Clarion Wisby

The check-in experience was disappointing. The directions to our room were confusing, and the receptionist was almost inaudible, making it difficult to understand the instructions. Once we found the room, however, it was lovely. Dinner on the terrace restaurant was also disappointing. We waited around an hour for our food, and the drinks service was very slow. To make matters worse, several tables that arrived after us and ordered later were served before we were. The waitress was friendly and polite, but the lamb burger with fries was smaller than a Happy Meal—without the toy or the happiness. Our drinks didn't arrive until we had almost finished eating. Breakfast, on the other hand, was very good and was the highlight of our stay.

We spent five nights at the Joia Resort and truly enjoyed our stay. We booked through South West Airlines which bundled a competitively priced hotel/air package. First off the sargasso "seaweed" bloom is bad this year and not the fault of Ibero Star so I will not rate the beach. I will say that they are combing the beach daily, but from our flight in and out of Punta Cana Airport, you could see the mats of sargasso streaking the sea. It's not leaving anytime soon probably early December would be my guess. To my point, the beach is non swimmable. The good. Check in was smooth... we avoided the "club presentation" and they pressed no further when we declined. Our room was spotless and the fridge and minibar were well stocked. My wife appreciated the dark chocolate bars and jars of peanuts. The bed was comfortable but we found the pillows a little firm. They have a pillow menu on the Resort app through which we requested down pillows but they never showed up but it is probably an app glitch. We didn't care that much so we let it go but I'm sure with a quick phone call they would have quickly met our request. The Resort app will be great but we found there is little response when using the app. For example our room safe keypad broke when the closet door slid into the open safe door. I sent an incident request but had no response in over 12 hours. I went to the lobby desk in the morning and the safe was fixed in 15 minutes. They really try to please but sometimes technology gets in the way. Technology "0" human hospitality "5"! Room with "lake view " awesome and they clean the room twice a day. The app worked great here letting us know when they were cleaning our room and when it was completed. The pools were clean and spacious with plenty of cabana beds as the beach was unusable for swimming. Hot tubs were too hot and no one used them accordingly. Star friends were fun. We did the mamajuana drink mixology and had fun. The drink is an herbal beverage specific to Dominican Republic. Nothing to do with canabis. The bar/beverage team were top shelf as were the drinks themselves. Best Resort drinks we've had in 25 years of vacationing in the carribean. Not the watered down sugar concoctions of other resorts. Food was 4 to 5 stars for us we are not picky but do have decerning tastes. We ate at the Surf and Turf steakhouse and the Italian Ala carte restaurants. The buffets were our choice. Good quality with variations daily. The staff are phenomenal and are really what made our stay so special. Three stand outs, (Yari, Benjamin and Samuel) at the buffet made us feel so at ease and we can't thank them enough. All in all this was a well spent vacation. We would love to come back in the future.

I stayed at Clarion hotel Wisby three nights together with my husband and my parents. I am a Strawberry member and had stayed at another clarion hotel in Sweden a few weeks earlier. As previous guests have written, the rooms are not on par with what you would expect at a 4-star hotel and the price. Most of all, the rooms are worn and the cleaning sloppy. In that room my husband and I lived in there were lots of hairs on one of the chairs, there were candy and chips left over on the floor, stains on furniture and bedspreads and in the bathroom there were white splashes on the tiles, probably from toothpaste. Although I pointed this out in the morning at the reception, among other things, chips remained on the floor for the rest of the stay. Cleanliness is very simple and that it would have been necessary to clean the entire room. The beds are also of simpler quality or worn when it squeaked as soon as you turned around. In addition to this, the shower towels provided in the room are small. We lived in the A-building and in the same house there was the second breakfast that I perceived was added during high season to avoid chaos at the regular breakfast. The selection was about the same as at the regular breakfast except for some parts. Breakfast was fine. Nothing special. Plus they were good smoothies. We had one evening a drink at the bar and although it was expensive the environment was nice and also the lounge area at the reception is beautiful. However, the toilets in the common areas are worn. On the day of departure we booked an appointment at the hotel spa. The pool is located in the basement and the pool area itself is beautiful and cozy. It is divided sauna and these are located in the changing rooms which is a bit boring if you go to the spa as a couple. The sauna in the gentlemen was broken which was not informed when booking. If so, we would have been able to decide whether it was worth using the spa as half the party could not use the sauna. Even the changing rooms were worn. Although the location is fantastic, I do not think there will be a stay at Clarion Wisby Hotel next time I am in Visby.