Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - windjammer landing

Just Back!

Hi to all – this is going to be long!!!

Building Works
Well, back home now in freezing weather. WJ was, in the main, very good. The building works are continuing but are confined to one part of the resort not too far from the main pool. The works are screened off from the main area. There are many trucks coming in along the main road (which is also being refurbished) and they are pouring rocks to form the foundations for the replacement villas which will be built over the coming year. The noise disturbance was mainly from the rocks being tipped out by the trucks but was less intrusive further down the beach. Near Jammers it was quite loud.

Embers bar has expanded to include a covered tent area providing more shade for diners. However, this has taken the natural shade provided by the palm trees away and therefore there is less shaded area for the beach-chairs. Windjammer needs to address this as, by 11am, there was little shade available.

The staff tried very hard to overcome the current difficulties and, with a few exceptions, were friendly and cooperative. Unfortunately the shuttle service was slow as there were 3 shuttles in for repair and only 1 operating after 11pm which was annoying when many people were coming out of Jammers bar after the entertainment had finished. The shuttle drivers did their best with enthusiasm but Saturday and Sunday check out and check ins were affected.

That said, the food was good and the quality for all-inclusive continues to be very good value. Papa Dons restaurant was packed and attracted more customers than Dragonfly! Chef Bobo Bergstrom has now left to open his own place on the island but a new head chef is coming in soon so expect some menu changes!

Watersports continue to improve their facilities. New hobiecats and windsurfing boards were in evidence. The sea was very murky with a slow swell during the first week of our visit so we confined our water explorations and activities to the second week.

More building work and timeshare villas;

There is, apparently, further building work going on on the land between Windjammer and East Winds involving building more villas and, possibly, a new Spa. This will start in late summer.

The new fourplex and some new 2-bedroom villas are now built and are very lovely. However, bear in mind that the upkeep of the timeshare villas is VERY important and, having had our villa for just over 7 years, there were some major maintenance issues which the Timeshare staff were most unwilling to either acknowledge or help with. Their attitude was very rude when help was requested and our complaints were not passed on to the relevant parties. I admit that they are good salespeople but their “after-sales” attitude leaves a lot to be desired. Senior management did sort things out eventually but do watch out for this when considering buying in this resort. The humidity and weather of the Caribbean causes stuff to wear out quickly and many owners were unhappy with the level of maintenance on their villas. This is important when considering resale 5-10 years down the line.

All in all we had a very good time and are looking forward to our next visit!