GENERAL DISCUSSON

[MYCONOS]

It seems the forum has gone completely silent as no comments from members in the last few days

Maybe its the holiday or perhaps the other forum is more interesting.

Hard to believe no one has any comments to make on issues raised IE restaraunts etc !!!

[Sandra]

I agree with you on this.

Comments re restaurants - we have tried quite a few but the Le Tropical is on my list to visit on the next visit as well as the Reloj in San Pedro.  I also want to try the restaurant opened by Guillermo (ex DeVere operations manager at hte Club House) in Cartagena.  Happy lady says it is fab.

What do you think about the new Sports facilities?  Is there any news on when they are starting the commercial centre  - the hotel I think we can kick into touch for the time being!

Best regards
Sandra

[Hugh_man]

Yes it is strange that there has been little to discuss of late.

I am somewhat disappointed at the apparent apathy from Phase 1 and 2 owners all of whom will have received information re the forum on the minutes of their AGMs.
Does this mean they are not read or that they have little interest in their investment.

I am also disappointed in the lack of response from the Administrator with regard to a recent email in connection with the lack of lifebelts on Phase 2 pools and questions re the dead trees, which we had been told would be replaced by Roda.

Just as a small note, there has been quite a lot of discussion on other forums re food and service at the Clubhouse. As you would expect there have been many varied opinions both in praise and criticism.
I would say my daughter has just returned after a pleasant weeks holiday with a friend and they noted an immediate change in service once the staff realised her friend spoke fluent Spanish.
Perhaps a lesson to us all, that we should all be taking the trouble to improve our Spanish.

With regard to the commercial centre, sadly there has been little or no recent updates and I'm sure the difficulty in securing a tenant for a supermarket is still the greatest stumbling block.

[RD]

I think the reason this site is quiet is because that when someone has something to say that is actually useful then they post a comment, which is OK with me, unlike EOS which most of is Rubbish. However its good to keep the threads flowing where poss.

The restaurant has had many varied views, but my main worry is the fact that it looks like the Spanish owners and guests seem to be getting preferential treatment to English/Irish and other nationals. Hugh man you are right in saying that we should make more effort with the language but the language wasn't a problem when we were parting with 200000 Euros. Also a lot of our guests may only be there for a week or 2 per year so makes learning the language less likely and shouldn't reflect on the service you get. Their website is also only in Spanish and no option to read in English which has put me off putting a link on our website for potential guests to look at.

Regarding the food comments I take with a pinch of salt( no pun intended) but one persons top meal is another persons worse meal, For example El Patio is rated very highly by most people but it is not our cup of tea at all and would not return, this would not make me put someone else off I would just tell them to try it for theirselves.

Hughman mentions pool safety, we complained some time back about the suction on the filters that badly bruised my daughters back when she got pulled against it, has anybody else noticed this or heard that it has been adjusted yet?

Cheers Rory.

[Hugh_man]

Rory

When I was over in May, I checked the filters in central pool of Phase 2 and completely agree with your comments. Three possible suggestions to rectify the problem were put to the Administrator in an email that I mentioned that was originally sent 2 weeks ago and resent twice and to which I am still awaiting a reply.

I can only suggest that you too contact Marisol again and ask if anything has been done about it. Perhaps the more of us that ask the quicker the response, that is why I was keen to get more Phase 1 and 2 owners on this site especially as there are a number of issues that still need attention.
As an update on trees, we have had a quote of 6000 euros to remove and replace all dead trees on Phase 2 and are still awaiting a response from Roda as to whether they are prepared to pay or not.
It does seem as if you can spend your life waiting as far as the Spanish are concerned, it is not surprising that other forums show Roda as well as other developments in Spain in a poor light.

Re Clubhouse, I completely agree, the resort was marketed heavily both in UK and Ireland and as such provision could and should be made for tourists from these areas. However it should be noted that those who think the service is not up to scratch will simply vote with their feet and choose one of the many other alternatives.

[RD]

Thanks Hughman I will chase this up again, but I have been in the same position in the past regarding this and not had a reply like yourself. My daughter is 14 but it could have been a lot worse if it had been a smaller child.

[janejohn]

You're right Myconos - I guess forums aren't everyone's cup of tea and many people prefer to read postings rather than post themselves.  I also think that forums are possibly of greater value to those of us who don't get out to Roda that often and feel out of touch with developments (or sometimes lack of?) so it's great that Happy and Hugh etc. take the trouble to keep us up to date, particularly as there is so little from Roda or the Administrator.  It's probably also fair to say that people will only post when they have a problem.

