I recently stayed at The Tropicals in Palm Beach with a group of girlfriends. We had four rooms…read moretotal, booked through Booking.com. My friend and I specifically reserved a unit with two beds, but upon arrival, we were given a room with one king bed and a pullout couch.
The front desk called Mia (not sure if she's the owner or manages certain condos). She first offered to have the housekeeper prepare the pullout couch, but I declined since I'm 59 and didn't want to sleep three nights on a sofa bed. I showed her screenshots of my Booking.com confirmation, which clearly listed two beds. She said she might contact Booking.com to look into it and explained that it was likely their error. She then offered a larger two-bedroom condo for an additional $180 total for our three-night stay, which worked out to about $30 more per person per night. I agreed to avoid further hassle and enjoy the trip.
We were moved to room 3032, a spacious two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo with a kitchenette. The beds were comfortable, each with plenty of pillows. The second bathroom had great water pressure, and the closet was well equipped with hangers, an iron, and extra linens. The view overlooked greenery and the inner courtyard pool.
The main issues:
We noticed that the room felt a little humid, and by the end of our stay, our clothes felt a bit damp. My friend with asthma also found it harder to breathe comfortably. Another friend in room 2061 mentioned the same issue, so it seems to affect multiple units.
The AC units were loud and old, making it hard to sleep.
The Wi-Fi was extremely unreliable. There are two network options (an "owner" and a "guest" connection), but neither worked consistently. I needed to complete some online work during my stay and could not accomplish much because of the poor connection. When I mentioned this to Mia, she blamed the internet provider and said management had already escalated it, but her tone felt a bit defensive instead of understanding.
The room was clean overall, but when I moved one of the nightstands in the second bedroom to look for an outlet, it was very dusty underneath. It seems the cleaning staff tidy around furniture rather than moving things to clean behind or underneath. The bathrooms and showers, however, were clean in both rooms.
Between the kitchen and the main bedroom, there was a raised transition strip bridging uneven flooring, which caused my friend to trip a few times.
The main bathroom floor sloped slightly downward from the shower, which made stepping out a bit slippery.
We were notified that on Thursday, between 10 AM and 12:30 PM, there would be no running water due to building maintenance. Not a major problem, but inconvenient.
The positives:
The valet parking team was wonderful, especially Raul, who was friendly, proactive, and customer focused.
Valet parking is free 24/7, with service available between 8 AM and 10 PM. If you return after 10 PM, simply park on the street, where parking is free until 9 AM.
The front desk staff were kind and professional, and the overall property felt safe.
Overall, it wasn't a bad stay, but between the booking mix-up, extra cost, humidity, loud AC, and weak Wi-Fi, it wasn't quite what I expected for the price. The staff were lovely, especially Raul, but the property could use some updates and better coordination with Booking.com.
Would I stay again? Probably not until the Wi-Fi and humidity issues are resolved.