Zemi Beach House, LXR Hotels & Resorts

“It’s honestly surprising that this is considered a five-star property. I wouldn’t feel compelled to write a review after just 2 days here if our gripes weren’t repeatedly happening, but it’s been death by a thousand paper cuts. We’ve stayed at many five-star hotels and have never experienced this level of service at one. The beach is absolutely amazing, but everything else has fallen short, as if they are falling back on having an excellent beach as an offset to mediocre at best service. We’ve definitely met excellent individuals who’ve gone above and beyond, but overall the standard is far below 5 star. At the pool, we waited over an hour (multiple times) without anyone coming by to offer service of any sort, let alone even seeing someone to flag down. We also asked a server about ordering the Wagyu burger (on menu) and were told it wasn’t in stock, including at the restaurant, only to go to the restaurant 1 hour later and be told “yes absolutely we have the burger”. Unfortunately, the service at the beach was similar. We asked an attendant to set up two chairs for us. He literally just moved the backs of the chairs into the upright position and walked away. He didn’t put towels on the chairs or open the umbrella, even though I specifically asked him to open it because I was standing there with my baby in the hot sun. I gave him a chance in case he was busy with other demands, but after 15 minutes we ended up having to ask someone else to set up other chairs and it was done immediately. The restaurant experience hasn’t been much better. We ordered filtered water but were brought bottled water instead and charged for it. We also waited more than 40 minutes for a burger and eventually had to ask if it would be coming out soon. This was especially surprising considering the restaurant was nearly empty, with only one other couple dining at the time. The manager did come over and apologized and brought it out and offered a complimentary mocktail. The most concerning issue, however, has been the billing. We have been charged more than once for items we simply did not order or receive, and getting these charges corrected has turned into an ordeal each time. Rather than simply acknowledging the discrepancy and correcting the bill, our waiter, Ken, claimed that we were wrong about what we had ordered and received. It is incredibly uncomfortable to be charged for something you did not order/receive and then be told that you are mistaken when you bring it to their attention. If the restaurant has cameras, I genuinely urge management to review the footage and confirm exactly what was brought to our table. In this instance, the total order was 1 food item and 1 beverage. He insisted that we ordered and he brought 2 beverages, which did not happen. Our other gripes were someone adding a drink we never ordered (2 other occasions, 3 total), and a bartender substituting a well vodka for a signature cocktail that advertised grey goose (we called him out and he corrected after the fact, but was odd to say the least). Incorrect charges are concerning enough on their own, but having to repeatedly dispute them and then being made to feel as though the restaurant is doing us a favor by removing items we never ordered is unacceptable—especially at a five-star property. The highlight has been the beautiful beach. We’re still here until Thursday, so I’m hoping the remainder of our stay improves, but so far the experience has felt disorganized, inattentive, and well below what we expect from a five star property”

“My husband and I just finished our stay at Zemi Beach House and all we can say is Wow! This property and the staff are absolutely amazing. Anguilla as a whole is such a special place that has not yet been overrun with cruise ship excursions which makes your time on the beach incredible. ||We stayed at zemi for 6 nights and made our way up and down the beach to enjoy a few of the local restaurants and bars. Great food and great people. ||Zemi - |Complimentary continental breakfast and the breakfast team are phenomenal - and we don’t typically eat breakfast. They also have a complimentary made to order egg station. ||Complimentary SunBum (30spf) available throughout property ||PLENTY of beach chairs and poolside chairs even when reserved early by others. We never had an issue getting chairs on the spot. No up-charges for cabanas or sun beds. ||Poolside and beach service - excellent||Bar service - excellent||Dinner service - excellent ||This was our first time not going with an all inclusive. I truly feel it was worth it. The food and drinks were much better than what we have experienced at some AIs. ||The Thai Spa! OMG. BOOK IT. don’t second guess this. It’s amazing. The scents and sounds calm you almost instantly when you cross the threshold. Tuesday (and Thursday) yoga with Sammie at the spa - perfect and much needed after walking the beach for days. ||The gym - again - excellent. Full set of dumbbells and kettlebells as well as assist machines and treadmills. ||Btw - complimentary bottled water - all day, every day. You will need it 😉. ||Bugs - honestly didn’t see any. I usually get eaten alive by mosquitos in the US. Only a couple bites here. So grateful. ||Okay now for the most important part - the people. ||A special thank you to the following team members for taking such great care of us and making us feel super special:||Charisma - front desk and welcome tour|Shavicia - bartender |Rohon - wait staff|Jean - bartender|Indgri - massage therapist |Hector- beach service and bartender|Stacey Penn - waitress am|Tracy - bartender|Eulalia (aka Nina) -wait staff||Female Manager of 20knots! She is so pleasant and keeps everything running smoothly.||Gift shop/boutique Manager! Amazing as well. Both ladies are so incredibly personable. ||Breakfast and dinner Hostesses ❤️||And Paulo - the General Manager. Thank you for the cocktail reception and the time you spent with our group entertaining my myriad of questions. 😉You have created a special oasis and experience at Zemi Beach ❤️. Your staff is truly the best of the best. ❤️Please take care of them first and foremost, and the rest will fall into place. We thank you for your hospitality and can’t wait to visit again. ||Lyndsey and JT.”

“We enjoyed this property so much that after one day we canceled the rest of our trip and stayed for a total of five nights. We absolutely adored the property, the staff and our well appointed room. ||The highlights are truly the beach and pool staff . Patrick, Big Mike, Javier, I know I’m forgetting a few. And the staff at the bar, hector and (I think) Mary. Everyone was amazing. ||We went off peak season, which was amazing and we just kind of felt like we had a place to ourselves ||There were so many places to hang out and just be by yourself and have a minute - there’s tons of little cabanas and couches and beds. You can hang out on - all are complementary.||The one thing you should know is that this is on a hill. I actually enjoyed it. Gave me a little exercise from all the cocktails and cheatingI did with my diet, but if you are not OK with walking up and down hills, this might not be a spot for you.||That one piece of feedback I would give to the hotel is that the breakfast is really an issue. ||They are really pitching the breakfast buffet and it turns into a bone of contention for the guest. I discussed this with many other guests. ||“We do not want the breakfast buffet” was the joke. ||They will continue to try and push the breakfast buffet and nickel and dime you for every single thing you get à la carte ||We very much disliked breakfast every day. |You can’t get breakfast by the pool you can’t get breakfast on the beach. You have to sit in the same restaurant and the food takes 35 to 45 minutes because they’re pushing the buffet. It was absolutely obscene and quite frustrating.||Other than that, we loved everything - please change the breakfast buffet and let people order à la carte normally and have the food come out in a reasonable amount of time. It literally is a dealbreaker. We won’t be back until that has changed.”

“We received complimentary rum punch and non-alcoholic punch for my daughters at check-in. We arrived before the 3pm check-in but our rooms became available shortly after arriving at 1pm. We had a Zemi beach bag waiting for us in our rooms with written letters from the staff to welcome us to the hotel. We enjoyed the complimentary breakfast buffet since we are Diamond members. We really enjoyed having breakfast, lunch and dinner. The beach chairs, umbrellas and cabanas are first come first serve. There’s servers readily available to bring you drinks, appetizers and meals from their menus. Shoal Bay Beach with white sand beach was beautiful, no breaking waves, water temperature was perfect. Other restaurants options available only a small walk from the beach. We weren’t able to use the complimentary Kayaks due to windy conditions but they also have snorkeling gear, sun block and cooling gel that are complimentary. You can get all the VIP experience with concierge, even a drone show with a few days in advance notification, yachts, private jet. The hotel staff can get what you need.”