June 13th – 20th 2022: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 10:58 am
Just some background, this was our second trip to RM and we’ve been to Pearl twice previously. This was our longest stay at seven days, and so we had more time to enjoy all the offerings than the previous trips which were between 4 – 5 days each. We are not in the LS, but we do enjoy the freedom of the atmosphere.
The Good
Where do I start… there is so much to include in the good category.
It should be noted that although we are not members, the staff really made us feel “premium” in this all inclusive. From the restaurant staff to the pool staff to the front desk staff, we felt like we were family by the second day. They remembered us and our preferences and were even prepared for us, like the waiters at breakfast who had our hot beverages ready with a smile. My wife forgot some makeup at home and when we went to get directions on where we could get some makeup, Emmanuel from the Premier desk just took it upon himself to get it for us so we never had to leave the hotel. Such a life-saver!
The Playmakers on this trip were one of the most cohesive and involved groups that we have encountered, so far. Yuni, Monica, Stephanie, Kevin, and Jerry… they all really went above and beyond both during the day, around the pool and beach, and at the shows at night. They were full of energy and always had a smile and cheeky comment. Very nice. Even the on-site testing lab manager made us feel at ease while taking our Covid-19 tests, which we still needed to re-enter our country at the time.
We came prepared to part-take in the theme nights. As a result, we ended up over prepared and over packed. But it was so worth it. We enjoyed every night, be it at the disco, the playroom, hot tub or some combination of the three.
Sahlo and Suki were very good. And we were able to get reservations almost every night despite the hotel being pretty full. So for six nights we had very sexy, intimate dinners with each other at Sahlo and very sexy shared dinners at Suki, where we met up with people both planned and unplanned. The food was great and there were some new things to try. The dinner buffet at El Arrecife was not our style.
We were lucky enough to have a great group for our week, which included some great Canadians and fantastic Colombians and a whole lot of cool Texans, Floridians, and even a US couple living in Belize, to mention a few.
Hidden Gems
Leo from the Watersports Activity Hut was fantastic. He gave relevant information on the Protected National Park that included the water in front of the resort how to use it within the parameters of the rules and regulations. As an experienced sailor, I was allowed to use the Hobie Cat out on my own and enjoyed taking my wife out for some fun sailing. My wife also enjoyed the stand up paddle boards so much; we did it twice in one day. Our only regret was that the seaweed did not allow us to repeat these activities, as we very much enjoyed them. They have top notch equipment.
The table tennis equipment got a little action from us as well.
The chocolate croissants at the breakfast buffet was so good, my wife squirreled away a few in a napkin most days for a snack later on.
The Bad
However, with all that said, there were somethings that were left to be desired, and it was mostly in the food and drinks department. RM’s world famous midnight after party snack bar was missing the B in BLTs one night, next night they were missing the T in the BLT, another night the tomatoes were missing from the margherita pizza.
My wife was enjoying Carlos’s Mojitos, but the mint kept running out (3 days). Very disappointing. Also, Bailey’s Irish Cream is Bailey’s Irish Cream; not what we were served while being told otherwise.
The lunch time grill was never announced and within the first hour of opening, the meats were finished, so it was either a rush to eat or settle for the buffet. Many days several of us were left standing with empty plates in the line. The lunch buffet was also pretty good, but also ran out of main dishes before 2pm, including guacamole on one day (in Mexico? Huh?).
The Ugly
Well no easy way to say it, but… our room safe was broken into by a staff member.
How do we know for sure, you ask? Well, it was all caught on video.
My wife and I were trying to recall some timelines on previous trips, and were laughing at how bad we were at remembering some of these details. So I made a suggestion that we take a camera and set it up in the room to document the week inside the room, since taking pictures on the premises were not allowed. So I put it up on the first day but could not get an internet connection that would let me see if the camera was even working, as a result we did not know what view we had, if any. We left it, forgot about it and went on with our vacation.
Before leaving the room, we noticed a substantial amount of money was missing, but did not know where or how. We tipped during and at the end of the week, but could not have spent that much on an all-inclusive vacation. We could not accuse anyone but ourselves, since we always had our money in the safe. We never left any lying around. It left a bitter taste in our mouth, but we could not do anything more.
When we got home, I took out the camera to check what, if anything, was captured. Amazingly, it had been working throughout and took very clear footage. In looking around randomly, we saw something that looked very suspicious. We replayed it a number of times, and couldn’t believe what we were seeing.
A maintenance worker had come into our room the day after we arrived and made a bee line to our safe. The camera happened to catch the entire act, albeit at the bottom of the screen.
In some ways it was a blessing in disguise that we did not know about the missing money until it was time to leave, and more so about the theft until we got home. It allowed us to enjoy the week without feeling violated. As unsettling as the missing money/theft was, it was compounded by the unprofessional and terrible response from the hotel.
More than a direct reflection on the resort that a theft has occurred, is the shameful manner in which they handled the situation. And this management team did not handle it well at all. It has left us feeling further violated and mistreated. We did not expect this response after the wonderful vacation we experienced at their resort.
