Sunwing Travel Group
Reviews and Complaints

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria, Sunwing Vacations, October 3 - 10, 2024

The Royalton Cayo Santa Maria is a stunning well-maintained property, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a rather unpleasant, scary week-long experience for my sister and me.

We arrived by taxi on October 3, 2024, wanting to avoid the mass check-in. Our butler showed us the property, pointing out the “quiet” pool and then showing us the entertainment pool area. The hotel so far is idyllic.

On Saturday, the 5th, of October, we walk past the “quiet” pool and much to our surprise, a speaker is blaring heavy metal music, and nobody is in sight. A lone speaker.

We went for lunch, which was delicious, and then settled into the “quiet” pool area to rest, which is why we are at this adult resort.

The heavy metal speaker is still blaring. My sister approaches a man, sitting near the speaker, and kindly asks him to lower his music. He aggressively calls her a “[censored]ing [censored]” and tells her to get lost.

I am standing up on the upper deck and tell him to leave my sister alone. This enrages the man, he starts to run toward me threatening me verbally, and physically chasing after me.

Wanting no part of this drama or abuse, and scared by his anger, I ran for the safety of the front desk.

Much to my surprise, a tourist, comes running to the front desk and reports what he has seen to Jorge at the reception desk. The male guest is outraged and says that he witnessed me being verbally abused and the man physically threatening assault, he continued to express his opinion that such behavior should not be tolerated in a hotel of this standard.

He was outraged that a tourist would threaten a single woman in such a violent manner. He wanted the man evicted from the hotel.

I was still in shock at both the event and the stranger bearing witness in a very outraged, protective manner. Unfortunately, he had the bus waiting for him and left. (3.30 pm, the security camera at reception can verify this interaction between the guest, Jorge, and myself)

The manager was called. Jorge relayed the visitor’s observations and comments.
At this point, another guest, Tanya, who had also been verbally assaulted by Robert, was launching a complaint.

We were told that this man, Robert, had been to the resort 17 times and that no one had ever complained about his music.

However, on the 5th of October three women had all been verbally assaulted by Robert. Calling us “[censored]ing [censored]es” and screaming that it’s the French that always make a fuss. We are from English-speaking Canada. His racism and anti-women rages were not a pretty sight to witness or feel

The manager explained to Robert (who should know the rules by now) that loud music was not permitted at the quiet pool. He turned his music down; the manager left, he put the music back up.

The manager had to go back and talk with him for another 10 minutes. His lack of respect for the resort's rules and the manager is why the tourists nicknamed him The Mayor of Royalton. It was his abuse and threats towards me that earned him the tourist’s name of The Enemy.

I was very shaken up by this event. But was intent on putting it behind me.

At dinner, my sister and I were joined by a young male tourist, Seiya Y. He was polite and kind and caring and was washing away the aggressive assaults of Robert earlier in the day.

Unfortunately, Robert and his wife entered the same dining room. We ignored them and had another good meal. They left before we did, and on the way out, they called my sister and I “[censored]ing [censored]es”. Another tourist, (Rob U. from Niagara Falls), came up to us and said that he witnessed Robert making the motion of slitting his throats when looking at us and he heard Robert’s verbal insults toward us as he left the restaurant.

At this point, the young guest at our table, Seiya got up to go and complain to management. As a resort manager himself, he found this behavior to be totally unacceptable.

Management was called into the restaurant to get the witness’s statement: (Rob U and Seiya Y) Robert looking at us, slitting his throat, and calling us [censored]ing [censored]es.

Our concern for our safety was now shared by tourists. Two single women are being openly threatened at a “safe” hotel. Security followed us around that night for a couple of hours until we went to bed. Security for us was never seen again, but the threats continued.

The next day, tourists came up to me, thinking it was their duty to look out for me, suggesting I avoid the bar because Robert was there or avoid the restaurant to stay close to them if I felt unsafe. This is how badly this event developed throughout the resort.

Management arranged a meeting with Robert, saying he was going to apologize. We did not want to be in a room with this man but were guaranteed that it would be calm and safe.

We got into the room and Robert started by saying that we yelled at him and that’s why he reacted the way he did. We told him that witnesses would disagree and would gladly come into the office right then to set him straight on what they witnessed, but Robert continued to deny…no apology was forthcoming.

I apologized to the manager and explained that I could no longer put up with this nonsense that was perpetuating the abuse that this man kept throwing at us. I excused myself and left the meeting.

