Typical greeting with glasses of champagne, but the express check in didn't keep them from sending us to "the pitch", (probably our fault, we were late with the express check in) using the "there have been some changes since your last trip" line. Which I quickly nipped in the bud and flat out stated there would be no breakfast "meeting" and there was nothing she could offer to make it so. Here is one complaint....We had to leave a few days early last year due to a death in the family. They credited us with those lost days, so because of that we had two confirmation numbers. No problems at all with that. However, as Renate looked at our paperwork, she questioned the two numbers. When we explained, she just sat there and laughed. We were actually too shocked to really say anything, but since when is the death of a father funny?!?
Our room, gardenview. Much nicer than last years gardenview which was in the jacuzzi building. Yes, theres no drawer space, the bathrooms on the smaller size, but we never noticed any of that. The only rough part is the step and the ledge at the foot of the bed... have a few drinks, walk in the dark, could be a bruise or two...or three... For how much time we actually spend in the room, I don't see us ever upgrading. The beds that are complained about so much for being hard actually work for us, they're fine, as we're extra-firm mattress people.....the only thing is they seem kinda short, my feet always hanging off the end. All in all, they definitely served their purpose.
The bad part of the room? The water. One day all cold, the next scalding hot. And would change from hour to hour. Showering at times could be like Russian roulette, as the the temp would pulsate. Never seemed to be a specific, concrete answer.Another sorta room related complaint. At some point at night, lots of lights outside go off, including the one illuminating your room number. If you are, say, heading back to your room at 4:30AM, and coming from a spot you haven't normally walked from, you can't tell the building let alone your room....oops! Hell, it was allllllll good.....
Weather was much cooler than last year, downright cold at times. Windier as well, and after last years bone-dry weather, the rain was a downer. It did bring out some bugs, but between the two of us we only had two bites, which we attribute to taking Vitamin B1. The rain & wind also led to a wonderful sewage smell flowing over the resort at times, which permeated the room on a couple occassions. The cool temps led to much textile sighting. What else could you do? At times goosebumps were the most erect things you could see. A walk along the beach would reveal a lot of white cocoons, as people were wrapping up in their towels.
A beach change from last year....while you can still get up early and go see Rene to reserve your beach bed, they're now giving the option, for $20/day, to reserve your bed ahead of time. Hate that with a passion, feels so wrong to us, but I guess thats their way of dealing with the complaints that you couldn't get one if you weren't up with the sun....
Food was good, rated about the same as last year. You're at an all-inclusive, it isn't going to be five-star cuisine, but it is at the higher end compared to all the vanilla resorts we've stayed at. We never had to resort to eating the same things, and if you had something you liked in one restaurant, you can get it in another simply by asking. Everyone bends over backwards to make you happy.
The staff as a whole was wonderful.....other than the odd laughing at check in, everyone was smiling and helpful, can't walk by anyone without a smile and "hola". The service simply can't be beat. The Entertainment Staff gives their all as well, but it seemed like they worked awfully hard to get guests to participate with little success. If you get a chance, get to know Nikki a bit, she's a very interesting young woman...which we learned talking to her on our trip to and from Senor Frogs in Cancun to see the Super Bowl. GO STEELERS! Now, we were all told the game would only be in Spanish at the resort, and as diehard fans we needed it in English.......we had a blast, but when we returned we quickly learned that it had indeed been in English at the resort, and those who stayed there had a MUCH better halftime show as everyone piled into the playroom. It seems EVERYONE had to tell us that after we got back, lol.........
The hotspots......the hot tub was again the place to socialize. Don't know if the cooler weather had something to so with it, but it was busy beyond the oft-quoted 4-6 period. We went up early a couple times as the better half was freezing (which happens at any temperature 80 and below), and it was busy up there at 2:30. Drinks are spotty without Edgar up there, who told us the bartenders are all moved every 15 days. The biggest question is will they ever be able to regulate the temp up there....always seems to be cool or too hot...hell, downright scalding. The other thing about the hot tub...a thunderstorm late one afternoon. Lightning did look cool...in the distance. When it started to get pretty close, several of us decided "thats it" and hauled ass. The vast majority let out their "oohs" and "ahhs", and went right back to their drinks. Ummm, its the highest point in the resort, and you're in water. Future Darwin Award winners will originate from there.....The disco....music seemed to be a bit better this year...but the turnout wasn't the same....and it emptied quickly.
Finally, the best part.....the people you meet. There is nowhere else to go where everyone is happy to meet everyone. Hell, you can't even get a nod from most people at a vanilla resort. Where else can you sit talking with a dentist, farmer, day care provider, archaeologist, DIRT racer, bartender, or someone whos livelihood revolves around electric probes in the brain to relieve Parkinson's? Not to mention the adult entertainment owner and his porn star girlfriend who came for the anonymity, yet happily told us their website..... We had several people come up to us and say "You had to leave early last year...we're so glad to see you came back!". Feels like "home".....At the beginning of our stay, the crowd was overwhelmingly American and Canadian (can't pick out Canadians? Listen for one minute and count the "eh?"'s) , and average ages were late-40's.....as the week progressed, more and more Europeans came in, and the average age skewed older. Last year's crowd was late 30's to late 40's...this year wound up more like late 40's to late 50's. Age doesn't matter though, they were all great people. Just like last year we met couples that felt like old friends. There's nothing better than meeting people so far from home, in the sun with drink in hand, and just hitting it off right away. People who, when you see them walk into the lobby to begin their trip home, you feel truly sad to see them go....but you still smile, because you know that somewhere down the line you'll see them again....
