Towers at Mullet Bay
Posted by:
Lucy
(---.cable.mindspring.com)
Date: July 31, 2010 09:28PM
Hi everybody, I recently stayed at the Towers at Mullet Bay (July 2010) and I thought I'd leave some comments here for others who had a hard time finding recent info on this hotel/timeshare location. Posts about TMB on this board were quite helpful, but after having stayed there I have some additional comments. We found a great deal for our stay... if I had to pay more I would not stay there again. That said, I'm sure there are much worse places on the island; some things were great about TMB and others were not. I didn't hate it; it didn't ruin my vacation. There were however some annoyances that, at times, bummed us out. I must say, all the "Gold Crown" plaques at the front desk are curious. I don't know what the standards are. I knew what to expect in some regard by the helpful comments on this board, but there were some things that you just can't see or know for yourself until you get there. I'm leaving these comments, in no particular order, to provide a recent view.
LOCATION
I liked the location. You're in a quiet area but close enough to one casino, restaurants, the airport, the Sunset Cafe and close to the west side French beaches. Good location for exploring Bai Rouge and the other beaches on the West side of the island. A pleasant half hour drive to Grand Case. The people who tend to stay here seem to be families and couples, not party animals, which was a relief. For the Dutch side, this may be among the quietest locations. Parking is free and easy to find a spot.
THE ROOM
We had a studio suite (with shower, no tub) and it was plenty of room for two. New dishwasher was nice, and having a large fridge was great. The kitchen was as full as you can get in terms of appliances. We even had juicers, blenders etc that we didn't make much use of. We stocked up at the grocery store on lots (maybe too many) French cheeses and desserts. The bed was a king and was fine but nothing special. The couch was fine except it wasn't facing the TV or anything, really. So the layout wasn't really great. Sure, the room is outdated but it had everything we needed. Ceiling fan worked well with the AC, which was okay but never freezing cold. Hot water in the shower was great and great water pressure. Plenty of closet and drawer space to get settled in. There is a safe. Internet is available for a steep fee (and through the TV... I'm not sure how that would work or IF it would work, considering everything else), but we didn't opt for that.
We were constantly calling the front desk about things that needed fixing, and we're really not the nagging tourist types. When you sign in, you have to do an inventory list of all items in the room, and since we heard that they charge you for anything (even a fork) that's missing, we took the time to fill this out carefully. We were missing quite a few things, which was no big deal, but we thought it was sort of disingenuous not to have those forms updated before we checked in. If it weren't for a couple in the elevator who told us to be sure to fill those out and about the towel return policy, we wouldn't have been so nit picky. Also, the room didn't have enough light. It was in fact missing a floor lamp and the one that we had was broken. And, the tv remote didn't work. It took a while for maintenance to send a good one. Three attempts --that is, three maintenance workers bringing a new remote, the first two of which didn't work. And probably the worst thing, was that we had no water for one half day. A pipe broke. When I called they said, "oh" like it was a surprise, but later found out it is a recurring problem there. And when it came back on, it was brown. We didn't drink the water at the TMB... it might be fine, but it was truly brown at least once each day. While this probably isn't TMBs fault (maybe due to the rains?), when I'm on vacation, I'd rather not deal with these things, and the staff just didn't seem to care all that much even though we were being patient and nice about everything.
PHONE
There is a phone in the room. However, upon my return, my family in the US informed me that they had tried to call multiple times and were not able to be put through to the room. This really upsets me. Front desk either couldn't figure it out or mistakenly switched them to another room, where a stranger answered. I used the phone to call front desk multiple times, so I don't know what the problem was. I agree with others here that if you need to be contacted, just get a cell phone on the island. It's more reliable. We didn't feel like we needed one. I was annoyed though that the front desk didn't tell us that they thought there was a problem with our phone, when they told my mother this when she tried to call and couldn't get through. Lucky for us, it wasn't an emergency, but still. Why not fix it then? Or leave us a note at the front desk that someone was trying to call and call us?
ROOM CLEANING
When you stay one week, cleaning is only one day, midweek. They did not restock soaps and shampoos, etc. You get new bath towels each day, which was fine for us, but if you use a lot you may have a problem with the one-towel per person thing. We didn't need cleaning really, but if you're particularly messy (or have kids who bring in a lot of sand) you might not like this. The room was not spectacularly clean when we arrived. Again, this didn't bother us a whole lot, but there was sand in the bottom of the shower, the dehumidifier (while it was great to have) looked like it had never been washed out (we had to empty the tank every day, otherwise it would not work), and everything had a general mustiness to it. Cleaning is generally lacking... on our first day, I was washing a dish in the sink and cut myself on glass left in the drain.
SERVICE
Overall the service at the TMB was not very friendly. Employees stay out of your way, which I happen to like, but if you are more used to being courted or greeted, you will not get that here. There are a couple exceptions, but this is a general comment. One major complaint is when you check out you really get the feeling like they're trying to trick you into charging you for towels you brought back late, things you forgot to check off on the inventory list, etc. Even with all the other issues, that really was the kicker for me... and why I won't return.
