Decameron Aquarium - All Inclusive

Customer service was nice, and the location is good. They moved us when the first room started leaking water onto the bed from the light, but the replacement had ants coming from behind the sink and clearly needed maintenance. I paid 5 mil for five nights in an ocean-front room, and the rooms were a big disappointment for that price. The hotel has potential, but the rooms need a lot of work, and the buffet was honestly 3/5. I went for my birthday and don’t plan to return. The a la carte restaurants were nice, but booking them was a hassle: you had to reserve at 8am on the day, using the wi-fi at the reception building. If your cell service isn’t great, there’s no wi-fi in the rooms to help. There’s no gym either. Near the pool, the party music was loud enough to keep you up all night, and my girlfriend had trouble sleeping. A couple mentioned Decameron Isleño had none of these problems and bigger bathrooms.

The resort is close to town, and you can rent “Mules” right outside. We really liked the sun chairs on the dock and the friendly, helpful staff, especially as we’re still learning Spanish. The food was delicious, particularly at the seafood restaurant on the one night we got a table. The room was windy and loud, though. When we opened the patio door, it would blow a panel in the shower ceiling upward, which was unsettling. Even so, I’d recommend the resort.

The staff were friendly and attentive in every interaction, and they deserve buildings that live up to their enthusiasm. Restaurant La Bruja was also a bright spot, with delicious seafood and meat dishes. The rest of the hotel feels badly overdue for investment. The rooms don’t meet even basic modern standards, much less four-star ones: outlets are hard to reach, there are no bedside or reading lamps, and the sound insulation is nonexistent. The air conditioning worked, but wheezed cold air like a smoker trying to run a marathon. The bathroom seemed dirty at first, but after housekeeping cleaned it in front of us, we realized it was just run-down, with broken tiles, missing grout, and a toilet seat that looked like it had seen combat. Every horizontal slat in the bedroom shutters was broken. The restaurant food was disappointing for a claimed four-star hotel, more like fast food than the near-luxury dining we expected, aside from La Bruja. Decameron is clinging to old photos and memories of when the Aquarium was new. At the prices they ask, I wouldn’t come back until there’s a major remodel and the rooms reach modern standards.

I’m 68 and booked this hotel for about a week at the beginning of August. My daughter and I stayed only one night because we arrived very late and had nowhere else to go. When we pulled back the bedsheets, there were filthy bugs, and the room was dirty. The bathroom was the worst, with dirty towels. I don’t understand how they advertise it as a four-star hotel, it doesn’t qualify for even one star. I expect my money back, and it would be fair to give us a full refund. In all my travels around the world, this is the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in.