill. The food in the Italian restaurant was salty and offered only a small variety of dishes each day which were practically the same ones, and the Asian restaurant had poor quality of the food. These can me graded for a 3 star hotel. You expect much better food at 5 star hotel. The liquor was also very cheap branded.

Bedding was minimal at best and the blankets have never been cleaned. The bathrooms had no shampoo, conditioner, or a vanity kit (as a 5 star hotel should have).

The beach has no service. There is no washroom or drinks. They provide chaise loungers which you have to carry by yourself and no umbrellas. For a 5 star hotel, this seems unacceptable and a true rip-off.

There's no music in the hotel, only in the shows. The Spa was very far away from the rooms and pool area, and the TV only had a few channels. In the pool they give each person only one towel. If you want to put it on a beach chair, you do not have any to dry your body up after you swim.

When we came back home we sent a complaint to Apple Vacations demanding a
full compensation for the ruined vacation. First of all, when you send a complaint via
e-mail to Applevacations.com at the link that they provide for complaints, you should not expect your e-mail to be received. When I tried to find out why it was not sent out, a customer service representative told me that I have to email directly to [protected]@applevacations.com.

I received a response in a few days telling me that Apple Vacations are going to investigate my complaint within 35 to 45 business days. In 52 business days, Apple vacation offered us a 3 day and 3 nights free stay at this hotel as compensation. This offer is not satisfactory to us because we have no desire to return to the same hotel that we are completely upset with.

This was truly the worst vacation we have experienced. This is at best a 3 star hotel. I think Apple Vacations who rated this hotel as a 5 star hotel should be accountable for deceiving people. I think it is a fraud to recommend this hotel as 5 stars, which is why we demand reimbursement for all our expenses for this vacation. We were very disappointed with such unfairness and sent them another complaint. In the answer we were offered to wait again for another 35 to 45 business days for their decision.

Representative PETRA NACHTIGALL behave as unprofessional and very unpleasend personality to even talk to when you need help. She cannot represent any company at all in any business . She told us i have three witnesses and this is all i need to defend myself. I will not travel using service of APPLE VACATIONS if the people like PETRA NACHTIGALL represent it.

2nd year for problems with Apple Vacations. Dominican Republic Apple Representative was extremely rude to myself and my husband at the Grand Bahia Principe Ambar regarding our transfer for departure.

When we got to the resort we were given an invitation to a briefing regarding shore excursions and additional services. The invitation provided the names of our apple representative and how to contact these individuals. The invitation had our departure time incorrect and I attempted to find the Apple Representative to clarify our departure time for our return flight and possibly book an excursion.

When I went to the Apple Desk, the representative was not there and other representatives informed me that he only was at our Ambar lobby for 1 hour each day (10:30-11:30). I returned to the Apple Desk on Wed. during the allotted time to find no representative again. The AirTran representative informed me that the rep was at the other lobby most of the time and I could find him there. The other lobby was a shuttle ride away, so I returned the next day.

Next day I went to the Apple Desk to find that he would not be there until 11:30. The Canadian Travel Agent realized that I had been coming over daily and offered to call the rep. in the other lobby to assist with my transfers to the airport. The Apple Representative was very rude to me on the phone. He explained that he could not help me with my departure time, as I did not come to the welcome briefing. I explained that I was snorkeling during that time and he became angry and insisted that I disclose whom I purchased a snorkeling trip through.

I explained that my only need was to confirm our shuttle pick up time. He continued to raise his voice and explain that I did not come the briefing, thus he was not going to assist me. He hung up the phone.

My husband went to the Apple Desk desk at the newly designated time to get our departure information. Mr. Rivas was the Apple Representative and my husband explained that someone was very rude to me on the phone. Mr. Rivas stated it was his partner Sigfrido Veras and he had overheard some of the phone conversation in question. Mr. Rivas was very rude to my husband and explained that since we did not go to the briefing he could not give us the information.

He stated that we would need to attend the Friday welcome briefing (1 day prior to our departure to get this information). Mr. Rivas became very rude and walked out.

My husband attempted to go to the welcome briefing on Friday 'to play their game' at 11:30, but the Apple Representative cancelled the briefing in our lobby. We were then directed to a phone number to call for flight departure information.

When we attempted to place this call, we were informed by resort staff that this would cost money to call Apple unless a guest service agent would be willing to place the call for us.

Apple Customer service representatives have disappointed us two years in a row.

We had a great vacation in Punta Cana, Gran Bahia booked through
Apple Vacation. We purchased Preferred package with coupons for
drinks and snack boxes. On the return flight, Oct 17, 2010, USA3000, FLT1033 from Dominican Republic the flight attendant announced that there is no vodka, or no snack boxes available. We left our resort at 0920. Our flight was at 1:00 pm. Had we had some sort of notice we could have gotten something to eat in the airport, but there was no notice. NOT only did we NOT get snack boxes with our purchased coupons, the flight attendants continued to cook lunches for the pilot who landed plane and the rest of the staff. I usually drink vodka, but settled for a bottle of wine which I didn't care for and by the end of the trip I asked for a rum drink which they were out of. I would like a refund for our coupons on our flight back.
Geri Kelly and Dickie J Dildine

My family booked a all inclusive vacation at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo Resort in Mexico (40 miles South of Cancun) based upon Apple's recommendation/rating system and the reviews they posted online. Apple advertises theParaiso Lindo as a "ALL INCLUSIVE VALUE ADDED" Resort with a 5 + Orange rating. The Iberoster webpage describes the resort as:

IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts, the hotel division of Iberostar Group, is one of the most renowned Spanish hotel chains at the global level. Founded by the Fluxá family in Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) in 1986, it has come to offer top-level accommodation in major travel destinations around the world.

As a brand name, IBEROSTAR is synonymous with quality in the fifteen countries where it operates, providing outstanding service and personal assistance to ensure full guest satisfaction. With a star as its symbol, the chain has managed to win over customers with its philosophy and values, and its efficient, professional staff.

