Not a good trip to Pearl, 11/09 to 11/13, 2015

[RIDESIRECPL]

We have been to RM 9 times and this was our second trip to Pearl. We were extremely disappointed with our 5 day visit. The only saving grace was meeting up with old friends and finding new ones. We checked in on Monday and the toilet seemed a little slow to flush. By Tuesday morning it was leaking and by mid-morning was backed up. We called for service, which was prompt but ineffective. It was still flushing very slowly and leaking, so we called again, and again they came out and "fixed" the problem. By Wednesday morning, we were afraid to use it and had to use other public facilities on the resort for our toilet needs. We called again only to receive the same ineffective fix. By this point, we only used the toilet carefully and for urination only and refrained from throwing toilet paper in the bowl. On Thursday morning we were forced to make the same trek to public restrooms to take care of morning needs. We called again on Thursday and they came while we were at lunch. By now they were taking the issue seriously, and when we returned from lunch to take a nap, we found the room unusable. They had completely removed the commode to replace it and the room smelled like raw sewage, in addition, the maid had not serviced the room so the plumbers could complete the toilet removal and re-installation. The room wasn't usable until 5:30 that evening, to allow the toilet plumbing adhesives to dry, and the maid to service the room. We were leaving on Friday, so we basically had limited, to no use, of the room's toilet for 3 ½ days of our 5 day visit. I was told by the desk clerk that he would explain the situation to the Guest Services Manager who would be able to compensate us in some manner for the tremendous inconvenience. At checkout, I noticed that they didn't have us take a survey as is the norm at RM. When I mentioned it, he acted surprised, but gave us the survey computer to fill out the survey. I then talked to the Guest Services Manager, Antonio Salas about our problem to which he offered us a free massage on our next visit. I said that wasn't enough and he said he had to talk to his boss before he could offer anything more. After talking to his boss, he said he could give us 1 free night but that was all he was willing to offer. My wife continued filling out the survey, pretty much what I have written here, and included the conversation between Antonio and myself in her survey narrative. I insisted that 2 nights was more in line with a fair compensation for having a room with a limited toilet. There seemed to have been a language barrier, and he became combative and agitated with me. He was acting like I was trying to get some free nights for nothing. As soon as my wife finished the survey, the staff read it, and Antonio promptly removed the one night offer saying that my wife said she didn't want it (which she never said). I think he was trying to offer up the free night so we wouldn't comment on our dissatisfaction on the survey. At this point he became belligerent and said we would get nothing. Which is exactly what we walked away with. I have never witnessed this type of behavior in all our trips to RM and/or Pearl. For being in charge of customer service, Guest Services Manager Antonio Salas seems to have the least amount of customer service, never mind customer appreciation.

In addition to our problems with the toilet, we also had problems with the La Perla restaurant. We had a group of 8 and the time it took to get our food was ridiculous. It wasn't the size of our group that caused the delays, because at one point I noticed that no one in the restaurant seemed to be getting food. After waiting for over 1 ½ hours with no food, 2 of the guys from the group went back to their rooms, ordered room service and brought it back for everyone at the table, which got a good laugh but was actually pathetic. The food was good but in very small portions, when it was all said and done, we spent almost 4 hours in the restaurant. We experienced similar problems in 2012 but thought it would have been fixed by now.

Would we go back to Pearl? I'm honestly not sure, the things we like about it over RM (the pool, the hot tub and nicer rooms) are wiped out by the blatant disregard for guest comfort and satisfaction. When you pay more, you expect more and we didn't get that. We are obviously still stewing over the treatment but if someone thinks we were unreasonable or greedy please say so before I re-post this narrative on Trip Advisor. I feel the need to warn people about the service they might receive at Pearl and Trip Advisor has a much larger readership than this great forum.

[goldfish1]

I agree that to toilet situation was a little crazy. I would have asked for a room change early on in the stay. It sounds like they tried to fix it but didn't at first. Installing a new toilet does make the room smell like shit, even here in M'erica.

I would have glady taken one night free for the inconvenience. Not sure if it is worth 2 nights (that's more than a thousand bucks). But then again, I often take shits in public bathrooms even if our bathroom is usable. Regardless they should have remained calm and been nice to you. Becoming belligerent is not cool at all.

