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“Beware of Mold”
Waterstone Calypso Resort & Towers
ram22 2 contributions
oxford, ga Mar 17, 2009
0/1 found this review helpful
Recently rented unit 2-208 for long weekend. The coffeepot water reservoir was completely covered in disgusting black mold. The ad stated kid friendly and there were lots of kid "things" in the unit. On our application we put 2 adults and 2 childrena but evidently owner did not read that, just assumed only 2 adults. Therefore, she deducted $50.00 from our up front security deposit. On top of that, when we arrived at 1:00 AM, the door code would not work and we had to call owner. She was just plain rude on the phone. It was a so-so condo, but would not ever stay again or recommend to anyone. Owner was just
• Date of Stay: March 2009
• Visit was for: Leisure
• Traveling group: Family with Young Children
• Your age range: 50-64
• Member since: February 22, 2009
• Would you recommend this hotel to a friend? No
“Probably would not recommend”
Waterstone Calypso Resort & Towers
onekoolnurse 1 contribution
TN Jul 21
5/10 found this review helpful
We just returned from our stay at the Calypso Resort and Towers at Panama City Beach. Our stay was both good and bad. First, the room was nice and new (the entire resort is new) with tile floors, granite counter tops and real furniture (no wicker!!!). The appliances are new and there were plenty of utensils, pots, pans, etc. There are two towers with elevators for each and we never waited long for an elevator. The resort is very close to the beach with all the rooms gulf front. The chairs on the beach are included with the condo, but they are first come first serve.
And you must get there early to reserve one. There are two pools and plenty of parking. There is also loading and unloading at the front door that is convienent and close to the elevators. Then there were some issues. The air conditioning was broken two of the four days we were there and we heard some of the rooms did not have water (fortunately, we always had water). Also, the two pools are very small and CROWDED. There was never a chair available, because they all had towels on the from 9am on. This is fairly common at any condo, however, there were only chairs on one side of the pool; therefore, it was especially bad. In addition, the pool water was nasty. It was cloudy and seemed stagnant; and one day, the pool was closed. We, fortunately, wanted to spend most of our time at the beach. We also had no type of maid service or towel service. When I asked where to pick up and drop off towels, I was told that is why there is a washer and dryer in the room.
I was shocked because any other condo I have ever stayed had some type of towel service. I did not go on vacation to do laundry. Then there was the trash chute; both times we went to put in a bag of trash, it was full. We were on the 5th floor and went to the 7th the first time to be able to put our bag in. Then the next time, it was even full on the 7th floor, so we left it in our room we we checked out. Another small detail, there were no directions in the room for numbers to call (even for the front desk) or what needs to be done before checking out or even how to check out. Overall, this place seems to have alot of problems for such a new resort and I would not return or recommend this place.
• Liked — Location
• Disliked — too many problems for such a new condo
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Do not expect much from Waterstone management
A traveler from SWGA Posted: 9-Apr-09
We rented a 1br 2 ba with bunks for spring break. TV in LR was on the blink and internet cable was "lost". Management said it would be "tomorrow" before anything could be done. Front desk is just not helpful in any way. Room was nice enough but be warned the bunks are in the entrance hall with very little storage for clothes.
Traveler's tip on getting the most out of your stay
Rent a 2 BR unless you have very small children. The 1br with bunk is crowded for 2 adults and 2 teenagers.
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“Warning-unethical management”
Waterstone Calypso Resort & Towers
MariMatt 5 contributions
Atlanta, GA
11 found this review helpful
We cancelled a reservation for September-website states that you can cancel within 24 hours with no penalty. We cancelled the reservation a month ago, and our $200 deposit still hasn't been refunded, after several calls. We are having to dispute the transaction with MasterCard.
• Date of Stay: July 2
• Member since: March 08
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Both good and bad about the Calypso”
Waterstone Calypso Resort & Towers
LisaRz 22 contributions
Granger, IN
8 found this review helpful
Today is the final day of our 5 night stay with my husband and two teenage sons for Spring Break! We have decided that there are both pros and cons about the Waterstone Calypso. Pros are that the location cannot be beat! The Emerald Coast is truly breathtaking, the beaches are like baby powder and we are within walking distance of alot of fun and funky little restaurants.
The condo is spacious and the amenitites are state of the art. This is more of a family resort as we have not seen alot of rowdy college students on the premesis. As far as the cons, there are alot....1st this is a condo not a hotel room which we understand however after checking in we felt as though we were turned loose without any instructions and little communication. On day 1 there was literally screaming matches and upset guests over rules not posted anywhere about reserving chairs at the pool and beach chairs on the ocean. You were allowed two beach chairs upon presenting your room pass but any additional chairs were $30 a day which we felt was ridiculous as they are promoting this as a "Family" resort.
