Xtabi is an X for me

[Misti1]

The purpose of speaking to the owner in a situation like this is not just to 'vent' - it's to alert them to something that needs addressing in their business, so they realize they have an operations issue; and that there's a need to implement a procedure to handle this scenario seamlessly the next time it happens - without inconveniencing, never mind abusing, the customer... cause it WILL happen again, and they need to be ready to handle it. This is not some cookshop on the road that gets a bly cause "ahhh ya know how it go in Jamaica", this is a place that holds itself out as professional, and charges upscale 'first world' prices; therefore staff is behooved to act accordingly and behave professionally.

EXACTLY. The staff could easily have just handled the situation - this way or with the manual machine. There was no call, nor excuse, for them to behave as they did. Staff should never treat a customer the way these ppl did. Never.

If the owner really cares about his business succeeding, he would be acknowledging that he has operations and training issues to address - and extending an apology for the poor behavior of the staff to THIS customer in THIS instance .... not making excuses for why it was OK for his staff to behave as they did. Owner's reply COMPLETELY missed the boat.

Thank you my sister

[treefrog]

Is Misti1 a guy or a gal?

[Misti1]

Is Misti1 a guy or a gal?

I am a girl

[captaind]

Jeez...wouldn't it be nice to be an expert on Jamiaca?

[BostonBob]

True Blue . I have spent lots of money at xtabi but am really soured by what I am hearing.

[treefrog]

What are your thoughts on Tamboo?

[Misti1]

What are your thoughts on Tamboo?

are you talking to me??? As far as what??? I have never stayed there. I had to give them my other not so good review, but their management more than stepped to the plate to make it right. The other 10 reviews I posted this trip for various places were all very positive as I had some great new experiences at those places. I made it a point to eat at places I never had before. Fatty's Gino's Jean's Cuisine, Karus, Sea Breeze, just a few that come to mind . But when the manager of Tamboo saw the review she met with her staff to correct the issues and then got right with me to compensate me, however I never took her free offer because her steps she took with the staff and her apology and swift action were enough for me, I am by no means after a free meal when I am honest about what happens at a place either for a good or a bad review.

[Kent]

I'm only interested in this topic because we are going to Negril in January and staying at Xtabi and have never been there or Jamaica for that matter. I read a ton of reviews and Xtabi had the best reviews of the inexpensive hotels on the cliffs. I went back and read some reviews for other places we like and there are always at least one bad one,

Our favorite campground in Hatteras:

I’ve stayed at a few campgrounds on the Outer Banks, though was not ready for the scene that awaited me on my first trip to Frisco Woods. Redneck Circus is the only way I can describe it; it was a perfect storm of the campground overselling, having extremely small campsites (right on top of each other) and being a holiday weekend.

Pro’s
-Picnic Tables – Every site came with a picnic table (of varying age and quality), this was helpful for food prep and other organization.
-Sound View – These sites offered a convenient view of the sunset in the evening.
-Kite Surfing – This place was a hit with Kite Surfers; there is direct access to the sound where the water is calm and only at waist height several hundred feet out. On some day’s you could count 30 kites easily within view of the camp site.
-Normalcy – After the long weekend people left and it felt more like a normal campground; I would only recommend staying here during the week if you are able to get away.

Con’s
-Noise – The noise level at night was unbelievable, with nobody keeping it in check. At 2 AM people were singing at the top of their lungs, playing music (competing genre’s from different sites), driving around in golf carts / atv’s (drunk) and setting off fireworks. I felt sorry for the families with kids that were staying there.
-Bath Houses – There were not enough bath houses for the number of people. One bath house was the most disgusting bathroom I have ever been in; feces everywhere (along with the flies) and I felt as if I was going to fall through the floor. The other was much nicer, though a far walk and still not able to accommodate the volume of people staying there (three toilets, showers and sinks).
-Garbage – The dumpsters were overflowing with trash; yet another sign of the campsite overextending itself to make a few more bucks.
-No Beach Access – You have to drive several miles to get to the beach / ocean, which the gate house staff will not be able to tell you much about.
-Expensive – Very expensive for what you get compared with other campgrounds; three times the price, shop around.
-Fires – No ground fires were allowed at the sites, though people had them anyway and nobody called them out for it. The gate house staff didn’t have suggestions on where to have fires (which beaches) or the permits required to have them.
-Staff – The gate house staff appeared bothered to help you and were not knowledgeable about anything.
-Camp Sites – These sites were small, oddly sized and right on top of each other (the campsite overextending itself to make a few more bucks). There were trees on most sites (half completely dead) that posed an obstacle as to where you could park the car, setup the tent and set the picnic table. There were instances of people taking sites other than the one they were assigned, and the gate house staff not wanting to enforce reservations.
-Sound View – These sites are expensive and do not get the wind you would expect to keep the mosquitos away and cool things down at night. I heard that people staying at sites not on the sound got devoured by mosquitos, though luckily I cannot testify to that. There is also lots of traffic on the road in front of your site to get to the water and other areas of the campground.

Our favorite campground in the VA mountains:

This was our first time traveling and pulling our camper up into the mountains. In addition we were meeting friends at the campground who were gonna rent a couple of cabins. When we arrived we were informed that the original campsite we had reserved had been given to another camper to accommodate their request to be closer to another group. We were told in the future to add verbiage to our reservation stating " do not move or alter reservation due to meeting friends, etc...
Warning, they do not charge you per campsite but per person staying on your campsite. This is not a family friendly policy. The other issue we came across was flies. We understand there will always be bugs but by day two I felt like I was becoming "Lord of the Flies". The campground overall is nice and the location is great. Close to Charlottesville and the Blue Ridge parkway. If it's open we may return during the winter as it was fairly close to a Ski Resort.

