May 7th to 15th

[lavaloving38]

Just returned from a fantastic 8 days with the hot tamales and ynots...BUT THE LUNCHES and BUFETS are so bad something has to be done.It is an insult to serve people paying the prices we do with the absolute slop they turn out for lunch every day.It is worse than the lowest of the low gas station garbage.And this is putting it mildly...it is so bad that I feel so strongly that unless they change this, it is really going to hurt them....and the evening buffets are no better...it never varies,it is just garbage..cheap mash,fried onions,nasty rice,fried cold potatos,uneatable pasta...chewy bits of beef...same 5 trays EVERYDAY...cardboard hamburger...good fish...
The resort was fantastic,staff the best...BUT GET RID OF the RACOONS that bit one guest and live next to the lobby bar..stray feral cats...for gods sake its not supposed to be a rubbish dump.

[randyandmissy]

We took our 6th or 7th trip this past february. We have loved Desire, we have met so many life long friends. The food in every restaurant except maybe the japanese restaurant was pitiful! We broke the record for the longest meal ever recorded at 4 hours in the il piercere one night. the buffett is i can only describe as disgusting! we tried once because we were so bored with the others and certainly were not going to endure another 4 hour meal.


The disco is pathetic. the same crap every single night! i took a cd with some nice updated music, great dancing music, ga ga, kasha etc etc. the kid looked at me and laughed and continued with his monotinous electronic crap. the disco was deserted very early every night. they still play the only country song that they played in 2008, 'ride a horse save a cowboy" it is still the only one they have.
Take away the sex and take away the people and the place does not exist!

[mrmuscle]

Well....I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We are sorry to hear you feel this way about the presentation laid out to you by Desire. Hopefully if you have another opportunity to visit, the quality will meet your standards and expectations.

Judging by the past trip reports I've read they do more than satisfy the majority of their guests and are in the process of applying changes to their menus. As for the music displayed by the disc-jockey, sometimes we get sounds that don't turn our crank but have in most cases had our requests filled by evenings end. I guess for those who absolutely do not like any of his tunes......there is the option of bringing your I-pod/earphones and "dancing to a different beat".

[TnG]

I'm not sure I can trust the opinion of anyone who thinks "Ride a horse, save a cowboy" is a "country" song...

So you consider the disco pathetic, or just the music? Granted it can be repetitious, but often changes with some of the theme nights. And we think the changes to the disco a couple of years ago are great (and needed).

And our palates must be easy to please...we never went hungry on any of our trips, and enjoyed the vast majority of meals.

[mfay]

Heh Lava- good to see you guys made it home safe.
You know I am easy to please in general, but we too were disappointed in the buffets- especially lunches.
Overall it was a fantastic week with great people- one of our best ever-(we'll post our own trip report soon) but we will be mentioning the food selection/quality and the raccoons in our group follow up to the resort. The raccoons are cute and people like to throw them food and take pictures- but obviously they can't have people getting bit !
Great to see you again- and we can't wait to do it again !

[springer]

Mike, we were there the week before and were satisfied with the lunch and evening buffets, except for Mexican night, which was held outside. We didn't care for the food selections and it was too windy. That was the third night they held the buffet outside. Once or twice was enough for us. The lunch buffet seemed the same as last year. We might have had a minor gripe or two during the whole week about the lunch buffet, but overall we were pleased. I didn't try the hamburgers this year. The chicken quesadillas were as good as ever. We're really not hard to please and tend not to eat large lunches. I suppose you would notice things we wouldn't, since you've been to Desire so many times. That was our 5th trip, counting 2 at Desire Cabo. We never had cold food during the evening buffets. We hate that another guest did. The staff seems to try keep the buffet replenished and fresh. The week we were there the occupancy had to be 85% or greater. We look forward to seeing your trip report.

[nawty2sum]

We didn't mention it in our recent trip report, but yes, the raccoons (coatimundi) are a problem. It doesn't help to have the staff throwing food to them.

[mfay]

In the past we have rarely complained about the food. We usually have found plenty to keep us happy and we do appreciate how difficult it can be to keep any buffet that continues on for 5 or 6 hours a day at it's best all through that time. For us though, the issue this time was selection more than anything else. We really did find it to be the same 4 or 5 dishes on the lunch buffet every day. We love the fish off the grill, we've never had a really good burger in Mexico, and while we do appreciate the "stations" they set up for lunch at prime time on some days like paela, pasta, or tacos we just feel the selection has been much better in the past.
We had two good meals in Piacere (one hour and 1.5 hours which was ok for us) and one acceptable meal in Suki but again overall we were a little disappointed in the number of main dish selections in both places. By no means did any of this put a damper on our trip overall ! As I'll cover in the full report there were so many great things....It's a little thing in the big Desire picture but it shouldn't have been that way.
Actually the offending creature this time was an actual Raccoon and not the Coatimundi. Both were on site but the raccoons seem more willing to come right up to people. It is really not a good situation that needs to be addressed. Our poor guy with the little bite on a toe had to go home to rabies shots as a precaution (not that there is any indication at all the coon was infected- it is just what you do if you can't catch/test the animal.)

