The Palms T&C...looks so beautiful, reviews sooo bad!
 

We are about to book our trip to T&C. We are trying to decide between the Palms & Grace Bay Club. The Palms looks incredible. Reminds me of Cap Juluca in Anguilla which we loved, but the reviews are terrible- service not exsistent and I could go on. I've found these reviews on Trip Advisor.
Has anyoned stayed at either property recently? What about location- in terms of walking to other restaurants, snorkeling etc.
Thanks for any input.

we were there from 2/12 - 2/19. It is a very pretty place and the location is very good several restaurants within walking and snorkeling down the beach about 10 mins. The biggest service issues we had were with the concierge, who was just horribile and clueless - it seemed like they had no idea who was in what room (we kept getting spa and dinner reservation confirmation notes in our room - addressed to different people - none of which were ours) -
This however did not ruin our trip, in fact if the weather had been better the first 4 days of our trip I probably wouldn't have any issues at all (it rained and was cold and so windy there were no excursions or snorkeling - so we spent a lot of time in the hotel)-
we didn't have problems with the rest of the staff - oh, we would get down to the beach early on nice days and they almost never had beach towles before 10AM -
Oh and, if you want to play tennis reserve court time when you get there they only have one court and its almost always booked. So, yeah - it has problems - but I have no idea what other hotels there are like so I can't compare.
My husband and I probably woun't be back to T&C again until we have children - we like a more away from it all vacation and Provo reminded us of going to Florida with a much better beach -

Thanks for your candid reply. I may consider just re-visiting Anguilla, as we loved it so much.

The current Spa Magazine (I think that's the title) has a follow up review to see if things had improved since their unimpressive first visit -- according to the review -- there has not been much improvement and the place is way overpriced for the snafus/poor service they experienced. We stayed at Point Grace only one year after it opened and it too was experiencing tremendous issues with service as the concept of luxury service seemed to be new to Provo. One of the causes of the service difficulties seems to be that most of the places on Provo are condo resorts with private owners that they are trying to operate like luxury hotels but they don't employ the number of staff they really need to do this right or provide the right training. I have to say, out of all the places we have been, the service was the worst on Provo, we would go to a restaurant and once you got your meal, we'd never see the waiter again, no checking back, no offer of dessert, no presenting of the check. It became a joke with us. I hope it has improved in the last few years. But that beach, to die for, especially five years ago before the construction explosion!

We were in Provo last June and I wouldn't go back; especially now when there is even more construction. We stayed at the Sibonne, which we LOVED, but it is not a luxury resort. We were not impressed with the Palms but didn't go to Grace Bay Club. I just thought the whole T&C experience not any where near the level of Cap Juluca or resorts of that caliber. For a "smaller" trip, maybe, but for an important trip, no way. We only went because we got a Netsaver fare of $323 per person round trip and the Sibonne was, I think $190 a night for the Premium Beachfront, so we were able to go for less than we had planned on spending for that particular trip.

we also thought that the service in t&C was awful, but that isn't why we probably wouldn't go back.

i agree that it's kind of like florida with a much better beach. if i'm going to go on a 6-8 day vacation I want to go somewhere that feels different than Destin.

oh, and the palms is managed by the same company that manages the Sands at Grace Bay, where we stayed last May. The service there was completely lacking and I think the condo resort thing may play a role in the service issues at places on the island. That is fine if people know condo=little service, but many of the "resorts" on the island do in fact market themselves as full service resorts, which I find misleading and will ultimately lead to disappointment.

Understand when you stay at the Palms or Point Grace the suites are all privately owned & the majority of the suites are not in a rental pool so the properties are run strictly as condos (& they are smaller numbers of units) so service is almost non-existant.Grace Bay Club, Turks and Caicos Club are hotel & condos & service oriented. The Sands,Ocean Clubs,Coral Gardens & RWI are all roughly 100 condos & majority of units are in rental pool so they are very service oriented. Palms, Villa Renissance, Point Grace all beautiful properties but similar to renting a summer home for the week.You are pretty much on your own.

Just returned from 7 days at The Palms. Either service has vastly and quickly improved, there is another "The Palms" on Provo, or my expectations aren't as high as others.

We did not experience any major service issues on Turks & Caicos or more specifically at The Palms. We found the concierge (now there are many, so it may have been the one we worked with) to be knowledgeable and had some connections at the restaurants and tour companies to get us in when they were full. We received confirmations promptly and quickly in our room.

Now, having travelled extensively throughout the caribbean, I have learned to relax and understand that sometimes things may take a little longer - its called island time. While I do expect that my requests will be taken care of, my questions answered and my needs met - I don't expect that I will get the same service I do at home - no matter the $$ I am paying - thats just not the way it works.

"Now, having travelled extensively throughout the caribbean, I have learned to relax and understand that sometimes things may take a little longer - its called island time."

memar1, methinks you have hit the nail squarely on the head... :->

We've been to Provo - stayed at the Sands - and thought the place was super! (It's CONDOS, not Four Seasons.)

