text: Did not meet expectations nnAmbience Pleasant and relaxing Sat outside with a view of the pool and palms No excessive noise or disturbances and table was nicely lit As we ate here on a Friday evening the adjacent bar had live music The bluesy guitar and drumdriven sets echoed nicely without drowning out our conversation I will add it seems very worthwhile to come for just a drink and the live musicnnDrinks Our Cakebead Chardonnay was wellhandled nnService Our waiter was very competent but overextended For the first part of our meal he seemed to have too many tables He arrived to do one lengthy explanation of the menu which was adequate Our food was hot when received To his credit he went out of his way to replace a suboptimal cut When faced with this concern he did not get defensive and focused immediately on rectifying the situation which was the perfect approach He was a very good server and with a slightly more formal attitude commensurate with the venues price point would have been an excellent servernnFood Appetizer clams were the highlight Buyers remorse upon receiving our oz ribeyes at a restaurant with an Italian name While I prefer the tenderness of a tenderloin or strip I will spring for an adequate ribeye Though my mediumrare was cooked just right the cut was lacking in quality Presence of pesto on the meat was confusing but easily spooned away The barbecuetype sauce on the side was flavorful the pieces highlight which helped mask the cuts suboptimal quality And skip the antipasto Aside waiter explained the venue used to instead feature an oz strip instead of our oz ribeye If management opts not to purchase higherquality ribeyes it should consider going back to strips though the former oz was surely too small consider instead a oz strip Restaurants at other nearby resorts have much better steaks at the same price pointnnGondola Apparently a reservation at Alto includes passes to the Hyatts gondola The gondola is a short walk past the adjacent bar We were not even aware of the gondola until our waiter said he would enclose passes with our bill The gondolier was pleasant and a very talented singer he will sing a Neapolitan folk song But the experience screamed cheap gimmick The ride was minutes total There were not any grounds located off the water to showcase we got to a water slide then turned around at a bridge about six minutes in The path brings you back the same way you came The singing is probably timed to distract from this realization but the effect was lost on me I would not ordinarily complain so much about a complimentary experience but we were expecting much better It baffles me that someone would pay for this if he were without free passes If you have kids with you or enjoy tacky spectacles this might be something you would enjoynnIn sum my advice is to come for the drinks and live music on a weekend possibly an appetizer as well and skip the gondola