Club Wyndham Palm-Aire

We had a nice week at Wyndham Palm Aire. The condos and pool areas were very clean and pleasant. We would absolutely return, but some things need fixing. Parking was a problem. Around the pool, signs said guests couldn’t save seats, yet by 9:00-9:30 every morning there were towels on 20-30 chairs, even though the pool wasn’t crowded. They need someone there from 8-12am to enforce the rule and should add chairs. We also got worn down by Wyndham employees repeatedly bothering us to attend a meeting in order to get an armband. The other couple traveling with us got stuck in the elevator in Areca Tower on Thursday. It was still broken when we checked out, and people on every floor were waiting 30 minutes or more for an elevator.

The room was spacious and clean, and I loved the soaking tub. The heated pool was clean and nice too. Check in was quick and easy, and I found my room without much trouble the first time. The building layout was confusing, though, and I got lost trying to find my room again a couple of times. There’s no restaurant. The cafe serves some food, but it wasn’t good, service was poor, and they were out of almost everything. The pool bar was expensive, and the bed tender was missing most of the time. The bed was very hard and left my back hurting pretty badly. I enjoyed my couple of days there, but for the price, it should be better.

The resort had plenty going on for everyone: pools, mini golf, an arcade, and some kind of fun event every day we were there. From check in onward, the staff were welcoming, and the rooms were clean. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. If you want somewhere close to the beach, this isn’t it. They do have other properties nearer the beach that guests can access.

This place felt like a scam from start to finish. Expedia didn’t say anywhere that it was a timeshare property. When we arrived, our room wasn’t ready, but we were told we could use the amenities while we waited. The front desk sent us to member services for temporary keys. There, the attendant said Expedia guests would get a gift and offered BOGO massages. She talked very quickly and gave us so many papers that we didn’t understand the “appointment” later that day was a timeshare presentation. We thought it was for the massage. When we reached the spa lobby and found out, we tried to leave, but the manager guilt tripped my friend into staying, saying he had prepaid for the massage. We stayed for what was meant to be a 90 minute presentation, but it lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes. Each time we tried to leave, people nearly physically blocked us. When I showed them my monthly income, they realized we couldn’t afford the $50k + timeshare they were trying to sell and rudely let us go. The next morning we went for our massages and discovered they weren’t real massages. A receptionist in a full business suit and stilettos did mine, while a housekeeper did my friend’s. They rubbed lotion on our bodies for 60 minutes. That’s when we felt the whole place was a scam, not just the timeshare salespeople. Our room was in a separate building, and on the first morning my key stopped working and I locked myself out. The people at the desk in my building only handled sales and couldn’t help. I was braless and barefoot, without a phone, wandering around trying to find someone who could assist. It took 45 minutes and some tears before I got back in. The whole “resort” felt like North Korea. The salon, spa, bar, restaurants and cafes all seemed staged, none of it felt real. We weren’t sure they’d actually let us check out. All weekend, we worried we might be sex trafficked. This place is dangerous.