Businessman
Ochi Jamaica - Poor communication, Failure to Provide services, 75% of resort was closed
We are strong supporters of the Sandals brand and love the 5 star experience that we normally experience. After 6 months, the company proposed a satisfactory resolution. Thank you! Based upon our actual experience Feb 4-11, we are requesting a 100% refund of our vacation. We visited the online website on December 21, 2020 to book our vacation. The resort was set to open December 23, 2020. Although we planned to travel January 4-11, 2021 and had pre-reserved our flights, we decide to delay until Feb 4 to give the resort more time to open and have more booked guests. We wanted to experience all 16 restaurants but MOST IMPORTANTLY, we need the energy of a busy Sandals resort so that we can have the activities such as dancing, meeting new people, sand volleyball, pool side activities, hearing big Momma sing at the Speakeasy,… We specifically booked Great House One Bedroom Butler Suite (M1) because we wanted a LARGER room for our personal needs with ground floor walkout and at the main pool so that we could participate in maximum pool activities with groups of people. We needed the larger room as I rise 1 hour before my wife. I need a separate space to have coffee and read that will not wake my wife. For the 5 weeks leading up to our trip, we received many confirming phone calls and emails updates about Sandals Ochi. During these calls, I asked if everything was on schedule and was told yes. I provided our preferences and details to customize our stay. At ANY point during this time, had Sandals informed us that the resort opening had been canceled and delayed, we would have IMMEDIATELY moved our booking date. On February 2, 2021, I decided to search the current reviews of Sandals Ochi to understand how the opening was progressing. I was SHOCKED to discover that the resort opening had been repeatedly canceled and reset, including a planned Feb 1 opening that was moved to Feb 3. We wanted to cancel our reservation so I called Sandals to inquire about the status of the Ochi resort opening. We wanted to cancel so I called and was assured that the entire resort was opening including all 16 restaurants, 11 bars and our confirmed accommodations. The lovely lady informed me that everything was going to be open the next day, February 3, including all the restaurants bars and the complete resort. HAD WE BEEN GIVEN ANY DIFFERENT INFORMATION BY THE SANDALS CUSTOMER SERVICE TELEPHONE UPDATE, WE WOULD HAVE IMMEDIATELY RESCHEDULED OUR TRIP TO MID-APRIL 2021 FOR THE SAME REASONS THAT WE SCHEDULED FEBRUARY WHEN WE BOOKED IN DECEMBER 2020. We arrived late February 4 in heavy rain and were brought initially to the Great House Village Checkin (wrong building) by the driver. There was no staff present … we found 2 service men who then helped us walk to the Riviera side Checkin. We met our butler Fernando, as well as the Butler Manager Tsoxroy, and GM Kevin. During checkin, I explained that I was confused why the Great House Village Checkin was closed and was our booked and confirmed room. I was told YES. Via our butler Fernando, we arrange a 9 am Feb 5 resort tour. During the tour, I advised our butler Cameka that we were in the wrong room and was told again that this was our room. Cameka gave us a tour of the seaside only. I asked Cameka to tour us on the entire resort and not just seaside. She explained that the back part of resort was closed , except for Rabbit Hole bar (Speakeasy) During our stay, we repeatedly asked that our room be corrected. During our first 2-3 days, there were approximately 16 to 24 guests in total. During the entire week, we were only able to get ONE sand volleyball match with enough players. There was no dancing at night with so few guests. There was no energy at the pool and very little, if any, pool activities. We would like to recognize and give a Shoutout to the following staff members for excellent service: Room Butlers: Cameka and Fernando Activities: Renae singer, dancers Ajai , Taniesha, activities Eric ( great volleyball player), Fitzroy, Marlon Beach butlers: Sheldon and Miguel Beach pool DJ Marlon Guest services Mgr Maxine Pool bartender Akeem - perfect Texas margaritas Butler Manager Tsoxroy SUMMARY: Based upon our actual experience Feb 4-11, we are requesting a 100% refund of our vacation price . 1) Failure to provide the services and facilities as described on the Sandals booking site 2) Failure to communicate that the Sandals Ochi resort would be 75% closed during our stay 3) Failure to provide the One bedroom butler suite room that we booked and repeatedly requested 4) We would have rebooked our stay later in 2021 had we been correctly informed