Alaia — Attraction in San Pedro Town

The tone was really set for our stay when we arrived to check in. We stood in the lobby for 20 minutes without the staff so much as telling us, “we’ll be with you as soon as we can.”. I got the impression right away that we were dismissed as guests because we were women in our 20s who had come from trekking through the interior of Belize (highly recommend staying at Gaia Riverlodge if going to San Ignatio!).

When we were taken to our room, I was dismayed as we walked away from the new property to older buildings next door (“Reef House”). Our room was a very generic, refurbished condo that we could have easily booked anywhere on the island for a cheaper price. After being so excited about the large terrace, beautiful bathtub, and large kitchen we saw in photos of the room we booked on their website, it was a slap in the face that our room had none of these things. We went back to the front desk to ask to be moved to the room we booked, but we were told this was the room we booked and since they were full they could not move us. After asking to speak to a manager about the issue, we were told they were not on property and they would contact us once they got ahold of her.

Hours later we went to the front desk to follow up with the manager since we had not heard from them. We were told that the manager was not there. This would have meant that the resort was operating without a manager for at least 5 hours. Out of frustration, I posted on Instagram about our experience and tagged Alaia. Only then did someone contact me. Shortly after, a manager came to our room to speak to us. We were told again that they were unable to move us and we were offered a 20% discount on our room rate as compensation. While this discount would bring us just about inline with the price of the room we were given, we were still immensely disappointed.

When we checked out we were not asked by the front desk staff if we enjoyed our stay. They barely spoke to us. Additionally, the 20% off had clearly not been applied to our bill with Alaia and we would not have received the rate reduction if we had not said something about it to the staff.

There are zero photos of the Reef House section of the property or rooms on their website. In fact, on the front page of their website they’ve photoshopped the Reef House portion of the property completely out of the aerial photo. This level of deceptive marketing is completely unacceptable and borderline fraudulent. I’ve had incredible stays at Marriott properties all over the world (London, Istanbul, Amman, etc), and I have to say that the level of service and quality of accommodation we experienced here was far below any of them. Since it was a new hotel, I expected some small hiccups in our stay but I thought the service would be excellent. Unfortunately, it was instead completely unbecoming of a...

The resort is absolutely beautiful and the reason we finally came to Belize. We travel to the islands frequently and my husband is a scuba diver but before Alaia there was never a resort that I wanted to visit on the island. We had friends who happened to be here in July and confirmed it was a great resort when we were deciding on our next trip.

The true star of this resort is the staff! They are all amazing!! I emailed them numerous times before our arrival asking questions about transportation, diving, restaurants, spa service, etc. All emails were answered promptly and with nice replies. They arranged several dining reservations for us, a sunset cruise tour and scuba diving for my husband.

Once we arrived at the resort the first big smiling face we met was Gonzalez. And his smile stayed in place for our entire stay! What a great guy he is. A nice fresh cold juice drink and a cold towel to greet you is top notch. Our room was not quite ready so we went to Sea Salt and had a few drinks and an appetizer. Our room was ready within an hour and Eric was our guide to the room and the resort. Another very friendly member of the team.

The front desk team of Zaria and Mathew are awesome! So friendly and knowledgeable for many things. Also a big kudos to the reservation manager, Aimira, who listened to my concerns regarding the clientele and made things better for us.

The oceanfront suites are amazing! It is like a condo with a full master bedroom with en-suite bathroom, a half bath, a full kitchen, so you could cook if you so chose, a full living room and an outdoor living area with a balcony that overlooks the pool and the ocean. One of the nicest rooms we have had in our travels.

The restaurants are nice but a bit limited in their hours. Check with the front desk as the online information is not accurate. We had good food/drinks at Sea Salt, the Terrace Bar poolside, and the Vista on the rooftop.

The fitness center worked great for my hubby as it was small but not crowded.

We loved our couples massages at the spa. Such a nice indulgence.

The only reason I am giving this resort a 4 star rating is the clientele we had to deal with. There were several incidents while we were there that caused us great angst. I was threatened by a guest and when I reported it to security nothing happened. The group caused a raucous everywhere they went. Two nights later another group was fighting amongst themselves. I have never experienced this at ANY resort where I have traveled. I think security needs to step up and kick these people out.

I highly recommend this resort and the staff for the best place to...

If you are considering this hotel, DO IT! • To begin with, I cannot say enough about how beautiful the property is! It is the newest on the island and the only Marriott property in the country. All of the aesthetics are top notch! They have two ground pools and one on the roof top which is beautiful. The rooftop pool and the main ground level pool are adjacent to a bar that serves great drinks and food. • The on site restaurants are pretty good! We visited during lobster season, so there were plenty of lobster options if you are big on seafood. We visited Sea Salt for breakfast and The Deck for dinner, and tried many of the local restaurants in the area as well. Make sure to visit the mixologists at the Piano Bar! They aren’t just mixing drinks, they incorporate a very amazing science to it with their homemade liquors and infusions. Even if you don’t want a drink, watching how they make them is one hell of an experience! If you’re up to it, do like I did and say “surprise me.” You won’t regret it! • The room was BEAUTIFUL! We had a great ocean view with 3 balconies in our 1br 2ba suite. • The best part about the hotel….ready??? THE STAFF! From beginning to end. The porters and dining staff were all amazing, but I have to do a special shout out for the front line staff: -Zariah greeted us at the front desk with the greatest spirit! She was so pleasant to work with! She handled everything that we needed throughout our stay, from accommodations to recommendations. -Mr Eric greeted us shortly after Zariah and gave us a tour of the grounds. But his hospitality didn’t stop there! He made sure to check on us every time we saw him and answer any questions we may have and provide recommendations as it was our first time in San Pedro. -Matthew, like Zariah, went above and beyond during our stay! He made the impossible possible for us, and we joke that it may have cost him a few broken ribs but he got it done! Lol! Thank you Matthew, added a cherry on top to our stay! -Sarai was one of our concierges and she was a pleasure to meet. Such a pleasant spirit! Everyone was so warm and welcoming! They made us feel like we’ve been there several times before. They give so much attention and care to each of their guests. We will definitely be returning! This hotel was one of the nicest stays we’ve ever had in our travels! And the best room (by far) that we’ve EVER stayed in (thanks Matthew!). With a staff like the staff at Alaia, it only makes sense...