Sonesta Maho Beach All Inclusive Resort Casino & Spa

Recently visited Sonesta and stayed a week! Enjoyed our vacation immensely! Our room was new and always clean. Although there was still construction on going it had no impact our vacation. The food was good but we did feel that at times there wasn’t enough staff in the dining areas to accommodate all the guests! Staff more than accommodating! There should be designated smoking areas!

We have stayed in this resort for many many years and were utterly devastated when Irma destroyed this little piece of heaven. For those complaining let me first remind you Irma was less than 2 years ago, this place was hit so very hard and some of the people who are working here, serving you and trying to get you everything required to enjoy your vacation are still living in homes that are not properly repaired. I have seen nothing from the Maho other than hard working friendly staff. The food is great! The rooms beautiful and clean. Thank you Sonesta Maho for coming back to us even better than before. Anyone who had booked a vacation here was made fully aware of the construction and the possibility of cancellation due to the resort not running at full capacity. Thank you Maho! We WILL be back❤️ The Morton Family

I just returned from a 6 night stay at the Sonesta Maho Resort. I travelled with my 5 and 2 year old sons. The hotel is under construction and we were actually rebooked because they were not open for the original dates. The construction is obvious and at times noisy but we spent most of our time outside of our room so it did not have a huge impact. The elevator was slow and one day not working but those were minor inconveniences. The rooms are spacious and modern. The look is clean and sleek. The bathroom was large and beautiful. The renovations that have been completed are beautiful and I cannot imagine what it looked like before. The grounds are great, the pools large and accommodating. I felt safe having my kids in the main pool as well as the one for kids. There are no life guards on duty but I never felt unsafe. The food was disappointing to me. While the options were there, I found the taste bland. There is an Asian restaurant and pub that alternates nights that they are open. I thought that was a negative because it was not explained to us on arrival. The staff that we encountered were great. They answered questions easily and were very accommodating.

We booked this vacation 8 months in advance and received a generic email three weeks before our departure saying our room was not ready due to construction delays and they were canceling our trip. Went back and forth with them for a week to get our money back, reimbursement for flight cancelations / change fees, etc. and had to literally harass them to get any type of response. I'd avoid this place at all costs, your trip is NOT guaranteed even when they have $2000 of yours and have for 8 months. Go literally anywhere else.

Vacationed at The Sonesta Maho , early April 2019. Having suffered major damage from Hurricane Irma , the Sonesta is making a comeback. The grounds are lovely, the people are determined, friendly and helpful. The new buildings / hotel rooms are modern and sleek. There is construction going on daily , but, not disturbing the guests . Food was ok, not the best I’ve had, but, the pool bar was bustling with people who were served in a speedy fashion. This was my fourth visit there , and I would return. They ( The Sonesta Maho ) promise to come back stronger then ever ..

Sonesta Restort: Although some of the resort was under construction, people have to understand the devastation from the Hurricane. Our room was beautiful and very new and clean. The staff were amazing and the bar staff were excellent and very patient with some of the rude people. I have no complaints, we loved it and we are booking for two weeks next year instead of one. Diamonds are Dazzling Jewellery Store, Front Street, : In addition to the hotel, I want to comment on a Jewellery Store in Phillipsburg. I stepped into the street and I fell and cut my head. The family owning Diamonds are Dazzling on Front Street came running out and brought me into the store and gave me a seat, helped me with my cut, brought me cold water and talked to me to ensure that I was ok. From that moment my husband and I became friends with the owners. They are a very caring and honest family. Kenny owns the store and Pooja helps him. The jewellery is lovely and the prices are good too. There are many jewellery stores on the island, but I will only shop in Diamonds are Dazzling because I have come to know and trust the owner, his knowledge of the products as well has his employees friendliness and knowledge. Thank you Kenny!

Booked Sonesta as part of a package deal through CheapCaribbean.com. The place had been devastated from Hurricane Irma 2018 and only opened late Feb 2019. I honestly think that that’s the only reason we were able to afford it - perhaps some promotional pricing. We opted for the Superior Room (ignore the name, it’s their lowest class of room choice). Our room did not face the interior pool - we were on the other side which still had a nice city view and views of mullet beach. HOWEVER, we were also right next to all the unfinished and ongoing construction next door - literally. It was noisy every day starting at around 8:30am and and sometimes going into the night through 7p. We never got to enjoy our balcony because it was so awkward to just have construction workers literally everywhere. We just tossed our wet clothes on the balcony to dry up. I did not feel comfortable going out there to be seen. In addition there was a crane right outside of our window. On Sunday it was actively used and operated - I did not let my 3 year old near the windows for fear of a freak accident. It was also quite loud. It was a bit of a safety issue. Now I’ll let you know, we didnt report or ask to switch rooms because we were gone most of the day. We assessed the risk factor and stayed but I just want to report our situation because this would not be ideal for most people. Noise, lack of privacy, safety risk. Im sure this will all be rectified when the construction is done, but I think it says more about the choices of management on safety. Other cons include an unreliable elevator (2 in total and 1 that sometimes worked/sometimes didn’t, complete breakdown for both elevators one day so we had to see very industrial looking stairwell - sucked for people on the 7th floor, randomly skipping some floors), no late checkout, unreliable activities table (see my review on Aqua Mania), and really weird dinner reservation system. There are 3 restaurants you can reserve for: The Point (make reservations every night - this place is great!), The Palms Grill (a gimmick where you cook raw proteins on a hot stone - takes a super duper super duper super duper long time on service), and Jing’s (which is closed and not operating so lots of surprises for guests who made reservations). Interestingly enough, the front desk told us that you only had to make reservations for The Point. Everything else was great: - the buffet had great food. awesome omelet station, french toast on some days. lunch and dinner options always yummy. 7a bfast, 12p lunch, 630p dinner - amazing staff service, attentive, nice, accommodating. bars open up around 11a. - pizza station perfect for my 3 year old. they start making pizza at 12p and 5p on a continuous service. just grab and go. - the MOST AMAZING beach club for kids 3 and up. the building is so cool - toys, a slide from the second floor, video games, outdoor playground area - and awesome staff! they publish a schedule every day. sometimes they go late into the night. - BBQ night on Wednesdays with large prawns and entertainment - Free shuttles to/from Mullet Beach every 30 mins 9a-4p - Free shuttles to/from Phillipsburg and a whole island tour on certain days - location: casino across the street, grocery across the street, pharmacy close by, maho beach - can walk to/from airport if you want, or $4 per person by taxi - we never took a dip in the pool (we’re beach people) but everyone who did looked like they were having a great time - great views from ocean terrace and right outside The Point