Considering guests as the backbone of the organisation, the IBEROSTAR brand and the firm’s business strategy are aimed achieving customer satisfaction by providing the best quality service. In this regard, the company’s staff –an innovative, multitasking team– seek to apply the latest trends in every field. Heavy profit reinvestment in hotel renovation and refurbishment is one of IBEROSTAR’s key strategies to accomplish these goals.

The Apple and Iberostar websites boost:

• The world’s most important tour operators entrust their clients to Iberostar, because its hotels are distinguished by:

• Meticulous care over service and a significant volume of investments in all the chain’s establishments, allowing for excellent reception and treatment of guests Comfortable facilities with wide open spaces and modern decoration.

• Privileged locations of establishments, situated on the beach front with easy access to the main places in each town and surrounded by gardens and green areas.

• Varied gastronomy, with exquisite buffets, traditional cuisine, cafeterias, pizzerias and theme restaurants.

• Qualified, specialist staff.

• Expert entertainment teams and sports and entertainment programmes.

Apple in its literature posted online and disseminated to travel agents boosts of Iberostar’s superior service and quality of the dining facilities. Our complaint lies in the fact that the Paraiso Lindo is at best a 3 Star Resort and Apples rating system and their on line reports are disingenuous at best.

As examples of the issues we had at this resort and with Apples misrepresentations:

Food

My family and I have also been on a number of Cruises and have had an opportunity to sample “cruise line” food with both the middle to higher end cruise lines, traveled overseas (Europe, Korea, Ireland, Africa, Costa Rica) throughout the Caribbean ( 17 islands), Mexico, Canada and Bermuda and have had the opportunity to sample the local cuisine so I believe we entered into this vacation with reasonable expectations.

Prior to our arrival in Mexico we had no illusions that we were not going to be staying at the Hilton but expected that at least one of the 7 restaurants advertised at theIberostar resort would be comparable to a 4 Star restaurant based upon Apples 5+ rating.

We made a point of asking our concierge to book us at “sit down restaurants” as we did not want to deal with a buffet at dinner and based on the literature provided by Apple andIberostar we were looking forward to 4/5 star dining. We understood that breakfast and lunch involved buffets and we were fine with that.

Well, the food in plain terms was mediocre. It was difficult to find a decent meal. A majority of the food was either pre-prepared food that was then micro waved or reheated.

On our first night we tried the Italian restaurant and three of the 5 meals were just plan horrible. The other two ranged from “ok” to not bad with the “not bad” meal being the equivalent of a fast food chain restaurant (Applebee’s, TGIF’s).

On our second night we tried the Steak House and the meat was tough and very greasy and the vegetables mashed and soaked in oil. Everyone was in agreement that no one had a decent meal that night.

On our third night we tried the “Gourmet French Restaurant” and again no one had a decent meal. The steak/tenderloins were tough, the fish was overcooked. I complained that night and was met with a number of apologies and a visit from the “Head Chef” but we were left with a situation where we needed to “find” something to eat at 9 am that was not Burgers, Carbs or a picked through buffet.

On our fourth night we tried the Mexican Restaurant which we felt would and should be terrific in light of the fact that we were in Mexico. Well, it was horrible. Two of us had a lobster that had been cooked and reheated and was so dry that we gave up on trying to “dissect it”. Our remaining three meals were again reheated and rubbery. We were once again relegated to the buffet to grab some grilled chicken and guac. Of all the restaurants this was the most disappointing as we expected a wonderful meal prepared by the “Iberostar 4/5 Star Chefs” and ended up with a meal that a wait person at Ruby Tuesday would have sent back.

On our fifth night we tried the fish restaurant and four of our meals were overcooked and rubbery which is hard to do with fish and scallops. My daughter had a nice piece of salmon and my vegetables weren’t too bad.

On our sixth night we went back to the “Gourmet French Restaurant” as the people we met at the pool and beach had warned us to stay away from the Japanese Restaurant with comments like “our meal was just plain terrible” to “we had to ask our waiter to please find us someone who could speak English and tell the cook to prepare a meal based upon our requests and not his interpretation of what a Authentic Japanese meal should taste like”. At that point we had a choice…..back to the burger/chicken/carbs buffet or “upgrade” at a cost of $40.00 per person to eat at one of Iberostars two Five Star Restaurants at their high end GrandResort . At that point in our vacation we did not want to spend $200. extra on a meal plus tip hoping that it would be better than the other 6 restaurants so we went back to the “Gourmet French Restaurant” and two of us had a decent meal in that the meat was not overcooked and the vegetables (which were steamed) were tasty. At this point our rating system had gone from - is it a 4 star meal to is it edible.

Seriously, a majority of our dinners were just plain terrible and most of the staff was oblivious. At the beginning of our 2nd visit to the “Gourmet” restaurant we were escorted into what was described as a “private” dining room which if you and your family were there alone with a waiter/waitress it would have been a fun experience. In our case the staff proceeded to break down the room around us as we ate and used the room to store then retrieve chairs, glasses and tables. Needless to say the constant distractions dampened any conversation and at times we simply had to stop talking until the staff had finished moving a table out of the area.

To add insult to injury, most restaurants had a buffet for your appetizer and dessert and were quickly picked over. The desserts were comparable to what you would receive on a low level cruise or the packaged dessert you would buy in bulk at Sam’s Club. Most of the bread based/puff pastry desserts (cream puffs, vol-a-vue, pastries) were stale and hard to cut much less ingest. We had expected the food to be affected by the humidity and made allowances for that. But we found a majority of the bread /pastry products were not “freshly baked” and the bread they served was virtually tasteless. It was difficult if not impossible to get a salad unless you raided the condiment section of the burger buffet and used the lettuce, tomato and onion as a basic garden salad. A majority of the items in the buffets at lunch and dinner involved a lower cost cut of meat drenched in a number of sauces that ranged from very oily to low end butter substitute.

