IMAGO HOTEL AND SPA

This is an old hotel with very limited amenities, definitely not 5-star. The biggest drawback for us was the lack of air conditioning. We had to open the window to get fresh air, but the strong wind blew a lot of dust inside. The beds are uncomfortable, and there are no coffee or tea facilities in the room. The door doesn't close well; I had to slam it shut every time. Because I get up early, this woke not only my son but also the neighbors. Furthermore, the door key card often didn't work and had to be reset almost daily at the reception. The gym is in a terrible state: equipment is broken and poorly maintained. The breakfast is mediocre. Even during the expensive New Year's Eve dinner, they served old rolls. That dinner was therefore far below par. On a positive note: the reception staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, due to their miscommunication with the taxi driver, I missed my flight, but such things don't happen every day. I won't be returning.

Quick intro about myself — I usually stay about 75+ nights per year around the world and usually in Marriott hotels. I stay in some random ones also and they aren’t as expensive as the Marriott ones but I know what I am getting. Usually I stay at hotels that are around $250-300 per night. See photo of their rates during peak season. I understand that I am traveling during peak season and I know the rates will be higher than normal as will occupancy .. but the service of a 5 star resort doesn’t falter. This hotel bills itself as a 5 star which it might have been back when it opened 20+ years ago… today it is a 2.5/3 star at best. The beds/pillows/furniture haven’t been changed since the time they opened from the looks of it. Breakfast is quite literally the bare minimum offered when you are paying $300+ per night. If you ask for an omelette, you are charged. They have the premade scrambled eggs available in the buffet but they are made with milk so I asked them to make us fried eggs instead. They said they would charge for those and I asked what am I supposed to eat if we cant tolerate milk. So they had to ask a manager and they allowed us fried eggs for free. This conversation would never happen in an actual 5 star resort. The staff is nice but they can’t solve a single problem. My kids room ( #207 — do not stay in here) was like an oven every night. We came in Dec and the temps usually drop at night so as long as you keep the window open, it should get the room cold enough where you don’t need a fan or ac. I was ok with that since I did that in my room (208). Their room just wouldn’t cool down even with the window open all night. We asked the staff for a small fan .. they don’t have one in the property. I asked to change rooms — they can’t since hotel is full. How come they don’t keep small fans in the hotel? I asked staff to talk to the manager.. no response from the manager. We had to ask for towels every night since the room service would clean the bathroom and wouldn’t replace the towels they took away. They wouldn’t put a bar of soap on the sink while another was in the shower. I am sure if I asked they would give me a bar of soap .. but why ask for these things at a 5 star resort? It seems as if the hotel ownership has decided that upkeep and maintenance aren’t required. Windows aren’t on the hinge so it is either fully open or closed .. not partway unless you prop it with a chair. The door key lock sometimes work or it sometimes doesn’t. Just depends on your luck .. and then you have to go back downstairs and they will rekey it and come with you to make sure it opens. The tub floods every time you take a shower. Telling staff doesn’t solve anything. At checkout, they asked how my stay was. I told them “not very good” and all she did was smile. No question about what went wrong and how to fix it. Just a small smile and asked if I had taken anything from the minibar🤦🏽‍♂️. Asked for a slightly later checkout and the best they could do is 1130 instead of checkout at 11am and front desk staff made an “exception”. These issues don’t sound like much but when added together, they led to frustration at paying $300+ a night at a supposedly 5 star resort. If you choose to stay here, come with zero expectations and expect to pay for every little thing. Some advice if you do stay here and in el Calafte — taxi to and from the town is approx $10k pesos each way. They do have a free shuttle that leaves at 30mins past the hour every hour from 430-930 to drop off in town. The pick up is 45mins past the hour in town to come back to hotel. We did it once since the other days we were too late for the shuttle. We bought one big water bottle per person in town and refilled them for free downstairs everyday to keep hydrated. They won’t give you a single water bottle complimentary.

Overall, a very good experience. It's odd that they don't offer complimentary bottled water in the room, nor a box of tissues. But other than that, everything was great. The restaurant is very good and the staff is very friendly. It's a bit far from the city center, but if you enjoy walking, it's a 30-minute walk.