Club Med Columbus Isle

Is there a way to find out when scheduled renovations are set to start and finish at a resort... Columbus Isle in particular?

Thanks

Columbus Isle will be closed from the end of August until sometime in October (as it was last year as well). That's usually when they do whatever repairs & major maintenance work is needed. As far as any major renovations, I haven't heard anything definitive but it seems to me that would be the time of the year they would be most likely to start anything like that. The Club is completely booked in August, so it certainly wouldn't be any time before the scheduled closing at the end of August.

Adria

Adria,

Thank you! My husband and I are scheduled to go the first week of November in celebration of his 40th. It seems with all the fabulous positive comments, the single most common negative is the dated rooms. The first vacation w/out our 5-year-old, we plan to spend most of our time snorkeling and lounging w/ a tropical drink or two, but would certainly appreciate a comfy room to return to. Do you happen to have any advice on requesting room location if all rooms are the same (we opted for the club, not the delux)?

All the "Club" rooms(as opposed to the "Classic" rooms) are exactly the same, and all of them have ocean views. All the "Club room" buildings are 2-story bungalows. The "Classic room" buildings are one-story bungalows set further back from the beach, and those do NOT have ocean views or terraces.(Actually, what they now sell as "Classic" rooms were originally the GO rooms when they first opened the Village. They are more suitable for sharing by 2 single travellers, since each "Classic room" bungalow has 2 separate bedrooms with one shared bathroom. But some families with young children prefer this arrangement to having 2 separate "Club" rooms, even if they are connecting; and the "Classic" rooms are less expensive than the "Club" rooms.) The only major difference among the "Club" rooms is that some Club rooms have a queen-size bed & some have 2 twin beds. So you might want to request one or the other, depending on what you prefer. (They can also usually move the 2 twin-beds together to make a king-size, if you ask once you're there.)
Originally there were no different room categories for any of the Club rooms. But several years ago some marketing genius renamed the top floor rooms Ocean View & the bottom floor rooms Garden View. These would be 2 rooms with the same view, just one is directly above the other, so okay the view is slightly better. But, on the other hand, if you're on the lower level you don't have to walk up & down the stairs, and you're likely to have beautiful flowers surrounding your terrace. So now they charge more for the top floor "Ocean View" Club rooms. And a few of the buildings are slightly closer to the beach (I'm talking maybe 100 - 200 feet closer, not a big distance), so the top floor rooms of those few buildings are now "Deluxe OceanView" or "Ocean front" or something like that, and those cost even more. For the "Deluxe" rooms they send the maids in twice a day ("turn down service") instead of once a day, and they have flat screen TV's instead of regular TV's, and they have "spa robes" in the rooms. If you feel a need for those extra amenities, you can get a "Deluxe Ocean View" room for more money. But it's the same size & configuration room as every other Club room. All the Club rooms have mini-fridges & terraces. They all face the ocean. They all are steps from the beach. As far as I'm concerned, it's not worth paying more for "deluxe", but that's a personal decision. The Club rooms are quite comfortable, the a/c works, the maids do a great job of cleaning every day, and I don't know what else you might want or need..... It's Club Med, not a Ritz Carlton, so the floors are ceramic tile, not marble. There are stall showers, not tubs. But it's the exact same for ALL the "Club" rooms. The decor is island style; and what many people don't realize is that the art on the walls is original/real. (When this Village first opened, they spent a fortune on artwork and antiquities from around the world, and much of it is still there. Those are not reproductions in the Reception or bar/lounge area, or even in the bathrooms behind the lounge area; it's all authentic.) Since you're going in November, it will be AFTER they have done the annual maintenance work on whatever plumbing or a/c problems crop up during the summer, so everything should be working fine. (If not, call Reception & they will send someone to fix it. We've had to call from time to time over the years for things such a sliding door to the terrace that was stuck, or a toilet that kept "whooshing", etc. They've always sent someone right away to fix it, no problem.)
As far as location goes, it depends on what you like to do when you're NOT in the room. Some people prefer a room near the main dining room/reception/bar complex. Maybe you want to be close to the tennis courts, or something like that. We prefer to be closer to the Sea Center so we don't have to schlepp our scuba gear too far. But my husband has paced it out, and from our usual room near the Sea Center it's about 1/4 mile each way to/from the main restaurant - which we don't mind at all, we enjoy the walk. But if that might be an issue for you, then request something closer to the main restaurant. Other than that, it shouldn't matter too much where your room is located; you'll be close to the beach & beautiful ocean in any Club room.
It's a beautiful Village - hope you have a fantastic time there!

Adria

Thank you Adria for explaining the logic of the room designations. It sounds like that marketing genius must have been with the airline industry. No one knows better how to nickel and dime their clientle than the airline people.

John

Ha! If only it was explained as well to the travel agents.

Before I saw Adria's message, I had sent some emails out asking for quotes & clearly explaining that I wanted one of the rooms in the back that didn't have an ocean view (a "Classic" as Adria says, but I didn't use that term). All the quotes I got are for Club Rooms. And frankly, I get to see the ocean just fine from the dive boat, so it's not worth the extra expense. Agh! Back to the emails!

Trish

Trish, just tell them to give you a specific quote for a "classic" room, not a "Club" room. That's what you had last year. That's what Josh gets. That's what Chuck gets. A "classic" room. The default on the website (and probably on the reservations computer used by your travel agent) is the higher-priced "Club" room. When they adjust to the lower-priced "classic" room category, then you'll get a lower quote.
Hoping to have you there again with the rest of the crew...

Adria

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Very helpful info. Even though we are not going for 5 long months, your advice has been very helpful on what we can expect.

Melanie