RM vs PEARL, from a newbies perspective Feb/March 2022

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RM vs PEARL, from a newbies perspective Feb/March 2022

Postby Fox&Vixen » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:47 am

RM vs Pearl from a newbies perspective!

DESIRE RM first for each topic

These are our observations as newbies to both resorts. I will try and give our opinions but keep it broad enough and not go into too many specifics and please remember these are strictly our opinions! I hope I am able to give you some comparative observations of the two resorts.

We spent 7 nights at Desire RM and 8 nights at Desire Pearl.

Lomas transfers to RM from Marriott was on time and no problem stopping at a convenience store for a few things and we arrived at RM about 11am to find that our name was not on the list at the front gate. After about 10 minutes they allowed us to go on up to reception to sort it out where we were told we were not booked in for two more days. They asked for the reservation number which I had printed out showing we were booked for that day. I could hear the receptionist reading the numbers to their central reservations and having quite a discussion as we had already been told the resort was full. We sat there patiently as the fault was definitely theirs and we were going nowhere. 45 minutes later the young lady hung up, turned and said we had a room! Not sure how they did it but that was not our concern. We dropped our bags at the spa and went for lunch. At 3pm we had our room.

First impressions - the grounds were immaculately clean and maintained however we were certainly taken back by the number of people crammed around the pool. Definitely where the action is during the day but we much preferred and loved the beach beds and the beach. There were people wandering along the beach but only occasionally from the vanilla resort next door. You would definitely need to come by on purpose as it was a bit of a trek to get there. We hardly saw any seaweed the whole week partly due to the boom, not too many waves and the hard work of the cleaning crew.

LOMAS transport again on time to take us from RM to Pearl. Took about 25 minutes.

P) Once again immaculate grounds and the pool area is huge! No cramming of people together but members had certainly booked many of the beds each day. Going down early we always managed to get a bed at the quiet end which was our preference. We did not use a beach bed all week. There was much more seaweed here and the water not as clear. Also the beach had a steady stream of people walking by as the beach is just part of a long beach . It is about 25 minutes along the beach to Puerto Morales.

Room - deluxe ocean view. Nothing special, about the size of a standard hotel room with a thin strip of ocean through the door windows.

P) Master suite was about 5 times the size of the room at RM! Good ocean view from the balcony as well. Two full bathrooms allowed the boss to spread out!

Note - at RM book the most basic room as you are not in there much and really have no ocean view from the room.

Age - 15% under 35, 15% over 65, 70% 36 - 65. Average age 45 - 55.

P) 0% under 35, 25% over 65, 75% 35 - 65, Average age 55 - 65.

Nudity - Women - 50% nude, 40% topless only, 10% full bathing suit.
Men - 85% nude, 15% bathing suit.

P) Women - 40% nude, 40% topless only, 20% full bathing suits.
Men - 75% nude, 25% bathing suits.

Note - nobody cared at either place!

Food - we did not have a bad meal the whole week! Make dinner reservations at noon each day. Beware some restaurants close certain evenings so check ahead of time. Ask for the weekly entertainment/restaurant sheet at check in along with the stickers to cover your iPhone and iPad cameras.

P) Again not a bad meal all week. The restaurants here are a bit more luxurious in their settings. Dinner bookings are made starting at 7am in the breakfast restaurant. It seemed that there were fewer available spaces due to bookings by members. Again plan your dinners ahead of time around restaurant closures.

Entertainment - playmakers work hard to get people involved and they are fun.

Music - this is our one negative area. The pool music did vary but it was definitely oriented to much more recent music with quite a bit of techno played. The bands in the evening had trouble keeping people on the dance floor with poor song choice.

P) The setup is different here with the entertainment happening in the lobby. The band plays first then you go to the disco to watch the show.

Bands - RM - considering the average age of the clientele you would expect bands to be able to target them with their music. Several of the evenings no one was dancing or they would start dancing and then the band would change the genre of what they were playing and the dance floor would empty. Disappointing when every one was there to party.

