Palm Bay Guest House Restaurant

The good parts are the view of the Bay, the easy to find spot off Bogue main road, and the restaurant onsite, which serves tasty Jamaican food. The restaurant staff are nice. Room 205 is spacious, easy to access, and has good water pressure, a desk and dresser combo, smart TV, walk-in closet, privacy tints on the glass, and blackout curtains. You may hear someone walking or driving by, but not people in their rooms. At about $72 USD a night, the food, privacy, and view give the place some room to make a comeback. I brought a surge hub plug extender because there was only one socket, along with my own body wash, shampoo, conditioner, extra plugs, and lighting, so the basic room was fine for me. You need a car to get anywhere beyond food, or plenty of taxi fare. WiFi was unreliable, and parking gets very tight on weekend nights when restaurant customers arrive. Service and management have really gone downhill since I stayed here years ago. Housekeeping didn't clean even when asked. The manager, a slimmer lady in a grey shirt, blamed the housekeeper's laziness on me when I brought it up again, and asked why I hadn't requested cleaning in the morning. I'd already asked the previous night, and daily housekeeping is included. It's management's job to make sure the staff do their work properly. I'm a paying customer with my own business to handle, not an unpaid manager for Palm Bay. The housekeeper was nearby, and management seemed afraid to address her. The ceiling fan was so dirty I never used it. I had to go to the front desk almost daily for toilet tissue or to remind them to put some in the room. They acted just as reluctant about bath rags, as if stocking them came out of their own pockets. On my first day, there was a dead roach behind the closet door. I reported it and was told housekeeping would remove it, but it was still in the same spot the next day after I had been out all day. When I told the manager, she brought a broom and disposal and asked if I wanted to sweep it up or have her do it. I shouldn't have to do housekeeping's job. A few days later, a live roach ran across the room. I killed it, reported it in the morning, and asked for the room to be cleaned, but it was still there. The next morning I asked a passing housekeeper to get it, and she used her shoe to slide it toward the door until she could kick it out. Neither of these problems happened on my previous two stays, five or more years ago. The owners need to return to how things were run then and replace people who don't do the work or mistreat returning guests.

The food was great, and the service was good too.

The food was good, and the woman serving us was pleasant. But it's unfair to charge customers an extra $50 to pay by credit or debit card. In this day and age, that just isn't right.

I had a great stay and would recommend the place. It's well located, a little outside the city, so you get privacy and a break from the hustle and bustle.