The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón — Hotel in Bonita Springs

My wife and I, along with our 4 month old son, recently had the pleasure of spending 5 nights at your wonderful resort. When possible, we aim to exclusively vacation at Ritz Carlton hotels, and even when just passing by, we try to at least have a cocktail and enjoy the exceptional ambiance and service Ritz Carlton hotels offer. After our stay at your hotel, our trust in the Ritz Carlton brand is further emboldened, reasons for which I have detailed below.

Even before arrival, we encountered first class attention from your staff. An excellent car service (NT&T) was arranged by Branka, and she was also responsive and pleasant to the many questions I had regarding making our room comfortable for not only us, but our infant son. Although our room was not ready when we arrived (I believe the hotel was operating at 100% capacity), we enjoyed lunch on the patio while we waited, and almost at 4 pm on the nose we were approached in the lobby by a staff member named Kelly. She asked if we were checking in or checking out, and when she learned we were waiting to check-in, she went to enquire about our room so that we didn't have to wait in the long line again. She also treated us each to a glass of champagne, before returning quickly with our room key. I would have given her special commendation for simply getting us to our room on time, but she went above and beyond... later that afternoon we returned to our room to find a gift bag for our son Mackie containing a couple of books, and a stuffed animal. If this wasn't enough, there was a beautiful (and very tasty) cheese plate and bottle of wine for my wife and me. Kelly's thoughtfulness and attention to detail is a true asset to your hotel and the overall brand of Ritz. Please thank her profusely on our behalf!

Remarkably, Kelly's level of service wasn't even the pinnacle of our stay. At dinner at Ria on two occasions, and then by the pool during our last full day, Ryann Raso exceeded any expectation of Ritz level of service in so many ways. From being hyper aware that we were dining with an infant who could combust at any given moment, she sat us in a quiet and warm spot, away from potentially disrupting other guests. She had our food coursed out with perfect timing, and made herself available numerous times to make sure that we didn't need to take our food back to our room. To cap off the first night's dinner, she even showed off her bartending skills by making the best Negroni of our stay! On our last day, she noticed our struggle to keep our son Mackie out of the sun and offered us an upgraded seating area with much more shade, and she and her colleague Chrissy attended to our every need the whole day and made it a highlight of our trip. They both should be truly commended for exceeding the always impressive Ritz level of service!

The final act of genuine kindness that Ryann provided was coming to say goodbye to us prior to checkout, and sending our son on his way home with another stuffed animal. There are no words for how touched we were from this act. Please please please can you recognize Ryan's service to excellence in some way... she...

I just don’t know where to begin. I have NEVER been to a $1,500 a night hotel* in as bad shape as the Ritz Tiburon.

My pictures say it all. Frayed carpet, cordless phone from the 1980’s, no smart TV!, thick stem wine glasses, old wooden furniture, and most disturbing of all, blood stained mattresses.

Although most hotels now include that offensive “resort fee,” Tiburon takes it to a new level. Driving range included? Not if you want to borrow 2 or 3 beat up clubs . . . that will be $26.50. Beach chairs included? Sure, but if you don’t want to get burned, the umbrella will cost you $26.50. Want to use a bike? It will only be for a couple hours and it will probably take an equal amount of time before downloading and signing up for the 3rd party rental app.

The most disturbing part was that we reserved a king room but when we arrived we noticed it wasn’t a king at all. There was a two day back and forth with management until they finally told us it wasn’t a King but an “RV King.” Have you heard of that?? Neither have I. I insisted that it was slightly bigger than a queen but no-one would accept it. I then googled “RV King” and it turns out the name is meaningful. RV stands for “recreational vehicle” and mattresses are frequently modified to fit inside such vehicles. To resolve the issue I suggested that we actually measure it but they declined so I took a picture of my wife laying across it - she is 60” tall (picture attached). Judge for yourself but bear in mind that the bed is bulked up with a comforter. Anyway, management insisted that it was just 4 inches narrower than a king at 72” vs. 76” when in fact it was only a couple inches wider than a queen at 64” vs 60”.

Given the condition of the hotel, I wondered how in the world they get such a premium for such an inferior product? The answer as far as I can tell? Seems like the majority of their business is corporate (i.e., people spending other people’s money).

Finally one more occurrence that was disturbing. There was some type of water main break in the area during our stay. The local authorities warned against drinking the tap water or even using it to brush teeth. The hotel only informed guests a full day after the incident – we received a letter in our room upon returning to it the following afternoon. Why wouldn’t they have at least posted the issue in the elevator or entrance to the hotel given the health risk??

*To be fair, we got a “deal” at around $900 per night vs the $1,500 for a typical low end room. Management also comped part of the resort fee and the umbrella and golf club rental so I can’t say they didn’t try. That said, they are just working with a dated inferior product and they only survive because Naples is painfully deficient in alternatives. Tip for travelers – the beachfront Ritz...

The Good, The Bad and The...huh?

My review of a recent 5 night stay at the Ritz-Carlton Naples Golf Resort.

I had the opportunity to use my stockpile of Marriott Bonvoy (Originally SPG) points to stay at this beautiful resort. It was a Summer family vacation/Father’s Day getaway. It was me, my wife, and my 2 kids- 5 and 8 year olds. We stayed June 17th-22nd. We stayed in a Suite (living area and bedroom) with Club Lounge access.

Let’s start with the Bad-

-We had an on-going issue with the air conditioners. There is some sort of sensor on the thermostats that determine whether or not the AC will turn on. Apparently they sense motion, lighting and door status. Apparently neither I nor my kids move enough to keep the AC on through the night with the sensor. I live in south Florida and I require AC to sleep comfortably. We had to have engineering fix the issue multiple times. One thermostat was able to be adjusted but every 2 hours I woke up hot and had to move my arm to wake up the AC.

-One night, it sounded like someone was having a furniture moving party. Apparently there was some cleaning happening somewhere and the furniture was moved around repeatedly.

-There is a lack of ventilation and lighting in the bathrooms. They are very dimly lit and get damp when you are bathing multiple kids and 2 adults are taking showers.

-The pull-out sofa bed appears to be from my childhood home. The structure and mattress is the same and as uncomfortable as I remember. The springs poke you and make a lot of noise. They do put on a down mattress topper to help but that is like putting lipstick on a pig. It just doesn’t do much. I would expect a higher quality mattress at a Ritz-Carlton.

-There was also some sort of laundry detergent or starch in the sheets the first night. We felt sand like grit and found white powder on the sheets.

Time for the Huh?.....

-There is NO HOT TUB at this hotel. I understand that we are in Florida, but I’m pretty sure if you poll guests at a Ritz-Carlton they would say they enjoy some time in a Hot Tub. The owner(s) recently renovated the Pool area and made it kid friendly, They also apparently believe that Hot Tubs in Florida are passé. I respectfully disagree, especially at a Golf Resort.

-The Resort has been made much more kid friendly with the pool area renovations. However, pizza cannot be found on any menu. There is pretty much one food that almost all kids eat and that would be pizza. I saw numerous...