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Trip Advisor is a nice travel site for vacationers who happen to dive occasionally. Other divers are here at SCUBABoard.
Planning your trip through that site was Mistake #1.
Inn of Last Resort
- Thread starter pdixon
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Trip Advisor is a nice travel site for vacationers who happen to dive occasionally. Other divers are here at SCUBABoard.
Planning your trip through that site was Mistake #1.
Delphinius - Thanks for the post about your experience at ILR. Sorry to hear about the bad experience with the diving there. I know they had a couple problems with the boats last year, but nothing that bad - one of the boats stalled out once and we had to be towed in by Andy but fortunately we were right out in front of the lagoon.
I truly hope that ILR can get these problems worked out....
I truly hope that ILR can get these problems worked out....
I was in and out the week you guys were there - Finishing up my IDC and then 2 days in Utila for my IE....
Sunday did go pretty much the way you described - should we have taken you diving that day - maybe not - think you wanted to go so we took you -
I do know you were greated Monday buy a shinney PRO 48 dive boat that we rented at a cost of 600 US dollars a day for the remainder of your stay....
I think some people tend to forget that this is Roatan Honduras and we can't get parts and service at the drop of the hat... I think that any resort or dive op you go to on the island can have the same problems we had on Sunday.... The exception being AKR which is the only place that is big enough to have the resorses to have ample spare everything...
I can a sure you that there is no tip skimming going on - we just want all our workers to share as they all do things to make your stay enjoyable.....
We did fire both DM's as it was not the first time they had violated the rules....
Again I'm not arguing about Sunday - it was not a day I am proud of... but it would be nice to let people know that we did go out of our way to see that the rest of your stay went well.....
That's just my opion - I could be wrong
Sunday did go pretty much the way you described - should we have taken you diving that day - maybe not - think you wanted to go so we took you -
I do know you were greated Monday buy a shinney PRO 48 dive boat that we rented at a cost of 600 US dollars a day for the remainder of your stay....
I think some people tend to forget that this is Roatan Honduras and we can't get parts and service at the drop of the hat... I think that any resort or dive op you go to on the island can have the same problems we had on Sunday.... The exception being AKR which is the only place that is big enough to have the resorses to have ample spare everything...
I can a sure you that there is no tip skimming going on - we just want all our workers to share as they all do things to make your stay enjoyable.....
We did fire both DM's as it was not the first time they had violated the rules....
Again I'm not arguing about Sunday - it was not a day I am proud of... but it would be nice to let people know that we did go out of our way to see that the rest of your stay went well.....
That's just my opion - I could be wrong
diver 85
Contributor
Howie, tell Donna & Andy that Joe & Betsy(from Louisiana) said hello, we're Matt & Renee's Mom & Dad---they both worked @ the Inn years ago...Matt started there the Monday after Mitch(he was there when Pat & his wife were @ the Inn) & our daughter Renee moved to the island end of '99 & worked a short while for them.....A little history here, we have a house @ Sundancer but haven't been in a couple years--thinking about going back this early June..........
Delphinus
Registered
RoatanMan, this was a group trip that I did not plan; however, the person who did plan it did not do so through TripAdvisor. I sought information about the Inn of Last Resort on Trip Advisor, but also searched ScubaBoard, scubadiving.com, zendiving.com, and pretty much any other resource I could think of, just to get an idea of what to expect. Unfortunately, the expectations I had from reading the many glowing reviews of the resort did not live up to the reality.
Howie, I didn't leave anything out; I did mention (1) that the resort hired a boat from AKR, and (2) that Andy and Donna offered us a free canopy tour and refunds. My point was that their attitude, and the many excuses they offered, gave the impression that they didn't want to accept any fault for the things that happened. Clearly, some of the issues were weather-related, but others were due to unsatisfactory mechanical upkeep of the boats and poor response and communication by the crew. As for the cost to rent the boat from AKR, well... if ILR kept their boats in working order, they wouldn't have had to incur that cost, would they?
Perhaps more importantly, the AKR boat you point out was a great solution for the people who got to spend the rest of the week on that boat. But the overflow from our large group (six of us, including me), as well as the eight-person group that apparently didn't have the strength of numbers to get the same treatment, were stuck on the Captain Ariel. This boat leaked copious amounts of fuel/oil for the rest of the week (photographic evidence of this posted with my review on Trip Advisor). It was bad enough that we divers had to surface into an oil slick after every dive. But that a dive operation would repeatedly take a boat leaking lots of oil to a supposedly protected Marine Park shows a callous disregard for the very environment that your business depends on. Sure, "this is Roatan, Honduras," so parts may be hard to come by. So if you can't find the spare parts, it's okay to take a boat out and pollute the reef??