[East_Ont_Cpl]

The original post is from a good friend of ours, we were on campus when all this was going down. My wife was with the OP&wife upon check-out and I can attest that Mr.Salas the Guest Services Manager was combative, belligerent and had poor communication skills. I've known the OP for many years and it is not his style nor in his "wheelhouse" to whine and complain to try and gain freebies.My wife explained to me that Mr.Salas was treating the issue and his offers as a negotiation, rather than reparation for events that were well documented by front desk staff and the maintenance staff. My wife and I have 17 combined trips to Desire RM and Pearl, this was by far the poorest treatment by a staff member in all of our trips.

This was our 3rd trip to Pearl and it was under our praises that our group attend Pearl on this particular trip. Although we had no issues with our room, we can attest that service was spotty in both restaurants with long waits at times. I'm not entirely sure what has transpired over the 6 months from our last trip, but the level of service in the restaurants seems to have changed somehow.

In response to the OP I think you are more than justified in posting this to Trip Advisor. I'm not sure if the message got through to Alessio Giribaldi the GM, but when I recanted this story to a staff member at RM (we were at RM for a few days after this trip), they assured me they would let Alessio know as they are close personal friends. Regardless, the behaviour of Mr. Salas shouldn't go unrecognized and perhaps a report to TA would help bring the issues and behaviour to upper management.

[desireaddict]

Makes me very happy that we booked 8 nights at DRM starting next week vs. splitting our time between both resorts.

I notice that the rates for Pearl are much deeply discounted in 2016 than are the rates at DRM. I assumed it was because they are having problems attracting guests to the newer resort, but I suspected it was because most guests who have been many times to DRM (as we have) are hesitant to "break the spell". Why fix what isn't broken? Instead, it seems like even those who are trying Pearl are being disappointed. The cost incurred to spend a week or more at either resort means you should not have the kind of problems in the OP. Sounds like they had a crappy experience.

Pearl will continue to be the "other" Desire property if management ignores these problems. Too bad.

Thank you so much for keeping us informed.

Life is Good!
DA

[Xhibition Lovers]

We have never had a problem with Pearl, the staff, management or facilities. It is unfortunate that you had the problems you did, but hopefully that doesn't translate into ongoing, systemic problems. We agree that even one, bad experience is unacceptable, but hope that management has learned from this incident and has made appropriate management adjustments and/or dismissals.
We have been to both resorts and prefer Pearl. Yes, we originally tried Pearl because of the price, but now, having discovered their fabulous facilities which are spacious and provide incredible fun, and like RM, fantastic staff and excellent food, will always choose Pearl. We will be back down later this week and this will be our fifth trip to Pearl this year.
We will definitely provide a trip report after our return. XL

[beagirl]

We have never had a problem with Pearl, the staff, management or facilities. It is unfortunate that you had the problems you did, but hopefully that doesn't translate into ongoing, systemic problems. We agree that even one, bad experience is unacceptable, but hope that management has learned from this incident and has made appropriate management adjustments and/or dismissals.
We have been to both resorts and prefer Pearl. Yes, we originally tried Pearl because of the price, but now, having discovered their fabulous facilities which are spacious and provide incredible fun, and like RM, fantastic staff and excellent food, will always choose Pearl. We will be back down later this week and this will be our fifth trip to Pearl this year.
We will definitely provide a trip report after our return. XL

Yes! Please let all the Eclectics know how Pearl is doing so we can start booking July again! THANKS!

[eddieandjojo]

We were just there for a couple nights (11/13 - 11/15) and had another wonderful trip. We understand that there are incidents that happen and should be handled appropriately by management but we have never had a single issue at Pearl over the years. We are headed back in March for 9 nights and simply can't wait to return. The staff, from the groundskeeper to Alessio, the GM have been amazing in our experience so given our addiction with Desire (approx 25 trips since 2006) from Cabo to PM, we have to say that Pearl is our first choice.

To the OP, hopefully you'll give Pearl another shot but at least RM is another solid choice! Good luck with your next trip.

90 days and counting!

[tommer]

Bravo, eddieandjojo for your comments. Like you, sure, some isolated things can happen at any resort, but we have thoroughly enjoyed Pearl over our last 4 visits. Accordingly, we are booked to return in June for nine wonderful days/nights. Besides the incredible staff and amenities, we have made many friends; most who plan to be at Pearl when we next visit. Pearl is fantastic .... nothing less.