Wow. I thought I was bitchy. Thank you for vindicating me.
4 Visits with all the same issues - Avoid Buddy, they are going down hill
- Thread starter Munkee
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pclark2
Contributor
I was there a couple of months ago. While in general I liked the place, I too had some issues. I left really wanting to return, but unsure if I wanted to give the hotel another shot or try out another place.
The room only had a single AC and it was in the bedroom. Nothing in the living room. Had to keep the curtains all closed and the AC running constantly to keep the room from boiling. The week we were there was also on the hotter side for them apparently.
There was a small fan in the living room. When re-positioning it (to get cool air from the bedroom out to the living room) the cover fell off and the blade cut my finger pretty bad. This was our first morning there so I had to treat the wound by soaking it in the ocean for a week. 2 months later you can still see the wound and it is slightly red. Basically going to scar. Nothing bad. I did get to learn that Bonaire (and probably Europe in general) has really cool band-aids that you cut to size.
Oh, and random fact about the room. The living room used American outlets and the bedroom used European outlets. Meant the fan could only be plugged in in the living room for example. And oddly the big lamp in the living room had a European plug on it so wasn't plugged in.
We opted to not have maid service while there since there just wasn't much need. The maid still left bags with extra towels and such outside our room for us which was extremely nice. We had already planned to tip her, even though we weren't using the service, but that made it a certainty. All the staff seemed very nice and helpful.
For the truck rental I needed an automatic transmission. Since they don't own those themselves they contracted one for me from another company. That truck ended up being awesome and far fancier than their own trucks. Heck, the thing even had a backup camera. Parking was the big issue. Since it was extremely slow the week we were there, all their rental trucks were in their parking lot leaving nowhere to park. We barely found a spot every night, and at times during the day juts had to temporarily park by the room (we saw another car fined for parking there overnight though).
The other issue we ran into was the drinking water with breakfast. While in general we liked the breakfast, when pouring a glass of water from the dispenser it was full of floating debris. There was some other days, but one day in particular it was extremely bad. The staff said it was the glass itself that was dirty, but it was clearly the dispenser. Every glass of water we tried to get had the same debris in it, but other drinks like juice in the glasses did not have the debris. Needless to say we avoided their water.
Never had any issues with tanks. Did some nice boat dives with them too. And I LOVED the house reef. I only had 2 scuba related issues with them. The first regular I got from them had a lot of gross gunk visible just past the mouthpiece. Very disgusting looking. The replacement had a small but visible leak in it, but luckily not one that affect bottom time noticeably. The second issue was that I signed up for the ostracod night dive and the dive master was rather late for it. He joking claimed he "got lost." We had had other staff calling for awhile after we had been waiting for a bit. Luckily other staff recommended going ahead and getting our gear setup on the tanks on the truck so when we got to the site we could just rush on in. Not sure if it was better earlier or not, but we did have a great dive.
The above is just a list of the issues we had. Overall, it was a nice visit with great dives. And as I said, the staff were very nice and helpful for us. That said, we were tempted to research other options for our next visit. I love the drive through tank service, but the lack of good AC in the room was a problem. I did hear there were other rooms with 2 AC units, so we could look into if that is true and possibly stay there. The same guest who said their room had 2 AC units also recommended just cooking breakfast yourself to save that cost which we will probably do next time. And I will just bring my own full gear setup next time too. I'll probably want to find a hotel with a bathtub for rinsing though...
The room only had a single AC and it was in the bedroom. Nothing in the living room. Had to keep the curtains all closed and the AC running constantly to keep the room from boiling. The week we were there was also on the hotter side for them apparently.
There was a small fan in the living room. When re-positioning it (to get cool air from the bedroom out to the living room) the cover fell off and the blade cut my finger pretty bad. This was our first morning there so I had to treat the wound by soaking it in the ocean for a week. 2 months later you can still see the wound and it is slightly red. Basically going to scar. Nothing bad. I did get to learn that Bonaire (and probably Europe in general) has really cool band-aids that you cut to size.
Oh, and random fact about the room. The living room used American outlets and the bedroom used European outlets. Meant the fan could only be plugged in in the living room for example. And oddly the big lamp in the living room had a European plug on it so wasn't plugged in.
We opted to not have maid service while there since there just wasn't much need. The maid still left bags with extra towels and such outside our room for us which was extremely nice. We had already planned to tip her, even though we weren't using the service, but that made it a certainty. All the staff seemed very nice and helpful.
For the truck rental I needed an automatic transmission. Since they don't own those themselves they contracted one for me from another company. That truck ended up being awesome and far fancier than their own trucks. Heck, the thing even had a backup camera. Parking was the big issue. Since it was extremely slow the week we were there, all their rental trucks were in their parking lot leaving nowhere to park. We barely found a spot every night, and at times during the day juts had to temporarily park by the room (we saw another car fined for parking there overnight though).
The other issue we ran into was the drinking water with breakfast. While in general we liked the breakfast, when pouring a glass of water from the dispenser it was full of floating debris. There was some other days, but one day in particular it was extremely bad. The staff said it was the glass itself that was dirty, but it was clearly the dispenser. Every glass of water we tried to get had the same debris in it, but other drinks like juice in the glasses did not have the debris. Needless to say we avoided their water.
