The Rif at Mangrove Beach Corendon Curacao All-Inclusive, Curio by Hilton

We spent $3,000 for four nights in what was meant to be an oceanfront room for our long-planned honeymoon, but were assigned a room without an ocean view. After I raised it, the manager moved us, only for us to find the air conditioning broken while it was 84°F outside. We told the front desk before briefly going out and were assured it would be fixed, but no one had even checked it when we came back. We called at least five times, calmly and respectfully, and kept getting ignored. The only option offered was to return to the first, incorrect room, with the explanation that the whole floor had no AC. That felt dismissive and insulting. The property is clearly outdated, too, and water leaked from the bathroom into the hallway after we showered. The beautiful beach and decent buffet don't make up for the room mix-up, broken AC, unresponsive staff, and poor maintenance. For a hotel operating under the Hilton name, the service and accountability were shocking and far below what we'd expect. Management needs to review how it's run. This was atrocious, and I wouldn't recommend staying here.

The service is what brought this down to three stars for me. During our 10-night stay, most staff weren't friendly, with a few welcome exceptions: Kaan and Thonson at the beach bar, and Tay at the cigar lounge. The young bartenders at the Coral pool bar especially made us feel like a burden. They rarely smiled, often greeted us with just raised eyebrows, and almost never answered when we said thank you. We also had some abrupt service at a few restaurants. A handful of dinner services felt rushed and disorganized. At Dushi Sushi, we got only two of the four dishes each of us ordered, then left without an explanation. The resort itself was enjoyable in many ways: a well-spaced layout, clean and roomy rooms with good amenities, and no trouble finding beach chairs. The cruise ships docked about 50 yards from the beachfront didn't bother me. The buffet had lots of choices and decent food, especially at lunch. The restaurants usually served good food in nice settings, and the drink selection was fine. Still, the staff and service will keep us from returning.

Batu at the 24-hour bar was amazing. He was often on his own but still gave our group and the other guests excellent service. The rest of our experience left a lot to be desired. Before we arrived, my travel agent and several people in our group had a hard time reaching anyone at the property and got few or no replies. It was Carnival and Valentine's Day, so the resort was busy, but we still hoped some service gaps would be handled better. Once we could speak to staff in person, things improved a little, but not much. Sherline helped arrange decorations for my friend's room and made sure we got everything we asked for, though we had hoped it could be ready when we arrived instead of during the stay. Two people in our group had to change rooms. One friend found mold on her mattress right after check-in and was moved fairly quickly, but her room wasn't fully serviced afterward: dirty towels were taken and not replaced, she didn't get more washcloths, the shower wasn't cleaned, and the fridge wasn't restocked. Another friend's toilet broke halfway through the trip. Maintenance took a while to come, and when they decided a room change was needed, they tried to put them in the same moldy room the first friend had originally been assigned. Curaçao is beautiful, but the resort's service was disappointing.

The proposal was the only good part of this trip. My now fiancé had booked months ahead and planned a lovely surprise, spending thousands on airfare, the hotel, an on-site photographer, and a romantic dinner. The four-course dinner took about three hours, with long waits between dishes, and the food was cold. That night we both became very sick with a stomach bug. We couldn't enjoy our stay because we had gastroenteritis, and nothing we ate at the resort helped. When we went into the city and told locals what had happened, they weren't surprised. They said the hotel was known for serving old, expired, or unsanitary food. We were there for four days, and now that we're home, we're still not fully recovered. I wish we had a better experience to talk about.