A majority of the cooks/servers in the buffet did not speak English so it was not unusual to get a mystery omelet if you did not sit there and make sure they put the requested items in. The lack of proficiency in basic English was really an issue at the bar. Now keep in mind, this is an all inclusive resort were we spent close to $10, 000 for a week and a majority of the waitresses did not have a basic understanding of English. My son served as our translator but when he wasn’t available we had a problem with the waitresses not understanding any request for any drink that was not a “straight rum and coke”. On a number of occasions we were left with a decision as to do we drink the mystery drink or ignore the waitress and ask the bartender (who were usually very good to deal with) for the drink.

A major issue for us was the fact that a majority of the cooks/wait staff did not wear gloves and made minimal attempts to observe any sense of hygiene. I observed the cook at the omelet station cooking multiple omelets wiping her hands on her apron and sleeve, fixing her hair and leaning on the counter as she added one condiment after another without washing her hands or making any attempt to ensure that the raw egg batter stayed away from the utensils or food.

In fairness to the resort the waiters were very nice and most of them tried their best to make sure we had a nice dinner experience. However, whenever we raised a concern the response was always the same…we can get you another lobster/steak. If we just had a terrible meal for the 4th time and we can see the cooks preparing the meals (and know that we will receive the same thing) why would we try another reheated lobster? After the first time we “tried another meal” and found it to be just as disappointing we made a point of trying to fill up at the buffets and not anticipate a decent meal at night.

The resort did have a nice set up at the beach. If you have a family with a couple of kids that love the beach and burger and fries Iberostar does a nice job with the beach portion of their resort. At the beach you can enjoy great water, views, sand, semi comfortable beach chairs under your own umbrella and the wait staff will bring you food (burgers and fries) along with drinks all day.

The beach also has fairly clean bathrooms and a number of activities that would keep your kids busy all day. The Paella cooked on the beach was a fun experience for everyone as the cooks made a point of getting the entire beach involved in the process. If you wanted to live at the beach, were not concerned with the above referenced dining issues and did not want any other activities I think you would have a decent time at this Iberostar resort.

In regards to our choices of restaurants, It was not until just before our departure did we find out that the resort had two Italian and two Mexican Restaurants and you had a choice of either the buffet or a “sit down” style. What bothered me was we made a point of asking for a “sit down dining style restaurant” and our concierge totally missed that point. I do not contribute his failure to make a reservation at the sit down Mexican/Italian restaurant to a misunderstanding or inability to communicate. Quite frankly, the reservation process for those restaurants involved an additional step and he simply did not want to take the time to make sure we got what we asked for.

Security

We all felt that the Iberostar Resort did a nice job with security once you were on the bus and/or in the resort. I had no problem walking around late at night and I felt that the staff were all trustworthy (by that I mean I used the safe in the room but did not have any issues with leaving money in my clothes in the room while I was at the beach or In the pool), the issue I had was at the airport. Immediately upon exiting the immigration screening section you were descended upon by everyone from baggage handlers, taxi drivers, time share resort salesmen to people trying to sell you anything you could think of. I think Iberostar/Apple should have had a representative at the gate (we arrived in a Apple chartered plane) to save us from having to fight these people off. I realize that everyone has to make a living but when you are trying to get your luggage and find the right exit while making sure your family stays together the last thing you need is a time share salesmen literally breathing down your throat.

Flight

Our flight was a charter booked by Apple that left Logan Airport (Boston, Mass) at 6:50 am which meant we had to get up at 2 am to catch the limo at 3 am to get to Boston by 4:30 am to allow us time to get through customs.

My issue was not the 6:50 am departure, it was the fact that we arrived at the Resort at 11 am and could not get into our room or any room until 3 pm. If Apple is booking the charter and as such they know exactly what time we will be arriving to require us to sit around for 4 hours in 90+ degree heat until our room is available is unacceptable.

They could have made arrangements to have our luggage brought to an area that had showers so we could have changed into our bathing suits and gone to the beach or pool for a few hours or made a number of excursions available to fill that void. We would have been more than happy to pay an additional fee to fill the gap with something productive rather than sitting around for 4 hours.

Room Service/Chamber Maids/Cleanliness

We were very frustrated with the chambermaids as they basically cleaned your room when they got around to it. There was no definitive schedule so you could not plan on taking a nap, playing cards or watching TV around the scheduled maid service. Our chambermaid would arrive somewhere between 11am and 5pm. Now, when you are trying to get showered and dressed for dinner and the chambermaid shows up after 5pm to clean your room and it would take them anywhere from 50 minutes to 1 hour to clean it that creates a problem as our schedule is now impacted by theirs. Overall;

a. The room was not “spic and span” it was clean,

b. We did not have any local critters so that was nice,

c. The air condition ranged from “kind of working” to being ok,

d. The room was all tile so it was very slippery when wet which present a problem when you consider the humidity in Mexico and the fact that this resort is a pool/beach based resort. We witnessed a number of people slip on the wet tile and take a nasty fall. This resort had very little to no carpet and due to the presence of the tile you were always watching were you walked due to the fact that the tile was so slippery. If anyone in your party has a walking disability I would not recommend staying at this resort as they will have a difficult time getting around due to the slippery tiles unless they stayed at the high end Grand resort which has carpeting and due to the fact that it is an adult only resort you do not have to deal with kids running from pool to pool to their rooms getting the floors wet.

e. Most of the chambermaids did not understand English so you needed to get a hold of the concierge to get almost anything done to include having the maid refill the bottle water in the refrigerator, get an extra pillow etc.

f. The resort was quite large so you had the opportunity to request that a golf cart pick you up an drop you off at your destination. This was a pleasant surprise especially if you were dressed up for dinner and did not want to arrive at the restaurant soaked due to the near 90 percent humidity. The problem was waiting for a golf cart or the “train”. If you called from your room they would be there anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes and were very accommodating. If you were on the grounds of the resort and waited at the train stop or in front of the shopping center you could be there for quite some time as they did not keep to any regular schedule so in most cases it was quicker to walk.

g. When you ordered room service you got your food within a reasonable period of time but it was not always warm (forget hot) and they usually did not bring any condiments.

h. As I had stated above we were taken back by the lack of cleanliness. To be clear the resort is very well maintained. Iberostar has workers on site all day cleaning, repairing the facilities. Our issue was with the people handling our food. It was clear that a majority of the people working there did not understand or if they did did not care about the transmission of viruses and transmitted food borne illnesses. You can dress someone up in a nice white chefs uniform but if they won’t wash their hands after touching eggs, poultry or rare meat before preparing your meal then there is an issue.

