If you like living above a restaurant with the same songs playing on repeat for 12+ hours a day, this is the place for you. TranquilSeas is a restaurant first and an ecolodge second, so if you're lodging here, be prepared to be treated as an afterthought. But first, you should know it's not even a real ecolodge!
A real ecolodge would never scare away wildlife with constant music blaring, nor would it need to bait wildlife to come back - which is exactly what happens here. It was so sad to see hummingbirds fighting to the death over the feeders left out for them - they're notoriously territorial, and the introduction of an artificial food source makes them especially so. They also baited nectar bats, which doesn't do enough to help with the mosquito problem - so they fumigate for that once a week. I know this because they neglected to tell me about it, so I was trying to nap in when it happened and breathed in all the nastiness. I'd thought I was uncharacteristically motion sick while on land that day (note, I've never been motion sick), but no, it was from the fumes. The employees that daily interact with their guests were concerned, but upper management couldn't care less - you'll see a theme here. But back to it not being an ecolodge - they'll recommend excursions to places NOT in keeping with an eco-ethic, their cleaning supplies are full of chemicals (I know because housekeeping forgot them in my room on occasion), and nothing from the toilet paper to the tea to the towels is organic, sustainable, natural, local... not the least bit eco-friendly. Even the soap, which says "organic" in large font, isn't organic when you read the label full of chemicals (I could read the label because one of the soap dispensers was broken on my arrival; it was never fixed over the two weeks I was there.) . I can list more examples, but moving on.
Expect to be treated as an afterthought. I wanted two things from this trip. One was tranquility, the other was to be able to leave the internet behind and unplug. I even came in the rainy season so it'd be more tranquil. Although I was the only guest for most of my stay, tranquility is too much to ask of TranquilSeas.
To start with the music...if I never hear "Don't worry about a thing" or "One Love", or a bad Adele cover song ever again, it'll be too soon.It doesn't matter if you leave the restaurant, walk to the end of the pier, hide in your room with the fan on, or go anywhere else in the hotel, they have speakers everywhere to ensure you can never escape the music. Management will say they'll stop playing it from the speaker nearest your room, or will turn down the volume, or stop it entirely from playing at 7am, or procure you earplugs, or have you move to a room where there's no music, any of which would be terrific solutions, but they won't actually follow through on any of them, so save yourself the effort of complaining. I did ask the waitstaff to turn the music down, or off, sometimes, when I was the only person there, and those were blessed moments of respite, until a manager would have the volume cranked back up again. Even with my head under the shower, it was unescapable. I would have left for a better hotel, but they have you pay upfront here, so I didn't have the budget for a move. Spa Baan Suerte is only a short walk away graciously allowed me to sit by their pool in peace when I thought I'd go crazy at TranquilSeas, so that was my solution.
Examples of how you'll be treated:
1.) I'd paid to have the hotel meet me at the airport with a sign with my name. I got off the plane and no one was there.
2.) They say they'll book excursions for you, but they won't bother. After 5 days of waiting, I went online and booked my own.
3.) They'll add unlisted ingredients to meals at the restaurant. It's a small thing, but small things add up, and I didn't enjoy having a surprise hot dog added to the vegetarian breakfast I'd ordered.
4.) They booked a wedding. The restaurant doubles as an event venue. It was crazy loud late into the night. They should really warn people of this when they book. They had me switch rooms that night, but it didn't help with the noise.
5.) They fumigated the premises and evacuated the staff for it, but didn't tell me and left me behind.
6.) They sold me a half-full "tester" bottle of bug spray as if it was new and full.
7.) They overbooked the restaurant (every table marked "reserved" or occupied) but since I'd already paid upfront for room and board together, I'm wasn't going to go pay for dinner elsewhere. They served me on a footstool on my porch - I don't need a table!
8.) They gave me bad info on local attractions, like the submarine and the botanical gardens. Google is a better guide! No info would be better than bad info.
9.) There's a friendly cat on-site. I told the management that I was allergic, to explain why I kept switching tables for breakfast as it followed me around. Management did nothing and I had hives on my feet and ankles from when it decided to attack my sandals, while I was still wearing them! It also sits atop the tables and licks itself. (Note: there will be cats and dogs wandering about, so don't leave your shoes to dry on your porch unattended!)
10.) Construction at the hotel starts at 7am and it's noisy. Included plumbing work, which explained why my shower wouldn't work (no water pressure) for two days.
11.) Expect to be up early - phone alarms start going off around 5:30am, and conversations start outside the rooms by 6am. As I was the only guest for part of the time, and there was no one else on-site to be making noise besides staff, I'd expect this to be a constant. I also had dogs barking at nothing on my porch at 3am until I'd get up and shush them.
12.) Despite signs, diners smoked cigarettes right outside my door, and staff didn't move to stop them, so I had to be confined inside to breathe cleanly.
13.) One of the managers suggested offering me a refund upon hearing the noise complaints, and said she'd follow up with me about it. Surprise: she never did. I paid full price for this experience.
I'll stop at these examples. I easily have a dozen more, and some of them are smaller things, but small things really do add up. My stay was in Hummingbird room from 5 Oct. - 19 Oct. I offered to give this feedback directly to the hotel while I was there, but management never responded to my offer, and as the hotel has just emailed me asking that I leave feedback on TripAdvisor, I'm posting it here instead. Note that this is not a review of the attached dive shop, but just of TranquilSeas Ecolodge. And I keep a travel journal, so I have dates and times and names, and further details, for everything listed in this review.
My best advice? Obviously, don't book here.