P) Bands were better here and managed to keep people dancing most nights.

The lobby bar area (outside the lobby) is the hub for the evening entertainment and has lots of energy. Also a great place to get coffee in the morning when you go to book your beds for the day.

P) The lobby bar is in the lobby and does not generate the same level of energy that RM does.

Disco - virtually all techno/rap/hip hop which you would probably expect but it would have been nice to see some variety.

Similar to RM music wise but the disco is on the ground floor. They do vary it up on different nights.

Theme nights - most ladies made an effort, some considerably, to dress up. Perhaps half of the men did the same. Dressing up each night was definitely worth the effort and lots of fun!

P) Again about the same number of theme people but less energy due to the location.

Hot tub - not our cup of tea. Not so bad the 40 stairs up but the same ones going down after a few drinks. Again it is small and crammed at the fun times, about 1630 and again after the partying about 2330. Beds around it seemed quite well used but sitting on top of each other was not for us.

P) This hot tub is huge and on the ground floor. It was one of our favorite places to hang out in the evening. The beds were used but to a lesser degree and it definitely was not right in your face like RM.

Gym - nicely equipped but busy from about 0830-1030.
Same as RM.

Spa and photo shoot - we did not use it but friends who did were impressed.
Not used.

Notes - have a copy of your reservation numbers.
if you want a beach bed/pool bed you need to wander down about 630-7 in the morning and get it. Members take up a lot of beds for the whole week. Same around the pool for the “choice” seats.
It is clothing optional and no one gave a toss how you were dressed.
Get in line at noon to book the restaurant for that night. Lots of space if you get there early. 7am at Pearl. Make sure you know which restaurants are closed and when so that you can plan your venues.
Dress up for the theme nights and go have fun! The shows are worth watching.
Both - Get up early and go and book your bed for the day, grab a coffee then go back to bed if you wish.

We will definitely return hopefully with some of the great people we met!

STAFF - we cannot say enough about the staff at either resort. They are fantastic! I have tried to mention some of the ones that went above and beyond at the end of this. They made our vacation wonderful!

Overall impressions - we enjoyed both and look forward to returning in the future. Which one would we choose is the question? The pool (enormous) and hot tub are far better at Pearl for many reasons, the beach is better at RM. We did not want to hang out at the pool at RM as it was so crowded and chose the beach every day. Just the opposite at Pearl. No comparison with the hot tubs with Pearl being so much better. Food was equal so not an issue. Too bad the energy level of RM cannot be taken to Pearl but that is perhaps why so many people like Pearl. Ideally perhaps split half and half. We could do 10 days at Pearl but not sure about RM.

STAFF - RM
Ivan - Concierge
Yasmin (Mgr), Eunice, Alberto, Izmael (El Nino!), Eduardo - restaurants
Africa - pool bar
Monica, Yuni, Kevin - playmakers

PEARL
SOPHIE, MARIO - concierge
Geraldo, Eme, Raymondo, Eric, Esther, Louis - restaurants
Miguel - sun beds
Jessica - sales
Candice, Kia - playmakers
Fox&Vixen
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Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2021 9:40 am
We are from: Hong Kong
Will be at: Both Riviera Maya & Pearl
We arrive on: 23 Feb 2022

Re: RM vs PEARL, from a newbies perspective Feb/March 2022

Postby Oklacouple2022 » Wed Apr 20, 2022 11:31 am

Thank you for the great details! We are looked at both DRM & Pearl and settled on DRM. We do prefer a more lively setting so it sounds as if we made the right choice! Thanks again!
RM 8/31-9/4, 2023
DP 1/25-29, 2023
RM 9/1-6, 2022
KIK: Oklacouple2022
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Oklacouple2022
 
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2022 7:44 pm
We are from: USA
Will be at: Desire Riviera Maya
We arrive on: 30 Aug 2023


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