Mayagüez Resort & Casino — Hotel in Mayagüez

HOW is this hotel averaging 4 stars with so many negative reviews, all saying the same thing? STAY AWAY.

This place is in desperate need of renovation and new management to make it a “resort”. It seems like it’s still recovering from the covid travel slump, evidenced by plastic barriers still standing on the lobby counters. Not welcoming in 2025.

The hotel room was small, damp, and undecorated. The bathroom was TINY and “utilitarian”. No hand soap or conditioner were provided, only shower gel and lotion. The room had a working fridge and safe. The coffee maker didn’t include coffee - that’s an extra charge. And no, you can’t bring your own coffee either because the design of the coffee maker requires a proprietary pod. Sheets and pillows were military-grade (thin, synthetic), and we requested extra to sleep comfortably in the room which seemed to have two setting on the AC: North Pole and off.

The pool was beautiful and enjoyable for the whole family. I’m not sure if it was because of the season, but one of the slides was closed, and the elevator to the pool area was broken, so if you’re a disabled hotel guest, too bad, you aren’t going to the pool with your family. Also, you can’t wear or use the pool towels to return to your room, because if you do, they’ll assume you stole them and charge you $25 each. So drip-dry on your way back to your room after using the pool, or bring your bathroom towels with you down the stairs. Even the inner tube for riding in the lazy river is a $5 upcharge per person, adding to the nickel-and-dime experience which feels less like a resort and more like a public beach.

Credit where it’s due, “El Castillo” for breakfast was good and fairly priced. I made sure to tell the staff and thank them. They made great coffee, fresh food, and lots of options for picky kids. I wish the same staff from the restaurant could have been in charge of the whole hotel!

Unfortunately the pool restaurant was not as nice - the french fries that came with our burgers were stale. I would rather order Uber Eats.

Also, we ordered one cocktail from the wine bar by the lobby: a well-made old fashioned for $18.

We didn’t use the casino, but walking by, it seemed well-appointed with plenty of games. It’s clear that this is the most updated and well-staffed area of the hotel.

Parking was a disaster. If you want to self-park there is plenty of space, but you need to take a ticket from the gate. Ok, no problem. But, when you want to exit, you need to get it stamped in the lobby so it can be charged to your room, then take it outside to get ANOTHER stamp from the valet. Why not have the valet do both??Only then can use your stamped card to exit. You need to do this EVERY TIME you enter and leave. So expect to add 10 minutes every time you leave the property. BUT WAIT! There’s more: if the valet isn’t there (as often happened: they are very busy, serving double-duty as bellhops), you have to drive to another exit, where the security guard instructs you to drive through the entry gate to exit. So yes, parking there is a real drag for hotel guests. If using valet would have made it faster we would have done that, except as I mentioned, the valet was often away from their post, especially at night.

Overall I do not recommend staying at this hotel, but it’s probably great if you just go to gamble and drink.

The staff at the hotel were all nice and professional, great people, but they felt under-appreciated and poorly managed. I had to personally request housekeeping from the staff. The rooms and facilities are all in serious need of upgrades. So many details I won’t mention here to have a real resort experience, but please start with removing useless plastic shields in the lobby. Invest in the hotel itself, not just the wine bar and casino. Repair the unusable gym. PROVIDE HAND SOAP. Absolutely disgusting that this wasn’t included or provided. And for gods sake, give guests a reusable parking card so they don’t have to get a stamp from the two most busy people at the hotel every time they...

I will never come here again. Horrible customer service, staff has a attidude problem every time you asked for help,food rotten, long lines, sort staffed! Read my story below if you like but this is the sweet short version. Not worth the 40 dollars for the park.

So I travel a lot around the United States and Puerto Rico. It was my first time visiting the Resort and Casino and it will be the last. Let me go by saying that Im not a picky person and I understand things are not always perfect. Things happen at hotels that is sometimes unstoppable. Many of things that I saw issues with were stoppable. From the moment we arrived we had issues. We tried valeting our vehicle but unfortunately there valet guy went to lunch. So we sat 10 mins in our car before having someone come speak to us. The man then informed us that he was the only one there to give him 5 minutes and he would be back. Well we waited another 10 minutes then finally got our car valet. Then we went ahead to buy the daily rate ticket for the pool area. There was another wait and the line was out the door. I mean it was only Tuesday. I can only imagine how it is in there on a Friday. I waited another 25 minutes to get my ticket. We get downstairs to the area of the pool. There is no seating any where and it was extremely packed already. We decided to get a locker to place our belongings. I had asked before getting into the line if there were lockers their reply was "Yes". I waited in the line 20 minutes for nothing because they had ran out of lockers.

