Bob & Fran - December, 2011

Desire Trip Report          Bob and Fran (Virgin trip)          December 2011

It was really quick and easy to get through immigration and customs entering Cancun.  A mere 20 minutes from the airport to the Resort. 

Check in was quick and efficient. 

We had a basic garden view room on the second floor of a 4 room building away from the disco.  Noise didn’t appear to be a problem.  Since we had other friends there, we were able to view other rooms and they varied in their design even though they were the same size rooms.  The shower in our room was very dark, cave like and small.  It was very hard to shave in.  Another room had a glass partition rather than a wall which helped alleviate some of the darkness issue.  The rooms are multi leveled…about a 5 inch step down just about where you get out of one side of the bed…dangerous, especially if intoxicated. Some rooms have a big closet that runs the entire wall of the room while others, like ours, had a very small closet and a couple shelves along with two very small drawers.  Not really enough room for unpacking everything.  Not all rooms have king beds although our room did. All the upstairs units have a shared balcony.  Especially nice if you have friends sharing the room that shares your balcony.  This made for a great area to gather with friends during rain.  The bathrooms are back to back and echo a lot and it’s almost like you are in the bathroom with your neighbors.  Closing the bathroom door at night is a good idea.  A really nice feature is the little fridge that is restocked daily.  4 cans of beer, 2 Cokes, 2 Diet Cokes and 4 (32oz) bottles of water.  Another thing I really liked was the full length mirror.  Also included in the room was a Sony iPod dock/radio/alarm clock.  It also has an audio output where you can plug in other music devices.  There are also two heavy weight terrycloth robes in each room.      

The food is amazing.  I never had a time when I couldn’t find something good to eat.  We never got sick from anything.  Like anywhere, some things were better than others.   We especially liked the fajitas from the grill at lunch…the endless supply of guacamole…and the desserts.  I was unimpressed by the fruit and the salad fixings are quite lacking.  The SUKI Japanese grill is very good.  People rave about the nighttime pizza and as I non-drinker, I don’t think it’s anything special.  I just think it’s a nighttime munchies thing!  It isn’t bad…but it isn’t the best I’ve ever had or anything.  They do have 4 resident raccoons that hang pretty close to the bar at night (where they serve the pizza) getting hand outs.  Some people love them…some hate them.     

The staff and service was impeccable!  They go out of their way to make sure you are happy.  ALWAYS going the extra mile.  Very impressive.  Special mentions go to Africa…our beach server, and Carlos who worked in the main dining room and Miguel at the Melange Bar.  Examples of going the extra mile:  When we were gathered on the balcony with friends during the rain one afternoon Chad went to the bar for more drinks.  The bartender, Miguel, then helped him carry the drinks back to the room.  He then checked periodically to see if we needed anything and delivered it.  One evening our dinner reservations got messed up due to the fact that one restaurant was closed for a private event on a night we intended to go there.  We were going to get shut out of the opportunity to have a meal from the fancier of the restaurants.  Carlos wanted to make it right and actually served us from that restaurants’ menu in the main dining room.  Our beach server, Africa, would bring ice buckets of beers and had the drinks coming before we could even request another.  She was jovial and fun.  We had 2 birthdays and an anniversary celebration that week and they were happy to supply cake and champagne.

The nightly entertainment was short but good.  It’s held in an outside gathering area.  Intimate, since the resort is quite small.  Not sure what they do in a rain event.  A highlight was The Mother Funkers Break Dance Kru.  The disco gets going around 11:00 and plays a variety of music.  It’s an interesting set up.  Has a small raised dance floor with 2 dancer poles and lighted floor.  More floor area around it and a couple bar tables and chairs (for 4) and a few beds around the edge of the floor.  There is also a bar off to the side along and a public play area in a back room.

The outdoor courtyard where nightly entertainment takes place.

 

The hot tub area is unique and interesting.  It is off by itself on a rooftop of a row of rooms.  It has it’s own bar and is multi leveled.  I can’t imagine the rooms below are very quiet  The top level has a shower…see thru…and several beds on one side of the tub.  The other side has a “swim up” type bar.  The other side of the bar is on another level and has seating for those not wishing to be in the tub.  There’s also a couple of couch type seats off to the side.  There are plenty of towels available there along with bathrooms, and a few cubbies for “stuff”.  The third level…the first level you come to at the top of the stairs, has a few nice lounge chairs and several more beds.  There are lots of clean sheets available for the beds.  This area is very popular once the sun has set as kind of a happy hour area.  It is also popular late night. 

The beach area is nice with many beach beds along it and plenty of lounge chairs since it seem most people tend to hang by the pool.  I think most rooms have to pay a fee for use of the beds.  We were there on a premier level which included use of beds.  The sheets were changed daily…or after rain.  Plenty of towels were available.  The attendants kept the beach raked daily.  The first few days there was a lot of seaweed type stuff along the water’s edge and pretty big surf.  Floating on a raft was not possible due to surf and there are none available. The water was quite cool.

I missed watching the sun set “into the water”.

The smallness of the resort sometimes makes it feels like no one else is there.

I was concerned about the resort being clothing optional.  I know sometimes the “clothed” guests like to gawk at the nude guests.   Here, it really didn’t seem like an issue regardless of your choice.

Fran