The following day, a tourist Mark W, from Windsor, Ontario, approached me to tell me that “The Mayor of Royalton” had started a petition against me with the staff, as Robert realized in the meeting that we had witnesses to his actions.

I tried to ignore him and his silly petition.

But that afternoon sitting by the noisy pool, wanting to be surrounded by as many people as possible, a storm had just passed, and Anibal (Resort employee) was entertaining the guests by doing a wonderful rendition of Singing in the Rain. Tourists were singing with him and taking pictures/videos. I was trying to find some enjoyment in all of this.

It's at this point that Bianca, from the Entertainment Team, comes up to me wagging her finger with a scowl on her face, telling me not to take any pictures.

What was this all about?
Now the staff at The Royalton are joining in with Robert to prevent me from enjoying my holiday.

When questioned as to what she meant and why she was so angry with me, she responded that she had photos of us for social media, we asked her to show us the photos, but she said she didn’t speak English. What is this about? Other than harassment.

Another blond-dyed girl, part of the entertainment team kept glaring at us for the rest of our stay. Robert’s petition was effective.

The butler asked us why we weren’t more Canadian and just let things be. This was not what I needed to hear from my butler in a hotel of your standards.

We had daily meetings with management and discussions where I left each time in outrage as I saw no strategy to stop this guest’s behavior or staff’s behavior on your property, so meetings became just another insult for me. Lip service with no result to make me or my sister feel comfortable, safe, or respected while on vacation at your property.

The slitting of the throat action continued throughout my stay at the hotel, the wife, now joining in on the action. I tried hard to ignore them, walked away from wherever they were, hide from them, and still every opportunity they had they looked at me and slit their throats, I saw it in the window reflection, I saw it wherever I turned. I was scared to walk back to my room after dark, I was scared to go anywhere alone, I had to wait for daylight before I could get a coffee alone.

The abuse of this guest compounded with the abuse of your staff, and no strategy to deal with daily harassment and physical threats, left me feeling very scared and uncomfortable, and disrespected. I was looking into leaving The Royalton early but was spoken out of it.

All in all, great property, but mental abuse and physical threats, great disappointment, and great fear. Not the kind of holiday one expects from a “safe, adult” resort of your quality.

Working in media and owning an advertising agency specializing in destination marketing for Island Nations in the Caribbean and their 5 Star Hotel Spa Resorts,
I suggest you invest in a staff training program before more tourists experience the same fear/disappointment/lack of respect, and anxiety due to an unfortunate situation that should have been resolved on day 1 but lingers on to this day.

Polly Miller
[protected]@gmail.com

Booked an all-inclusive with Sunwing to Puerto Vallarta. Arrived at the airport to be informed that the flight uses Westjet airplanes and they do not have a free checked baggage allowance. Charged us $160 return for the baggages. Got to the resort and they informed us that we were not registered as all-inclusive but econo and would have to pay for all the food and drinks. Bad customer service to get our booking changed and a refund for baggage charges. Have been trying for 5 weeks to talk to someone in customer service. Will never fly Sunwing again!

Please you should be close this hotel (memories flamenco cayo coco).. We are a group for 5 persons we still there 1 week from 6 till 13 of december 2023. No food no water to drink no shapoo no towel... And the importance was no water to take our shower so we still 1 week changing our room and all the rooms was the same no water... We took our shower at the pool and we are sick now. Please I need an agent to call me to explain our situation. My phone number : [protected]. Thank you

Pretty specific above. Our seats were taken from us and we paid for the early flight . So please refund us the $120.12 that we paid for the early flight or please give us 1b and 1c on our departure flight. Thank you. We took 3 vacations with Sunwing last year, please find a solution . Booking #[protected] Lisa and Keith Gilbert Nov 7-Nov21- Caribe deluxe ( we went there last November instead of our usual Bambu and loved it ) We booked July 16, 2024 for the early flight to the D.R. - then a few days ago our departure seats were changed .I guess you merged the 2 flights and cancelled the afternoon one. WE PAID EXTRA FOR THAT FLIGHT - WHY ARE WE DISPLACED FROM OUR ORIGINAL SEATS? Not impressed and very unhappy !

On a recent vacation package to Jamaica leaving on a Friday evening (Jan 26 2024), there was a two hour delay in departure, no reasons provided. This resulted in arrival at vacation resort at midnight, with nothing open but the bar. A week later on the return flight on Friday night (February 2 2024), the flight departure was delayed 5 hours, with a departure time at Jamaica airport of 3 am. On check in at airport, SUNWING provided a voucher of $15 towards food. A hopeless certificate as everything in airport was closed except a kiosk selling expensive potato chips, chocolate bars, pop and water type items.

On filing a complaint with SUNWING, there response is it was a safety issue with the aircraft, that no one can confirm. Case closed from their perspective

My Husband and I were booked on WG6276leaving for Vardera Jan23/2024 at 9.00am but our flight did not leave until 15hours later, because of this delay we lost 1 day of our vacation. We are regular customers on Sunwing and have not had anything like this before. I was wondering if we could get some compensation for the 1 day we lost in The Royalton Varadera.

Sincerely,

Ann & Eric Bowman

My Husband and I were booked on WG6276 from Vancouver to Varadera.Our Flight was to leave at 9.00am. We were delayed 15hrs before leaving Vancouver for Veradera. We lost 1 day of our 7 day trip is there any compensation for leaving 15hours late and losing a day of our trip. We have been travelling with Sunwing for many years and this incident never happened before,

Sincerely

Ann Bowman

Travelling with my daughter and two grandchildren aged 3 and 5 on January 14 from Punta Cana to Ottawa. The flight was delayed 3 hours due to weather conditions in Ottawa... for this I completely understand. However. as the three year old was vomiting and diarrhea.. we were completely absorbed with his care and did not realize there was a gate change. Luckily realized at last minute and made it to the plane. The steward was not overly helpful as we asked for water which he never brought. Everyone on the plane was talking about how they received $20 US per person for their lunch to compensate for the delay of flight times. We received no voucher for meals. All I received was the boarding passes.. no extra vouchers for food. I would like to be compensated for this. I have another destination booking in February... which I could use the money towards the meals then. Pls advise

Lori Rothwell cinanni... [protected]@gmail.com [protected]

Will Sunwing do anything , to make us feel we appreciated and would like use Sunwing in the Future. My name is Jerry Bartzen. My group of five included wife Bonnie, son Lowell, grand daugter Mackenzie and her husband Darian. We purchased our tickets from Direct travel Saskatoon from our agent Manya. This mainly covers the problem and I do hope Sunwing or Westjet will be able to do better. Flight WG2692 was sceduled to leave Dec. 15:40 but did not leave until after 9 pm due to missing pilot. I hope someone will e-mail me at [protected]@shaw.ca or call or text me at [protected]. Thanks Jerry Bartzen

I had a flight with Sunwing Airlines (WG3424) scheduled to departure at 5 pm on Thursday, December 28th, 2023 from Windsor International Airport and was supposed to arrive at Juan Gualberto Gomez Airport in Varadero, Cuba at 8:10 pm on the same day. This flight's departure was changed multiple times and I received a final departure time which was at 10:15 pm the same day. This is over 5 hours of delay and I arrived at my hotel on the morning of Friday, December 29th because of it. We arrived at Juan Gualberto Gomez Airport at 1:30 am on December 29th.

I Pius Boniface Kalatharan from Canada booked (BOOKING NO [protected]) a hotel in Cuba for my friend to stay one week and enjoy, that "Hotel Room All inclusive" hotel Name is "Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort" HOLQUIN from 20 OCT. TO 27 oct ,2023. On 20 Oct my friend went to the above Hotei but the Hotel management not allowed stay in the hotel. they sent out. so is un acceptable. what ever now i request the money back to my credit card account which i paid.

this mail send through my friend because some lanquage problem

more conduct

my own email..

[protected]@gmail.com

My T.P . [protected]

thanks

P.B.Kalatharan

please take action and send the reply as soon as possible

4 hr delay going. No rep. ever, at hotel. Rep did not show up to scheduled orientation via email.

On return flight 7 hrs waited in limbo to be finally told flight was cancelled and were transported to another hotel. Total waste of daylight hours sitting in lobby.

8 am flight no breakfast or, even a cup of coffee at overnight hotel. No meal offered on flight despite aircraft and Crew staying over night. Advertised free shuttle between Sister hotels; not available.

No compensation offered at all.

Sunwing does not give a crap. The cream of the crop have been laid off and what is left are more concerned about getting the ax and believe me the lazy cabin crew on the return flight spent more time behind the curtains.

We travelled in late July for 2 weeks this summer. We had a rat in our room which caused significant anxiety and stress (and eventually had to change resorts which we had to pay extra..) I’ve emailed several times including the president and CEO of Sunwing to no avail.. will keep trying to get this resolved. Not holding our breath and are spreading the word…