And management gathered up all the towels left by guests on the chairs at the pools that were left before 9am in an effort to reserve a chair. and through them in a huge pile. Guest (not us) came down to find a huge pile of towels including theirs which we felt was rude to say the least. After one guest had a total meltdown at the front desk they then printed out signs stating no towels could be left and that "people save chairs, not towels", the signed posted were threatening stating that if towels were left they'd be put in lost and found, again they don't make you feel important, more like a nuisance. We are all on vacation and the lack of communication on management's part should not have caused this guest to be so upset!
And as far as standing in line every morning to reserve beach chairs (which you had to do because there was only enough chairs for at best half the guests) again being on vacation, you should not have to scamper down and wait in line at 7am for at least a half hour to get chairs as I did every morning. The beach staff truly seemed to be "power tripping" off of the fact that all these vacationers were waiting on them as it was anywhere between 7:30 and 8:00 am before they actually started assigning seats. Communication at the resort between management and guests again is very poor and rules posted on the refrigerator in each room are certainly not enforced. There were dogs in the rooms (no pets allowed) as we heard and saw at least a half dozen....teenagers wondering around at all hours unattended which is a recipe for a dangerous situation (where are the parents?).
And regarding the cleanliness of the Calypso, you are responsbile for cleaning and maintaining your condo which is understandable however the grounds and premesis were not adequately cared for. We did not see the pools cleaned once while we were here and our room on the 10th floor gave an excellent view straight down to the pool, we could see dirt sand from out distance. The elevators and hallways we saw cleaned once only and were littered with food and drink cups and glasses every morning. Glass doors had the same handprints on them all week as well. The carpet in the master bedroom was filty and our room had glass handprints all over the patio doors upon arriving so we wonder how clean it was when we arrived. On the last day I also happened to stumble upon a very nice workout room that we were never told about and I certainly would have used daily, again very poor communication.
You were never given any sort of brochure that highlighted all the amenitities that could be enjoyed! Also the Calypso has no gift shop or convenience store onsite at all so if you needed additional sunscreen or bandaids, you had to go out and find a store. Also nowhere to purchase pop, drinks, so again, make sure you hit the Target Store (has all gorceries except fruits and fresh veggies for some reason) or Winn Dixie stores and stock up upon arriving. Overall we had a great family time which is what it is really all about but we noticed a dozen very nice large resorts being constructed on the main beach street, Front Beach Drive so upon returning again we will most likely look at staying somewhere else that makes you feel valued.
• Liked — The Ocean Views
• Disliked — Premesis not adequately cleaned, indifference by staff in resolving issues!
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“WIll not stay here again.”
Waterstone Calypso Resort & Towers
arrotbay 1 contribution
The South
5 found this review helpful
If you are hoping to check in early here, forget about it.
We got to PCB about 2pm and checked with the front desk, they said the room was not ready and to come back at 4pm. We returned at 4pm and was greeted by 40 other people standing line to check in. All the people I talked to was told to return at 4pm. There were A LOT of unhappy people there.
After a 50 minute wait in line, we finally got to the desk and was told our room was ready. It is now close to 5pm. Went up to the room with 3 familes worth of stuff, opened the door to find a maid washing
dishes. She said, "Your room is not ready yet". Soon more maids arrive. We stay outside the room for over an hour. After 6pm we are finally in the room.
We never found a cart our entire stay. THERE ARE ONLY 25 CARTS FOR 400+ ROOMS.
I have vacationed in PCB all my life and a have never seen the beach as crowded as at this place. I would hate to see it after they add the 3rd phase.
The rooms are great. The location is great. The place is just to big and crowded for us.
Worst part about this place is the service. We heard a lot of unhappy
people.
• Date of Stay: June 2007
• Visit was for: Quality time with family
• Traveling group: Family (extended) Never Again!”
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Waterstone Calypso Resort & Towers
Dalee 1 contribution
Alabama
5 found this review helpful
We were very excited to spend our honeymoon here. Upon arrival we learned that the tiki bar/snack bar was still under construction after the resort advertised that it would be finished this spring. We were a little disappointed but decided to brush it off and enjoy our stay. On the third night of our stay the a/c quit cooling. It came back on on the fourth day only to go out again on the fifth night. To top it all off the elevators constantly dropped floors and were extremely slow. We were coming back from dinner when we noticed a boil water sign posted on the door of the 3rd floor.
Well, we had no water to boil or take a shower or use the restroom! We tried calling the front desk but they apparently had the phone off the hook due to a resort full of irate guests. When we checked out this morning we still had no air in room 1805. We feel sorry for the next guests who is looking to enjoy their vacation only to have the necessities not function. We felt that the resort had the attitude of they were doing us a favor by letting us stay there. We could have stayed anywhere but we chose this one. Let me also add that we have never stayed in a hotel or resort of any kind with a total disregard to the happiness of the guests that stay there.
