Fairmont Royal Pavilion

Well, as much as I want to give a good review I can't and I agree with most of the negative reviews. There is so much wrong I don't know where to start. Food mediocre at best. Grumpy staff and more importantly its sooo tired looking. Our bedroom was one of the best ones and had mould on the ceiling that grew every day (see pict) They obviously just painted over it between each guests and there were men with paint brushes wandering around the hotel everyday, most of walls had massive bubbles under the paint and water regularly ran down the walls. We were meant to have a butler but they only introduced themselves on the second last day. When we asked for a late checkout they said we had to wait till the last day but we could get a room to change in at worst. Guess what no late check out or room to change, but the room next door was empty even on our last day. Some of the staff were complaining that their is no investment in the Hotel, it's just a money grabbing exercise, should change their name to Royal Cheapmount. I can go on and on ... Just avoid this hotel and if you want a better stay try a Hotel in Allepo or Gaza.

We’ve been coming FRP annually for nearly twenty years, so this review is one I hope the powers that be there read and take notice of as we will not be returning. I could write pages and pages of what is wrong and needs improving but to summarise, * The Staff in the main appear to know it’s going downhill * The Breakfast was nowhere near as good as it should be (2 hours for an omelette?), they’ve stopped the one thing that was good (the egg station) * The swimming pool looked dirty and full of leaves, it didn’t get cleaned * The rooms are tired, our cooler wasn’t working (it wasn’t last year) and as per other reviews we had to request a huge commercial fridge * The Ice machine didn’t work all week * We asked the “Butler” (who we saw once a day) to do one thing for us, tea in the morning at 8am, first two days it never arrived until we asked again. * The beds on the beach need renewing and better mattresses * the beach needed raking due to the recent storms as there was coral/rocks everywhere access to cut your feet. The local beach bar next door raked their area every day without fail * The service on the beach was temperamental at best, one day we didn’t see anyone for 2hrs and we had to call the reception to send someone *The gym had items out of order,all week. * service at the bar was slow at best There’s more but remember this is a hotel charging you £1100/$1500 a night The hotel needs new management and a refresh, the two stars are for the few great staff that still tried, the location and the fantastic new art studio

This hotel is very tired, we had a beach view suite which had a beach view at night but during the day all we saw were umbrellas from the sunbed placed outside our decked room. There were screws sticking out of the decking. Rugs were worn, the cooler smelt and didn’t keep anything cool, after complaining it took a week to be given a fridge freezer, the swimming pool was dirty, the staff had no urgency. The restaurant for breakfast had birds poo on the seats that had not been cleaned and took 15mins most days to be seated, service was slow and they ran out of avacados, pina colada, and strawberry daiquiri . Service round the pool was near non existant. The bar was dirty, dirty glasses continuously on the sides. Tables were never wiped over and we found dirty plates and glasses dotted around the hotel that were left for days. We had a glass and a cup left on a wall of our room which was there for over a day. We were supposed to have a butler who we didn’t see for the first six days, then only saw him three times within the last 4 days. No one seemed to know what they were doing. The general attitude of staff at the front desk was rude. In our last day we waited at the restaurant for lunch and the girl seating people (we were the only two) completly ignored us and walked off, we decided to walk along the beach to lone star where the service was amazing. Its a shame as the food at the hotel was really nice but the service was awful. Apart from that there were a few staff that were great, Roselle was lovely and nothing was too much trouble, Nicolle and Renico, Marva, Richard and Jalissa were great. We would not come back to this hotel it’s more a 3 * hotel not 5.

A stunning location and this hotel should be a jewel in Fairmonts crown. The views from the rooms are to die for. Unfortunately apart from the lovely updated bedrooms and bar area , the hotel in need of updating and renewal. The entrance drive felt dull and lacklustre rather than having blooming plants and running fountain. The car park to the left of the main entrance was unsightly. There is no spa and the gym area is by the porters gate at the entrance. It is very small with poor equipment and no classes. The staff are friendly but service is slow . At night the main restaurant was quiet despite a nice menu ( not rotating ..same every night) so we ate out often. The cold breakfast buffet was the most basic I’ve seen in the Caribbean and the a la carte breakfast was so slow. Due to an event , the breakfast was moved and there was a large hot/cold buffet for 2 mornings…amazing! The beach staff very so friendly and would find us a bed when it appeared they were all taken. What would I like to see? Restructuring of gardens to open us view to the ‘estate’ currently hidden behind trees. Update entrance drive/reception area. Needs to have more ‘wow’. New furniture for reception. More cultural Caribbean/ calypso music. New /updated /enlarged gym with spa -this area was busy every morning. I didn’t feel like I was in a 5 star hotel. On saying that , we loved our stay but we also spoke to many guests who felt the same. Here’s hoping Fairmont invest in this special place and values it’s friendly staff.

