Desire Resort Forums

Breakthrough wrote:But by then, it's too late? Not saying to NOT put it in the survey, but if you say something early in your trip hopefully you won't have to deal with it for the rest of your stay...

Playmakers have a very tough job - they ask 30-people to get 3 volunteers, its clear the majority - 90% - have zero interest in participating in the pool side physical activities. Trivia gets a good turn out as does water volleyball. We enjoy sand volleyball and the competitiveness it brings out.

We like the pool, we like our socializing time, sometimes the Playmakers activities get in the way of that. We'd like them to be able to just not do a activity if the crowd that day is not into it and leave the crowd to themselves. No need to make 70% of the pool off limits for an hour.

Foam party & water balloon fight were the two activities that really got the crowd going - that 2-4pm time when everyone is properly liquored up.

Flip cup, beer pong, dirty darts - all are great fun but they need to speed up the games, less talking - less musica, less narrating the rules, less USA/Canada/England/Brazil chants, less props, more fun playing them, less time standing around watching the Playmakers talk & talk & talk. Get on with it!

We have noticed the same. Lack of competition is to blame. Until there is another place equal to or better we as in all of us will continue to go. Maybe not as often. But we will go

Breakthrough wrote:

Yeipi wrote:...the biggest disappointment was the lack of respect for the "No Smoking" signs in the jacuzzi. People were smoking not only at the jacuzzi bar but also when they were in the water. And nobody said a word...

This seems to be coming up frequently. I think it's time for us to take a little more responsibility for the resort knowing that folks are unhappy about it. We, for one, are going to start complaining WHILE we're there, instead of at the "exit interview". You can't fault the resort for allowing it if, from their perspective, it seems like it's just making their guests happier. If no one is complaining, how could they know?

Personally I think lots have complained about the smoking and this is one of the reasons they built a "smokers lounge" over by Suki, complete with couch, chairs and tables for the smokers to take a 5 minute break, be comfortable and fill their lungs while at the same time still being able to socialize with other smokers. On our last trip we saw this area being used quite often by the smokers and that was great, we were even in the room right beside it and only noticed the smell of smoke once while entering/leaving the room due to the wind direction. Management probably doesn't want to be to strict on the smoking policy as this may upset people to much and they may not return, also unless they have security patrolling the pool, hot tub and other ares watching for the offenders I don't think any of the regular staff ie: bartenders, wait staff or playmakers want to have to engage these people and get into altercations with them. Ultimately we are all adults here and the smokers should be respecting the other guests and the RULES, thus the ignorance lies in the hands of the offenders. The real blame here is totally on the smokers themselves and the ignorance and lack of respect they show towards others. The only time we have ever seen the no smoking rule enforced was in the disco one night when a couple people lit up by the bar because it was raining out and they didn't want to go outside to smoke, this was stopped immediately by staff. More of us need to speak up and put the smokers in their place and tell them to butt out or use the appropriate areas, but then again, who wants to get into an altercation with someone that doesn't respect others while on vacation, over a cigarette?

Agree.
Smoking at the hot tub is a real pain, and often done right under the no smoking sign!
No respect for others whatsoever.

Agreed ..... once again! We sincerely hope that others are mindful of the no smoking unless they are in areas designated for that purpose. Non-smokers have a real sensitivity to the smell of cigarette/cigar smoke and it's a quick way to ruin a moment/time at Desire! It would be very nice if this concern was specifically addressed when all visitors check-in for their stay ...... much the way they address no pics allowed. The only smoke I want to be around is my "smoking hot" wife!

tommer wrote:Agreed ..... once again! We sincerely hope that others are mindful of the no smoking unless they are in areas designated for that purpose. Non-smokers have a real sensitivity to the smell of cigarette/cigar smoke and it's a quick way to ruin a moment/time at Desire! It would be very nice if this concern was specifically addressed when all visitors check-in for their stay ...... much the way they address no pics allowed. The only smoke I want to be around is my "smoking hot" wife!

Breakthrough wrote:I do think the resort shoulders some of the blame. When we’re were there in November they provided ashtrays at the jacuzzi bar. Now how would a first time guest even think there was a rule to follow with ashtrays being passed around?

Breakthrough wrote:I do think the resort shoulders some of the blame. When we’re were there in November they provided ashtrays at the jacuzzi bar. Now how would a first time guest even think there was a rule to follow with ashtrays being passed around?

Indeed, that sends the exact message of "Yeah, it's a rule but we really don't enforce it so smoke up!!!"

To me, with this subject especially, either have the rule and enforce it or don't have the rule at all. The middle ground is the worst choice, it's ambiguous and sends the wrong message and in some cases ends up in needless confrontation between guests.

We returned from RM last week and did not notice any smoking issues at the pool or hot tub areas. The only ashtrays we saw were at the designated smoking area beside Suki. We were only there for 4 days so perhaps not a valid sampling but encouraging given some of the stories in this thread.

On another note the Guacamole was much improved from last October

Back in a month for some more....

Ritch

Damn it Ritch, just our luck that we'll be there 2 Mar to 10 Mar so missed you by a couple weeks on the front side and 4 days on the back side!

Glad to see things have turned around and back to the standards many of us have received in the past.

Hey Eddie, sorry we will miss you and Jojo again. We are back in late October for Halloween and Day of the Dead. Love to see you then....

Ritch

Just got back a couple of days ago...and saw no decline at the resort in any way. Maybe the guacamole wasn't fresh (we didn't notice, and we ate it, so it was at least good enough), but food and service were up to the usual high standards. Even their mistakes (our butler messed up our reservations one night at Sahlo) were rectified swiftly. We had the head chef checking on us more than one time to make sure everything was to our satisfaction. Service was probably the best we've had (although we came directly from Temptations, so our bar was very low...service there was horrible, although it's a fun resort). And the people were awesome as usual. Just our opinion and experience.