If there is enough interest on the details of the theft, I will write a separate trip report that could include the video of it all. It would be entitled ‘Gone in 122 Seconds’ cause that’s how fast it happened.
The Good
Where do I start… there is so much to include in the good category.
It should be noted that although we are not members, the staff really made us feel “premium” in this all inclusive. From the restaurant staff to the pool staff to the front desk staff, we felt like we were family by the second day. They remembered us and our preferences and were even prepared for us, like the waiters at breakfast who had our hot beverages ready with a smile. My wife forgot some makeup at home and when we went to get directions on where we could get some makeup, Emmanuel from the Premier desk just took it upon himself to get it for us so we never had to leave the hotel. Such a life-saver!
The Playmakers on this trip were one of the most cohesive and involved groups that we have encountered, so far. Yuni, Monica, Stephanie, Kevin, and Jerry… they all really went above and beyond both during the day, around the pool and beach, and at the shows at night. They were full of energy and always had a smile and cheeky comment. Very nice. Even the on-site testing lab manager made us feel at ease while taking our Covid-19 tests, which we still needed to re-enter our country at the time.
We came prepared to part-take in the theme nights. As a result, we ended up over prepared and over packed. But it was so worth it. We enjoyed every night, be it at the disco, the playroom, hot tub or some combination of the three.
Sahlo and Suki were very good. And we were able to get reservations almost every night despite the hotel being pretty full. So for six nights we had very sexy, intimate dinners with each other at Sahlo and very sexy shared dinners at Suki, where we met up with people both planned and unplanned. The food was great and there were some new things to try. The dinner buffet at El Arrecife was not our style.
We were lucky enough to have a great group for our week, which included some great Canadians and fantastic Colombians and a whole lot of cool Texans, Floridians, and even a US couple living in Belize, to mention a few.
Hidden Gems
Leo from the Watersports Activity Hut was fantastic. He gave relevant information on the Protected National Park that included the water in front of the resort how to use it within the parameters of the rules and regulations. As an experienced sailor, I was allowed to use the Hobie Cat out on my own and enjoyed taking my wife out for some fun sailing. My wife also enjoyed the stand up paddle boards so much; we did it twice in one day. Our only regret was that the seaweed did not allow us to repeat these activities, as we very much enjoyed them. They have top notch equipment.
The table tennis equipment got a little action from us as well.
The chocolate croissants at the breakfast buffet was so good, my wife squirreled away a few in a napkin most days for a snack later on.
The Bad
However, with all that said, there were somethings that were left to be desired, and it was mostly in the food and drinks department. RM’s world famous midnight after party snack bar was missing the B in BLTs one night, next night they were missing the T in the BLT, another night the tomatoes were missing from the margherita pizza.
My wife was enjoying Carlos’s Mojitos, but the mint kept running out (3 days). Very disappointing. Also, Bailey’s Irish Cream is Bailey’s Irish Cream; not what we were served while being told otherwise.
The lunch time grill was never announced and within the first hour of opening, the meats were finished, so it was either a rush to eat or settle for the buffet. Many days several of us were left standing with empty plates in the line. The lunch buffet was also pretty good, but also ran out of main dishes before 2pm, including guacamole on one day (in Mexico? Huh?).
The Ugly
Well no easy way to say it, but… our room safe was broken into by a staff member.
How do we know for sure, you ask? Well, it was all caught on video.
My wife and I were trying to recall some timelines on previous trips, and were laughing at how bad we were at remembering some of these details. So I made a suggestion that we take a camera and set it up in the room to document the week inside the room, since taking pictures on the premises were not allowed. So I put it up on the first day but could not get an internet connection that would let me see if the camera was even working, as a result we did not know what view we had, if any. We left it, forgot about it and went on with our vacation.
Before leaving the room, we noticed a substantial amount of money was missing, but did not know where or how. We tipped during and at the end of the week, but could not have spent that much on an all-inclusive vacation. We could not accuse anyone but ourselves, since we always had our money in the safe. We never left any lying around. It left a bitter taste in our mouth, but we could not do anything more.
When we got home, I took out the camera to check what, if anything, was captured. Amazingly, it had been working throughout and took very clear footage. In looking around randomly, we saw something that looked very suspicious. We replayed it a number of times, and couldn’t believe what we were seeing.
A maintenance worker had come into our room the day after we arrived and made a bee line to our safe. The camera happened to catch the entire act, albeit at the bottom of the screen.
In some ways it was a blessing in disguise that we did not know about the missing money until it was time to leave, and more so about the theft until we got home. It allowed us to enjoy the week without feeling violated. As unsettling as the missing money/theft was, it was compounded by the unprofessional and terrible response from the hotel.
More than a direct reflection on the resort that a theft has occurred, is the shameful manner in which they handled the situation. And this management team did not handle it well at all. It has left us feeling further violated and mistreated. We did not expect this response after the wonderful vacation we experienced at their resort.
If there is enough interest on the details of the theft, I will write a separate trip report that could include the video of it all. It would be entitled ‘Gone in 122 Seconds’ cause that’s how fast it happened.