The resort is beautiful and the beds were so comfortable. The reason we gave such a bad rating is the lack of basic services and the attitude of the staff not caring whether you were happy or not. The beach was beautiful and like I said the rooms are beautiful but the resort is poorly managed and probably needs to be tore down and started from scratch because there are too many problems.
• Liked — the beds and beach
• Disliked — lack of a/c, water, elevator problems and staff unfriendliness
• ange: 35-49
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4 Reviews from:
http://www.hotels.com/hotel_waterstone-calypso-resort-towers_243381_reviews-4.html
Needs a lot of improvement
When we first arrived to the condo, we showed up early that morning to check in, however, the room was not ready which is understandable. However, we thought maybe the room would be ready in about a few hours. It took them 5 hours to give us a room. Although, when I went back to check on the status of the room, a couple in front of me in line had the same room as us and had just arrived, they gave them a room even though we had been waiting for 3 hours already. So if you plan on arriving early you should have something to do to occupy you for hours. When we did get into the room, we were very disatisfied.
The rooms were carpeted throughout and they were so disgusting we had to call someone to see if they could either move us, or get someone to clean them. When we first got into the room, someone at the front desk said she would schedule a cleaning of the carpet. The next day when we called to verify what time the man would arrive, another lady was very rude and said who authorized this cleaning b/c she knew nothing about it, as if we had talked to the carpet cleaning man ourselves. They have very bad customer service. In the kitchen and the bathroom, the tile looked as if it had never been mopped since they had opened. Also, the light switches were broken and had exposed wires which is very dangerous for children. Also, there is no jacuzzi at the pool if that is something you enjoy. However, the beach chairs offered were nice. For the price that we paid, we would not recommend this place to anyone. The rooms are in bad shape and the service is horrible.
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Needs a cleaning staff
Room was dirty upon arrival, had to wash all sheets, mop floors and wash dishes. Staff was not helpfull.
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Needs Improvement
My fiance and I went down for 5 days the week of the 4th of July. When we arrived we asked for a cart to help us with our luggage since our room was on the 5th floor. The attendent quickly said that it was passed time and she couldnt give us the cart in her hand. The elavators were terribly slow. Three days into our trip the air conditioning went out and it was consistently 82 degrees in our room. After the repair man stopped by and said it would be fixed within a few hours, we waited and he never showed. The management seemed not to care at all....We will never stay there again!
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Bad about the Calypso
Cons: For only being a couple of years old this resort is showing it's age. The carpets in our condo were filty, had trouble with hot water almost every day (called front desk and no one ever came), dogs in resorts (saw two or three and heard them too), elevators and hallways were always littered with food and garbage, windows always dirty with smudges and fingerprints all over. Seldom saw anyone cleaning at all, pool was not cleaned once while we were there and communication was very poor between management and guests.
No signed posted about leaving towels to reserve seats at the pool, saw one lady have a total meltdown because management took everyone's towels and threw them in a big pile on the grass. VERY RUDE!!! After she had her meltdown they posted signs that said "PEOPLE reserve chairs, not towels, if you leave a towel it will be confiscated and put in lost and found". We also had to wait in long lines each morning at 7am to get your two beach chairs by the ocean as there were not nearly enough of the nice wooden ones for guests, if you weren't lucky enough to get one you got two director's type chairs to sit on the beach with.
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From another site comes - You can see these reviews at:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g34543-d614394-Reviews-Waterstone_Calypso_Resort_Towers-Panama_City_Beach_Florida.html :
“Never Again!” dreajoy6
san antonio, txI will never stay at any Waterstone property again, and I advise that you do not either. When we arrived at the resort for check in the balance the front desk had for us was $600 more than our confirmed balance with the reservation line. When I explained that to the front desk they smugly told me that they would... more
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“will not return” renae114
gardendale, alabama
when we arrived at 4:30, there was a line of 6-7 cars trying to unload in front of each tower. no carts were available, the security guards were barking for us to move our cars to the deck, the wait for the elevator was at least 20-30 minutes with only 1 out of the 3 working (for 23 floors!). problem... more
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“Worst Time Ever.....” pboe
south
This was THE WORST vacation we ever had in PCB. The Calypso is a nice place but has MAJOR problems with personnal and management. Very rude. Do not call the front desk for anything because they do not care about anything you have to say. Our room was dirty. The grounds were dirty. Broken elevators. The TIKI bar which they... more
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“NEVER AGAIN” siamesemich
michigan Mar 26, 2008
NEVER will I stay at the Calyso Resort again. The Front desk staff were rude and unfriendly. They acted like you were putting them out if you asked for anything. The security was very lean and could not handle all the problems that were going on. We stayed in Feb. and half of March and I was glad to leave.... more
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“rent direct from an owner, save yourself the hassle from waterstone”
manesell nashville, tn.