Lastly, the problems we experienced were not limited to Sunday. We had some mechanical problems on Sunday (our first day of diving), but the main problems (during which we had to be towed, and a member of our group was injured) occurred on Monday, and what bothered us most (the attitude and response of the crew and management) continued all week. We were generally a tolerant bunch, and we were on vacation, so we were ready to be "tranquilo." We only got upset because the problems happened over and over again, largely because they weren't handled professionally as they came up, and so they kept repeating. And your comment "should we have taken you diving that day - maybe not - think you wanted to go so we took you" mystifies me. Is that the extent of judgment that the resort shows in evaluating dive conditions? If the group wants to go diving, you'll take them out, even if it's unsafe to do so?
Incidentally, we saw you around the resort, but you were never identified as an employee, and Captain Ed's description of you led me to believe you were a frequent guest and friend, not an employee. Can you clarify your association with the resort?
I only own stock in the resort and Andy and Danno are some of my very closest friends, now that I am retired will be spending the bulk of my time there..........
Don't worry yourself too much about the New Owner - The place will defently CHANGE
Defently going to be High end - unfortuanately don't think many of us on the board will be able to stray there....
You and 3 of your friends will be able to rent one of our boats for a two tank dive for around $1000 - the boats are on order and they are the nicest Roatan has seen...
I will still be actively involved in the new operation and believe me it will be nothing like it is now - But to be honest with you I am very sad to see things change....
The Inn has been in operation since 1992 and has a repeat customer base that is beyond belief - It had a charm and atmosphere that will be missed buy many.....
I filled in for the fired DM's last week and the 17 divers on my boat had a wonderfull time....
So why don't you come back next year and see what 25 millon dollars does to the place.... You shoiud be able to stay a night and eat breakfest for what your whole trip cost you this year - Then I'll take you for 2 dives for what you paid for you whole trip this year - I promise you everything will go like clock work and I will not only take - but be expecting a very healthy tip.....................
That's just my opion I could be wrong
Howie
Don't worry yourself too much about the New Owner - The place will defently CHANGE
Defently going to be High end - unfortuanately don't think many of us on the board will be able to stray there....
You and 3 of your friends will be able to rent one of our boats for a two tank dive for around $1000 - the boats are on order and they are the nicest Roatan has seen...
I will still be actively involved in the new operation and believe me it will be nothing like it is now - But to be honest with you I am very sad to see things change....
The Inn has been in operation since 1992 and has a repeat customer base that is beyond belief - It had a charm and atmosphere that will be missed buy many.....
I filled in for the fired DM's last week and the 17 divers on my boat had a wonderfull time....
So why don't you come back next year and see what 25 millon dollars does to the place.... You shoiud be able to stay a night and eat breakfest for what your whole trip cost you this year - Then I'll take you for 2 dives for what you paid for you whole trip this year - I promise you everything will go like clock work and I will not only take - but be expecting a very healthy tip.....................
That's just my opion I could be wrong
Howie
NCDiver
Registered
Howie,
Great answer, looking forward to visiting before the prices go up. My group will be at ILR April 26 - May 3, hope you are there then. Would like to meet you and buy you a beer.
Great answer, looking forward to visiting before the prices go up. My group will be at ILR April 26 - May 3, hope you are there then. Would like to meet you and buy you a beer.
My husband and I just returned from a weeks stay at the Inn of Last Resort and had the greatest time ever.
We were personally greeted at the airport by Captain Ed. Upon arriving at the resort, he takes us to the bar where we share a relaxing island drink while he gives us a short orientation of what to expect during our week and a brief tour of the facilities, including the boats and lagoon. When we head to our room to change out of our winter garb we find all our luggage already delivered. We were treated like royalty and it only got better from there.
The next morning we took our gear down to the dive boat and from then on everything was taken care of for us. At the end of every day we would rinse our gear (they would have done it but I have no problem with taking care of my own gear) and hung it in the shop (6 steps from the boat). The next morning our gear would already be hooked up to fresh tanks ready for our dive. Inbetween dives they took care of replacing and removing tanks and all we had to do was sit at the bar sipping freshly squeezed lemonaid waiting for the next adventure.
We were on the "Special Lady" and Tommy the skipper did have to "hotwire" the boat a couple of times, but being in the marine industry for 27 years, I know from experience how tempermental marine vessels can be and also how difficult and time consuming it can be to get replacement parts especially in a 3rd world country. At no time did I feel inconvenienced or in danger. I don't understand a previous reviewer who was concerned about being inattentive and stepping into a 5' x 8' hole. I don't believe that they had the cover off completely (if so where did they store it?) On one occassion, they did have the cover slid forward a foot or so but that would have been as big of an opening as possible because it could not slide any further forward. And I guess if you were inattentive, you should also worry about stepping off the back of the boat.
On every dive we saw something new. Our DM was great at finding things to see. Our first dive an Eagle Ray swam past us and we saw lots of turtles during our trip. We also saw a pod of doplhins swim past over our heads, several types of eels (including a very large moray), sting ray, barracuda, hugh grouper & snapper, octopus, scorpion fish, sand diver, a crab that would have feed the entire boat, lobster aplently, and too many to mention reef fish. We also dove on a wreck, through canyons and into caves. It was a wonderful week of diving.
