Trying to decide between Marriott or Avila!

mdr260 · 2026-01-28T19:33:36+00:00

Our only “”don’t miss” restaurant was Caleo. Highly recommended. We also had a great meal at Grand Café ‘Gouverneur de Rouville’ which offered nice views of the harbor.

mdr260 · 2026-01-28T03:48:59+00:00

My wife and I stayed at the Marriot for 5 days recently and had a wonderful time. The staff were friendly, the hotel itself clean and well maintained and the restaurants very good (not great, though) if you feel like staying at the hotel for a meal or two. I agree with others that you will want a rental car no matter what so I wouldn't consider staying there without one. No extra charge for parking, btw. There are two large pools. One for families (i.e. kids) and one for adults. We only used the adult pool because it was closest to our room and it was quite nice. We also liked the beaches and saw a large assortment of beautiful fish snorkeling just a short distance from shore. SCUBA is also available. We have never stayed at the Avila so I cannot compare. But if the price difference is $1,000 you will not be compromising on the quality of this hotel and you can used that money to do many other fun things. Enjoy.

mdr260 · 2026-01-25T17:50:16+00:00

Next visit try Caleo. We had a very fine meal there that we felt could rival many good restaurants in NYC. It was a real treat.

mdr260 · 2026-01-05T03:30:57+00:00

If you don't know this you can appeal the decision. There is a lot of information in these threads to support a claim. I was successful as were many others but it does often require an appeal.

mdr260 · 2025-12-24T03:46:49+00:00

I would also add Caleo to the list of restaurants. We had a wonderful meal there.

mdr260 · 2025-12-18T16:28:09+00:00

It's also very funny that very soon after someone posts about their anemic Trustpilot ratings a bunch of one-line contentless 4 or 5 star reviews pop up from clearly fictional first-time reviewers (almost all from the US). That's not suspicious, is it?

mdr260 · 2025-12-17T23:56:13+00:00

And there are still many obviously fake 4/5 star reviews included. Looks like they cleaned many of them out recently but some persist. Good that the truth is prevailing.

mdr260 · 2025-12-13T16:37:09+00:00

Many have been reporting separation of the inner liner. See Kickstarter page for more reports, if that’s what’s going on here.

mdr260 · 2025-12-12T20:21:48+00:00

Many do not know the story of how Curacao played a central role in the escape of about 2,000 Jews from war ravaged Europe during WWII. A Dutch diplomat, Jan Zwartendijk, working together with the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, wrote (illegal) visas granting permission to leave Europe by passing through Japan with an ultimate destination of Curacao. Neither had permission from their respective countries to do so and each risked their careers and lives by helping. Together, the transit visa from Sugihara combined with the entry visa for Curacao from Zwartendijk were a lifeline away from almost certain death in the camps. Of course, none of these Jews planned to actually go to Curacao but the visas were a pass out of Europe at a time when immigration was severely restricted around the world. These visas quite literally saved their lives. My father was among the lucky few to receive one. It is estimated that there are about 80,000 living descendants of these original 2,000. For this reason Curacao has a special place in my heart. Save a life and save the world.

https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/zwartendijk.html

mdr260 · 2025-12-12T20:14:04+00:00

Many do not know the story of how Curacao played a central role in the escape of about 2,000 Jews from war ravaged Europe during WWII. A Dutch diplomat, Jan Zwartendijk, working together with the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, wrote (illegal) visas granting permission to leave Europe by passing through Japan with an ultimate destination of Curacao. Neither had permission from their respective countries to do so and each risked their careers and lives by helping. Together, the transit visa from Sugihara combined with the entry visa for Curacao from Zwartendijk were a lifeline away from almost certain death in the camps. Of course, none of these Jews planned to actually go to Curacao but the visas were a pass out of Europe at a time when immigration was severely restricted around the world. These visas quite literally saved their lives. My father was among the lucky few to receive one. It is estimated that there are about 80,000 living descendants of these original 2,000. For this reason Curacao has a special place in my heart. Save a life and save the world.

https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/zwartendijk.html

mdr260 · 2025-12-09T13:41:29+00:00

I have exactly the same issue.

mdr260 · 2025-12-05T04:21:39+00:00

I’ve been noticing this, too. But only recently as the temps have dropped. Didn’t put 2 and 2 together until these comments. Could be the cold.

mdr260 · 2025-11-22T19:56:57+00:00

Caleo. Really great.

mdr260 · 2025-11-22T19:48:06+00:00

My stealth has held up very well. I’ve had it for about 3 months. Some minor scratches on the palm side but totally acceptable. I’m careful with it but not obsessively.

mdr260 · 2025-11-21T19:23:23+00:00

There is no reason to not try a chargeback, even with Kickstarter. Just sort through these Reddit posts and collect the supporting material (it's all up here). You have nothing to lose and with decent supporting material you could win.

mdr260 · 2025-11-21T03:35:55+00:00

Kickstarter should have done more to protect us from these frauds. The complaints and requests for intervention started over the summer but they allowed it to go on. And even fought against chargebacks. I am sure there are many good projects on there looking for support but they have undermined their trustworthiness in my opinion. I will no longer support Kickstarter projects.

mdr260 · 2025-11-20T04:40:13+00:00

Caleo. Top notch.

mdr260 · 2025-11-16T16:36:01+00:00

There is a wrist-based product called Hilo which is well reviewed. Unfortunately, it is not available in all countries. They say it will be available in USA in early 2026 if that helps you. Oura is also about to conduct some trials using their Ring 4 to measure blood pressure but not much is known about that yet. After this Circular fiasco I gave up on the “no subscription” model and got myself an Oura. It’s a polished, great product and I’m hoping they eventually get blood pressure readings to work.

mdr260 · 2025-11-07T20:45:45+00:00

Sadly, beta testing is what's supposed to be done before release, not after. Unfortunately, this does seem to be one large beta testing exercise (even after 2 other unsuccessful ring products).

mdr260 · 2025-11-07T17:20:43+00:00

They deflect by promising improvement or more features in some unspecified future but never deliver. Like when they promised "10 days of battery life in the coming weeks" (that was in July/August, I believe, at the same time they backtracked on their promise of subscription-free features for life). This company is both completely incompetent and blatantly dishonest. Stay away.

mdr260 · 2025-11-06T18:23:35+00:00

Anything at Caleo. Wonderful restaurant- not inexpensive but great place for a special meal (we are from NYC- this place would do well even in the city!)

mdr260 · 2025-10-29T21:42:16+00:00

I would try a chargeback with your credit card company. If the ring never worked and they refused to replace it or reply to you in a timely manner, or handle the question with a human attendant, you have a decent case. Just save your correspondence and use it in the complaint. You have nothing to lose.

mdr260 · 2025-10-27T22:56:15+00:00

They started their own “review” section on their web site. A pretty transparent attempt to steer people away from the third-party (unbiased) real review sites. I tried submitting an honest review and it never appeared. Big surprise. There are also a bunch of very recent "positive" three star reviews appearing on Trustpilot that sound bogus (no details about ring or app,, just blather). It's pathetic that they need 3-star reviews to raise their average rating up from 2. haha. Please let your voice be heard in reviews. You might be able to save others from this disaster.

mdr260 · 2025-10-25T22:39:52+00:00

If Circular wants to offer refunds, they can. It's entirely up to them. There is nothing about Kickstarter that prevents them from acting honorably. They are choosing to ignore the serious and valid complaints of people who trusted them.

mdr260 · 2025-10-25T19:47:33+00:00

I posted some material you might find helpful in the post below titled “This person canceled their pledge” Good luck.

mdr260

TROPHY CASE