Unlike some travellers from western Canada in the week preceding our arrival on Mar 21/19, we were not demanding a refund, travel voucher etc. With the ongoing renovations taking place during our stay. During the first week of our stay, there were no seats to be had at the interim buffet set up at the Palms Grill. One had to stand guard over the dirty tables until staff had a chance to bus them up in order to get a seat. The Food and Beverage Unit (F&B) operated in secret with changing rules as to when and where reservations were required. The electronic bookings through the kiosk insisted on a maximum of three reservations per room no matter how long (our stay was two weeks) of a duration your stay was. The Ascot Pub was a disaster the first week with a mini buffet of largely inedible selections. The second week showed improvement but still was not up to a standard advertised. Tong’s (Asian) was adequate but just barely and as with all of the resort understaffed by trained personnel. The Ocean Point generally had the best food but the staff again left something to be desired when it came to service. The Coffee Bar advertised on the Sunwing website was in fact a folding table in the lobby with a 2 gallon percolator on top (c/w cream and sugar). Work was/is still taking place (rooms on sixth, seventh and eighth floors) six days a week staring at 0:800 - 20:00hrs everyday except Sunday. Two of four elevators are in service and as staff and guests must all be serviced by the two long waits are sometimes required. We were on the sixth floor and I checked out the fire escape stairwell near our room and one would only want to use it in case of emergency since it was unfinished and possibly a danger to utilize especially in the dark. The main lobby had a minimal amount of furnishings and areas off of it were being used by housekeeping and for storage. Throughout the resort, staff are new and/or in training. I cannot emphasize enough however that additional trained staff are definitely required for the future smooth operation of this establishment. The pool is too small to serve the number of visitors currently and chairs are at a premium and need to be saved by 07:00hrs daily if one is to lounge by the pool. WIth additional a rooms coming online this is going to be a source of dissatisfaction with future guests. The Beach area is very small with 30-40 chairs and limited umbrellas which is probably why the resort provides free shuttles to nearby Mullet Bay (ten minute walk). Unfortunately one must rent a chair and umbrella there (2 chairs and umbrella $15USD, I was told) but there is no longer a restaurant there to purchase lunch. Sanitation is by way of a Port-o-Potty if required. Considering the work being undertaken the staff are doing their best generally, and in the second week of our stay the main buffet opened and this reduced the wait time for a table but did not entirely eliminate the issue of tables in the shade. The bar at the Palms featured only one bartender the first week and long waits for a drink were experienced. The second week additional staff were made available and wait times were reduced. Personally I took to other bars namely the lobby bar to obtain prompt service. The pool bar as with all resorts is generally very busy at all times. I would be remiss not to mention the well trained friendly staff that I encountered while at the resort. Esmond was a fount of local knowledge and has the perfect disposition for his present position but perhaps he could be tasked to pass on some of his people skills to other staff being trained. In housekeeping Famulia was excellent and kept our room in wonderful shape. In the buffet(s) I would like to mention Stacy, Ann-Marie, Kezia, Bettina (G&Ts), Patricia and Devila as friendly and efficient servers. At the Ocean Point Dominique and Jane provided competent friendly service. I also would like to commend Edward, Nasmarie (Nas), Anya and Nigel of the bar staff for their polite service and tasty “Bloody Mary’s”. In closing, I would say that I was not surprised at the state of the resort as the reduced price prepared me for the amount of work in progress. As mentioned in the title I have previously attended the Memories Grand Bahamas (post hurricane) in Freeport with Sunwing but that trip(s) was clearly advertised as a soft opening and the resort was more prepared for guests than I found the Sonesta Beach and Casino... I guess all that I can say is TSK TSK Sonesta and Sunwing; you have alienated a number of clients during this public relations debacle. Myles Davidson

Enjoyed the Day Pass here booked through resortsforaday.com. Pros: Beautiful pool area, nice drinks, menu items at Grille, beautiful location, fun to watch the airplanes land and take off , friendly staff Cons: Forget getting any lounge chairs, towels saving all chairs:( Casino very very tiny, airplanes are very loud and distracting if you enjoy solitude and nap time Would come again on Day Pass