[landedesire]

Just returned from a fantastic 8 days with the hot tamales and ynots...BUT THE LUNCHES and BUFETS are so bad something has to be done.It is an insult to serve people paying the prices we do with the absolute slop they turn out for lunch every day.It is worse than the lowest of the low gas station garbage.And this is putting it mildly...it is so bad that I feel so strongly that unless they change this, it is really going to hurt them....and the evening buffets are no better...it never varies,it is just garbage..cheap mash,fried onions,nasty rice,fried cold potatos,uneatable pasta...chewy bits of beef...same 5 trays EVERYDAY...cardboard hamburger...good fish...
The resort was fantastic,staff the best...BUT GET RID OF the RACOONS that bit one guest and live next to the lobby bar..stray feral cats...for gods sake its not supposed to be a rubbish dump.

I can't remember the lunch buffet being that BAD! We are not huge lunch eaters either. However, we actually love the chips and quac everyday and all the other staples that we count on them to have set up at the buffet. If it was up to me, I would have them go totally Mexican...we don't go there or anywhere in Mexico or any other country for American fare
I have to agree that the music at the disco is repetitive, just like here at home, when you think about it...but our feeling on why the disco empties out so early is because people go off to enjoy the hot tub again, lol, or to have sex, or to chat with people in the lobby area instead of trying to get to know people over the loud music…or they are just plain tired and need to get some sleep to do it all over again, oooo la la...we love Desire and ALL our meals in the Japanese and white restaurant have been amazing and the service FANTASTIC always!
We have never seen raccoons by the Lobby Bar, but agree that they shouldn’t be encouraged by the staff as some form of entertainment. I am quite sure that once the management hears the complaints on this thread about them, they will address the issue, as with almost everything else we Desire lovers have complained about!
I also agree that at Desire prices, our expectations should be high, and ours are, and have been met continually! But sometimes I wonder if people are missing something in their relationship or themselves that just can’t be fixed by going to Desire so they come away thinking, well…that was ok, but….
Not to offend anyone, just my/our opinion

[CokeMann]

Since I was there as well that week I'll chime in here with what I think has changed wrt to the Raccoons and Coatimundi issue.

The environment around the bar has now changed with the addition of the three large beds behind the bar that weren't there previously.

In the past neither the Raccoons or Coatimundi would come too close to the bar since there was no easy escape/cover for them nearby. But now with the beds just behind the bar they just safely hang out under the beds and then venture right up to the bar area. If they feel threatened it is then just a quick dash to get back under the beds.

Generally neither of these local species are as aggressive as their northern cousins, but I fear that they more that they are encouraged with food from guests or staff it will turn the local population into an aggressive mob.

[mfay]

Great point Wayne. I hadn't really thought of that. but- with the beds for shelter, the new little"pond" right beside/behind those for fresh water, and plenty of food nearby all their basic needs are met. Kind of raccoon heaven.
Unfortunately to get that food they have to rely on humans. Humans who are often more than a little intoxicated and not thinking clearly. If they get too close and don't have food, a finger or toe can easily become a substitute.
The signs out front of the resort say "don't feed the crocodiles" because once you start feeding them they expect it and begin to come looking for people to feed them. Same with the raccoons and coati's. Not their fault, but just not something that is going to work the way it is.

[landedesire]

Great point Wayne. I hadn't really thought of that. but- with the beds for shelter, the new little"pond" right beside/behind those for fresh water, and plenty of food nearby all their basic needs are met. Kind of raccoon heaven.
Unfortunately to get that food they have to rely on humans. Humans who are often more than a little intoxicated and not thinking clearly. If they get too close and don't have food, a finger or toe can easily become a substitute.
The signs out front of the resort say "don't feed the crocodiles" because once you start feeding them they expect it and begin to come looking for people to feed them. Same with the raccoons and coati's. Not their fault, but just not something that is going to work the way it is.

Both very good points. Whoever is close with the management may want to get the last couple posts to them. Maybe it may make sense to remove their shelter / our beds. I have heard that some folks have taken advantage of the beds next to the lobby bar. But not sure if it would be a huge loss considering what the gain would / could be. L and E

[mfay]

We have brought this to management's attention. In a reply to us yesterday they let us know they are discussing how to best handle the situation and that they will let us know what they come up with. We'll let everyone know here when we have more.

[landedesire]

Thank you Mfay

[nukesul]

I hope the food issue is brought up as well. I have to say that this thread is among the most negative I have ever read about Desire.

"just garbage..cheap...nasty rice...cold potatoes...uneatable...chewy bits...same...cardboard...pitiful...longest meal ever...disgusting!" are extremely harsh words when describing food at a resort. I recognize everyone has their own level of taste however this criticism is pretty hard to ignore. If this was posted on Trip Advisor I may treat it with a grain of salt however when it's coming from veterans on this message board it definitely makes it a concern. I'd be very interested in knowing the resorts feelings about repeat customers criticisms.