![]() ![]() Most waiters speak limited English, so getting an explanation of a menu item was hard. ![]() "Sexy chicken" anyone? The guy at the grill, sorry we did not get his name, has the hardest job, but is always joking and smiling. The breakfast buffet was repetitive, with no changes. As for the bars, we noticed that different bartenders did not make the same drink the same way, They seemed to give us what they wanted to make, not what we ordered. We did not want to feel like second class citizens, so the upgrade was worth it, but we would have still had a great time without the added expense. So, summing up about Preferred, it depends on what you want out of the vacation. There really is no difference between the Preferred and Non-Preferred beach areas. There is seaweed but just go out a few feet and it will be fine. There is a lot of water traffic, so not very quiet. People say a simple "no" will do, but we did not find that to be so. We liked the beach, except for the vendors. We found the grounds at Dreams to be prettier, with more shade. Nice and shady with beautiful landscaping. Dreams also has an infinity pool, with a great swim up bar. There is no current pushing you, but it was great to just lay on our floats. We really like the lazy river at Dreams, some parts of which were marked Preferred. Our favorite pools were not even at Secrets. We liked the quieter Preferred pool by Olio, which also had a swim up bar. It seemed to attract people who wanted to be more social. The main Preferred pool was very crowded. So, anyone really could have used the Preferred pools. Only once did we have to show our key card to prove we were Preferred. We were glad we had full access to all areas of Secrets and Dreams right next door. Huh? This was supposed to be all top shelf liquor. Twice my husband wanted Tanquerey at the lobby lounge, but they were out. There were drinks and snacks, but we wondered how long the sushi was there. A nice benefit was access to the preferred indoor lounges in the main lobby and by the pool. We tried it twice there, but preferred the breakfast buffet and the burger shack for lunch. Even with all or our research, we did not realize these meals at Olio were all waiter served, not buffets. With Preferred, you have access to Olio for breakfast and lunch. Maybe he was overwhelmed, but if butler service is what we wanted and expected, we would have been very disappointed. Was it because we did not tip on day one. Nor did he ask on our last day how things went. No check in texts like other people talk about. We never heard from him after our second day. After that, he seemed to fall off the face of the earth. Again, did we need an intermediary? I'm sure a simple call to housekeeping or front desk would have done the job. We texted our butler, who said he would send someone. We had some issues with housekeeping, such as not coming on our first day and no pull down service the next. Not a good sign when the response was "who is this?" Eventually, we did get the reservation, but not when we wanted or even close to a good time for us, and something we could have done ourselves just as easily. We didn't hear from him about the reservation by the next day, so we texted. We asked him then to get us the hibachi reservation, thanked him, and began our vacation. We met our butler at check in, he took us to our room, showed us around a bit, exchanged phone numbers for texting, and showed us the hotel's app. The concierge deals wth the Covid test appointments, so no butler needed there. The only restaurant requiring a reservation is the hibachi, so no real need for someone else to deal with reservations. Before booking, we could not imagine what we would need a butler for. The question we asked ourselves all week was is it worth it? As preferred, you get butler service. ![]() We ended up paying a few hundred less than what we would have if we booked originally. He was good at his job, and after repeated offers for less and less, we decided to take the upgrade. We declined his offer, as we already made the decision that non-preferred was fine. He offered us an upgrade, for more than we would have paid if originally booked as preferred. At check in, the clerk told us our room was in the Preferred building, but we did not have Preferred privileges. We booked a partial ocean facing king room. We are not high maintenance people, we just wanted a clean, beautiful all inclusive, with varied dining options and multiple pools. When we booked, we decided that the upgrade to Preferred for over $1000 (7 nights) would not be worth it. We're just back from a wonderful relaxing vacation.
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