i took a break from the blog to build up a few other assets of the firm — and to take my honeymoon! my wife and i stayed at a top resort in the dominican republic. it was one of those all-inclusive packages where flight, room, food, drink, and transport are all covered under a fixed price. the expectation was that service would be impeccable — considering the price tag we paid and the quality look and feel of the facilities. in the states, it’s price/quality/service — expect two. well, we got one (quality). price and service were not wonderful. i came to realize that the u.s. standard for consumer value and our expectations for service may exceed what others expect. that is the impression that was left, in the least.
i’m not hung up on price because we gleaned a huge value from being somewhere so beautiful for our honeymoon. the caribbean is truly amazing. however, the disservice is lingering with me. my guess is that this is good enough for those who don’t take much note of such things as service, or for those who have short stays. if you’re savvy and stay for 6 days like we did, then you’re going to pick up on differences. i thought readers would be curious about just how far a top resort — this was the barcelo bavaro resort in punta cana, dominican republic — could slip.
• we were immediately robbed by members of the cleaning staff. we arrived in the evening and crashed early. at breakfast the next morning, we were robbed. they went into my wife’s luggage, found a cash envelope wrapped in some other paperwork and cleaned it out. there was a safe in the room, but no one took the time to advise that it existed and we would need to use it. there is no way this is rare if it is happening immediately upon arrival. this is part of their culture. in the states, you don’t need to obsess over such things. you should take precautions, but you are not exposed to this degree. i understand the implications in a poorer nation. this was still a bit much.
• when we went to report the crime at the guest services desk, a few things jumped out at us. first of all, there are four desks and only two staff members working them. this is a HUGE resort with thousands of patrons. made zero sense and exposed their lack of commitment to service. secondly, the woman who attempted to help us was clearly not empowered to provide any service. thirdly, she obsessed over her personal cell phone as we were trying to get her to do various things. fourthly, she offered nothing to “make it right” — as would be customary in the states. in the end, she thought it reasonable that we should jump through two levels of reporting hoops (on-resort and local police) and lose at least two hours of our day (not to mention, push our frustration level to even higher levels). in the end, all they have is what they need. we have nothing for our misfortune. on what planet is that good enough service? we even tried to help them “do their job” but she didn’t understand. we offered that they could offer free wifi or free spa passes for what happened — ON OUR HONEYMOON no less. nope, no can do.
• they had recently renovated, which was handled less than professionally. at first glance, the place looked amazing. peel back the onion a bit and you’re hassled by a leaking shower, toliet paper holder falling off the wall and power than goes on and off. some of this is lower standards of contracting in the country, but some of this is thinking of design too superficially — as in too much attention to aesthetics and not enough attention to function and engineering. unfortunate.
• the amount of attention offered in the food service domain was generally very good. the staff in the various restaurants refreshed your water and wine, brought out food relatively quickly and were mostly friendly. i say mostly friendly because there was an overall air just beneath the service that we were not as welcome as the european visitors. they were ready to speak french beyond their native spanish but less prepared to speak english. they were prepared for european tastes in food and service but not as tuned to what americans like. for example, my wife ordered gnocchi and received 10 or 12 pieces in a big bowl. that is not how we do things in the states. we were expecting more of a middle ground and not a clear favoring of one culture. in one restaurant, a sushi place, the service was straight laughable. the first night we went there, we were treated like the rock stars we are. nice table. careful settings and linen. top quality fish presented immaculately. when we returned later, we are seated at the bar and served less than fresh fish from the refrigerator. no joke, we even have a photo of the chef bringing out a plate of sushi and peeling off the plastic wrap in front of us. i don’t even treat my dog this way!
• the resort catered to spring breakers. an 18-22 crowd would love this. i get that. my wife and i are in our thirties. most top resorts would never think of marketing in this direction for fear of how their mature clientele would receive it. let me share some detail. they staged a bikini contest right off the beach, which basically meant you couldn’t just enjoy the beach for that day. the volume level carried throughout the entire resort. they had a bar at every square foot of the extensive property and encouraged every one to get completely lit. they tolerated a extremely high level of nonsense. we were kept awake by screaming — no loud talking even — at as late as 4 am. at just about every turn were overgrown children acting like idiots in a place where you had paid for a top-notch experience. debauchery is not my cup of tea, let alone something i would pay to have in my presence on a vacation or honeymoon. not to mention, i’m reminded of why americans are so hated at every turn. these students were ensuring our bad name!
i’m going to stop here. i get the feeling that one or two resorts may be slightly better and most are slightly worst — from what a few other travelers i talked with shared. mostly, this is a cultural divide. we are forgiving people by nature, so we did enjoy our stay in the dominican republic. because i work in marketing and branding, i couldn’t help but scratch my head at what i listed above. most like me would feel exactly as i do. service expectations are etched and elevated in many americans.