Our main area of concern was breakfast in the palm restaurant On each morning there was never a table ready although there were numerous tables empty. So each day we would wait for one to be made up. Most days in a queue. I have to say the quality of the food was far below standard for a five star hotel. On our first morning I ordered "eggs benedict" What was delivered was a soggy muffin of sorts with a thick slice of ham and two hard poached eggs. I mentioned to the waitress who informed us we needed to ask for runny yolks when ordering! Since when do you need to order runny poached eggs. Day two I ordered the "traditional breakfast" Upon cutting open a sausage I discovered it was raw inside. I brought this to the attention of the waitress who took the plate away and five minutes later a chef came out and politely said "that this was the local cured sausage and they look like that inside" Before the plate was removed I cut open the sausages and took photos of them. They were clearly all raw inside. He did offer to make me something else and I opted for a plain omelette. The next day I tried with the eggs benedict again, stating that I would like the poached eggs to be runny. Once again they came hard boiled. My wife had the avocado toast and her poached eggs were also hard. I am totally shocked that a kitchen in a five star hotel is unable to poach an egg. The yogurt ran out twice and we were told there was no more in the hotel! Pastries ran out twice and never replenished after being told they would. I understand the move from buffet to a la carte to save wastage, however this makes it easier for the chef to keep standards high with everything leaving the kitchen and this is not happening. One morning we arrived at 10:05, at 10:15 once the couple in front were eventually seated, we were asked to place our order as they were taking the food away. We were not even sat at a table at this point. After a polite push back the greeter backed down. This was the first morning we had met this staff member. I drink espresso and would request this each morning. Some days I would be served a large black coffee, espresso in a mug. Never the same coffee twice. Due to the standard of breakfast we never ate in the hotel opting to eat our lunches and dinners in restaurants outside of the hotel. The exception to this was a pizza whilst sitting with friends. On the evening of the managers cocktail party, we received no greeting from any staff members, or a welcome drink. No staff were wearing name badges. If they were we could have introduced ourselves to them. We never met a manager then or the entire stay. A first for us staying in a five star hotel. When staying at the House all staff and managers would introduce themselves during our stays with them. We had afternoon tea once. Reason for this, We were told we could not order espresso or Americano with afternoon tea. We have never heard of such a thing. Never bothered after that experience. Bar service was extremely slow if you sat on the tables under Taboras. Again this made our decision to spend our evenings outside of the hotels easier. When shown to our room, Peter explained that the mini bar was broken. Upon speaking with other guests, it actually looks like they have basically all been turned off. Peter kindly brought us a small fridge to place water in. Unfortunately we think the fridge was used for the cold towels as anything placed in it smelled and tasted of eucalyptus. We received an info sheet on the Wednesday night! The info sheet was relating to things which had started on the Sunday! There was no ice ever placed in our suite. All other hotels would do so early evening. Upon checking you do state this should happen twice. On the fourth night of requesting for some ice at the bar we were informed there was an ice machine near the room. Why was this not highlighted to us. Overall the hotel lacks any sparkle. Beds in the beach are tired and rusty. Very easy to spray and look fresh. We completely understand the weather destroyed the beach, however other hotels which have faced the same problems on Barbados, Maldives etc barge in sand. There was no attempt to rake the beach of all the rocks. Again a days work and the beach would be so much better. The wall backing the beach needs painting. This was a common theme throughout the hotel. Palm restaurant is in desperate need of decoration. Never once were we asked by a member of staff how was our stay. All these small issues are what ruins a hard earned holiday. I am sorry to say but the Fairmont Royal Pavilion is not anywhere near five star standard in its present format. I would like to add that Mr Martinez (general Manager) after receiving my email took the time to call me when I was home and discuss my points and reassure they would be addressed.