BEACH TOWELS
TMB provides them by the pool. One per person. You have to exchange them everyday by the pool (inconvenient, if you don't go to the pool which is behind the property) or they charge you. This is particularly annoying when you don't spend the day at the Mullet. Also, the window closes around 4:45 (You get there at 5pm--you're late! Tough luck!) and one of the people in there picks his nose. Not exactly the nicest way to receive a towel.
POOL BAR
Pool bars are not really my thing, but there is one at the TMB. It's weird though, because it was empty almost all day, with the exception of a weekly Bingo game and a couple other events. There is a happy hour at the pool, but the bartender there when I was there was not friendly and seemed kind of bored. I guess I would be, too. Also, they're not the nicest when it comes to drinks -- happy hour starts at 5 (or whatever) and if you get there at 4:55 they actually make you WAIT! There was no food at the pool bar.
BREAKFAST/FOOD/POOL BAR
You can order breakfast pastries at the front desk the day before, and they are affordable and yummy. They don't tell you this at TMB--I just knew it from boards like this one!
There is no other food at the hotel. If the food all over the island weren't so good I'd probably have more to complain about, but except for breakfasts in our room, we ate out. There was no food at the pool, despite my reading that there was. No one (NO ONE) went swimming in the pool while we were there. Maybe it was due to the rainy weather early in the week, but it was very dirty. It's too bad, because it had a lot of potential.
SECURITY
There are men with "security" shirts on at a booth right before the Tower building, but the person on duty is sometimes there, sometimes not. That said, I never felt like TMB was scary or dangerous or even in need of security. I guess they do their job then, even if they keep their eyes closed sometimes. I think most if not all parts of the island have a similar practice of security, with the exception of some of the bigger resorts that beef it up a bit. We left our vehicle unlocked and empty at all times, per everyone's suggestions on this board and others.
GOLF
If you play golf, the grounds seemed much much nicer than the dreaded comments I'd read made it seem. Very green. And we saw attendees out there grooming the grounds everyday. We don't play golf, so I don't know how great people who play would think it is, but I was expecting a brown weed-run course, and it was anything but.
WEATHER/RAIN
The weather in July is mostly wonderful. Sunny with some clouds but a nice breeze. The mosquitoes came out a bit at dawn and dusk, but that's normal, and actually there were fewer than I expected.
When there's a storm, the rain does not joke around. In just a few minutes, some roads flood. It rained (like the end of time!) our first two days in St. Martin. For this reason, I would suggest that visitors going to St Martin in July rent a 4 wheel drive (Jeep or other). You obviously don't NEED a 4 wheel drive there, but when it rained we were very happy to have one, driving through 2-3 feet of water in some places, including in front of the Mullet (in two spots, one to the right of the driveway and the other to the left). The road from the town near the airport to the TMB and towards Cupecoy was particularly treacherous during and after the rains. We literally saw smaller rentals abandoned on the side of the road, and late in our trip wen we became friendly with some other tourists they told us they'd wished they had a Jeep because they had to spend time to trade their smaller car for one that could drive in water. Apart from the weather, we were happy to have the Jeep to explore small dirt roads in the northeast part of the island. You don't *need* a 4 wheel drive but if you like some adventure and don't want to be restricted, a 4WD is the way to go.
TV
We had a big TV with about a dozen stations, depending on the weather (satellite tv). Several US stations, including HBO. Not the best picture, but we didn't care because we don't watch a lot of TV.
MULLET BAY BEACH
The nearest beach is Mullet Bay, which has (usually) calm waters and is big enough to find your own spot away from the crowd or put your chair on the busier side near the Lolos. When you stay at TMB, you are entitled to beach chairs without paying (just tell the guy--he won't be happy but he'll get your chair--with no cushion though like the rest) but you have to pay to rent an umbrella. This was sort of lame, but the whole chair/umbrella business is an industry of its own all over the island---Mullet Bay Beach seemed no different. Since it's not the TMB's beach, you don't feel like you're any more entitled than anyone else. It's essentially a public beach. The snorkeling was also very good there. So were Rosie's Ribs (and cheap), although truth be told they weren't my favorite on the island. You're very close to the airport, and you can see planes on their descent into the airport, but Mullet Beach is not *the* beach where planes land. I was happy about this. While in the water, you could see planes coming and going, but it wasn't so loud that it blew exhaust into the water. All that plane talk said, it's very fun to go to Sunset Cafe and eat and watch the planes land. So mesmerizing it's somewhat surprising actually. I sort of rolled my eyes when I read that visitors spend part of their time doing this, but I was one of them! We went several times. The food there is great, too, as is the service. Went several times.
The bottom near the rocks at Mullet Bay was very, very dirty. There were things down there that one should never see while snorkeling... I'll just leave it at that. We did have a great time snorkeling a little further out. Also, while it is possible to walk to the beach from TMB, it's not that convenient if you have kids and/or a lot of stuff (towels). It's not that the walk is long, but you have to cross a street (which was flooded for part of the time I was there), and the golf course, and in the middle of the day, it's pretty hot! I knew that TMB was not directly on the beach, but I admit I was surprised that it was as far as it was from the beach. Again, it's not the distance, it's just well, hey, I'm on vacation, I don't really feel like lugging my stuff. You can park in a small parking lot on the beach like others do... before my trip I'd read that lot had maybe closed but it was open as of July 2010. When I read that some people drive and park, I thought that is really lazy, and maybe it is, but that's what we did! Much better!