Trip Report RM Feb 26-March 2

[Lkncouple]

We got back this Saturday. My observation is the similar to most, but here are my thoughts:

Pools:
-There is really becoming a two tiered system. They put purple premier towels on almost every bed and every chair in the new pool. I talked to the pool chair guy and he said if you are not a member and want a chair you need to be there before 7:30am. Otherwise, they will put your name on a list and if members don't show up by 10:30 you may get one of those chairs.
-The new pool is huge. I actually think it is too big. We were there for 5 days, and it seemed like a lot less interaction between between the guests. It seemed like a lot of couples hanging out. The only place there seemed to be a crowd was at the pool bar. It did take a while to get a drink.
-When they built the pool they have must have poured stucco or concrete over Styrofoam. There are little drains around the pool to catch overflow. When you look at the drains they have less than a half inch of stucco on top of the styrofoam. There were places around the pool where people stepped on the drains and their foot when through the concrete and stucco. My guess is they are going to have to replace all the drains.
-Definitely a younger crowd at the new pool. Just an observation, many of the younger crowd wore bathing suits.
-They installed the most slippery tile they could find for the new pool bathroom. They had a person whose full time job was to try and dry the floors in the bathrooms, but it didn't work. Someone is going to get seriously hurt.
-We ended up hanging out at the old pool. Service was awesome. They originally had "Spa" music, but our group asked them to change it to 80's-90's rock. As they changed the music, there seemed to be more people hanging out at the old pool. They really need to make the music a permanent change. The music was low enough that you could talk, and it seemed like this was a much more social atmosphere. I think there may have been a couple of complaints that it wasn't completely quiet, but the majority of the people seemed to like having some music.

Hot Tub:
-The new hot tub never opened. We snuck up and looked at it, and it is HUGE (Almost as big as the old pool. There were definitely leaks, as water was coming in to the new lobby bar. You could see where they jackhammered out the steps to look for pipes and try to find the leak.
-There will be a ton of beds around the new hot tub, and the view is fantastic.
-I wonder if having the hot tub so big if it is going to hurt to social aspect of the hot tub.
-While we were there, the original hot tub was packed. The water was not to hot. I think there were only 4 beds up there. One was broken and had caution tape around it. There were not a lot of people using the beds, like we have seen in the past, so 4 beds was plenty.

Lobby Bar:
- The new lobby bar is very nice. I think they will figure out how to properly use it. Lots of space and sitting areas.
- The nightly shows in the lobby bar seemed very lackluster. I don't think the lobby bar is the best place for the shows. In the past, they seemed to have much more acrobatic shows. I specifically remember glow night doing an amazing show with LED lights.
- They really messed up the old lobby bar. Now it is a coffee shop, but for some reason, that is were the late night Pizza, BLT's, Taco's are. So if you come down from the disco or the Hot tub and order food there is no place to get a drink. So you have to either walk up to the disco, the hot tub or walk to the other side of the resort to get a drink. I know this is temporary until the new stuff is open, but it is really poor planning.'

Service/food:
-Overall I think service is good. They definitely need help. However the people that are there, really hustle and take good care of everyone.
-At the old pool you can go into were the old lunch Buffet and order sandwiches and other lunch items. They basically have the grill running.
-The new lunch Buffet is in EROS, by the new pool. They also serve breakfast to order there. The view is great, and I think the food and selection was really good.
-Breakfast buffet was exactly the same as in the past. It did take a very long time to get an omelet. Service was stretched here. We order a soft drink for breakfast and we didn't get it until breakfast was over.
-We had dinner at Sahlo one night, it was the worst meal we had for the trip.
-I am not sure what is going on with the Spa, but there were a ton of spa people hounding you to get a massage. Everyday, multiple times a day you were asked if you wanted a massage. If you said no, they would really press you. We had people near us that said, they had a massage booked then next day, and they were pushy telling them to have one today and the next day.

Overall we had a blast. They have lots of improvements left to do, but regardless, I think if you go you will have a good time. That being said, bigger is not always better, and I think the addition will make some people very happy, we talked to a lot of people that have gone in the past were very unhappy and feel that the thing that made RM great was how it brought people together and now that is missing. I think beyond actual repairs and work that needs to be finished, I think management will be challenged to figure out how to bring some of the magic back, that promotes people to mingle. We have been to RM 8 times and after this week, we will definitely try Pearl the next time or maybe a Bliss Cruise

[ContentTwo]

Pools:
-There is really becoming a two tiered system. They put purple premier towels on almost every bed and every chair in the new pool. I talked to the pool chair guy and he said if you are not a member and want a chair you need to be there before 7:30am. Otherwise, they will put your name on a list and if members don't show up by 10:30 you may get one of those chairs.

This is the bullshit that turned us off of RM and sent us back to Pearl. Our last visit to RM was in 2022, and they were already treating non-members like second class citizens around the pool. In fact, you couldn’t get a pool-side chair, even if you showed up before 7 am. It was very disappointing compared to all of the impeccable service we had received in years past. To hear that they’re doing the same thing even with the additional pool areas? Wow…just wow.

As for your comment regarding overall “poor planning,” yeah, I completely agree. That seems to be their strong suit for the past few years. Just absolute hot garbage at planning, project management, announcements / communication, openings, etc.

Thanks for the update though. Your report cured me of any curiosity I had to visit RM in the foreseeable future.

[instyle]

Thanks for the detailed review, much appreciated. Last time we visited the RM was in 2021, and we've been thinking to coming again, as we loved the vibe and the experience...Would Pearl be a better choice now?