Location is GREAT but Ritz quality is waning The beach is beautiful and location is great but the quality of the Ritz seems to be waning. The first impression was the approach to the resort which was lined with cars from the valet service. Instead of a grand entrance we were met with traffic. I don't believe it was due to parking overflow as the lots by the convention halls were empty. The front desk staff were overworked and short with us. Not only upon check in but throughout our stay. The concierge were not knowledgeable in the area. In fact when I asked which direction a particular restaurant was in we were advised is was south of the hotel, near the Omni rather than the complete opposite end near the town. I'm thankful for google maps. The front end staff and concierge were a first for us, normally there are no issues. The property itself, well that has been a constant throughout our stays at the Ritz in the recent years. They need work! The pool areas needs painting, there are lights out in the pools, dirty windows throughout, conferences on the center lawn required us to listen to unwanted sounds rather than the ocean, Dirty and often ripped pool/beach towels, etc. In short, just not what one expects from the Ritz brand. Minus that (which was a lot) the pool and beach staff were top notch. We were club level (highly recommended) and the staff in the club lounge were the best, bar none. All in all it was a relaxing trip but not up to par for the Ritz brand.

Wonderful Family Escape Today is our last full day and we are so sad to be leaving this wonderful hotel and location tomorrow. Everything has been amazing. The hotel is incredibly family friendly. We almost cancelled our trip due to Covid concerns but ultimately decided to come and we are so glad we did! The hotel staff made us feel safe every step of the way. Everything was clean/pristine and we were able to social distance and do our own thing as a family. Covid has hit the service industry hard and supply chains are incredibly disrupted. If you are expecting every detail to be as it was before the pandemic you may need to adjust your expectations. That being said, we could not have been happier with the level of service and this wonderful hotel. We will be back!

Oh dear....... The Ritz Carlton Amelia Island has always been one of our favorite hotels and we have stayed here many, many times. We have always been greeted with impeccable service and understated elegance in an unbeatable location. This visit however, was definitely different. Was it Covid? Short staffing, poor training? Poor supply chain? Likely all of the above. We did not expect the hotel to be trying to operate at full capacity under these conditions, but it was. The computers were down at check in, and the front desk person was confused and disorganized with paper check in. They couldn't tell which rooms were ready, and I don't think ours was fully prepared. With rising Covid numbers in Florida, of course we expected some glitches in service and staffing However, we felt confident in the Ritz Carlton standards of cleanliness in the setting of Covid. Very few staff and almost no guests were wearing masks. Upon arrival, it was clear no one had vacuumed the hallways for a very long time. Large "dust bunnies" were everywhere. Our room had trail mix and sequins scattered on the carpet and chairs. We called for cleaning and someone did a cursory vacuuming outside our door only. The mirrors nd bliw dryer were dirty. Our sink and toilet were not cleaned during our entire stay! We were told linens were short and were advised to conserve our used towels. Worst of all, when we were packing to leave and checking our room as to not leave anything behind, my husband found a pair of mens underwear, a shower cap and a bottle of shampoo on the closet shelf where I had gotten an extra blanket from a few days earlier! Disgusting. We saw housekeeping in the hallway. She never even looked up from her cellphone, even after we said good evening. The new decor is very pretty. But the rooms appear unfinished. They lack accessible light switches, towel bars and a step in the shower. Amenities were meager. We were supplied with drug store Neutrogena products in the shower, discount toilet tissue and an odd mix of other products. Pillows were like wet sandbags. The extra pillow did not even have a pillow case. The valets were great- polite, efficient, but again no masks/hand sanitizer in and out of our car. The First Drop coffee shop is a nice addition. Restaurant and beach staff were great. I had to get my own drinks at the pool. Grounds are beautifully kept. All in all, a very mixed experience. We still love the hotel and it's location. But improved hygiene standards are not only expected at this price point, but critical at this time for everyone's safety.

Almost no one wears masks inside I’ve been here many over the last 15 years. This was the first time after COVID. About 95-99% of people inside the hotel did not wear masks at all during my stay Aug 5-7, 2021. This includes inside the lobby and elevators. This includes kids aged 2-11. Also there was no social distancing that I could see. Right now this region of FL has one of the highest rates of COVID in the country— 137 new cases daily per 100k population. Current CDC: “To maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.” I cut my hotel stay short by half because of the high COVID rates here.

