The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island

This was my second stay at this property. I had a poor stay a few years ago but figured I'd give them another chance. Bad idea. Basically all of the same disappointments as last time, plus a few more. I do not plan on returning as an individual guest, it's clear the property's real customers are conference organizers. Many of the staff try, but it's clear they are just stretched too thin and haven't been trained on getting the details right. Other than the nice beach, there are simply better properties to visit, with better service, at a much more reasonable cost. Just some of the issues I have with this place: 1) Check in was super rushed. I had to ask questions about the property that should have been proactively explained (e.g., restaurant options). In fact, it wasn't until the last day of my stay when the concierge was finally at the desk (was usually unstaffed), that I found there was an actual schedule of events. Actually, I didn't even know until seeing in another guest's review below that there were smores on the property - would've loved to do that with my son. Similarly, I learned from another guest about that the property has Mercedes that you can borrow for a few hours (I've done this at other properties like Four Seasons and Auberge) - of course, no info about this at check in. How are guests supposed to know about your hotel if you don't tell them!? Small things like this can make the difference between a good and bad stay. 2) I asked and found that the property has a policy where young children dine for free (again, no one offered this info up to me). I happened to eat every meal during my stay at several of the restaurants on the premises. Unfortunately, about 75% of the time I had to ask them to remove my son's meal from the check, even after confirming each time we sat down. It made me feel cheap and I shouldn't have had to ask. They should also have told me about this proactively at check-in or otherwise. 3) The pool was an absolute madhouse. They've crammed so many chairs into that area that it is actually uncomfortable. I've never seen a luxury hotel have anything other than full-flat loungers at a pool. However, at the RC Amelia Island, the first row of seats next to the pool are regular upright chairs that do not lay flat. One of the staff told me they did this to fit in more chairs. 4) F&B service at the pool was sometimes incredibly slow. I learned to just ask them to bring me my check at the same time as my food or drink, however, one time they just never brought the check. After waiting over an hour, I told another server and left. Imagine my surprise at checkout when I found that someone had added a 20% gratuity to the check. 5) I was alone with my very young son. At check in, I inquired about purchase club access and was quoted $600/night. For one adult, that was outrageous and in fact more than the difference if one just bought a club room to begin with. In fact, it was the same price they'd charge for two adult

Our stay at the Ritz was for 3 nights and we were very disappointed. When we got there the guest name on the TV screen was not ours but the prior guest and it stayed that way our whole stay. We noticed there was no shower gel or body lotion and after 2 days they told us that the maid had never replenished it even tough the maid had been there 2 times already. They finally sent it up. If we never said anything they would have charged us $40 for each, thinking we had taken it. There were no coffee cups in the room and when we asked for them they did not show up after 30 minutes so I went to the front desk. The lady there said "why don't you just buy a coffee".? They finally came with cups an hour later. The food at "The Coast " restaurant was overpriced and very average. The service at breakfast quite bad, asking 3 times for a coffee refill. Overall - they seemed understaffed and poor quality control. For the money, I gave them a 2 out of 5.

Disappointing at best. Not our first stay there, but the hotel is currently poorly run….we paid $1200 for a basic room overlooking the roofs of maintenance buildings because our requested room hadn’t been cleaned up. Food in two restaurants was mediocre, and we wouldn’t recommend the food. Best part of room was the shower! Compliments to the hotel staff…they were the highlight of the stay. Shame on you, RC