The bar was slow and was the same line you go your food, locker, and drinks. There was one guy making drinks and one cash bar. Instead of helping each other knowing the line is long people just stood there. I was in shock like where is the customer service. Then I went ahead upstairs because I had a call for work. After I was done with my call I decided to get food. It started raining so a lot of people left the pool area and headed inside.

I went ahead and stood at the bar waiting for the bartender to take my food order. As I sit there and wait for 10 minutes. He finally addresses me and says ill be right back and Ill take your order. I know from working in food he cant handle this rush alone. He had the bar and 6 tables that had 4+ people each. I waited because I felt bad. Then I waited another 10 minutes finally just sat at a table with my family because they decided also to come eat food We waited another 30 minutes. At that point my Aunt said something because it was now getting out of hand. She got the manager attention and said something. He then go an attitude and said "Fine Ill help him out". Excuse me? Like you are the manager clearly you should know he needs help. You should of been here a long time ago helping him. After we order our food we wait another 20 minutes. Well I get my calamari and the bed of lettuce it is sitting on is rotten. I couldn't anymore with the customer service we cancelled our meal order and went downstairs again. With the amount of people there was and no life guard in the main area. I was in shock. The only life guard I saw was at the top of slide and he wasn't even paying attention to the kids going down. My friend at one point had to ask "Can my son go down now?" and he replied "Yes go go go "

I wont ever come here again and will make sure my family and friends...

Constructive Review

Our stay had several positive aspects, but also multiple issues that should be addressed to improve the guest experience.

Check-in and Room Access Upon arrival saturday, the room access cards did not work. After returning to reception, two new cards were issued, but they also failed. After much effort, we managed to enter the room and realized the real issue was a moldy door lock that does not read cards properly. This was a frustrating start.

Breakfast Buffet The breakfast buffet was expensive compared to the limited variety offered. For a property of this category, expectations of selection and quality were higher.

Pool Area The pool itself is magnificent. However, charging guests for floaters seems unnecessary. Additionally, food and drink service at the pool area is very slow and disorganized. Waiting 33 minutes in line for two drinks is unacceptable and directly impacts sales, since we decided not to order food at all. With proper staff coordination, this could easily be improved.

Fire Alarm Disruptions On Sunday at 5:30 a.m., during vacation days, a fire alarm went off loudly inside our room. We were unsure whether to evacuate since the entire hallway seemed equally confused. Several minutes later it stopped. Unfortunately, the same alarm happened again that night at 11:30 p.m., lasting longer, and by 12:45 a.m. it could still be heard in other areas, again interrupting rest.

Room Condition and Service Response The TV remained on all day because the remote control did not work. We requested assistance and were told a technician would come; after waiting 1 hour and 45 minutes, nobody showed up. Later that night, we went to reception again, and this time a technician came in a reasonable timeframe. He correctly identified the remote was defective and replaced it, but only programmed it for DirecTV, not the television itself. This meant I could not turn the TV off or use it properly, forcing me to unplug it from the wall to be able to sleep.

Additionally, the room itself requires urgent updates: • The bathroom sink only provides hot water, making simple tasks like brushing teeth uncomfortable. • Shower handles are extremely stiff and require excessive force to close properly. • The room lacked basic amenities such as an iron, a hairdryer.

Hotel Facilities We went to dine outside the hotel restaurant to avoid risking further disappointment. We later visited the casino and tried to play billiards, but the area closed at 9:30 p.m. surprising given that it was a long weekend, when extended hours would have been expected.

Overall Impression The property has potential, especially with a beautiful pool area and decent facilities, but poor organization, lack of room maintenance, service delays, and disruptive alarms overshadowed the experience. With better communication, quicker response from staff, full room updates, and more attention to guest comfort, this could become a great...