Almond Smugglers Cove Resort All Inclusive

My husband and I went here on our honeymoon June 2009 and loved it! It is a real couples resort. There were kids there but very few. If you do go here, go all out on the beachfront rooms. They are villa style and do not give you a motel feel, like some of the other rooms I saw. The honeymoon package was great! The wedding coordinator made us feel special in every way from special select dinners to massages/manicures. The staff was always friendly and they poured lots of rum in our drinks! Its no Sandals, but if you don't want to pay for a name brand in this economy, this is your place! We were both very satisfied with the location as well. It is a private cove, where this resort owns 65acres. The snorkeling here was phenomenal as well! Because you are in a cove/bay area, there were so many reefs to explore. The restaurants were great and accommodating to any preparation of your food. We weren't fans of the buffet but, it works best for an easy breakfast or lunch. You do have to dress up for dinner, but please note that jeans ARE acceptable here as dress up. It is a long ride from the airport, as most resorts on the island are. This resort sets you up, upon request, with a great taxi service, Hilary Taxi. Pricey, for two people round trip, $225USD, but you don't have many options on the island to get around. Again, we loved this place and would definitely recommend it to our friends!!!!

We stayed for a week for a getaway. The rooms are very small and motel like rooms. The quality of alcohol and food is horrible. They have four restaurants one is a buffet style and the other three are a la carte. You need a reservaton for dinner which are booked very fast. Cafe Enids was better restaurant than the other three. Entertainment wise you better off entertaining yourself. There are no interesting shows every other night they have a band playing and some dancers which is decent, The beach is rocky and lots of sea weed. You have to go to the actual smuggler's cove beach next to cap maison hotel which is a very nice white sand and secluded beach and by the way you have to pay $4 to rent lounge chairs. There are locals hanging around the beach to sell or pretend to make you something nice like palm hats which they later get you of paying them about 40 bucks so BEWARE and STAY AWAY from them. It is a family resort catered to family with kids. Overall, we will never stay here again. Le sport is way better!!!!

There are several details about this hotel that were not inviting. The room is sub-standard. I read that this place was built in 2007?? It looks very old and dated on the inside...looks plain USED. The bathtubs aren't set up right, so there's a river running out of the bathroom after you shower. Most times of the day, you can't get warm water in the shower. The pillows wreaked of B.O. bad. There is only one 110-outlet in the room and it's nowhere near the bathroom (no outlets in the bathroom).There are only certain times of day that food is available. Breakfast is from 730 to 1000. Lunch is 1230 to 200 (1.5 hr. window for lunch?)...so if you're out on an excursion and get back at 2 or so...you are SOL as far as food. Dinner (that you must make a reservation for at least 24 hrs in advance) was average at best (one night, it was actually inedible...that was at the 'italian' restaurant...stay away from all food there, but the pizza). When we arrived there was a plate of native fruits and a package of yogurt waiting, but it was warm, so it had been there quite a while...not to mention, there were no utensils with it...would have eaten it like a caveman, I guess. I went to the bar several times, mostly just for soft-drinks and the bartenders were NEVER (NOT EVEN ONCE) nice. We encountered ONE nice staff member the entire time, it was at the Cove restaurant one night. OH, there's a fridge in the room, but they won't put anything in it for you, so you must buy bottled drinks for $3-$4 each in their little store there. Only good point - the snorkeling was GREAT. There's an actual reef in the cove.

Type:GettingAround Distance: Requires transportation

drive to and from hotel

We would suggest also that you take advantage of the over-priced helicopter to the hotel. The ride is over 1.5 hours and this island is in extreme poverty. Also, I'm unsure if there are any actual laws on the road...the drivers are fast and very uncourteous (including those that run the shuttles)...I'm surprised we only saw one bad accident.

The people were very friendly and the room was nice. We were disappointed that the beach was the black sand type which was very hot and to walk out into the water was very difficult due to the rocks. I guess if you only wanted to snorkel it would have been okay. We had rented a car so one day we drove over to the next cove and went out into the sandy surf. Also, my husband felt the 24 hour rule for everything was a little much. Like, if you wanted a picnic lunch for the day you had to give the staff 24 hours which means you better plan out your time from the day you get there so you will know what you want to do every minute. Everything was very beautiful, but I just think next time I would want to stay some place with a better beach. All of the pools closed at 6:00 p.m. so there was no night swimming or hot tubs. Oh, and the shower was a very small area and water went everywhere.

There are demanding travelers and then there are flexible ones. The first set themselves up for a bad time, the latter go with the flow. We went knowing the resort was involved in an ownership change/remodel and would not be 100%. What it lacked was made up for by the nicest staff one could hope for. Food was great. When all the work is done it will be a spectacular place. BE WARNED: mosquitoes are a problem-bring repellant! I was eaten alive until I bought some. Others not bothered at all. Make sure you check out the beautiful little beach in the next cove.