Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Please contribute Desire Riviera Maya Trip reports here

Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Postby Helles » Tue Jan 18, 2022 2:21 pm

This was our 3rd trip to RM

Arrival - United decided to reschedule our arrival day from AM to late PM about a week in advance. We tend to arrive a day early to hit our favorite restaurant in Cancun and get to Desire early the next day. We opted to arrive 2 days early instead - easy change. We got into Cancun early evening of the 8th. and booked a night at the airport courtyard. Immigration was quick and easy - since the hotel offers free transport we called while waiting for the luggage and was told it would be 30 minutes...no problem (or so we thought). We run the gauntlet of salespeople and wait at platform 37 as instructed along with a an older foursome going to the Fairfield next door. I assume they share a shuttle.
We found the older group had already been waiting for 45 minutes and out of frustration, they opted to pay for a taxi. We wait and wait and wait - call again at the 40 minute mark and was told another 10 minutes. And at the 10 minute mark with another call was told another 10 minutes. We opted to taxi over and found a shit show in the lobby upon our arrival. Dozen people trying to check in and two people manning the counter - it wasn't pretty.
Eventually get to our room. Nicely designed room, bed was rock hard though and I enjoy a firm mattress. Grabbed some food from the onsite restaurant and found it very good.
Given everything, I would have just gotten an extra night at our hotel zone place instead.

Day 2 - Used USA to transfer us to the canopy in the hotel zone. Very chic place and amazing rooms. Enjoyed a nice cuban cigar and mojitos at Casa Del Habano. Protip - they work with the little food counter next door (La Tia Juana) and will deliver some fresh, authentic, and cheap eats. We spent a little time at the rooftop hotel pool/bar before getting ready for our customary dinner at Rosa Negra. Incredible place that I would recommend to anyone, but can be expensive especially if you like A5 wagyu as Mrs Helles does. They have a nightly fireshow on their dock that's impressive along with complementary bubbly for the ladies in the women's restroom (all the guys got was a nice young man that handed you a towel after washing your hands :lol:)

Day 3+ - Well rested we finally arrive home. Used USA again to grab us at 9AM - at RM by 9:30. Checked our luggage with the welcoming crew and were ushered to checkin. All week Kevin and G were a delight and we got situated around the pool until our room was ready. Mrs. Helles says I'm like that scene in Bruce Almightly where his clothes fly off when we hit the pool the first day.
We quickly got into the groove making friends both old and new. Attendance per the usual was lightest on monday and grew over the course of the week - nearly everyone was engaging or maybe we were just more so 8) . All theme nights were well attended with most folks in attire, but we noticed that there was overlap between the entertainment and the disco starting. For example, on glow night they had a rocking cover band that was so good no one went up until much later.
We noticed a definite decline in number of staff though - most likely due to covid. This was most noticeable with the number of bar tenders especially in the afternoon hot tub session.
Playmakers were great as always and they are no longer required to be masked which is nice. The biggest loss to us was the departure of Anna Banana.

Now the ugly - Covid does exist at Desire. We tested early afternoon the day prior to our departure feeling fine. Within 90 minutes a professionally dressed gal (I'm guessing management) came to our cabana and very quietly said that Mrs. Helles had tested positive and that both of us were to gather our things and follow her. She escorted us back to our room and asked that we remain inside until they administer a secondary test in a few hours and to call reception if we needed anything at all. She was very nice and we understood that she had protocols that needed to be followed, but past that point you couldn't help but feel that we were being watched. Unfortunately test #2 came back positive as well along with test #3 the next morning. We found Desire has pretty decent room service and will even bring drinks to your room.

We checked out the next morning as planned and got Mrs. Helles situated in another lodging situation until she'll fly home tomorrow (at least as of writing this trip report). Again USA Transfers was awesome and was able to pivot with getting me to the airport and Mrs. to her temporary accommodations. At least Mexico isn't like some other countries where they ship you off to a mandatory covid hotel.