Entertainment

The entertainers were local and most spoke pretty good English however their “Hollywood reviews/stage shows” were equivalent to a High School Musical (my apologies to Disney). In some cases they had an entertainer who did a very nice job but that was the exception. In our case the onsite entertainment was not on our radar screen when we booked this resort so it made no difference to us.

If you are looking for a cruise line quality production you will not find it here.

The TV is ok, a majority is in Spanish of course. A majority of the TV shows are old and the movies are at least 2 years old. As this is a beach resort we did not expect to have HBO but it would have been nice to have that option.

Complaints

There were a number of times when we had a legitimate issue which did not get addressed due to Iberostars failure to have anyone with any authority on hand.

Specifically, we had a number of what we considered to be legitimate issues to include;

a. The low quality of our meals,

b. The concierge failure to book us for a “sit down restaurant” despite two requests,

c. The fact that we could not get dressed for dinner at 5:15 due to the fact that the maid had just started to clean our room and we had to go searching on many occasions to find a maid to get refills (toilet paper, towels),

d. The fact that the grounds people decided to spray for bugs in a populated area as we were going from one resort to the other and despite the fact that they could see us approaching continued to spray in front and behind us which resulted in us having to deal with the bug spray/fog for about 100 yards,

e. The fact that a employee had charge my daughter $8.00 (American) for a bag of cheetos,

f. The fact that we did not have hot water in our bathroom for most of our stay,

g. The fact that the train operator had failed to make his scheduled pick up at the shopping center requiring us to walk back to our section of the resort,

When we asked for a manger the front desk representative suddenly developed amnesia and her English immediately began to deteriorate. We had to ask her twice before she approached another front desk employee who then started to giggle (seriously) and told us they did not have one. At that time she told us she could take our name and have a person from PR speak to us later.

We did not hear anything and when we had the issue with the staff members dismantling the dining room around us at 7pm (during our meal) we went back to the front desk and was asked to wait a few minutes and a representative from PR would be right over to talk to us. The young lady from PR showed up about 10 minutes later and was very attentive and apologized for the quality of the meals and the fact that we were not “having a good time”. She told us she would have to turn this matter over to her supervisor who was not there and that her supervisor would be back the next day between 8 and 9 am and that the supervisor “would contact us as soon as she was in”. The next day I sat in my room from 9 to 11:20 am waiting to hear from this “supervisor” and after leaving a message with our concierge left for the beach to join my family. Upon our return late that afternoon we had a message left for us on our bathroom sink that the PR supervisor had called to talk to us at 11:30am and that we could go to the front desk to meet with her. At that point I was disgusted with the whole process. I expected the “supervisor” to contact us when her subordinate told us to expect a call – not 2.5 hours later and why would I at 4pm have to rush up to the front desk (a decent walk) to catch her before she left for the day? It was clear to us that we had received lip service and would continue to receive the same treatment. From that point on we accept the fact that the representations in Apples web site and in their literature had been grossly embellished and that Apples rating system had no direct relationship to the actual service at the resort. After returning home I contacted both Apple vacations and Iberostar with my concerns and never heard back from either group... a fitting end to a subpar vacation.

My family booked a all inclusive vacation at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo Resort in Mexico (40 miles South of Cancun) based upon Apple's recommendation/rating system and the reviews they posted online. Apple advertises the Paraiso Lindo as a "ALL INCLUSIVE VALUE ADDED" Resort with a 5 + Orange rating. The Iberoster webpage describes the resort as:
IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts, the hotel division of Iberostar Group, is one of the most renowned Spanish hotel chains at the global level. Founded by the Fluxá family in Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) in 1986, it has come to offer top-level accommodation in major travel destinations around the world.
As a brand name, IBEROSTAR is synonymous with quality in the fifteen countries where it operates, providing outstanding service and personal assistance to ensure full guest satisfaction. With a star as its symbol, the chain has managed to win over customers with its philosophy and values, and its efficient, professional staff.
Considering guests as the backbone of the organisation, the IBEROSTAR brand and the firm’s business strategy are aimed achieving customer satisfaction by providing the best quality service. In this regard, the company’s staff –an innovative, multitasking team– seek to apply the latest trends in every field. Heavy profit reinvestment in hotel renovation and refurbishment is one of IBEROSTAR’s key strategies to accomplish these goals.
The Apple and Iberostar websites boost:
• The world’s most important tour operators entrust their clients to Iberostar, because its hotels are distinguished by:
• Meticulous care over service and a significant volume of investments in all the chain’s establishments, allowing for excellent reception and treatment of guests Comfortable facilities with wide open spaces and modern decoration.
• Privileged locations of establishments, situated on the beach front with easy access to the main places in each town and surrounded by gardens and green areas.
• Varied gastronomy, with exquisite buffets, traditional cuisine, cafeterias, pizzerias and theme restaurants.
• Qualified, specialist staff.
• Expert entertainment teams and sports and entertainment programmes.

Apple in its literature posted online and disseminated to travel agents boosts of Iberostar’s superior service and quality of the dining facilities. Our complaint lies in the fact that the Paraiso Lindo is at best a 3 Star Resort and Apples rating system and their on line reports are disingenuous at best.
As examples of the issues we had at this resort and with Apples misrepresentations:
Food
My family and I have also been on a number of Cruises and have had an opportunity to sample “cruise line” food with both the middle to higher end cruise lines, traveled overseas (Europe, Korea, Ireland, Africa, Costa Rica) throughout the Caribbean ( 17 islands), Mexico, Canada and Bermuda and have had the opportunity to sample the local cuisine so I believe we entered into this vacation with reasonable expectations.
Prior to our arrival in Mexico we had no illusions that we were not going to be staying at the Hilton but expected that at least one of the 7 restaurants advertised at the Iberostar resort would be comparable to a 4 Star restaurant based upon Apples 5+ rating.
We made a point of asking our concierge to book us at “sit down restaurants” as we did not want to deal with a buffet at dinner and based on the literature provided by Apple and Iberostar we were looking forward to 4/5 star dining. We understood that breakfast and lunch involved buffets and we were fine with that.
Well, the food in plain terms was mediocre. It was difficult to find a decent meal. A majority of the food was either pre-prepared food that was then micro waved or reheated.
On our first night we tried the Italian restaurant and three of the 5 meals were just plan horrible. The other two ranged from “ok” to not bad with the “not bad” meal being the equivalent of a fast food chain restaurant (Applebee’s, TGIF’s).
On our second night we tried the Steak House and the meat was tough and very greasy and the vegetables mashed and soaked in oil. Everyone was in agreement that no one had a decent meal that night.
On our third night we tried the “Gourmet French Restaurant” and again no one had a decent meal. The steak/tenderloins were tough, the fish was overcooked. I complained that night and was met with a number of apologies and a visit from the “Head Chef” but we were left with a situation where we needed to “find” something to eat at 9 am that was not Burgers, Carbs or a picked through buffet.
On our fourth night we tried the Mexican Restaurant which we felt would and should be terrific in light of the fact that we were in Mexico. Well, it was horrible. Two of us had a lobster that had been cooked and reheated and was so dry that we gave up on trying to “dissect it”. Our remaining three meals were again reheated and rubbery. We were once again relegated to the buffet to grab some grilled chicken and guac. Of all the restaurants this was the most disappointing as we expected a wonderful meal prepared by the “Iberostar 4/5 Star Chefs” and ended up with a meal that a wait person at Ruby Tuesday would have sent back.
On our fifth night we tried the fish restaurant and four of our meals were overcooked and rubbery which is hard to do with fish and scallops. My daughter had a nice piece of salmon and my vegetables weren’t too bad.
On our sixth night we went back to the “Gourmet French Restaurant” as the people we met at the pool and beach had warned us to stay away from the Japanese Restaurant with comments like “our meal was just plain terrible” to “we had to ask our waiter to please find us someone who could speak English and tell the cook to prepare a meal based upon our requests and not his interpretation of what a Authentic Japanese meal should taste like”. At that point we had a choice…..back to the burger/chicken/carbs buffet or “upgrade” at a cost of $40.00 per person to eat at one of Iberostars two Five Star Restaurants at their high end Grand Resort. At that point in our vacation we did not want to spend $200. extra on a meal plus tip hoping that it would be better than the other 6 restaurants so we went back to the “Gourmet French Restaurant” and two of us had a decent meal in that the meat was not overcooked and the vegetables (which were steamed) were tasty. At this point our rating system had gone from - is it a 4 star meal to is it edible.
Seriously, a majority of our dinners were just plain terrible and most of the staff was oblivious. At the beginning of our 2nd visit to the “Gourmet” restaurant we were escorted into what was described as a “private” dining room which if you and your family were there alone with a waiter/waitress it would have been a fun experience. In our case the staff proceeded to break down the room around us as we ate and used the room to store then retrieve chairs, glasses and tables. Needless to say the constant distractions dampened any conversation and at times we simply had to stop talking until the staff had finished moving a table out of the area.
To add insult to injury, most restaurants had a buffet for your appetizer and dessert and were quickly picked over. The desserts were comparable to what you would receive on a low level cruise or the packaged dessert you would buy in bulk at Sam’s Club. Most of the bread based/puff pastry desserts (cream puffs, vol-a-vue, pastries) were stale and hard to cut much less ingest. We had expected the food to be affected by the humidity and made allowances for that. But we found a majority of the bread /pastry products were not “freshly baked” and the bread they served was virtually tasteless. It was difficult if not impossible to get a salad unless you raided the condiment section of the burger buffet and used the lettuce, tomato and onion as a basic garden salad. A majority of the items in the buffets at lunch and dinner involved a lower cost cut of meat drenched in a number of sauces that ranged from very oily to low end butter substitute.
A majority of the cooks/servers in the buffet did not speak English so it was not unusual to get a mystery omelet if you did not sit there and make sure they put the requested items in. The lack of proficiency in basic English was really an issue at the bar. Now keep in mind, this is an all inclusive resort were we spent close to $10, 000 for a week and a majority of the waitresses did not have a basic understanding of English. My son served as our translator but when he wasn’t available we had a problem with the waitresses not understanding any request for any drink that was not a “straight rum and coke”. On a number of occasions we were left with a decision as to do we drink the mystery drink or ignore the waitress and ask the bartender (who were usually very good to deal with) for the drink.
A major issue for us was the fact that a majority of the cooks/wait staff did not wear gloves and made minimal attempts to observe any sense of hygiene. I observed the cook at the omelet station cooking multiple omelets wiping her hands on her apron and sleeve, fixing her hair and leaning on the counter as she added one condiment after another without washing her hands or making any attempt to ensure that the raw egg batter stayed away from the utensils or food.
In fairness to the resort the waiters were very nice and most of them tried their best to make sure we had a nice dinner experience. However, whenever we raised a concern the response was always the same…we can get you another lobster/steak. If we just had a terrible meal for the 4th time and we can see the cooks preparing the meals (and know that we will receive the same thing) why would we try another reheated lobster? After the first time we “tried another meal” and found it to be just as disappointing we made a point of trying to fill up at the buffets and not anticipate a decent meal at night.
The resort did have a nice set up at the beach. If you have a family with a couple of kids that love the beach and burger and fries Iberostar does a nice job with the beach portion of their resort. At the beach you can enjoy great water, views, sand, semi comfortable beach chairs under your own umbrella and the wait staff will bring you food (burgers and fries) along with drinks all day.
The beach also has fairly clean bathrooms and a number of activities that would keep your kids busy all day. The Paella cooked on the beach was a fun experience for everyone as the cooks made a point of getting the entire beach involved in the process. If you wanted to live at the beach, were not concerned with the above referenced dining issues and did not want any other activities I think you would have a decent time at this Iberostar resort.
In regards to our choices of restaurants, It was not until just before our departure did we find out that the resort had two Italian and two Mexican Restaurants and you had a choice of either the buffet or a “sit down” style. What bothered me was we made a point of asking for a “sit down dining style restaurant” and our concierge totally missed that point. I do not contribute his failure to make a reservation at the sit down Mexican/Italian restaurant to a misunderstanding or inability to communicate. Quite frankly, the reservation process for those restaurants involved an additional step and he simply did not want to take the time to make sure we got what we asked for.
Security
We all felt that the Iberostar Resort did a nice job with security once you were on the bus and/or in the resort. I had no problem walking around late at night and I felt that the staff were all trustworthy (by that I mean I used the safe in the room but did not have any issues with leaving money in my clothes in the room while I was at the beach or In the pool), the issue I had was at the airport. Immediately upon exiting the immigration screening section you were descended upon by everyone from baggage handlers, taxi drivers, time share resort salesmen to people trying to sell you anything you could think of. I think Iberostar/Apple should have had a representative at the gate (we arrived in a Apple chartered plane) to save us from having to fight these people off. I realize that everyone has to make a living but when you are trying to get your luggage and find the right exit while making sure your family stays together the last thing you need is a time share salesmen literally breathing down your throat.
Flight
Our flight was a charter booked by Apple that left Logan Airport (Boston, Mass) at 6:50 am which meant we had to get up at 2 am to catch the limo at 3 am to get to Boston by 4:30 am to allow us time to get through customs.
My issue was not the 6:50 am departure, it was the fact that we arrived at the Resort at 11 am and could not get into our room or any room until 3 pm. If Apple is booking the charter and as such they know exactly what time we will be arriving to require us to sit around for 4 hours in 90+ degree heat until our room is available is unacceptable.
They could have made arrangements to have our luggage brought to an area that had showers so we could have changed into our bathing suits and gone to the beach or pool for a few hours or made a number of excursions available to fill that void. We would have been more than happy to pay an additional fee to fill the gap with something productive rather than sitting around for 4 hours.
Room Service/Chamber Maids/Cleanliness
We were very frustrated with the chambermaids as they basically cleaned your room when they got around to it. There was no definitive schedule so you could not plan on taking a nap, playing cards or watching TV around the scheduled maid service. Our chambermaid would arrive somewhere between 11am and 5pm. Now, when you are trying to get showered and dressed for dinner and the chambermaid shows up after 5pm to clean your room and it would take them anywhere from 50 minutes to 1 hour to clean it that creates a problem as our schedule is now impacted by theirs. Overall;
a. The room was not “spic and span” it was clean,
b. We did not have any local critters so that was nice,
c. The air condition ranged from “kind of working” to being ok,
d. The room was all tile so it was very slippery when wet which present a problem when you consider the humidity in Mexico and the fact that this resort is a pool/beach based resort. We witnessed a number of people slip on the wet tile and take a nasty fall. This resort had very little to no carpet and due to the presence of the tile you were always watching were you walked due to the fact that the tile was so slippery. If anyone in your party has a walking disability I would not recommend staying at this resort as they will have a difficult time getting around due to the slippery tiles unless they stayed at the high end Grand resort which has carpeting and due to the fact that it is an adult only resort you do not have to deal with kids running from pool to pool to their rooms getting the floors wet.
e. Most of the chambermaids did not understand English so you needed to get a hold of the concierge to get almost anything done to include having the maid refill the bottle water in the refrigerator, get an extra pillow etc.
f. The resort was quite large so you had the opportunity to request that a golf cart pick you up an drop you off at your destination. This was a pleasant surprise especially if you were dressed up for dinner and did not want to arrive at the restaurant soaked due to the near 90 percent humidity. The problem was waiting for a golf cart or the “train”. If you called from your room they would be there anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes and were very accommodating. If you were on the grounds of the resort and waited at the train stop or in front of the shopping center you could be there for quite some time as they did not keep to any regular schedule so in most cases it was quicker to walk.
g. When you ordered room service you got your food within a reasonable period of time but it was not always warm (forget hot) and they usually did not bring any condiments.
h. As I had stated above we were taken back by the lack of cleanliness. To be clear the resort is very well maintained. Iberostar has workers on site all day cleaning, repairing the facilities. Our issue was with the people handling our food. It was clear that a majority of the people working there did not understand or if they did did not care about the transmission of viruses and transmitted food borne illnesses. You can dress someone up in a nice white chefs uniform but if they won’t wash their hands after touching eggs, poultry or rare meat before preparing your meal then there is an issue.
Entertainment
The entertainers were local and most spoke pretty good English however their “Hollywood reviews/stage shows” were equivalent to a High School Musical (my apologies to Disney). In some cases they had an entertainer who did a very nice job but that was the exception. In our case the onsite entertainment was not on our radar screen when we booked this resort so it made no difference to us.
If you are looking for a cruise line quality production you will not find it here.
The TV is ok, a majority is in Spanish of course. A majority of the TV shows are old and the movies are at least 2 years old. As this is a beach resort we did not expect to have HBO but it would have been nice to have that option.
Complaints
There were a number of times when we had a legitimate issue which did not get addressed due to Iberostars failure to have anyone with any authority on hand.
Specifically, we had a number of what we considered to be legitimate issues to include;
a. The low quality of our meals,
b. The concierge failure to book us for a “sit down restaurant” despite two requests,
c. The fact that we could not get dressed for dinner at 5:15 due to the fact that the maid had just started to clean our room and we had to go searching on many occasions to find a maid to get refills (toilet paper, towels),
d. The fact that the grounds people decided to spray for bugs in a populated area as we were going from one resort to the other and despite the fact that they could see us approaching continued to spray in front and behind us which resulted in us having to deal with the bug spray/fog for about 100 yards,
e. The fact that a employee had charge my daughter $8.00 (American) for a bag of cheetos,
f. The fact that we did not have hot water in our bathroom for most of our stay,
g. The fact that the train operator had failed to make his scheduled pick up at the shopping center requiring us to walk back to our section of the resort,
When we asked for a manger the front desk representative suddenly developed amnesia and her English immediately began to deteriorate. We had to ask her twice before she approached another front desk employee who then started to giggle (seriously) and told us they did not have one. At that time she told us she could take our name and have a person from PR speak to us later.
We did not hear anything and when we had the issue with the staff members dismantling the dining room around us at 7pm (during our meal) we went back to the front desk and was asked to wait a few minutes and a representative from PR would be right over to talk to us. The young lady from PR showed up about 10 minutes later and was very attentive and apologized for the quality of the meals and the fact that we were not “having a good time”. She told us she would have to turn this matter over to her supervisor who was not there and that her supervisor would be back the next day between 8 and 9 am and that the supervisor “would contact us as soon as she was in”. The next day I sat in my room from 9 to 11:20 am waiting to hear from this “supervisor” and after leaving a message with our concierge left for the beach to join my family. Upon our return late that afternoon we had a message left for us on our bathroom sink that the PR supervisor had called to talk to us at 11:30am and that we could go to the front desk to meet with her. At that point I was disgusted with the whole process. I expected the “supervisor” to contact us when her subordinate told us to expect a call – not 2.5 hours later and why would I at 4pm have to rush up to the front desk (a decent walk) to catch her before she left for the day? It was clear to us that we had received lip service and would continue to receive the same treatment. From that point on we accept the fact that the representations in Apples web site and in their literature had been grossly embellished and that Apples rating system had no direct relationship to the actual service at the resort. After returning home I contacted both Apple vacations and Iberostar with my concerns and never heard back from either group... a fitting end to a subpar vacation.

I have taken 5 Apple Vacations and have had problems with at least 3 of them. My husband & I were going to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico the first week of February, 2010. Our flight was scheduled to leave O'Hare at 6:30 a.m. All of the passengers were boarded & then the captain came on & asked us to de-board as the windshield needed to be replaced. Long story short, we did not get out of O'Hare until 4:00 p.m. Apple Vacations owns their own airline & doesn't partner with anyone else, therefore they couldn't bring in another plane to take us, nor did they have another USA3000 plane available, so we sat at the airport all day. Why be there at 4:00 a.m. for a 6:30 a.m. flight if we are going to lose our entire first day at the resort? This is not the first time this has happened with Apple Vacations.

I would not recommend booking a vacation through Apple Vacations by TravelTrek in Woodland Park for the following reasons:

We booked our vacation a year ahead of time and put down a deposit to lock in the price. We thought at this point we could move on to other things knowing our vacation is locked and secure. We were very surprised to receive a letter in the mail a week later stating that they hoped we enjoyed our vacation. A bit confused by all this and afraid that our vacation may have left without us, we called to make sure everything was okay and were assured that it was a computer glitch and that everything was alright. We also applied for vacation insurance that we found out later was never applied. A little apprehensive now we decided to keep tabs on our status but did request that they move us from the elderly travel agent to perhaps one with a better memory.

Three months later we were surprised to receive a letter in the mail from Apple Vacations stating that because of rising gas prices they were going to increase our vacation charges by $350. We called and complained that since we put a down payment on our vacations that should have locked in the price. Apparently Apple reserves the right to increase your vacation price any time they choose but they also reserve the right not to decrease the pricier vacation when gas prices fall. We think this is a ripoff and recommend steering clear of TravelTrek and Apple Vacations in Woodland Park.

We have been Apple Vacations very satisfied customers three times in the past and had our hearts set on Puerto Vallarta in February. However things dont always work out the way we want. My wife, Gayle, has stage four lung cancer that she has been fighting since November of 2006. She has undergone radiation therapy and chemotherapy twice since being diagnosed. Puerto Vallarta was to be our time to enjoy something normal, something that did not involve cancer. This was to be a time for Gayle to regain some strength and energy and to feel normal.

Cancer however had other plans for us. The week before we were scheduled to leave, Gayle started having crushing headaches that caused her arms and legs to become weak and unstable. When the headaches struck her vision would blur and she would be forced to sit as quickly as possible or risk collapsing. Finally on Sunday, February 17th she admitted that things were bad enough that I took her to a local emergency room. She was examined, and given a CAT scan. The results of the CAT scan indicated that there were either cancerous lesions or an aneurism in her brain. She was immediately transported by ambulance to the Cleveland Clinic and admitted to the oncology floor. She remained in the Clinic from Sunday until Tuesday, February 19th. She was diagnosed with between 9 and 15 metastatic legions in her brain (brain tumors). Treatment was to be drastic and immediate. Gayle underwent fifteen session of whole head radiation starting the next day. These treatments ended on March 12th. It will be a month or more before we know the results of the treatment. At that time she may then need to undergo Gamma Knife Surgery a type of high energy radiation therapy used only on the brain.

