Just returned back from a week at The Boca Raton Resort and wanted to offer my thoughts. TLDR: The hotel grounds and Tower are beautiful and immaculately kept up. We didn't see the interior of any of the other hotel areas but it feels like 3+ distinct hotels. The service is very hit or miss and this is where I think it really leans more towards a 4 star experience. The restaurants are okay, largely overpriced with nothing to write home about. Overall we had a pleasant enough time but for the money, I would not return.
My family (my husband, my 5 year old son, and myself) just returned back from a week long stay - Shout out to Alex for providing us some really good TA benefits such as resort credit and breakfast credit. Below are my detailed points:
Pros:
- As mentioned above, the resort itself is gorgeous. The tower is very modern feeling, the cloisters area feels like you've stepped into a lush spanish style garden. The beach club again is very modern and beautiful. Our room was new and had beautiful views of the waterways. We could see the entire hotel, and then all the way out to Miami on a clear day.
- it was a quiet week so we didnt find ourselves waiting too long for elevators, there were plenty of pool chairs, there were times when we were the only family in the pools, lazy river, etc. I can't speak to how it is during busier times but it was notably quiet.
- my son LOVED the water boat between the main hotel and beach club. Most days we just went back and forth on the little boat and took in the views from the waterway. It was really relaxing.
- the pools were clean and the beach was well maintained. My son loved swimming in all the pools all day and the daily popsicles they brought by as treats.
- the arcade game room. this possibly made the entire trip for my son and husband, they were both obsessed. all the games are included and they have endless to choose from.
Cons:
- service was very inconsistent. Housekeeping in particular was a challenge for us as we would leave for the day at 9 am and return around 3 and the room still wasnt serviced (despite the service light on). We raised this to both our butler and the front desk and the same issue happened the next day. When we raised it again, we did not receive any communication or acknowledgement from management that this was a problem. Similarly, while some of the staff were extremely kind (remembering my son's name, giving him little gifts throughout the hotel, etc) others did not even acknowledge us to the point that they would block pathways guests would try walk through having conversations and making no move to step aside briefly, not hold the door open behind them, etc.
- restaurant service was also very inconsistent. While there were plenty of people working there compared to guests (again, it was a slow week), we found ourselves waiting for service most often than not. Even though we had a breakfast credit, we opted to eat at the Top of the Tower most days because it was a buffet rather than wait at sadelles for very mediocre food. The ladies at the top of the tower breakfast were very nice though and I do want to call them out for being exemplary and making our experience far better than it could have been. At another restaurant, we put in an order of drinks, appetizers and entrees. After a long wait, the entrees came out without any appetizers or drinks. No acknowledgement from management.
- they had many corporate events throughout our stay which i didnt generally mind except for the last evening when they had a DJ out till quite late. Even being 20+ floors up, we heard the music bumping in our room without so much as a heads up to guests.
- We tried to leave the property through the complimentary car service and had a booster seat for my son. While they allowed us to bring and install the seat ourselves, they couldnt guarantee a ride back home which would have essentially left us stranded in town without a seat for him. A shuttle to nearby shopping or food would have been appreciated or at least a guaranteed ride for these unique situations.
happy to answer any questions for those considering!