The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island — Hotel in Fernandina Beach

We stayed at the Ritz Grand Cayman last year and that experience made us want to stay at another Ritz property and we were excited to have another amazing stay/vacation with our family, so we excitedly picked the Rita at Amelia Island as we were celebrating our kids graduations and thought this would be the best way to mark those milestones, make more family memories and add another great Ritz trip to our list, unfortunately it was none of that.|On Sunday evening at around 10 pm after already having killed a large moth earlier in the evening my daughter (we had connecting rooms) was loudly asking for help as there was something flying around the room. It was a LARGE moth a little smaller than my palm and as we killed that month another 4 appeared all in equal sizes along with other bugs smaller in size, some quite questionable. It was as if there was a month’s nest or something possibly hiding in the curtains as they came out in quick succession. Besides it being bizarre what was happening in our room at the Ritz it was more perplexing that there were other bugs also being found. I called the guest services to tell them what was going on and that we needed to change rooms asap and was told they needed to find new accommodations and they would call us back. At this point we started packing up the two rooms. After about 15 mins of no call back, my husband went to the lobby to find out what was taking so long and why no one had even been up to the room yet. He asked to speak to the manager and the woman at the front said the manager was working on our rooms, the manager never came out to speak to him, she handed new key cards to the front lobby person who then gave them to him and that was ALL that was done. The manager NEVER came out, never spoke to him nothing. ZERO customer service, ZERO acknowledgment, ZERO help.|We got to our new rooms on the second floor (we moved ourselves) and not only have we now been downgraded room wise, but our room had urine and hair on the bathroom floor and the other room had no bed skirts/bottom of bed on them. At this point we just cleaned up the urine, got ourselves ready for bed and called it a night thinking in the AM someone would most definitely reach out about this fiasco. Well, we were WRONG! At 1pm on Monday I went to the front desk to ask to speak to the manager about the fiasco that happened the night before and was asked if I could wait for a few moments which turned into a 15 min wait. I have to say the lack of customer care or urgency is crystal clear, this resort has none. The Director of Housing came to speak to me, took some notes and seemed sympathetic to what had happened but that was it. After telling him all that had happened in the two rooms he said the one night would be taken care of and that he would look into our downgraded urine room and that was about all he offered. At this point I told him we would be checking out early due to our horrible experience, the complete lack of customer service/care and that the price of rooms vs the caliber of the resort just did not match up and more importantly had I not gone to the front desk no one was ever reaching out which was just incomprehensible. When I told him this all he offered was late check-out. Nothing to get us to continue our vacation, which was now ruined, nothing to make all that we had been through a bit better, nothing. It was clear that the Ritz simply did not care and that at this point we would be idiots spending any more money there as they simply did not care. He also asked to send him an email with pictures of the bugs which we did, and it took him over 24 hours to even respond. Also to add more insult when we got back to our room we could not even sit out on the balcony as there was a strong smell of marijuana. |When we checked out, I asked about our rooms being discounted due to all that had transpired in the second room, and the lady said they had already comped our first night (as if to say what more do you want) and showed zero concern about all that we had experienced in the second room nor that due to bugs we were given a downgraded room. SI said so when we checked in, we were upgraded, then we find bugs and our reward is to be downgraded, and she said yes you were. Again, what is going on with customer service?!|The hotel in general is NOT a Ritz caliber hotel. Management should go look at it and either bring it up to par or make it a regular Marriott and charge accordingly. Most staff were not pleasant or helpful either. And the smell of marijuana… I have no words. |The Director of Housing did send an email thanking me for my feedback and that he would send it to senior management and hoped we’d come back – what! Come back to a hotel that cares soo little about their customers, heck no never will I be back. What was to be a great family vacation celebrating big milestones is now the nightmare vacation of bugs, urine and marijuana. It was a large price tag also for such a horrible experience. A significant makeover from hotel accommodations, to hospitality, to customer service is necessary for this property to be the caliber of a Ritz ever, like I said it is a Ritz...