Aug 29, 2008
we loved our unit at calypso. we took the advice from some other folks and rented from calypsobeachrentals.com. this is essentially an owner renting his units. we were able to check in long before the crowds gathered at the onsite rental company. in fact, they had our unit cleaned and ready by noon. the owner also provided us our own... more
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“Too Big - Too Crowded” beach64
Cumming, GA Jul 29, 2008
Upon arrival we parked on the 3rd level of the parking deck. The deck is across from the towers. Low and behold there are no carts. None. I never saw an unused cart the entire trip. I think people hoard them in their rooms. We check in - first floor - wife goes ballistic, but after reading about elevator service... more
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“decent property, not exceptional” will_the_thrill
Memphis Jul 27, 2008
Pros: convenient to pier park shopping development, new property, nice rooms, well-groomed property Cons: SLOW elevators, hardly any luggage carts available, inconvenient parking, approximately 25 chairs per pool (basically there is one chair per floor!), no depth to property - very narrow (unlike other properties on Thomas Drive) I booked this property thinking that it would be great to be... more
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“Loved the Unit, Hated the Inconvenience” reedfamily
Northport, AL Jul 26, 2008
Calypso Condo's were absolutely beautiful, however several inconveniences will make sure that we do not stay there again. The elevators are extremely slow. We waited on average 15 minutes for a quick ride on the elevator. At times, we gave up and took the stairs. The hallways are very narrow, making passing impossible when you have luggage, groceries, etc. Luggage... more
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“Pricey for what you get” sportsmgmt
Cumming, GA Jul 7, 2008
Just returned from a week with the family to PCB and Calypso Towers. We have been going to PCB for over 30 years and I felt overall the resort is nice but is not worth the amount you pay. We had (2) three bedroom units with six people in each unit. The units themselves are nice with a great view.... more
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“Great ocean/beach location, condo units variable in upkeep”
FamilyTraveler3 Indiana, Pennsylvania Mar 28, 2008
The Calypso advertises itself as a more upscale condo complex on the west side of Panama City Beach. The location and beach are terrific. If you are looking for services that approach those found in mid-range hotels you should look elsewhere. While there is a front desk area, they do not go out of their way to be friendly or... more
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“Nice resort with some major elevator issues” a_dpu
Indiana Sep 20
We stayed at the Calypso this past summer during our son's baseball tournament. We were on the 19th floor. I rented through an owner on VRBO. The 1bdrm with bunks unit was awesome. Very clean and beautifully decorated. The owner supplied everything including beach mats, towels, floats, boogie boards, etc. We had absolutely not complaints regarding the condition of our... more
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“Would not return” msebasti missouri
Aug 4
This is not what I would consider a "resort". I will begin by saying that the condos were large, spacious and delightfully decorated. That is the best I can say about this facility. The condo was dirty, the common spaces were dirty and it didn't appear the windows had been cleaned in some time! Vomit lay in the hall for... more
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“Worst trip to PCB ever!”
travelaholiclady Gadsden, AL Jul 19
We booked a 1br/ 2ba condo back in June. When we arrived they tried to charge me for a 2br/ 2ba and told me that they had no 1br/ 2ba condos left. The managenment would not believe me and told me that they needed proof. Luckily I had printed my email confirmation and brought it with me. They decided to... more
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From: http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll/qscr=dspv/htid=1493262/crti=7/hotel-reviews
Kevin B from Atlanta does not recommend this hotel
Lot of little things
Bunk beds sagged, dryer didn’t dry, air conditioner roared, tub didn’t drain, no sheets for the sofa bed - had to ask twice and still only got one sheet, couldn’t get a complimentary beach setup any of the four days, jet ski guy didn’t have paperwork to allow us to rent jet skis, etc.
Traveler's tip on dining
Pier Park is a zoo. The wait at the restaurants is longgggggg. Not enough breakfast places in the area.
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Jim M from Chicago
Make sure you Bring Everything
Our family loved the condo, but there is NO service what so EVER there! The staff in the lobby is very unhelpful and not very pleasant at all. Our family ran out of toliet paper and garbage bags and the hotel would not give us anymore once we asked!!!!The actual condo is lovely but make sure no little kids have accidents in the pools again! During our 5 night stay both pools were closed at one time or another because a little kid had an accident in there and it had to be cleaned up!
Make sure you bring extra garbage bags and toliet paper becase you only get one of each for your stay!
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a Traveler from Atlanta says
Not Impressed
The location of the hotel was good. But the rooms were dirty. The rooms we ordered were not the same as the one which was shown online. King bed was supposed to be there, but only full bed was present. Hotel staff was ok, some of them were good but most of them were very rude. No room service ...
