Karaibes Hotel & Residence

We liked the spacious room and beautiful view at Karaibes RESIDENCES. The patio kitchen was unusual, and the area gets an A+ for its nearby beaches, bus stop, hiking, and restaurants, though most restaurants don't open until midday. There's also a small store. Staff were helpful, some spoke English, and they arranged a taxi for sightseeing. Still, check-in took ages, with piles of paperwork only in French. The room card had to stay in a slot for power, which was annoying, as were the closet and shower. Getting the Wi-Fi activated was tricky. We had roaches in the room on two separate nights, toiletries were limited, and we had no water on our last morning. They do keep jugs in the bathroom for that. Breakfast should cost half as much, in my opinion. Finding the place was a real ordeal. I booked through a third-party site, then got an automated email saying I had to pay more or lose my reservation. I had never seen that while booking a hotel. The policy itself wasn't what seemed suspicious, it was that the fee wasn't included in what I'd already paid. When my attempted payment didn't go through, I thought it might be phishing and nearly canceled my cards and the trip. I was honestly panicking that we'd get to the island with nowhere to stay. The hotel told me by email to ignore the message. The booking site should have said the fee was already covered and that the automated email could be ignored. I still don't know why it was sent. I'd contact the property directly to make sure the room is secured and paid for. The bigger confusion was the name. The residence is run by Karaibes Hotel but is actually called "Residence les Yuccas," not "Karaibes Residences" as booking sites say. "Karaibes Residences" is a separate private apartment complex. Nobody made that clear, so we spent well over an hour trying building after building until a maid pointed us in the right direction. Then we found we'd been assigned the wrong room, though the staff fixed that quickly. I can't fault the staff, but the property and third-party booking sites need to communicate better.

The room was clean, and the AC worked, which mattered a lot. The hotel was okay. Kény at the front desk was really professional, helped us out, and gave good advice.

I wouldn't recommend staying here. They advertised a free reservation, with payment due when I arrived, but took half the accommodation cost from my card right away without authorization. I canceled the booking immediately. Even after several reminders, the money still hasn't been released back to me. The operator's handling of this felt very unprofessional, and I'm relieved I won't be spending my vacation there.

The rooms are modest, and the location is convenient. I also appreciated having daily maid service, since that isn't guaranteed at every hotel after Covid. The Wi-Fi didn't work at all during my two-night stay. The outdoor pool is comically tiny. I never saw anyone use it and can't imagine they would, with all the incredible beaches around.