Why can they charge this much per night?
Because you think the location is great and you don't know any better about the cabana.
My wife said 2 stars. I gave 3 stars because I hate to feel rude.
The location didn't change, but the quality of the facility? The pictures look good. Now add 10 years of wear and weather.
To the dock. To the bathroom. To the kitchen. Etc.
It's romantic in it's own way, but for the $$$, you can find better facilities with equally good beach space.
I mean, even a shack on the beach should have a blender! Seriously.
Arrival gift basket? No. (Didn't care but was advertised.)
Coconut oil for bug repellent in gift basket? No basket. (Didn't care but was advertised.)
Beach towels? No.
Mid week cleaning? No.
Mid week towel exchange? No. And with this much humidity - you'd like a new one.
Dish soap? No.
Bathroom soap? No.
Clean? You wonder what will crawl out from under the mattress at night.
Working TV? Didn't really care; tried it out of curiosity. Couldn't get anything to happen.
Just lots of little things that you wouldn't think would make a difference in paradise.
But they do.
Guests in the purple house next door (same owner) said it had leaks. Fortunately none were over the beds. They were out on Sat about 10:00 am after 2 weeks of stay. Next arrivals came in at noon. Wow! That was fast cleaning! Yeah, ours wasn't that clean either.
(Remember reading about the "bleach cleaning every week"? Normally that would get rid of the cobwebs and leave a clean type of smell. It didn't. Hey, it's hard to keep a beach shack clean, I get that, but they've done a good job with their PR that made me think otherwise. (Some of this info is found on owners personal website.)
Local staff was friendly, responsive and trustworthy.
Dolphin pen was very close to end of dock and we could watch them play and put on the show for those who paid to get inside with them.
Snorkeling? Average. Murky. But what you have is almost exclusively yours. But do you want great quality? As much as I don't like the touristy area - the snorkeling within yards of the beach at West Bay was exceptional. Crowded with people, but lots of sea life.
You know what it's like when you're traveling by auto and you get one of those cheap motels to spend a quick night and get back on the road the next day? So you deal with the deterioration of the room?
It's like that.
Do yourself a favor. Either get this for about $50 bucks a night or spend your $$ elsewhere.