Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort & Spa All Inclusive

To start with, this was my first Caribbean resort stay, with an all inclusive option. Overall the experience was good. The food was decent, the pools were great, and the activities on the resort were fun.

There's some sort of hierarchy when it comes to your resort status, and based on that you'll have access to different parts of the resort. I think you have to be an owner to really get access, but I'm not sure. They never really explain it anywhere. We had access to several of the buffets, two beaches, and many of the bars.

Pick up at the airport was included in our stay. The trip to the resort was a bit of a drive, and they charged $55 to take us back at the end of our trip. Arrival was smooth, they gave us a map and stood us what areas we had access to, as well as the schedule of events on the resort.

Our room was really great. AC kept it a cool 19C the whole time. The shower was large, and the balcony overlooked one of the pools. The bed was comfy, there was water, beer, and soda in the fridge that was stocked daily. TV, coffee maker, etc etc. Pretty standard stuff for a decent hotel. Weirdly the safe in the room was extra, if you wanted to use it.

My only complaint about the room was the water in the shower. Hot water didn't work all the time, and occasionally the water pressure would drop to a trickle. There were outdoor showers at every pool and the beach entrances though, so you could always rinse off before going back to your room.

The buffet we used, Casa Blanca, was great. The food offered changed every day, and they had several cooking stations that offered things like grilled fish, smoothies, omelettes, and pasta. There was always salad and fruit available during meal times. Some very picky people may have trouble finding something they like, but there's a lot to choose from. The quality was decent. I would've liked more local foods offered, but what they had was good enough.

The staff mostly spoke English and were very helpful. The salespeople are very pushy though, so you have to be firm with them. They sell pictures, excursions, cigars, and massages. The massages are really nice, and if you book one the rest of them will leave you be. That's how we did it anyway 😅.

If I had to pick one complaint, it's the amount of stairs. There are stairs everywhere. I'm not sure if there are more handicapped accessible areas on the resort, but many places we visited didn't have an option other than stairs. Staying on the third floor really helped offset the buffet.

I think the only way to have a good visit here is if you are one of their “members” with a time share. I booked a regular room and it was disgusting. There were roaches in the room, the tub was filthy and full of hair, not to mention the power went out 3/4 days of my stay. The air conditioning in the room didn’t go lower than 82 degrees Fahrenheit, so expect to be warm. The service was great for the most part, but there were a few times it was terrible. One time I ordered food at a bar and it never came. Another time the woman at the buffet didn’t want to let me in with the beach towel. It was just ridiculous. Several times we were ignored at the bars. The food was great, but that was one of the only positives to the resort itself. There were no activities on the resort itself, so you could either enjoy the beach/pool, or spend money on excursions. The bad service and lack of cleanliness was enough to deter me from coming back.