Having never been to Jamaica or Negril, and not knowing Misti1, I am wondering why so hell bent on destroying the reputation of this place? Your review goes beyond info for the traveler JMO. I read some of your other reviews also and you are quite critical, maybe there is a food critic's job out there for you?

[Misti1]

I found my food there to be very good, a bit pricey, and as I said they are so generous in the portions that I think a couple can well split the meal I had anyway. The service was a bit off and I had to actually go and get them to wait on us. Cooked to order food takes a long time I am used to that. The views and the sunset were breathtaking. The place was very quiet, it was slow season and we were the only two people there.
The rest fell apart as it did.
I am sure that you will have a good stay. Don't let my experience bother you. If I am staying at a hotel I am probably going to be charging my room and charging food to the room and settle the bill on day of check out. The last time I did this at Bar B Barn I settled my bill the night before and paid cash after that so that I would not have the long drawn out check out the morning I want to leave. Just check with them and be sure their lines are up and running if you plan to use your card, or as most people here said take cash if you want to be sure there is no hassle. Enjoy your vacation. I personally just do not plan to return there because of how I was treated PERSONALLY. As you see from this thread there are many loyal people who go there who are treated very well, I just was not.

[Misti1]

I'm only interested in this topic because we are going to Negril in January and staying at Xtabi and have never been there or Jamaica for that matter. I read a ton of reviews and Xtabi had the best reviews of the inexpensive hotels on the cliffs. I went back and read some reviews for other places we like and there are always at least one bad one,

Our favorite campground in Hatteras:

I’ve stayed at a few campgrounds on the Outer Banks, though was not ready for the scene that awaited me on my first trip to Frisco Woods. Redneck Circus is the only way I can describe it; it was a perfect storm of the campground overselling, having extremely small campsites (right on top of each other) and being a holiday weekend.

Pro’s
-Picnic Tables – Every site came with a picnic table (of varying age and quality), this was helpful for food prep and other organization.
-Sound View – These sites offered a convenient view of the sunset in the evening.
-Kite Surfing – This place was a hit with Kite Surfers; there is direct access to the sound where the water is calm and only at waist height several hundred feet out. On some day’s you could count 30 kites easily within view of the camp site.
-Normalcy – After the long weekend people left and it felt more like a normal campground; I would only recommend staying here during the week if you are able to get away.

Con’s
-Noise – The noise level at night was unbelievable, with nobody keeping it in check. At 2 AM people were singing at the top of their lungs, playing music (competing genre’s from different sites), driving around in golf carts / atv’s (drunk) and setting off fireworks. I felt sorry for the families with kids that were staying there.
-Bath Houses – There were not enough bath houses for the number of people. One bath house was the most disgusting bathroom I have ever been in; feces everywhere (along with the flies) and I felt as if I was going to fall through the floor. The other was much nicer, though a far walk and still not able to accommodate the volume of people staying there (three toilets, showers and sinks).
-Garbage – The dumpsters were overflowing with trash; yet another sign of the campsite overextending itself to make a few more bucks.
-No Beach Access – You have to drive several miles to get to the beach / ocean, which the gate house staff will not be able to tell you much about.
-Expensive – Very expensive for what you get compared with other campgrounds; three times the price, shop around.
-Fires – No ground fires were allowed at the sites, though people had them anyway and nobody called them out for it. The gate house staff didn’t have suggestions on where to have fires (which beaches) or the permits required to have them.
-Staff – The gate house staff appeared bothered to help you and were not knowledgeable about anything.
-Camp Sites – These sites were small, oddly sized and right on top of each other (the campsite overextending itself to make a few more bucks). There were trees on most sites (half completely dead) that posed an obstacle as to where you could park the car, setup the tent and set the picnic table. There were instances of people taking sites other than the one they were assigned, and the gate house staff not wanting to enforce reservations.
-Sound View – These sites are expensive and do not get the wind you would expect to keep the mosquitos away and cool things down at night. I heard that people staying at sites not on the sound got devoured by mosquitos, though luckily I cannot testify to that. There is also lots of traffic on the road in front of your site to get to the water and other areas of the campground.

Our favorite campground in the VA mountains:

This was our first time traveling and pulling our camper up into the mountains. In addition we were meeting friends at the campground who were gonna rent a couple of cabins. When we arrived we were informed that the original campsite we had reserved had been given to another camper to accommodate their request to be closer to another group. We were told in the future to add verbiage to our reservation stating " do not move or alter reservation due to meeting friends, etc...
Warning, they do not charge you per campsite but per person staying on your campsite. This is not a family friendly policy. The other issue we came across was flies. We understand there will always be bugs but by day two I felt like I was becoming "Lord of the Flies". The campground overall is nice and the location is great. Close to Charlottesville and the Blue Ridge parkway. If it's open we may return during the winter as it was fairly close to a Ski Resort.

Having never been to Jamaica or Negril, and not knowing Misti1, I am wondering why so hell bent on destroying the reputation of this place? Your review goes beyond info for the traveler JMO. I read some of your other reviews also and you are quite critical, maybe there is a food critic's job out there for you?

You sent me to Trip Adviser to check on myself. I have reviewed about 20 places in Jamaica and only TWO of those did I give a bad review. The other 18 were extremely positive with glowing titles and all of the 18 I gave 4 or 5 stars. Please be truthful if you are going to talk to me. Facts are facts. I hated to do the two bad ones but I had to do what I had to do and ONE Of the managers agreed with me totally when she saw the picture of my food which was made all wrong and not up to their standards......and I am a food critic, I know what I like and I know what I don't like, but from the humblest of little cook shops such as Ackee Tree on up to my top pick such as Blue Mahoe I have be EXTREMELY POSITIVE and generous in my comments I have no idea what you are talking about. ?????