Mar 29 '16 at 6:39
The Ramada Princess Hotel and Casino is about 20 minutes by taxi from the airport. Upon arriving at the entrance, there is a security guard armed with an automatic weapon and once inside I walked through a metal detector. I don’t know if these security measures made me feel safer or more fearful.
I arrived too early to check in and the woman at the front desk told me to come back at 11am. I left my bag and went to explore. I returned at 1:30pm and my room still wasn’t ready. “Check back at 2:00pm.” said another lady. Ultimately I did not get a room until 3:10pm, past the regular check-in time. I wouldn’t have any issues had they told initially to come back at the 3pm check-in time but instead they kept me waiting when I could’ve been out.
The room I finally got was 505. There’s a corridor facing the city side that leads to my room and every room has a ocean view. The room was spacious and included a couch, mini fridge, and two safes in addition to the usual desk, bed, and TV. No coffee maker but much needed bottled waters were supplied. Wi-Fi is available but is slow and unreliable. According to the front desk, I was in a room with better reception but I call bullshit on this. I’d imagine the rooms in the center lower levels, closer to the lobby where the Wi-Fi signal is strong, would be the best bet for the Wi-Fi obsessed.
Inside the hotel, there is a bar and a restaurant with complimentary breakfast buffet including made to order omelettes. Adjacent to the hotel is the Calypso restaurant/bar/lounge where the food was mediocre. There's not much else to see around here and not really safe to walk around at night. Overall, it's a decent place to stay but there's really no reason to stay here. I'd skip this city and head straight to the municipal airport or water taxi which is about a 20 minute walk away.