Avoid Cocount Tree's Hotel Bar!!!

[jac8724]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, and dont let this reflect on Roatan as an island, but we had a VERY scary experience here and the guy running the place could care less.

 

First, we were charged a different price for beer every time we ordered, and when we asked about the price being lower 15 minutes ago, we got yelled at...I wish that was the worst of our problems.

 

We decided to stay at this loon's bar only because the baseball game was on the tv. There was this crazy local, "Jimmy", who came over and sat at our table. It was clearly evident that there was something wrong with this person. My bf, in typical american fashion, started asking him questions about himself to make the conversation alittle less awkward. He snapped back at us, saying if we asked any more questions, he would have his guys waiting outside do something to us....He continued talking to us, bragging about his bazaar family, trying to get us to come to his house, and telling us suspicious stories about him and his brothers boat and journeys to columbia- likely drug runs or figments of his imigination. Anytime we said anything in response, he threatened our lives. We tried to stand up and leave several times, and were snapped at to sit back down or we would be killed by his people outside. He was probably delusional. Well i didnt want to find out, or make this scary situation with him worse.

 

The guy managing the bar was sitting two tables away and saw everything. He did NOTHING. After about 45 minutes of terror and harassment, and basically being held hostage, the guy finally walked away. We got the HECK out of there.

 

I realize the bar cannot exclude sketchy locals, but they should have when we were being harassed and held captive with death threats.

 

BUT, we did our diving at the Coconut Tree dive shop downstairs (registered for this before the incident!) and they are very normal, nice people there. Im sure they have no affiliation with the guy working upstairs.

 

I actually would be happy to never see this island again. i wish i didnt have such a bad experience, because everyone seems to love it. I, on the other hand, in addition to the experience above, got covered, literally, in sand fly bites and came home with some water illness that lasted over 3 weeks.

[MercedMike]

We decided to stay at this loon's bar only because the baseball game was on the tv. There was this crazy local, "Jimmy", who came over and sat at our table.

 

I realize the bar cannot exclude sketchy locals, but they should have when we were being harassed and held captive with death threats.

 

HMMM -- let's see ... you wandered off on a third world island into a strange bar ... and you wonder why he does not exclude sketchy locals? Then you left the place and will probably never be back??

 

I suspect the bar owner is sitting there wondering if he should exclude strange gringos because they insult his regular customers?

 

If you're a tourist -- take the ship's excursions to "safe" places.

 

If you want to "get away from the tourist traps" and "get to know the locals" -- well, that is what you did, isn't it?

 

>:-)

[jac8724]

I think that good business sense is universal- third world, first world, and everything in between. No one should be exempt from this. This man manages a bar/restaurant connected to a hotel and dive shop right ON the main strip in the west end. That was just "biting the hand that feeds him" being rude to us over changing drink prices and allowing a man to come over and harass us in such a way. So no, i wont go back, and im am going to write him a bad review. Im entitled to write a bad review just as much as anyone is entitled to write a good review. Isnt that what this board is about? Figuring out how to best spend your money? In my opinion, Coconut Tree bar is a bad place to spend your money!!!

 

Furthermore, besides being a horrible business man, the man was a coward on a personal level for allowing a deranged 45 year old man come and harass a 21 year old female in his presence- threatening her life and telling her to sit down and cant leave. If it was your daughter, youd have a different tone...

 

I dont consider myself a tourist looking for safe places. Before arriving on Roatan i backpacked the interior of Guatemala and Honduras. Never had a bad experience. Right now im packing for Thailand.

 

I realize you love Roatan, and i can see why. Im just trying to expose this particular location as a bad place to invest your money. Or maybe saving someone else from this same treatment. Thats all i want!

[wimberleydlc]

I will be in Roatan in three weeks and appreciate your advice!

[MercedMike]

... im am going to write him a bad review. Im entitled to write a bad review just as much as anyone is entitled to write a good review. Isnt that what this board is about? Figuring out how to best spend your money? In my opinion, Coconut Tree bar is a bad place to spend your money!!! ...

 

Sure, you're entitled to express your opinion -- but you are not entitled to believe that nobody can respond if they disagree with you! THAT is what this board is all about -- exchanging opinions! It's not your private forum. If you toss a chunk of meat out here, expect the dogs to gnaw it over!

 

I certainly don't plan to spend any money at Coconut Tree Bar. If you get right down to it, IN MY OPINION, sitting around a bar watching basketball is a pretty foolish way to spend your limited time on an exotic island! But, hey, it's your vacation.

 

>:-)

[Giventofly]

HMMM -- let's see ... you wandered off on a third world island into a strange bar ... and you wonder why he does not exclude sketchy locals? Then you left the place and will probably never be back??

 

I suspect the bar owner is sitting there wondering if he should exclude strange gringos because they insult his regular customers?

 

If you're a tourist -- take the ship's excursions to "safe" places.

 

If you want to "get away from the tourist traps" and "get to know the locals" -- well, that is what you did, isn't it?

 

>:-)

 

 

Yes...it's their country! You're just a gringo and it's all your fault!

 

What a horrible attitude. Horrible response, and a horrible post.

This person's telling a story about how her LIFE WAS THREATENED while the resturant owner looked on, and you insinuate that it's somehow her fault.

 

Is her post count not high enough for her opinion to matter?

