Our 4th trip. We took advantage of the 35% discount on offer due to the pool being closed for renovations, and the lure of free transport to and from Pearl every day. All the makings of our perfect holiday, as we have always preferred the days at Pearl, but the nights at RM.
This is how it was……
I’ll get the negatives out of the way first. We were promised at the time of booking, via Desire’s website, free transfers to Pearl between 10am and 6pm, but when we got there the goalposts had been moved to 11am until 5pm. Annoying, as it meant we were pretty much kicking our heels for an hour or more in the morning waiting for transport, and couldn’t really take advantage of any significant amount of time at Pearl’s fabulous Jacuzzi before it was time to leave. Still, we weren’t going to let this bother us too much.
However, on Saturday, Pearl’s Foam Party day, we all received a letter in our rooms stating they were only going to let 8 couples from RM go to Pearl at 11am, and another 8 at 12am! I imagine there were a lot of disgruntled guests, as eventually 35 couples went over, and it was a blast! While I understand they didn’t want to compromise service for Pearl’s guests, they should have thought about this beforehand, and not promised us something they later figured they couldn’t deliver.
Another peeve of mine is that we now have to make a reservation to dine at the Sahlo restaurant (this was not so in December). And not only that, we couldn’t actually make the reservation until 10am on the day. I’m on the beach then! Our entire mornings seemed to be spent clock watching. “is it time to book a transfer to Pearl, is it time to make a reservation for Sahlo, what time are we dining tonight?” I absolutely detest clock watching on holiday, and previously at Desire, have never had to do so.
Ok, now the good stuff……
In the absence of the pool, the staff made a very good attempt at compensating. An extra bar was set up to service the beach, beach beds were readily available, Sarah69 (a most welcome addition from Temptation) leading the entertainment crew, kept us amused.
Dining: Excellent as always, nice to have Javier looking after us again, and Angel. We also had the opportunity to speak to the new chef Luis, who has great plans to overhaul the menus with a bigger emphasis on healthy eating.
Nightly entertainment: Great fun as always, lots of opportunities to dress up in something scandalous and strut our stuff on the packed dance floor, and in the packed playroom!!
Staff: Wonderful. Always. I (she) was unfortunately taken ill in the hotel’s grounds, and before I knew it was being attended to by 2 (or 3?) members of staff, including a medic who took their time to ensure I recovered sufficiently before escorting me back to my room , by which time a doctor had already been summoned. Fortunately it was nothing too serious, but I felt very safe in their hands.
Jacuzzi Lounge : Another little niggle. There were “No Smoking” signs everywhere, not enforced at all. Even guests smoking large cigars in the Jacuzzi. The “No Smoking” rule IS enforced at Pearl….. Besides that, this area was as entertaining as always. Just when you thing you’ve seen it all, something/ someone surprises you ………
Pearl: I have posted the details of the Pearl portion of this trip under the relevant section.
To conclude:
Due to the nature of this trip, with the transfers between resorts, it felt at times a little disjointed, but that was to be expected. Overall we had a great time, as always, and hope to be back in January, splitting our trip between the two resorts.
