Plaza Beach Resort Bonaire

My husband and I stayed at The Plaza in Bonaire, March 12th-27th. While overall, we had an enjoyable vacation, there were some issues with the hotel. We booked a Grand Suite Ocean room and requested a room on the upper level. We booked in December and as our vacation wasn’t until mid-March and as we were returning guests, we assumed that this could be accommodated. When we arrived, we were given a room on the ground floor and told there were no upper level rooms available. The next day, we  [... lire plus]went back to the front desk and they were able to switch to us to a room on the upper level. The room was large, but it had a number of issues - holes in the ceiling, a strip torn off the bathroom vanity and a sink with no water in the small bathroom with the toilet. The prices charged by WestJet for this package are prices for a 5 star, not a 3 star like the Plaza. It is clear that The Plaza is the process of upgrading, but they are not there yet. We stayed The Plaza in 2019, for half the price, which would be more in line for a property in its current condition. The food at the resort was excellent and the staff were very helpful and friendly for the most part. The new restaurant, bar and pool are all very nice. Snorkelling off the beach was fantastic and there was never an issue getting a chair on the beach. The hotel advertises activities like yoga and pool aerobics. While the yoga was very good, the pool aerobics did not happen, no one showed up to teach it half the time. If the resort is going to advertise these activities (info in the welcome package and staff coming around on the beach promoting them), they should actually run the activities. The information sheet in the welcome package also advertised a beach BBQ on Wednesday nights and this did not happen. When we inquired about it, we were told that the beach BBQs had been discontinued when the new restaurant opened in December. Given that it was now mid-March, we suggested that they should update the information in the welcome package. When I returned home, I discovered 2 charges on my credit card from The Plaza, for purchases that I did not make, for a total of approximately $200 Canadian. It took several emails from me to the hotel and two weeks for the charges to be refunded. I was not provided with an explanation of what the charges were for or how they were made to my credit card - I had cleared our hotel bill of any outstanding charges the day before we left and the hotel confirmed this. The Plaza is one of the few all-inclusive resorts on Bonaire. Bonaire is a beautiful island and the snorkelling and diving off the beach at the Plaza are fantastic. My husband dove with the Toucan Dive Shop, located on the resort and he found them to be a first class dive shop, with excellent dive masters. All things considered, however, we will likely not be staying at The Plaza, unless the prices for the package drop considerably.

Nice resort. Very quiet.

Very nice. Quite. Doing renovations to make it better. New pool. It was great. Rooms were big and clean. Food was very good. Lots of friendly servers. Clean resort. Dive shop on site. They were very good to deal with. Maybe a little music near the pool would be nice. Maybe there when Reno’s are done and one or two nights of nightly entertainment would be good.

Excellent Holiday

We have been on 18 Caribbean Vacations and this one topped them all. The room seemed as large as a small house. Beds were very comfortable. Maids did a great job house keeping and all amenities were always replaced including bottled water. Meals had lots of variety’s of meats, vegetables, breads and fruits/deserts. I know I gained a few pounds. Pool is beautiful, even had bar service delivery, snorkling was amazing right off the shore. The bar staff made every drink available as we were all  [... lire plus]inclusive, and would sometimes give upgrade exceptions. In general, a great resort and Country.

Would love to return!

Quiet, comfortable and big rooms. Closest quality snorkelling ever... literally 3 metres from water entrance. New pool and other improvements underway. Service, food and drinks very good. Close to town and next to airport though very little noise from it. Dolphins were sighted while there. Divers go right from the beach or pier too. What a spot!

Great Trip Bonaire!

We spent April 7-21 at the Plaza Beach Resort in Bonaire. We had and ocean view suite and it was a great room - spacious, clean and with air conditioning that worked. The resort is being refreshed, as was evident from the painting and other work being done. The snorkeling off the beach was amazing, we were in the water every day. Some nights there was a D.J. or live music, which was nice, but it is definitely not a party resort, which was fine with us. We didn’t have any complaints about the  [... lire plus]service at the bar or in the restaurant. Sometimes, it was a bit busy and we had to wait a few minutes, but no big deal. The buffet in the restaurant was good, there was always something tasty to eat. We would have preferred less meat and more fish, but they have to cater to all tastes. It would be nice if they were able to offer more yoga classes at the yoga centre located just outside the resort, or offer some classes as part of the resort package. We really enjoyed our time at the Plaza and will be returning next year.

Peaceful

Best place for divers and for people who enjoy the water. We enjoyed the room. We were on the second floor with beach view. The sunsets and the scenery of the turquoise water was breathtaking. The diving and snorkelling on site was like swimming in a aquarium. So many colourful fish . So far the best place to see so many different species of fish only meters from the shore. A good variety of food. Rooms were clean. The staff at Toucan diving were excellent especially Chantal. It's obvious she [... lire plus] enjoys her job. She was very knowledgeable and caring. She looked after her divers. The travel centre was very helpful and efficient. At times the service at the bar or restaurant was very slow. Bartenders were talking laughing or serving one drink at a time and not multi-tasking. At the restaurant they did come by often and at times would forget our order and we had to get up and go to the bar to serve ourselves. However we really enjoyed Roger !! He was always very pleasant, smiling and very efficient. He was quick and ensured the bar was always cleared off . He tended to his guests in a efficient matter. He made us feel important ! Thank-you Roger!!

Amazing Unique Resort

All of the staff at Plaza Beach are friendly and helpful. They were especially friendly considering they had to give up their family Easter Celebrations to be at work, and make our Easter fantastic. The rooms are large and very clean. All bathrooms were very clean. The Tipsy Seagull Restaurant had a variety of food every day, but the best was the BBQ on Wednesday night. The snorkeling and diving from the resort were fantastic. We dove from the resort 5 times and saw something new and different e [... lire plus]very time. The Sunwing Representative was great with her office at Plaza Beach. The Island is very safe and we would recommend the Island tour, the Donkey Sanctuary and the Mangrove Centre kayak tour.