Question Advice for group of new divers - seeking convenience

[ggunn]

Blue Angel is a pretty good "dive" resort with all the appropriate amenities (location, good restaurant/bar, dive shop, entertainment, etc.) but don't set expectation too high. We stayed there for a week in Oct and won't be staying again. We've always wanted to try BA b/c it looks like a perfect dive resort. Not that its a bad place at all, just not for us. The comfort features are lacking, admittedly we are a bit spoiled since we usually stay at El Cid or BnB's. If I was much younger and doing a 'guys' trip BA would be perfect. The location, grounds, staff are fantastic, here's what we didn't like. Very 'rustic' rooms, the beds are terrible, no chairs in the rooms, lots of mold (bathroom ceiling was nasty!), 'kitchen' chair on deck, only had hot water one day, no place to hang anything in the room and would have been nice to have a microwave in the room.

I'm not knocking BA, just want to caution you on setting expectations for your group. It's a nice spot, been around along time but showing it's age and in need of serious maintenance/updates.

It's all in your perspective, I guess. The beds are fine for us - a bit firm, surely, but certainly not as bad as all that; I have no trouble sleeping on them. There are fridges in the rooms and no microwaves, but eating out every night I don't miss a microwave, and there is one in the lobby. The rooms are a bit rustic, I agree, but clean (I have never seen any mold and I have stayed there more than 30 times). There are easily moveable chairs on the balconies and veranda, and wooden chairs in at least some of the rooms (most of the time I am in the room I am horizontal, anyway). The water typically takes a long time to heat up and the pressure is somewhat low, but we were never without it in recent memory.

The title of the thread mentions convenience; I don't see how a hotel could place higher in that dimension; the restaurant, dock, dive shop, pool, and shore access are all within a 30 second walk of the rooms. It's not a "mint on your pillow" place, for sure, but for our gender and age diverse group of divers and fisherpersons it checks all the boxes. YMMV and DSFDF.

 

[sefuchs]

The title of the thread mentions convenience; I don't see how a hotel could place higher in that dimension; the restaurant, dock, dive shop, pool, and shore access are all within a 30 second walk of the rooms. It's not a "mint on your pillow" place, for sure, but for our gender and age diverse group of divers and fisherpersons it checks all the boxes. YMMV and DSFDF.

Ya I agree on 100% on convenience. We had high hopes and really wanted to like BA but the comfort (lack of) items rule it out for us. If it only had a decent bed I wouldn't be grumpy about BA and could easily put up with the other items I griped about.

 

[ggunn]

Ya I agree on 100% on convenience. We had high hopes and really wanted to like BA but the comfort (lack of) items rule it out for us. If it only had a decent bed I wouldn't be grumpy about BA and could easily put up with the other items I griped about.

"Decent" is in the butt of the beholder.

 

[scubadada]

Who said there was an antenna problem?

Blue Angel is a pretty good "dive" resort with all the appropriate amenities (location, good restaurant/bar, dive shop, entertainment, etc.) but don't set expectation too high. We stayed there for a week in Oct and won't be staying again. We've always wanted to try BA b/c it looks like a perfect dive resort. Not that its a bad place at all, just not for us. The comfort features are lacking, admittedly we are a bit spoiled since we usually stay at El Cid or BnB's. If I was much younger and doing a 'guys' trip BA would be perfect. The location, grounds, staff are fantastic, here's what we didn't like. Very 'rustic' rooms, the beds are terrible, no chairs in the rooms, lots of mold (bathroom ceiling was nasty!), 'kitchen' chair on deck, only had hot water one day, no place to hang anything in the room and would have been nice to have a microwave in the room.

I'm not knocking BA, just want to caution you on setting expectations for your group. It's a nice spot, been around along time but showing it's age and in need of serious maintenance/updates.

It's all in your perspective, I guess. The beds are fine for us - a bit firm, surely, but certainly not as bad as all that; I have no trouble sleeping on them. There are fridges in the rooms and no microwaves, but eating out every night I don't miss a microwave, and there is one in the lobby. The rooms are a bit rustic, I agree, but clean (I have never seen any mold and I have stayed there more than 30 times). There are easily moveable chairs on the balconies and veranda, and wooden chairs in at least some of the rooms (most of the time I am in the room I am horizontal, anyway). The water typically takes a long time to heat up and the pressure is somewhat low, but we were never without it in recent memory.

The title of the thread mentions convenience; I don't see how a hotel could place higher in that dimension; the restaurant, dock, dive shop, pool, and shore access are all within a 30 second walk of the rooms. It's not a "mint on your pillow" place, for sure, but for our gender and age diverse group of divers and fisherpersons it checks all the boxes. YMMV and DSFDF.

An objective review vs. a fan. A nice contrast.

 

[ggunn]

An objective review vs. a fan. A nice contrast.

Hmmmm.... Anyone that says something negative is being objective, but anyone who says something positive is being a fan? Riiiight.

 

[scubadada]

Hmmmm.... Anyone that says something negative is being objective, but anyone who says something positive is being a fan? Riiiight.

Balanced view.

 

[DandyDon]

lots of mold (bathroom ceiling was nasty!

If I got a room with mold and a nasty bathroom anywhere, I would insist on a change.

I have never seen any mold

I haven't stayed there in several years, but I find that difficult to believe any bathroom would be nasty.

no place to hang anything in the room a

No closet or rack?

I never understood why any hotels put microwaves in rooms. I do wish that they all had coffee makers.

 

[ggunn]

Balanced view.

Branding one view as fan based and the other as objective isn't "balanced", it lends more credence to the more negative viewpoint. My assessment of Blue Angel is to the positive side of that by sefuchs on the continuum between the extremes of bad and good, but both are equally "objective", which is to say that neither are; both of our opinions are subjective. There's nothing wrong with that; we all have our opinions.

 

[love2fishfork]

I always stay at El Cantil (condos). Close to town, most dive operators will pick up there. High end accommodations! If you really need a dive shop on site, Dive Paradise is very close.

 

[scubadada]

Branding one view as fan based and the other as objective isn't "balanced", it lends more credence to the more negative viewpoint. My assessment of Blue Angel is to the positive side of that by sefuchs on the continuum between the extremes of bad and good, but both are equally "objective", which is to say that neither are; both of our opinions are subjective. There's nothing wrong with that; we all have our opinions.

Fair enough, the reports illustrate two points in a wide spectrum from negative to positive. When it comes down to it, only your own personal opinion matters, something for everyone.