Greetings All! We just returned from our second trip to Bonaire and we stayed at the Plaza both times. I have to say that we were shocked and dismayed at how run down the place has become and how poor the service was this time. Does anyone know what is going on there?

Let me start out by saying that our first trip in Nov. 04 was incredible. The Plaza staff was attentive and most importantly, invisible. We never saw house keeping, never had a complaint, always had clean rooms, bar tenders were friendly, walkways were clean, etc...

This trip, well um, the omelet lady was still there and very nice. The pool was filthy with cracked tiles all over the place. Walkways were dirty, not just vegetative debris, paper and plastic trash as well. Housekeeping was horrible! Lots of horror stories there: laundry bags being left in the drive for hours, but the worst was when we came back from a day of diving around 3:30 and wanted a quick shower before going shopping. Well, they were just getting to our room, gave us dirty looks as if we didn't belong there, didn't finish our room until 4:15. The paint on the walls in our room was stained and peeling in areas. The microwave and tv were both broken, we told them on the first night, nothing was fixed. We had air conditioners that kept freezing up and had to be turned off. The employees went around the resort on their cell phones, would congregate on sidewalks chatting - forcing visitors to walk around them. The bar continously ran out of liquor. The female bartender, who looked no older than 15, only occasionally put alcohol in drinks, but always charged for the regular drinks.

I could go on, but you get the picture. Yes, there were a few good things (omelet lady, the male bartenders, Toucan Diving); but, overall service has seriously deteriorated. It has been less than a year since our wonderful vacation there in November. How could this happen? Has there been a change in management? We are very concerned because we fell in love with the Plaza on our first trip. If this most recent vacation had been our first stay at the Plaza, we would tell everyone to avoid it. We have had better service at Motel 6 here in the states. I'm hoping someone out there in BT land might know what is going on there. As for now, we are seriously considering not ever returning to the Plaza (while drafting a letter to send to the resort). The sad part is that we love Toucan Diving, which is at the Plaza.

Someone convince me that what is happening at the Plaza is just a fluke and if we book again there for next year, it will be back up to standards.

Just my luck, last november it just kept raining. Now, the weather seems fine but the Plaza is not... :-(

Can anyone confirm this?

Laurens ~ I'm feeling guilty, your first post and I made it a negative event. Sorry about that. I am truly hoping that all which happened this week was a fluke. We did very much enjoy the Plaza last November (we got there the week after it rained forever) and are hoping that maybe we were in a bad unit or something else was going on that we were not aware of. BTers are very much in tune with what is going on so hopefully someone will be able to explain this.

If you were at the Plaza last November, the two fun male bartenders are still at Coconut Crash. The wonderful breakfast lady is still creating delicious omelets. And, Toucan Diving is still top notch.

I still have hopes, but honestly this stay was a disappointment at the Plaza. The island, people, food and diving were of course still excellent!

Some one please chime in and save my first impression of the Plaza.

uh oh I am not happy...we are due to return to the plaza resort a month from now. it would be our 5th visit and we so far have not been disappointed. well that's not completely true--we had an environmentally friendly room once that wasn't very friendly. the ac would only stay on if you were in the room and would turn off when the door was opened which would have been ok except it got confused at 2am and shut off for good. Within 10 minutes we were given another room. jeanine I am so sorry to hear about your recent experience. I do hope it is a fluke,if not I guess I'll be trying to find somewhere else to stay in Sept.

I stayed at the WannadiveHut last year. Basic accomodation but not sufficient when there's a continuous downpour... :-(
Diving arrangements were excellent though.

We'll find out soon enough about life at the Plaza (leaving in 6 weeks...) :-)

Sorry to hear about your stay. We were just there in April for 2 weeks and didn't have any problem. Actually they were power washing the walk ways when we were there. Can't say anything about the pool, we don't use it , we are out at the beach all day and in the ocean. Our room everyday was clean, A/C worked , TV, etc. The staff was attentive , rooms were clean and the bar was fully stocked . The omelet lady did the best omelets, breakfast was awesome. Sorry to hear of your experience, maybe it was a fluke.

