Review of Stonefield Villa Resort 4*

Whilst clearly not in the same price bracket as some of the much more expensive resorts on St Lucia, Stonefield is still not cheap, and the facilities are showing signs of neglect, and a lack of attention to detail. All of the pictures in our room had "slipped" within the frame, many of the bulbs did not work, and numerous light switches (as mentioned by an other guest) either didn't do what they were supposed to, or didn't do anything. The private pool was nice, but was peeling and needed re-painting. I know when previous guests have mentioned this sort of thing, management have responded that "The theme of our villas/resort is "rustic chic"". Sorry, you cant use this excuse for not getting the basics right, having attention to detail and keeping up standards. My wife noted the bathroom smelt slightly. She mopped the floor with a towel and it came up brown. The outdoor shower plug was blocked with hair when we arrived. The restaurant has a lovely view. As other guests have said the breakfast is minimal. With lots of option to up-scale from the inclusive breakfast. My wife has a gluten allergy which was never remembered. No Gluten free bread was offered and at every dinner and breakfast we had to remind; remember this hotel only has 16 rooms! Ditto some lunch to our room — 2 dishes specifically ordered as gluten free and one arrived wasn't. Food in the restaurant was nice enough, but service was very hit and miss. On one night our food was sent to another couple, sat there for a while and then one of the dishes brought over to my wife, now cold. We asked for it to be taken away. Eventually our food arrived (before the other couple who had ordered before us). Mistakes happen but no apology was made. Food in the restaurant was also pretty expensive even by St Lucia standards; our dinners varied (with one modest bottle of wine) from $120US to nearly $200US. On leaving the restaurant one morning, we saw the offer for "2 for the price of one Happy hour" at the SPA. 11 to 1 I think it was. My wife called up and asked for us to get massages taking advantage of this, which we duly had. On the last night, the evening before checkout we got a summary of our charges. It had the SPA treatments at $230 (a charge for 2). Clearly we had signed this, no argument there, we just had not noticed. When my wife booked I was in the room and we had specifically mentioned the happy hour, hence going at 11am. Clearly there had been a miscommunication. I called reception. They said they would look into it. They called back and said my wife had not mentioned it. I said she had. I asked to speak to the manager. Reception called back and said they would knock of 35%. I said I would like to speak to the manger as we had genuinely thought we had been taking up the 2 for the price of one spa offer. This is where is gets surreal. The general manager calls. I don't recall him telling me his name. He certainly never made himself known to ourselves or any of the other guests we spoke to in all the time we were at the hotel. I believe he had an American accent. He immediately went on the offensive. Claiming my wife had not mentioned the happy hour. Extremely aggressive (see some of the recent responses on here to any criticism). I suggested we speak face to face (it was around 6.30pm). He stated he was offsite and had no wish to come to the hotel. He then decided that the best course of customer service was to suggest I was "after a freebie". No. Wrong. My wife and I spent $1, 500US for 5 nights B&B, and anther $800US on meals, taxis, drinks. I can assure you this wasn't about the money. Further, the General Manger then asked "is it tomorrow you are leaving? " Yes I confirmed. "good" he replied. Wow. I have no doubt that if you are reading this there will be a reply from the management claiming we are hateful people and that we are just after a free treatment. All I would ask is you look at some of the aggressive management responses to any criticism. I have since been contacted by employees who have left due to the management.