We noticed that service was pretty slow at many places on the island, and not very polished at others, but Provo has grown so much so fast, there's not a large population of "just dying to wait on you hand and foot" highly-trained service staff available for the resorts that are springing up.

If paying for and getting optimum Ritz Carlton service is very important to a traveler, he/she would be wise to do as the OP did and check reviews to see what it is about a property that might be cause for a negative review. Doing your research is a VERY smart way to avoid disappointment.

If one spends a lot of time at the resort, the service level of the staff becomes quite a bit more important than for someone like myself who is up and away exploring soon after breakfast.

Poor service is a very subjective opinion. I have seen some travelers to the Caribbean expect to be catered to in a manner that approaches servitude.

I just booked a trip at which part of my stay will be at a hotel that gets poor reviews for the front desk staff. Based on some of the reviewer's attitudes, my guess is the front desk staff would not rate these guests highly either.

Having been in the service industry myself during college, you largely get what you give. ;)

Yes, that is correct. But it seems that you are saying that if you pay less than 4 Seasons prices, you deserve poor service. With that theory, you could never complain about the service anywhere.

It seems like some posters believe that there is no such thing as bad service in the Caribbean, and if one alleges bad service took place, then that person must in fact be an awful, unbearable person. I alleged bad service at the Sands for various reasons that were completely reasonable, and I am not an unbearable person.

I think that what is being said is that bad or good service is at most times subjective. Yes, bad things can happen and great things can happen as well, its all part of the experience.
I think that when some people travel, they have certain expectations, which just may set them up for a bad experience.

When I do experience bad service, what really matters is how the matter is rectified. If I feel better at the end of the day, then yes there may have been bad service, but there was good to erase the bad.

I don't really think it has much to do with cost, rather than expectation. For whatever I am paying I do expect good services, whether it is motel 6 or a Four Seasons - at the end of the day, they are all in the service industry and that is what they should be providing. Just my two cents!

I agree completely with Mah1980's comments. I have also stated in recent posts that the service was not up to par at the Sands. I would not call not having our room cleaned until 3-4pm "being on island time". I would just call it poor service. The Sands is a good hotel but has some minor flaws that hopefully have been rectified. I also would like to state that I am a reasonable polite person and have no expectations of being waited on hand and foot when I travel...

Maybe we could just let people post their actual experiences and we could draw our own conclusions about service based on our standards. Sort of the point of the board, no?

This little anecdote might be relevant to this discussion.
my husband and I used to meet frequently after work for dinner at a pleasant Chinese restaurant . We liked to talk and dawdle over a drink or two before ordering food. (We went before the rush.) The efficient waitress would come by every few minutes -- we'd say, we'll order in a few minutes. After several evenings like this, she handed us our menus as we sat down and said, " I remember you. You're the people who like bad service." So she let us be for a while.

I responded to this thread back when it was asked, and I believe my response was accurate - it was a post asking about the palms - and when we were there they did have some service issues (i.e. they ran out of towels every morning) But, I didn't say it ruined the vacation - it didn't - would we go back - no - but as I stated we probably wouldn't go back to Provo -
And we stayed at the four seasons in costa rica - and it was cheaper then the Palms - and as far as location and resort we vastly preferred it.
I think its important to remember that this was a thread about service at THE PALMS - not about ones expectations of service or lack there of in the caribbean.

"it seems that you are saying that if you pay less than 4 Seasons prices, you deserve poor service."

No, but I am saying service levels are different in the Caribbean, and people need to expect that).

If you pay less than Four Seasons prices, you might get less than Four Seasons service, and it is STILL entirely possible to actually pay Four Seasons prices and get crummy service.

"It seems like some posters believe that there is no such thing as bad service in the Caribbean"

Certainly not - that's unrealistic. I've had bad service myself, I just don't get my panties all in a wad about it.

"and if one alleges bad service took place, then that person must in fact be an awful, unbearable person."

I'm sure that's not your case at all, but I know it IS the case for some, because I've witnessed it myself.

The whole point is that one of the things that many of us love about the Caribbean is "island time" and people need to be prepared for that eventuality or not travel to the region at all if they think they'll have a problem with it. Paying $750 a night is no guarantee of utopia.

The bottom line is that some people will be miserable and will find something to complain about anywhere. However, I think most people are not like that.

My contribution to this thread was the Sands, also on T & C and run by the same company that runs the Palms, had several issues when we stayed there last year. Nothing to the extent that would ruin our trip, but things that were irritating on vacation (e.g., coming back to a room at 4 to have it not be cleaned). I think those are the types of feedback that the OP was looking for.

"I think that what is being said is that bad or good service is at most times subjective"

I totally agree - case in point, some people have a problem with the room not being ready by 3 or 4. I personally have no problem with this because I'm either going to be by the pool, on the beach or out on the ocean anyway.

To others, this would be an issue.

Hence, the "subjective" part.