I've been to the Plaza three times now, latest last October and am returning this October. One year the pool was closed I like the big blue salty pool better. Never had any complaints. I've stayed at Buddy's a bunch of times too and like it there. The Lions Dive seemed to have better upgraded places. Larger rooms and such so maybe I'll check it out next July!!! It's still Bonaire^^

Laurens, I stayed at the Plaza in May, June, July and just returned from there again yesterday ( I'm just a stewardess, not really really rich ;-)and every time my room looked fine, everything worked, and it was cleaned promptly every morning. Walkways did seem to have a lot of leaves. I always go to the beach so can't comment on the state of the pools. Staff were all friendly, but the pina coladas at the beachbar are definately weak...no matter who makes them. My only real complaint is that messages do not get passed on. I've had several people call me ( including Renee this last trip, to set up an appointment ) and when I'd check for messages I would be told there were none. Makes it hard to get together with people. Really annoying. But other than that, it's a beautiful resort and I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay.
And Jeanine - I guess it was a fluke after all ?

Dini glad to hear your room was fine, but so was the pilot's room (v117) directly above us...and it was serviced by 9:00 am every day - our villa was not. I did receive one email message indicating that the villas are privately owned and that might explain the condition (paint peeling, stains, broken tv, broken microwave, run down air conditioner, broken plates, chipped cups and glasses, broken utensils). However, that does not explain the other problems...pool dirty, broken tiles, employees taking breaks on terraces that were not currently occupied, laundry bags being left in the driveway almost all afternoon - until past 5:00 on one day. It especially does not explain why our complaints were not addressed on site. And, service definitely was not like it was back in November.

Maybe it was an off week...I'm still not sure either way. The decision maker for me will be in how they handle the letter we are mailing to them and the travel agency.

But as always...can't help but love the omelet lady and Toucan Diving!

Oh yeah I wanted to add that the person who sent me the email about the villas being privately owned also said that maybe we had too good of an experience in November and that our expectations were too high for the return trip. Interesting perspective and maybe the person is correct. Either way...I just want the November Plaza back.

Jeanine, I hope the Plaza people adress your valid complaints - the cabin crew always stay at the junior or grand suites, not the villas, that might explain the difference in maintenance. I'm hoping to go back again in October and will check out the pools etc. and report back.
P.s. I love the omelette lady too !!

Hi Jeanine,

I never stayed at the Plaza (as my parents live on Bonaire...) but I heard that there has been a change in management. Not sure when this was exactly, could be a while ago, but perhaps that explains it. Or...it could just have been bad luck.
I hope they give a satisfying reaction to your letter.

Diana

We stayed at the Plaza two years ago and had a great experience. We're going back in two weeks for a two week stay and will be back at the Plaza in one of the Grand Suites. It will be a great disappointment if the service has fallen below the level of the last trip. It doesn't take a lot beyond clean and friendly to keep us happy, but fall below that, and we won't be happy.

Hi all! Letter went off today, so we will see what happens. I received lots of comments about the villas specifically and about management in general. Thank you for all of your comments and I understand not wanting to make negative posts. I will post again when I receive a response.

Jeanie:
I'm bringing a group of 34 to the Plaza next month. We are not staying in the villas. I'm very sorry to hear about your exxperience.
I've had great experiences there in the past.
Let us know what management writes back.

Carl:
We were at the Plaza for a week in July, and were pleased with the service. It was our second visit and both have been excellent experiences.
Hope you have a great trip.

Jeanine:
Hope that management addresses your issues in a satisfactory manner.

NATASHA!!! Nice to see you posting here!!

I still have fond memories of the fun dinner you organized in Las Vegas a few years ago.
http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/newsgroup/messages/27/51198.html

Hey there Tom!
That was a blast. I'll be in Vegas again this year for DEMA. Maybe we can do it again?

I'll be on Bonaire Septemeber 24th to Oct 1st. After that, I have one day in Aruba on Oct 2nd..which leaves one day to get ready for DEMA Oct 4th!
Will you be there this year?

As much as I would enjoy it, I won't be in Vegas:-{)} I am heading to Bonaire for 16 days on October 11:-{)} It is a priority thing, you know, Business vs Pleasure, pleasure wins in October.

Ok folks...I just had my mind blown, or maybe I was just blissfully unaware of this fact, but did you know that the Plaza is part of Apple Vacations? I just found it on Apple Vacations' last minute sale web page. Has it always been part of Apple?

Apple Vacations is just a booking agent. They also list Buddy's and Divi.

Carl ~ where did you find Divi? I found Plaza, Harbour, and Buddy's. I only posted this because so many people had commented to me off list about management changes at Plaza. Making it an Apple, even if it is only listed as a 4 Apple, would definitely increase traffic and might explain some of the problems I encountered there.

Just click on more hotels at this resort at the bottom of the page you are looking at

Thanks! Found it!