La Bahia Hotel & Spa

This is an excellent hotel for the proximity to the beach- a stones throw away. My son and I went to the Boardwalk and Arcade, so fun to walk there at night. We also loved the La Bahia pool. The staff were friendly and the pool was the perfect temperature. The room service breakfast was delicious as well.

We had a two bedroom queen booked, they said they only had a king and a pullout for us. We waited over an hour after check in time for our correct room (they ended up giving us two full beds, NOT queen size.) Then waited over a half hour for our luggage. They said they’d comp us cocktails and send to the pool since we had to wait. Those drinks never came and the pool bar was closed. We had to go downstairs twice to ask about the drinks… they never came. At 11:30pm we were in pajamas ready for bed and the TV wouldn’t turn off, we had to wait for two maintenance men to come, then they had to turn our power off and on to try and fix it. Then in the morning we were woke up by a loud speaker in our room, announcing they’d be doing routine fire and elevator drills…. SO loud. THEN we hung at the pool and ordered food and drinks, they said it would take 20 minutes. We never got the drinks and 45 minutes later the brought the wrong food. We had to check out 10 minutes later so we were stuck with fish tacos that we don’t eat. There was also some kind of flood in the building that made the place wreak of sewage. We tried to e mail management 3 times and they never got back. Finally called and got ahold of one, he was very nice and said e mail send us a gift card to come back in the future… I still haven’t received it. Too bad because staff was nice…. The system just was awful and zero efficient.

What an amazing experience. Everything was perfect, including thoughtful details such as sparkling wine/Martinelli's at check-in; the pristine and well-appointed room, complete with complimentary local treats from Marini's, bottled water, Nespresso, and bottle of wine from a local vineyard; and the friendly and helpful staff. I also had the best facial I have ever had in the wonderfully welcoming spa. I do not make a habit of staying at high-end hotels, but I will definitely be coming back to La Bahia. Worth every penny!

PET ALLERGIES? Read this. When we checked in it was a Saturday later than expected 8 pm. While the facility itself is lovely, the front desk needs training: we were told it was a sold out night and were offered a room on the 3rd floor which they should disclose is their PET FLOOR. Bad decision as even industrial cleaning supplies and practices can’t get rid of dander and if you are allergic you’re screwed. It really negatively impacted our stay.