We have stayed at Bananarama several years prior to COVID. Needless to say our stay was not what we have experienced in the past. First of all there is more people on that island than should be. I don't know how the sewer and water systems keep up.
We did feel safe with all the guards they had placed everywhere, but too bad they don't keep the repetitive massage ladies, people selling their usual trinkets, bracelets, shirts etc, from repeatedly annoying the guests behind the designated "roped off" area. Daily we would say no thank you and 5 minutes later they were bothering you again. We observed at other resorts along the beach, their staff made sure that their guests were able to enjoy the beach front throughout the day, without being bothered. The Bananarama activity director that rents a booth out front, definitely runs that beach front and made me feel uncomfortable at times. At times yelling at others who were trying to make a buck as well. He even went as far as sending his daughter over to us trying to get us to play with her in the ocean. I was there to be away from children, not babysit.
All the staff working the Thirsty Turtle were always friendly, but trying to get a drink or order food, the wait was over 45 minutes at times, often our food was cold, by the time we were served it. The young lady who works the coffee shop and the ice cream place on site, was wonderful and we never had any issues.
On Tuesday nights around 10:30PM, we soon found out that they were spraying for mosquitos the second week we were there. No warning, from the front office either! Luckily we were familiar with the sound of the fogger and immediately shut off our air conditioner and took our clothing in, off the front porch. The smell is toxic, "though completely safe", as the man doing the fogging is in a gas mask?
The rooms are rustic and in need of some updating, even for those who love the jungle and simple accommodations. Many days we did not receive a washcloth, and or a hand towel. Some of the towels were in fairly good shape and some were hanging on by threads, and had several holes in them. The sheets as well were very thin with several tears and holes in them as well. The rooms could use a deep, thorough cleaning - just don't look under the beds or to close at the mold in the showers. Our first cabin had no hot water the first 2 days we were there, but thanks the Marco - at the Dive shop - we had hot water. The second cabin we moved too, had no shower caddy, so our soaps etc, just sat on the shower floor. Some days we got a bath mat and other days we did not - despite tipping our maids daily. Both cabins had dingy mattress pads which were both placed on upside down, I think to hide the staining on them.
Many mornings by 6AM, we could hear the staff who were being dropped off for work that day, arguing and talking loudly, along with the banging of O2 tanks. At night as they were leaving they were also quite noisy with no respect to those who were staying there. If you are lucky enough to stay in cabin 5, you will be right next to the managers housing and he has 4 barking dogs. Even when we changed cabins a week later, you could hear the barking dogs late at night and early mornings, which got old after a while.
After 3 weeks of staying in Roatan, the last night of our stay, we went to the front office to see if they had another unit we could move too, to get away from the sickening smells from the food venders behind cabins 1-5. The lady in the office was rude and stated she was on lunch and to come back in an hour. So we decided to just book a room at another resort. As expected, we were pleasantly surprised at the difference of spending a little more money for updated accommodations made at a different resort, along with great food, attentive staff and clean rooms and linens etc.
We still remain undecided if we will go back next year to Roatan, but definitely won't be staying at Bananarama. We will continue to dive with Marco at the dive shop if he is still there - we had no issues with him or his staff.
Please Bananarama.... deep clean your rooms, invest in new sheets, towels, mattresses, etc and do a little staff training on customer service. The dogs need to be let out one at a time and trained to not bark so much. I do hope that someone will be able to change some things soon or I'm afraid the place may need to be bulldozed and something more updated be built on site.