Never had any issues with tanks. Did some nice boat dives with them too. And I LOVED the house reef. I only had 2 scuba related issues with them. The first regular I got from them had a lot of gross gunk visible just past the mouthpiece. Very disgusting looking. The replacement had a small but visible leak in it, but luckily not one that affect bottom time noticeably. The second issue was that I signed up for the ostracod night dive and the dive master was rather late for it. He joking claimed he "got lost." We had had other staff calling for awhile after we had been waiting for a bit. Luckily other staff recommended going ahead and getting our gear setup on the tanks on the truck so when we got to the site we could just rush on in. Not sure if it was better earlier or not, but we did have a great dive.
The above is just a list of the issues we had. Overall, it was a nice visit with great dives. And as I said, the staff were very nice and helpful for us. That said, we were tempted to research other options for our next visit. I love the drive through tank service, but the lack of good AC in the room was a problem. I did hear there were other rooms with 2 AC units, so we could look into if that is true and possibly stay there. The same guest who said their room had 2 AC units also recommended just cooking breakfast yourself to save that cost which we will probably do next time. And I will just bring my own full gear setup next time too. I'll probably want to find a hotel with a bathtub for rinsing though...
I read a bunch of the other reviews and many of them had similar complaints.
I know you are a great fan of Bonaire. What I don't know is whether or not you are a partner at Buddies or just a fanboy.
The OP has stayed at Buddies 4 times. That's enough legitimacy for me and when I compare the review to the other reviews, the truth of it rings out.
Just got back from buddy dive last week......great experience, brand new truck, tanks always full, no leaks, maid service excellent, all staff helpful and courteous.
FreeFlyFreak
Contributor
Its true.
If you think like the OP.
If you don't, you may have a different opinion.
I never stayed on Bonaire, or at Buddy's
I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn last night.
I have however analysed a bunch of BS reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor.
Surprisingly enough they all follow a similar pattern.
Maybe i'll give analysis tomorrow or not.
Depends on how bored i am.
I wonder why it is so inconsistent.
The fact that the OP decided that it was prudent to create a poll with only two choices, both of them with negative connotations, tells me what I need to know about him/her.
Regardless of whether or not their experiences mirror reality, or are even common amongst other clients, their attitude already leads me to believe that whatever their grievances, they are caused, at least in part, by their own actions.
Regardless of whether or not their experiences mirror reality, or are even common amongst other clients, their attitude already leads me to believe that whatever their grievances, they are caused, at least in part, by their own actions.
Ana
.
I for one kinda like to reaf the different views about places or operations.
Generally l dismiss reviews that just say this place is great, or this place sucks.
Tell me why.... what made you get to that conclusion. Rather have more details than less. I know I'm reading something written by a person that already decided is great (or crappy as the case may be) so as an adult I'm capable or filter the extremes portion of the review.
The few times I've been in Bonaire was at Capt Don (happens to be nextdoor to Buddies)
The generic store at Capt's didn't have stuff for newborn babies. I saw another guest talking about the little suit he got at Buddies and I decided that would be helpful for me.
My husband and I walked over that afternoon after a dive and the first impression of the place was a bit meh.
Hard to define, I'm not even into resorts much ...talking to my husband we thought it had a McResort feel not that I've ever hear of that but... That's what felt like.
Then after finding the store, it was closed. Really? It was no later than 6;30 hmmm. The store at Capt's is open until 9 or so.
Whatever not the end of the world, we comeback tomorrow... And we did, and the 2 women there behave like we were disturbing their activities which I didn't give an f'ing Damm because I'm gonna be a grandmother and the world can suck it. Plus I was on vacation and in a very good mood. But yeah a week ofthat attitude would drive me to write bad reviews. IJS.
Generally l dismiss reviews that just say this place is great, or this place sucks.
Tell me why.... what made you get to that conclusion. Rather have more details than less. I know I'm reading something written by a person that already decided is great (or crappy as the case may be) so as an adult I'm capable or filter the extremes portion of the review.
The few times I've been in Bonaire was at Capt Don (happens to be nextdoor to Buddies)
The generic store at Capt's didn't have stuff for newborn babies. I saw another guest talking about the little suit he got at Buddies and I decided that would be helpful for me.
My husband and I walked over that afternoon after a dive and the first impression of the place was a bit meh.
Hard to define, I'm not even into resorts much ...talking to my husband we thought it had a McResort feel not that I've ever hear of that but... That's what felt like.
Then after finding the store, it was closed. Really? It was no later than 6;30 hmmm. The store at Capt's is open until 9 or so.
Whatever not the end of the world, we comeback tomorrow... And we did, and the 2 women there behave like we were disturbing their activities which I didn't give an f'ing Damm because I'm gonna be a grandmother and the world can suck it. Plus I was on vacation and in a very good mood. But yeah a week ofthat attitude would drive me to write bad reviews. IJS.