My working theory is while covid isn't prevalent at Desire it largely goes unreported to the general population. The resort understandably has a reputation to protect. A couple will suddenly disappear and you assume they had interpersonal issues where they needed to withdraw from public - we've all seen it at some point. We were able to communicate with our group that passed the word along to others. If we didn't have that in place, I'm sure the others would think we just ghosted.

Recap - We had an amazing time with our own sexy breakthrough - looking at you Brazilian friends! And can't wait to get back home to Desire. Much love - A&E
User avatar
Helles
Desire Fan
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:17 am
Location: Denver
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Riviera Maya

Re: Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Postby b723641 » Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:36 pm

Perhaps I missed something in your timeline, but the bottom line is that you spent the obligatory two weeks in quarantine? Congrats on having a decent time regardless, but wondering how you tolerated the extended stay in isolation.
User avatar
b723641
Desire Lover
 
Posts: 91
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2021 12:49 pm
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Pearl
We arrive on: 07 Mar 2022

Re: Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Postby b723641 » Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:50 pm

I get it now after re-reading. You separated. She stayed and you returned on schedule? So how did she pass the time...confined, presumably, to a single room?
User avatar
b723641
Desire Lover
 
Posts: 91
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2021 12:49 pm
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Pearl
We arrive on: 07 Mar 2022

Re: Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Postby b723641 » Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:52 pm

OK. This is embarrassing. I get it. She checked into another hotel. But with Covid? No restriction presumably, but wasn't she exposed to the general populace of that living arrangement?
User avatar
b723641
Desire Lover
 
Posts: 91
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2021 12:49 pm
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Pearl
We arrive on: 07 Mar 2022

Re: Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Postby Helles » Wed Jan 19, 2022 11:01 am

Yes - we decided that I would head home and back to our daughter given that my test was negative. She relocated to another cost effective hotel where she did quarantine despite being asymptomatic. Her test yesterday was negative. To the best of our knowledge there is no obligatory 2 week quarantine.
Desire did offer a discounted rate if we decided to stay of $400/night I believe.
User avatar
Helles
Desire Fan
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:17 am
Location: Denver
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Riviera Maya

Re: Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Postby b723641 » Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:07 pm

Nice to know they don't throw a bag over your head with a "this guy has Covid" sticker -- which might make leaving Desire for another hotel problematic.
User avatar
b723641
Desire Lover
 
Posts: 91
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2021 12:49 pm
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Pearl
We arrive on: 07 Mar 2022

Re: Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Postby drm_team » Wed Jan 19, 2022 3:46 pm

Was she allowed to test daily until negative? Once she left Desire who administers the test and how did you alert the airline of the change? Thank you for sharing
User avatar
drm_team
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2022 10:47 pm
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Riviera Maya
We arrive on: 23 Jan 2022

Re: Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Postby Helles » Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:39 pm

As far as the alerting the airline, all I did was call and say that she tested positive and we need to push her flight out a couple days to start with a adjust as needed.
There are multiple public testing sites all around cancun and the surrounding towns - even one in the airport.

In reality, the results were reviewed on my phone very briefly and only visually by one airport employee before I got to the check-in counter. Neither the airlines or security asked for it beyond that single interaction. I imagine there would be ways around it if someone was determined.
User avatar
Helles
Desire Fan
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:17 am
Location: Denver
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Riviera Maya

Re: Trip Report Jan 10-16 - The good, the bad, the ugly

Postby davidh304 » Thu Jan 20, 2022 9:59 pm

Do you know what type of covid test is administered? It doesn't seem like a big deal but I wanted to see if it matched the U.S. entry guidelines.

And she could test every day and return as soon as there was a negative test?

This would be our first trip and the backup plan would be quarantine or fly to Tijuana and cross on foot and fly from San Diego home.
SLS, KiK: Slycat8
SDC: PoliticsAndReligion
User avatar
davidh304
Desire Convert
 
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 1:44 pm
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Riviera Maya
We arrive on: 06 Sep 2023
Swing Site(s) we belong to: SDC SLS


Return to Trip Reports from Desire Riviera Maya

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests