Sunwing Travel Group review: Royalton Cayo Santa Maria/Sunwing Vacation 1

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, the reason for which 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 Peter Gough, 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 Yamada. 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 Ukrainetz 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 statemen: (Rob Ukrainetz and Seiya Yamada) 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 Wilkinson, from Windsor, Ontario, approached me to tell me that “The Mayor of Royalton” had started a petition against me with the staff, as he 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 was entertaining us all 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
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