The resort was also small enough that you got to know everyone on a first name basis and some became friends that will be added to my Christmas card list. There were a couple that I could have done without but that was no fault of the resort.
The food was good but just pretty basic. Breakfast was my favorite and always started out with a fruit plate, benyas and freshly squeezed orange juice. All dinners and some lunches would start out with a homemade soup which always was delicious. The rest of the food was good but not great except for the bacon wrapped fillet we had one night that was cooked to absolute perfection. The service though was 5 stars. I have to also mention Ziggy the bartender who quickly became one of my best friends ever.
They do have a tip system where tips are collected at the end of the stay (generally $75-125 per person) and then are distributed among all employees (even the ones you don't meet and would otherwise not receive anything) I think it is a fair system and not unusual. I have stayed other places with this same policy. If you feel that the DM (or anyone else that made your stay more memorable) deserves a bigger share, you can request that a larger portion go to them.
In summary, the week was GREAT and I would definately recommend the Inn of Last Resort to anyone planning a dive trip to Roatan.
We were personally greeted at the airport by Captain Ed. Upon arriving at the resort, he takes us to the bar where we share a relaxing island drink while he gives us a short orientation of what to expect during our week and a brief tour of the facilities, including the boats and lagoon. When we head to our room to change out of our winter garb we find all our luggage already delivered. We were treated like royalty and it only got better from there.
The next morning we took our gear down to the dive boat and from then on everything was taken care of for us. At the end of every day we would rinse our gear (they would have done it but I have no problem with taking care of my own gear) and hung it in the shop (6 steps from the boat). The next morning our gear would already be hooked up to fresh tanks ready for our dive. Inbetween dives they took care of replacing and removing tanks and all we had to do was sit at the bar sipping freshly squeezed lemonaid waiting for the next adventure.
We were on the "Special Lady" and Tommy the skipper did have to "hotwire" the boat a couple of times, but being in the marine industry for 27 years, I know from experience how tempermental marine vessels can be and also how difficult and time consuming it can be to get replacement parts especially in a 3rd world country. At no time did I feel inconvenienced or in danger. I don't understand a previous reviewer who was concerned about being inattentive and stepping into a 5' x 8' hole. I don't believe that they had the cover off completely (if so where did they store it?) On one occassion, they did have the cover slid forward a foot or so but that would have been as big of an opening as possible because it could not slide any further forward. And I guess if you were inattentive, you should also worry about stepping off the back of the boat.
On every dive we saw something new. Our DM was great at finding things to see. Our first dive an Eagle Ray swam past us and we saw lots of turtles during our trip. We also saw a pod of doplhins swim past over our heads, several types of eels (including a very large moray), sting ray, barracuda, hugh grouper & snapper, octopus, scorpion fish, sand diver, a crab that would have feed the entire boat, lobster aplently, and too many to mention reef fish. We also dove on a wreck, through canyons and into caves. It was a wonderful week of diving.
The resort was also small enough that you got to know everyone on a first name basis and some became friends that will be added to my Christmas card list. There were a couple that I could have done without but that was no fault of the resort.
The food was good but just pretty basic. Breakfast was my favorite and always started out with a fruit plate, benyas and freshly squeezed orange juice. All dinners and some lunches would start out with a homemade soup which always was delicious. The rest of the food was good but not great except for the bacon wrapped fillet we had one night that was cooked to absolute perfection. The service though was 5 stars. I have to also mention Ziggy the bartender who quickly became one of my best friends ever.
They do have a tip system where tips are collected at the end of the stay (generally $75-125 per person) and then are distributed among all employees (even the ones you don't meet and would otherwise not receive anything) I think it is a fair system and not unusual. I have stayed other places with this same policy. If you feel that the DM (or anyone else that made your stay more memorable) deserves a bigger share, you can request that a larger portion go to them.
In summary, the week was GREAT and I would definately recommend the Inn of Last Resort to anyone planning a dive trip to Roatan.
OP
pdixon
Registered
Pembina,
We will be at ILR in April so are glad to hear that all went so well for you.
Did you go to town? Is there a shop for batteries, local rum and cigars? (basic travel necessities). Any recommended places or shopping?
Thanks!
We will be at ILR in April so are glad to hear that all went so well for you.
Did you go to town? Is there a shop for batteries, local rum and cigars? (basic travel necessities). Any recommended places or shopping?
Thanks!
I don't believe this paints an accurate picture of Roatan's more professional resorts at all. Most Roatan shops are do not overbook. i.e They make sure that there is some leeway is built in should one of their boats/compressors/staff members break and there be a delay in obtaining repairs. Just like a good tec diver a good diveshop needs to build in redundancy. My motto - "Under promise and over deliver!"
Go to PADI. The Way The World Learns to Dive and look for the GOLD PALM resorts or higher. GOLD PALM means the resort stands out from other local resorts.
If you want to make sure you are going to an environmentally concerned resort check out the Marine Parl website, Roatan's Sandy Bay and West End (West Bay) Marine Park, Honduras to see a list of supporting operations. You would be surprised to see who isn't supporting it! (or maybe not!)
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