I'm concerned at what I've read about Spanish people getting preferential treatment.  There is an argument that owners should make the effort to learn Spanish, but paying guests quite rightly expect that handing over their money should ensure quality of service on a resort which is still being marketed as 5* (which I'm sticking to until I hear otherwise).  If you Google Roda you will get a proliferation of websites created by owners, these websites are all doing a brilliant job of marketing and portraying Roda in a very favourable light, but in return we expect our guests to be treated no differently to Spanish guests and owners - they shouldn't have to vote with their feet.   On the other hand, I would rather the clubhouse be busy than as it was during the off-peak months last year, no-one wants to eat in an empty restaurant.  Like Rory, I visited the Collados website hoping to put a link to mine, but there doesn't seem much point if it's in Spanish only.

Having said all that, we haven't had any negative feedback about the clubhouse as yet, but have a repeat booking in August, so it will be interesting to hear what they say about the changes.  The feedback we have had is very positive, although the obvious lack of bars etc. on site crops up regularly, so come on Roda - give us what we need.

May be one of the problems Roda has is that it has 3 (currently) different communities, each with their own problems etc. which need sorting.  If there was one over-arching community, which if I'm right in thinking, is what will happen when the resort is finished (if I'm wrong on that I'm sure someone will correct me) there may better communication.  Having to keep on about the same issue time and time again as with the pool filters could be what causes the apathy Hugh? 

[Sandra]

Hi Jane and Rory and Hugh

I agree with everything you say including the treatment of me and my family on several occasions in the Club House including my last visit.  They do have English speaking staff as we had a major problem which they did resolve satisfactorily but only when we jumped up and down.

With regard to the Administrators not responding - I am at a loss here.  But we can vote with our feet and maybe now is the time to consider alternatives? 

Also, with regard to our President on Phase 1 - I have not heard a word or seen a newsletter or an update - absolutely nothing - we have no idea what is going on - what the progress is with all of the issues to do with one thing and another and so like all of you we are in the dark. 

I think a letter should be sent to Roda Golf complaining about the poor treatment of English nationals and that if they are going to use a Spanish catering firm then the least they could do would be get their site translated into English, Dutch and German as well as Spanish.

I also think you should write a formal letter to your President on Phase 2 complaining about the pool filters copied to the Administrators.  Maybe this would prompt some action possibly?

Hope this helps
Sandra

[Happy Lady]

I have been in the clubhouse at least ten times in the past three weeks, in the bar, in the restaurant and on the terrace and have not noticed any difference in the level of service accorded to me or my party which has varied from all english speaking to including spanish speaking on different occasions.
RD states  "the fact that it looks like the Spanish owners and guests seem to be getting preferential treatment to English/Irish and other nationals". This is not a fact but an opinion expressed by one person on the EOS forum and now people are jumping on the bandwagon assuming that if they experience poor service that it must be directly related to their nationality. There could be other reasons and sometimes a wrong order just comes down to the language barrier and the difficulty in a Spanish person (even one who is fluent in english) being unable to understand the various dialects and accents in the UK and Ireland which we have found to be the case in the past.
Tonight I was with a table of all english speaking people (8 of us) on the terrace and on Friday night last with a different group (7 of us) - I asked both groups who have been here since end of June and who eat in the clubhouse regularly (2/4 times per week) and which included two permanent residents, if they have read the posting about the poor service given to UK residents and english speakers and they all thought that it was a ridiculous notion. I was also approached by a permanent resident here tonight to ask if I had seen the posting on this forum as she also thought it misinformed to say the least. In our discussions several people raised the issue of tipping and said that they have always tipped in the clubhouse and if the service was poor for any reason this would not be the case. 
Tonight the terrace and bar were both full (very mixed crowd with half Spanish and half UK and Irish) and there were tables in the restaurant but two groups of spanish people were turned away as they wanted to sit on the terrace or in the bar and could not be accommodated. The Uk and Irish people who I spoke to were all being attended to by various waiters, most of whom speak english and who could not do enough for them.
When the bar and restaurant is very busy mistakes can happen and when you throw into this mix several different languages and accents it is easy to see where errors can occur but to put the notion out there that there is a concerted effort by the current managers of the clubhouse to neglect and offer poor service to UK nationals is tantamount to slander and grossly unfair. Like all business men the owners of the clubhouse are committed to providing good food at a fair price and a good service with a view to making a profit and have invested in having staff who can speak english which is certainly not the case in a lot of local restaurants.
If as put forward they did not have an interest in their english speaking clientele they would hardly bother to do this and indeed translate their menu into english. I imagine that as a spanish catering business they do not expect that their website will be accessed by english speaking customers as this is their first venture which attracts a non spanish clientele and it is just that simple.
To write to Calidona/Roda to suggest that there is poor treatment of english/UK nationals would require some back up or supporting information from regular users of the facility. When permanent residents who are regular users of the clubhouse are shocked at the idea that the management and staff of the clubhouse are deliberately providing a poor service because of nationality then there is little chance of support for this proposal and I would vehemently oppose such an action.
Not so Happy Lady!
 