This was my second stay at this property. I had a poor stay a few years ago but figured I'd give them another chance. Bad idea. Basically all of the same disappointments as last time, plus a few more. I do not plan on returning as an individual guest, it's clear the property's real customers are conference organizers. Many of the staff try, but it's clear they are just stretched too thin and haven't been trained on getting the details right. Other than the nice beach, there are simply better properties to visit, with better service, at a much more reasonable cost. Just some of the issues I have with this place:||1) Check in was super rushed. I had to ask questions about the property that should have been proactively explained (e.g., restaurant options). In fact, it wasn't until the last day of my stay when the concierge was finally at the desk (was usually unstaffed), that I found there was an actual schedule of events. Actually, I didn't even know until seeing in another guest's review below that there were smores on the property - would've loved to do that with my son. Similarly, I learned from another guest about that the property has Mercedes that you can borrow for a few hours (I've done this at other properties like Four Seasons and Auberge) - of course, no info about this at check in. How are guests supposed to know about your hotel if you don't tell them!? Small things like this can make the difference between a good and bad stay.||2) I asked and found that the property has a policy where young children dine for free (again, no one offered this info up to me). I happened to eat every meal during my stay at several of the restaurants on the premises. Unfortunately, about 75% of the time I had to ask them to remove my son's meal from the check, even after confirming each time we sat down. It made me feel cheap and I shouldn't have had to ask. They should also have told me about this proactively at check-in or otherwise.||3) The pool was an absolute madhouse. They've crammed so many chairs into that area that it is actually uncomfortable. I've never seen a luxury hotel have anything other than full-flat loungers at a pool. However, at the RC Amelia Island, the first row of seats next to the pool are regular upright chairs that do not lay flat. One of the staff told me they did this to fit in more chairs.||4) F&B service at the pool was sometimes incredibly slow. I learned to just ask them to bring me my check at the same time as my food or drink, however, one time they just never brought the check. After waiting over an hour, I told another server and left. Imagine my surprise at checkout when I found that someone had added a 20% gratuity to the check.||5) I was alone with my very young son. At check in, I inquired about purchase club access and was quoted $600/night. For one adult, that was outrageous and in fact more than the difference if one just bought a club room to begin with. In fact, it was the same price they'd charge for two adults. They refused to make an accommodation for a room with just a single adult (50% of the price for 2 adults? 75%?). I would have bought it. So they both lost out on additional revenue as well as started a stay off on a weird foot.||6) Finally, basically no benefits for having high Bonvoy status. I'm lifetime Titanium, so I've been around the block and do not have exceptionally high expectations at a domestic conference "resort" like this. Maybe a nicer view or a snack in my room. Nada. It was clear they had better rooms because the front desk agent even went to "ask her manager" when I checked in - but nothing for me! They also didn't offer the "alternative amenity" that they're supposed to for charging an amenity fee that includes Wifi (yes, its required as part of Bonvoy's T&C's in section 1.3.c.ii - look it up). ||Anyway, I don't plan on visiting again. If I do find myself in the area, I'd probably check out the Omni for...

It will not let me post my full review it’s too long..

I recently visited this spa 2 days and I was so disappointed. I have visited many Ritz Carlton Properties, including this one, on numerous occasions. This was the only time where I noticed a significant amount of flaws in both, the customer service and the facility maintenance. I find that odd because they just renovated. Guests deserve a pleasant and welcoming environment. You should always have an attendant to walk you back, assign you a locker, and make sure you have everything you need, Especially if you have pre-ordered something. The lack of warmth and attentiveness during this visit is making me rethink the Ritz. Attendants should be readily available to assist guests. They should be pleasant. A 5-diamond spa should provide exceptional facilities, from plush robes and high-quality products to serene relaxation areas. The robes had stains and holes in them. The shoes did not fit. We asked for larger shoes and were rudely made aware that they put us on the end, where the larger sizes are available. There is a "private" changing area inside the locker room with no door/curtain, even though there is an adequate space for one. I'm clearly not the only one who finds that odd. The facility should regularly be checked and maintained, (at least every 15 minutes) but they were not. Trash bins and laundry bins were overflowing. There was trash piled on the tea table in one room and discarded yogurt containers caused an odor, like rotten fruit or dirty feet, in the other room. It was very unpleasant, both days. The showers were all dirty (other than one handicap stall) for over an hour before I finally said something to Ms. Bernadette. She was nice. The wet lounge smelled musky/moldy. Quality amenities like beverages should be consistently available but there was not an adequate amount of water throughout the entire facility. It was sad that they had no fruit infused water. A couple of places you could find the distilled water, but it is nasty and not healthy. Each day I had to ask for eucalyptus spray even though they’re supposed to spray the steam room, but since they don’t properly maintain the facility, it doesn’t get done. The treatments fell short of the exceptional experiences I’ve had other times. I wanted to enjoy every bit of the time I paid for. They make you pay for a service then pay for the service being done. It’s ridiculous. Sadly, I did not enjoy it. The therapist came to ask an hour before our appointment if we wanted to be seen early. We felt rushed but agreed. We did not even receive our full body massages. They seemed very exhausted. My massage therapist had a very nice technique but he was really slow. I wasn’t counting time since I’m supposed to be relaxing, so I was not aware that he was going too slow to finish my whole body. The other massage therapist was just not very good. I don’t care to go into details. It just wasn’t worth the time or money. I don’t understand why the pool floats are dirty and with mold/mildew. Why the pool has tons of leaves in it. This spa was recently "renovated". It’s very important that people do not dehydrate. Yet, the bottled water isn't offered in every area. Why did they get rid of their ice cooling cloths? Why is the door so loud when it closes in the relaxation lounge? Why did they get those generic plastic holders for their nut mix, that make a lot of noise and gets clogged up? The old glass containers were perfect. Why don’t they have fresh fruit? Why do they not have a tag system or something similar so a server will come to you outside when you need them? The first day, I was out there an entire hour in the heat with nothing to drink. Since there was no water in the facility and no service I was dehydrating. It’s supposed to be a nice quiet facility but it’s not. I hope I enjoy myself in the future, if...