 

Dude...if she was complaining about them not having automatic hand dryers in the bathrooms....fine, but man, you ripped her face off, Assumed she was off the beaten path (which he wasn't) and assumed she was an inexperienced traveler (which she wasn't).

You spent so little time reading the actual post that you even got the sport wrong. Baseball is HUGE in many caribbean islands, and some of them are more passionate about it than americans are.

I guess you were too busy getting ready to "gnaw" like the "dogs" to actually read what you were responding to.

 

I hate to be inflamatory like this, but that was a very mean spirited post...and hardly a way to welcome a new user.

 

 

 

jac8724...thank you for the heads up information, sorry about your horrible experince, and welcome to the board.

[jac8724]

Thanks Giventofly. I was going to respond with the words "presumptuous" and "insulting" but i figured it wasnt worth my time. Well i have a minute =)

 

Presumptuous- you know nothing about me. Not only was the bar right on the main strip, but I am very well traveled for the young age of 24. I am packing for Thailand- to go 3 months ALONE. I was also watching Baseball in a bar because my travel partner was backpacking all of central/south america for a year, and managing a fantasy baseball league to maintain a semblance of normal life. Oh yea we were also 21 year olds and the majority of us can be found in bars in the evening. Im not foolish, and my time here wasnt limited by any "cruise" deadlines.

 

Insulting- to suggest that I was the one insulting a "regular" customer (there's another assumption!) and that i should be banned from the bar just leaves me speechless. My life was threatened numerous times, in a tourist trap, while the owner looked on. I know its hard to imagine, but i am not just a screen name on a computer. I am a real person, whose life is valuable- a chicago law school student hoping to help refugee and political asylum seekers, who ran an organization for homeless animals, an avid scuba diver, an honor student, im a daughter, a sister, a girlfriend...dont devalue my life by suggesting that that this dangerous situation my fault and i got what i deserve...

 

 

 

Giventofly- I'll continue to post, Im pretty thick-skinned, i have to be :rolleyes:

[JXOPF]

I'm heading to Roatan in a few days and really appreciate the heads-up.

[Northender]

Roatan is a stop on our next cruise. This bar will be off limits as far as I am concerned.:(

 

Too many good places to go and enjoy. And yes, we love baseball too, and 'tis the season:D

[Trigger69]

Jac8724, Don't let the posts of one obnoxious cruiser deter you from these boards. I've seen many of their posts on several forums... always insinuating what others should do on their vacations. I for one thank you for the information you have posted of your experience. That is what this board about, not someone trying to force their opinions on everyone.

[wolfganghowell]

jac - thanks for the info. We are still uncertain as to what to do in Roatan and I will remember your well reasoned advice. Welcome to the board and stay safe in your travels and wise and compassionate in your career choice. Merced, I think you came down way too hard on this person's post. They weren't being inflammatory, they presented a coherent account and although the bar owner may have known the local was harmless, he allowed the situation to continue. The bar is connected to a hotel so it obviously caters to the tourist trade - it's not too much to ask to have consistent prices and a safe environment. And insulting them because they chose to watch a sporting event is absurd - it may not be your form of relaxation (it's not mine either by the way) but everyone is entitled to their own way of enjoyment. If they choose to watch baseball in a beach bar, that does not make them foolish. Chill.

[theotherchad]

I was reading down this thread expecting an apology from Merced, but I guess that's not happening. Like others, I appreciate the info from the original poster. We'll be in Roatan within the next couple of weeks, and I'm looking forward to it, but I like to be well informed.

 

Peace ya'll!:)

[cougar]

It doesn't surprise me...so many people today make the victims feel they were responsible for another's action. Each person has different experiences and all should be respected. We were there for the first time in March and we absolutely loved Roatan it was our favorite port...we had limited interaction with the natives but found them to be the most curtious, polite people...we can't wait to go back and really appreciate the warning about coconut tree hotel bar...after all this is why I read these boards, to find out good and bad about ports and then make up my own mind.

[MercedMike]

I was reading down this thread expecting an apology from Merced, but I guess that's not happening. Like others, I appreciate the info from the original poster. We'll be in Roatan within the next couple of weeks, and I'm looking forward to it, but I like to be well informed.

 

Peace ya'll!:)

 

Wow, you are a very patient person, if you've been waiting all this time! I thought this thread was long dead.

 

But, sorry -- no apology here. You say you appreciate this person hopping on here to WARN everybody about one particular establishment. I will continue doing what I usually do and expressing my opinion -- and in this case it is that what tourists should be warned against, instead, is the kind of behavior and expectations that the original post seems to imply.

 

Simply put, folks, if you wander into a bar in a small, underdeveloped island port -- and you DON'T see a bunch of other tacky tourists hanging around there -- then either leave, or give up your American expectations. If you can't stand the behavior of foreigners, then don't go into their bars. But if you find they treat YOU as if you were the foreigner, and either try to cheat you, or insult you, or ignore you ... well, guess what, you ARE the foreigner!

 

I will concur with the original poster. Whatever this bar was, Coconut Tree or something, don't go in it if you are in Roatan. I just extend that advice a bit further for all the novice cruisers who read this board. You cannot assume that all establishments in small underdeveloped foreign countries will treat you as if you are at home. Only places catering specifically to tacky American tourists do that ... so stick with them, or leave your American expectations behind.

 

Wherever you go, have a GREAT cruise!