On that first Sunday while we were in the emergency room, we knew that things were serious and that our vacation plans for the following week, in all likelihood, would not happen. After two more CAT scans, x-rays and ultrasounds at the Clinic, we received the diagnosis and the planned treatment. This formally ended our hope for Puerto Vallarta in February. I called my travel agent from the Cleveland Clinic immediately. She informed me that Apple Vacations policy on cancelation was no refunds but offered to contact them to see what was possible. She latter informed me that Apple Vacations did not accept medical excuses and that I could either forfeit my entire prepayment or I could pay an additional $500.00 fee to reschedule.

In order to salvage something of what may very well be our last vacation together, and with my wife lying in the hospital bed next to me, I was given literally minutes to accept the rescheduling fee, give my credit card information to pay in advance again, and to pick a new date for the trip. So, with Apple Vacations gun to my head I complied with Apples requirements and paid the fee and grabbed a date that seemed far enough in the future that Gayle would have completed whatever treatments were necessary and that she would have sufficient time to recover from the radiation and regain enough strength to make the trip.

When Gayle told her radiation oncologist about how we were treated by Apple, he was furious and without prompting felt compelled to write to Apple on Gayles behalf. I too cannot understand how Apple can expect a person admitted to the hospital on an emergency basis, and required to undergo extensive radiation on her brain in order to save her life can be thoughtlessly and callously penalized by Apple.

Gayle recovered slowly from the massive amounts of radiation shes received. She was just barley strong enough to make the trip to Puerto Vallarta in May. She had only one or two good hours per day when she could enjoy our resort. It was not our best trip.

I wrote Apple Vacations Customer Care Department regarding this experience in March, prior to our trip to Puerto Vallarta. Included with my letter was the letter my wifes oncologist. I recounted the events and noted that we had been charged a $500 re-booking fee; yet we had rescheduled not cancelled our trip. Five-hundred dollars is not an earth shattering sum of money, but its not inconsequential either. I asked them to reconsider the imposition of this fee. I felt that the current circumstances, our past experience with Apple Vacations and good business sense might engender some compassion on the part of Apple Vacations. I was sadly mistaken and in for some rude surprises. Apple Vacations proved to be not only inflexible and unfeeling but for lack of a better word just plain liars.

My letters were mailed on Monday. To my amazement and great satisfaction I was answered with a phone message from a customer care representative just three days after mailing the letters. However my amazement lasted less than 24 hours. The phone message from Tanisha stated that Apple Vacations did not charge me $500.00 but only an airline re-booking fee of $47.00 per ticket. I called Tanisha the next day and gave her the details of the various payments made to Apple Vacations that demonstrated the $500.00 additional fee. She said shed call me back.

When she called me back she said that Apple Vacations only charged me $100 per person rescheduling fee and the $47.00 per person airline re-booking fee. I again reviewed the payment history to Apple Vacations that totaled the additional $500.00. She said shed call me back.

When I received the next phone call it wasnt from Tanisha it was from my local travel agent (it pains me to use the phrase my travel agent since realistically she works for Apple Vacations not me). I was told that Apple Vacations policy is to not deal directly with the customer, that I would have to deal with the travel agent. I reviewed the entire history and previous conversations with the travel agent and was told: Shed call be back.

She called me back and informed me that the difference between the charges described above and the additional $500 payment was due to a $300.00 price increase by the airline. I had tracked the cost of my vacation on Apple Vacations web site continually from our original travel date in February to the current date in May and I told the travel agent that there didnt appear to be any significant changes in pricing from then to now. She said shed call me back.

When she called back I was now informed that the additional cost was because the original airline I was booked on was different than the air line on the web site. Again I had to correct the travel agent. The original booking was on American Airlines and the updated pricing I used as reference was also for American Airlines. To no ones surprise she said: Ill call you back.

The next call was from the owner of the travel agency. I explained my plight to him and told him that I was only looking for some compassion from Apple Vacations. He told me that �Apple Vacations will not do anything, I asked him to repeat that so there was no misunderstanding and he did verbatim. I thanked him and hung up.

Apple Vacations should have handled this issue much better than they did. I understand that Apple Vacations serves an enormous customer base each year. I further understand the opportunity to abuse the system, but these policies are created by Apple and so can also be modified as needed. Instead Apples customer service and travel agents chose to act in an arbitrary, unfeeling and mean spirited way.

When a service corporation fails to properly serve its customers and meet the goals and mission of the parent corporation the leadership of that corporation is a guilty as the customer service staff that represents them. I deeply regret that I will no longer be able to use Apple Vacations. Our previous enthusiasm for their services has been completely erased by this experience.

I will never use Apple Vacations again! They sold me a square deal vacation to Punta Cana and assured me that all 4 resorts in the square deal would be a 6 golden apple resort. They advertise a 6 golden apple as high level of luxury. Well when we arrived at the airport we were given Sunscape the Beach which is now Dreams. We get to the resort and the whole place is under construction. All the tiles through out the whole resort were being redone. There were some missing and at night it wasn't very visible due to poor lighting. My Fiance smacked his foot and it was bleeding. We went to Concierge and asked for band aid and we were told we had to go to drug store in resort and pay $10 for a box of band aids. Dreams the restaurant that was supposedly and high end restaurant was closed. The nite club smelled like it had previously flooded and it had a disgusting smell of mold. The rooms were disgusting. The food was terrible. The food was no different than a old country buffet. My biggest complaint is I wish Apple had told me ahead of time of the construction, the merger, the dreams restaurant being. I was assured that all the properties in the square deal were a six golden apple resort and what I got was a 2. Apple misrepresented this property in a big way and should of done their homework ahead of time. They have sent me several letters back and forth and they keep stating that the resort now called dreamas wants to offer me a 7 night complimentary stay. There is no way I am going back to the same place I had such a bad experience at. I was expecting luxury and I got low budget. Apple vacations is dodging the subject and do not take any responsibility. Beware of booking any vacations with Apple Vacation.