Review of La Copa Inn Beach Hotel 3*

The staff needs some training on customer/guest service. I work in the hospitality industry and know the difference between a good hotel and a mediocre one when it comes to service. The front desk staff failed at making me feel at home. First impressions are everything, and ours was subpar. Front desk agents shouldnt be staring down at their computers when guests walk in. They should be smiling and greet the guest making eye contact. The staff's "service" only got worse as time went on. The night auditor didn't program our wakeup call properly TWO mornings in a row. Dont tell me you will do it… actually do it! We had planned on watching the sunrise from our balcony but missed it because someone failed to do the simple job of programming a wakeup call. Everytime I called during the day to the front desk the phone just kept ringing. Fyi, it is a hospitality/resort unwritten rule to answer the phone in a timely fashion in case of emergency. I'd rather be put on hold than feel like my call is of no importance. Also we decided to take a nap at around noon, and the cleaning staff was obnoxiously loud. Very inconsiderate. They were socializing loudly, playing music loudly, and slamming doors. The walls are extremely thin. And then when I finally was able to fall asleep during the nap, the wake up call that was supposed to be at 7am rings… at 1pm. Seriously? Way to screw that up night auditor. That was pretty much the culmination of terrible service. If it weren't for the breakfast staff, ESPECIALLY Lee, I'd say the whole staff needed to be retrained or replaced. Lee took great care of us and had excellent guest service skills. The food was good. We enjoyed the omellette station. The view of the bay from the dining area was nice too. Understand that despite the shortcomings of the staff we had an absolute splendid time. The pool was nice, the hot tub was ok, but having easy access to the beach was amazing. The highlight was our extended balcony overlooking the beach. My overall assessment is that the location is what makes this place nice. If the staff were trained properly on how to enhance guest experience, it could become a great hotel. I can't really fault the staff though, because poor service is almost always a reflection of poor MANAGEMENT! Yes this hotel is poorly managed. We stayed 3 nights and never once met a manager. Never even saw one. How can you make things right if there is no one there that has the authority to do so? Maybe they were there but hidden in some office counting our hard earned money, instead of walking the grounds and ensuring the guests were being taken care of. If you truly value your guests and want repeat business, then please take the advice of someone who is very knowledgeable about this business and RETRAIN! Consider hiring management that will bring better overall guest satisfaction. The good news is that all these issues can be rectified within a week or two. It just takes good leadership. I hope they succeed, because I loved the physical aspects of the hotel (room, balcony, view, pool, beach, etc. ) Otherwise I, along with many others will look elsewhere when visiting SPI. You are not the only hotel on the beach. Try harder.