[RD]

Fair enough not so happy lady, you obviously have a greater experience of the club house than we do and I am pleased to see that we may well be wrong, we are over there in a few weeks so will see for ourselves. I must say that last time we were in we had no problems with the service but we have not been in since the new owners have taken over and are only going off what we have heard from various people and the forums, we do try to take comments with a pinch of salt but when more of the same keeps filtering through its hard to ignore. Like I said I will be pleased if we are wrong.

With regards to the website being in English though, I am still not to happy about, the people running the restaurant are very experienced by the sounds of things and I don't think for one minute that they have not researched Roda thoroughly before venturing into the business so I find it hard to believe they didn't know exactly who their customers would be and realised fully how many other nationalities have purchased on Roda.

Anyway, I am happy to stand corrected and look forward to trying the new place out.

[MYCONOS]

Just back today from 12 days at Roda. Just a few comments to make as follows

1/ The service in the clubhouse is impartial and no nationalities are given any preference.

2/ The set golfers menu is now 25 euro compared to 17 euro end of May

3/ The cheapest degustation/ sample menu is 45 euro which when taken with a bottle of vino is over 100 euro for 2 people.

4/ There is no bar price list for beers/ spirits/ soft drinks so the prices vary depending on who is behind the bar. An example was a gin/tonic was 5 euro one night then 8 euro the next night. When asked to an English speaking member of staff i was told there was no such list

5/ The breakfast menu for full English is now 10 euro, and the bacon sandwich option has been dropped

6/ The 1 night we saw the entertainment the standard would certainly have received 3 xxx from Spains got talent.


7/ Having said all of that we love Roda and are very pleased with the progress of the resort.

[Happy Lady]

Following extensive research in the past few years - the cost of a Gin and Tonic depends on what gin they use eg a Gordon's G&T is 8 euro and a Larios (local brand) is 5euro - you have to ask for a Larios as they will usually pour Gordon's for english speakers as a lot of english speaking customers ask for Gordon's anyway. The drinks/bar prices were in the green menus until recently but maybe they have been removed.
We tried the tasting menu (6/7courses) twice in the past fortnight with two different sets of guests and it was fantastic and we have paid a similar price for a three course meal locally which was not anywhere near as impressive. The menu has improved (more courses) and now includes scallops and lobster, some complimentary sweet wines for courses, which probably accounts for the increase in price. 
The music can be hit and miss and I imagine that Myconos is referring to the duo of small blonde woman and small man who sing a retro disco assortment and it is not great but has people dancing. The better musicians are the saxophonist (Wednesday's or Thursday's usually) and the classical flute player who plays with a really good guitar player.
We booked an outside table for the restaurant menu last Friday night and the meal was second to none. There was a Spanish singer, keyboard player and guitarist who were fantastic (the singer had a great deep voice like Neil Diamond - showing my age here) and is very well known in Spain. The terrace was packed to capacity, the restaurant full, bar area full and the atmosphere was just great. There was a mix of spanish and english speaking with the spanish in the majority as they knew who the singer was. We left at 2.30am and had a brilliant night. I hope that the entertainment continues as it just made our evening and it was lovely to see young and old enjoying the music and the evening on a balmy July night.

Happy Lady

[Hugh_man]

Am thinking of trying the degustation menu at clubhouse for son in laws birthday when we return on Sat 29th August.

Would you recommend booking a table on the terrace beforehand?

[MYCONOS]

Friday/ Sat was very busy end July so best to book on these nites

Tip, ask for table away from overlooking the driving range as it can be a touch cool when the wind gets up on this side of the terrace.

[RD]

Hi Hugh man,
we are at roda at the moment and have had no problem walking into the restaurant and bar area for food on 3 occasions without booking and got a table no problem ( only for 2 people though) so for a bigger party I would advise booking to avoid disappointment as the guy behind the bar did tell me they were busy at the moment, although it never looks overly packed especially seeing that it is August.

Going back to previous threads regarding the restaurant and service I would like to add that we didn't feel ignored as English diners and the head waiter was really friendly and helpful as happy lady states.
However, regarding the quality of the food I stick by my guns and would only class it as mediocre when there are many just as good if not better in the local area. Yes its great to have this onsite but I don't think the prices can be justified, we eat out back in the UK in similar quality restaurants and get better food for this same price bracket. We tried the restaurant a few times in the last couple of weeks just to be certain but felt the same each time.
The bar food though is descent quality at a price you would expect.
Just our opinion and I am sure some will disagree, like I have said in the past El Patio is not our cup of tea but many people love it there.