Dirty and lacking pretty much everything. But great location Let me start first by saying most of the staff at the hotel was great. The front desk, pool, bar/restaurant and valet staff were all hustling and making do as best they could with their resources. However, this hotel was a 3-star at best overall. I realize these are difficult and complicated times for staffing everywhere. But when people are expecting 5-star service and amenities and PAYING for that, then you better be able to deliver. If you can't, then you need to be up front with your guests, set expectations and refund lodging fees to a certain extent if you can't provide what people are paying for. My husband and I were here July 2021 for 5 days/4 nights. Our room was never cleaned the entire stay. It wasn't even clean when we arrived. After our experience, I'm not even certain we got fresh bed linens from the previous guests. We called down several times about the lack of room servicing and were told each time that someone would be up shortly (we called a few times on our way out to dinner to let them know we'd be gone). No one ever came. By the last night, they finally came for turndown service which was just them making our bed for us. Again, nothing was cleaned. No vacuuming, no cleaning of the bathroom, etc. The entire stay, I was forced to look at and tiptoe around the previous guests' hair and other bathroom debris. There was an old coffee cup on the balcony (I bet it's still there), old lotion bottles under the couch and dirty carpet that hasn't been vacuumed in weeks I'd guess. This is unacceptable when you're charging guests $1000+/night. End of story. If you can't clean rooms, you can't charge those prices. When we arrived, we were made aware of some linen shortages (towels, bed linens). Fine. No problem. But the lack of housekeeping was never mentioned. I was told my hotel staff (who were very kind and apologetic and quite frankly embarrassed) that they are unable to hire enough in-house housekeeping so they had to outsource to a third party. Because of this, the hotel staff basically has no control over them and the outsourced cleaners have no accountability to the hotel. No one can be reprimanded, no one can be fired. So the poor hotel staff has their hands tied and all they can do is call down to housekeeping 900 times for you and hope they finally show up. It's a racket and I really do feel for the front desk staff that is dealing with this. When I said they should be giving guests fair warning of this issue upon check in (or sooner), they agreed, but said without saying that they aren't allowed to tell people that. Shame on your Ritz corporate, for making your FOH staff look bad when you're tying their hands. The room cleanliness was hotel-wide. I talked to other guests who were experiencing the same issue. One top of the room cleanliness, the whole hotel was lacking cleaning. Normally at hotels of this caliber, there are people cleaning everywhere all of the time. Especially at a beach resort. I am certain the elevators were never cleaned the 5 days we were there. The lobby bathrooms were serviced (because I saw a sweet lady in there cleaning a few times), but the whole bathroom could use a touch up. The doors to the stalls were disgusting and haven't been wiped down in months if not years. Faucets didn't work and doors didn't lock. I will note that the hotel refunded us a good deal of our bill, but this only came after persistent complaints and following up to let them know issues were not remedied. Onto other things.... Salt, the fine dining restaurant, is revered as on the best, if not THE best restaurant in the area. We found it to be be just ok. The restaurant itself was beautiful and if you get a seat by the windows, the view is lovely. The menu on site was quite different than that online. It's called a steak house but they had 2 steaks to choose from. The options were all kind of meh-- nothing got me excited (though what I saw online there were several more options that looked enticing). The waiter told us it's because they recently got a new chef. When? you ask. In April. I guess they haven't time to update the menu. There wasn't nothing inherently bad about it, I was just very underwhelmed, especially given the price point and the hype. If we return to Amelia Island, Salt will not be on the list of places to go. Positives: Great location, excellent beach. The beach is very nice and clean and not at all crowded. We saw dolphins every day and the water temp was perfect. The pool area was nice, though it could get a bit overwhelming in the afternoons with all the kids. However, there was a noticeable lack of annoying kids with parents who could care less to discipline them, so they didn't bother us. There are plenty of areas to seek shade which was great and they had unlimited bottles of water to grab from coolers which I greatly appreciated with heat indexes at 115. The area itself was kept pretty clean, the water temperature was comfortable and refreshing. The pool staff was really wonderful. So helpful and courteous. The pool bar was lovely and the staff there was awesome. Very friendly and quick service. We enjoyed our time there very day to get a reprieve from the heat and enjoy the ocean breeze with a cool drink. Overall, I'm not sure we'll be back here. I stayed here loooong time ago (decades) and it was very nice. I know Covid limitations are causing issues, but again, they need to set expectations for guests and be reducing the fees they are charging because what they are providing is certainly not at the level of 5-star and until they can get there again, they (Ritz corporate) need to act accordingly.