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Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 4:57 pm
by Explorer79
CokeMann wrote:I guess I just don't "get" what the interest/excitement about this is .....

Same here, this seems like it is about the most irrelevant thing that could be announced, at least for most people. For those that can do something like this, great, but I'd wager that the for the vast majority of people this is completely out of reach, hence far from buzz worthy.

So straw poll - who on here is really going to pony up at least $3600 for two nights for one room in the Pearl mansion building - if actually happens ?

Me, me, me!!! Not. Actually if I had that kind of money to just throw around I would probably rent it for a week and give it to someone else that would never get the chance to do something like that, cause if I had that kind of money this type of thing would quickly become mundane and normal - it's all relative.

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 7:21 pm
by bigbill
CokeMann wrote:I guess I just don't "get" what the interest/excitement about this is .....


I suppose its like all things, different strokes for different folks (pun intended)

CokeMann wrote:Reality check. The Desire Villas at Rivera Maya are priced for 2019 at $1800 a night(with a two night minimum) in the off season. Figure each of the rooms in the Pearl mansion building are going to be at least a similar if not higher priced and probably have similar minimum booking conditions.


We stayed in the Villas at RM last week for 4 nights and didn't pay anywhere near that much.

CokeMann wrote:So straw poll - who on here is really going to pony up at least $3600 for two nights for one room in the Pearl mansion building - if actually happens ?


Not me at that price, but I would look for specials and would consider it if the price was right.

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 10:15 pm
by jandr1013
CokeMann wrote:I guess I just don't "get" what the interest/excitement about this is .....

Reality check. The Desire Villas at Rivera Maya are priced for 2019 at $1800 a night(with a two night minimum) in the off season. Figure each of the rooms in the Pearl mansion building are going to be at least a similar if not higher priced and probably have similar minimum booking conditions.

So straw poll - who on here is really going to pony up at least $3600 for two nights for one room in the Pearl mansion building - if actually happens ?

If I had to guess, it's probably about two things for the operators: those who will pay whatever is asked to know they have "the best", and a way to offer preferred guests an upgrade at a discount to make them feel special, while making room in the cheaper rooms for more price sensitive guests.

I managed to forget the number of rooms between just counting the map and looking back in this window, but based on RM, the suites make up 3-4% of the rooms. Most of us won't care about the rooms, but it just takes a few who are willing to pay more than the passion suites cost and compared to the rates on the oceanview jacuzzi rooms they removed, it's even better for the resort. Hopefully I'm not crossing lines here, but we once met a couple that became members by walking in (at Temptations) and saying "we don't care what it costs, we want this". I'm guessing the extra costs to run these rooms is minor compared to how much more the resort charges, assuming the per guest costs (food, drink, etc) are similar no matter what class of room someone stays in.

In terms of upgrades, we've stayed at a hotel in Niagara Falls that is known for pushing upgrades at checkin. I think they get a fair amount of walk-up traffic from the nearby casino, so if they fill up with the basic rooms, they can try to convince people who already had reservations to pay a bit more at checkin to move up a room, and free up basic rooms for walk-ins who might balk if that was the only thing available to them. Higher occupancy at less than rack rate is preferable to empty rooms. I don't know how much last minute traffic Desire gets, so this might not be as applicable, but maybe they occasionally overbook the passion suites and see if they can convince guests to upgrade for maybe half the cost difference. Again, not the full rate, but probably still way more than the oceanview jacuzzi rooms were bringing in.

-R

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 11:40 pm
by Explorer79
jandr1013 wrote:If I had to guess, it's probably about two things for the operators


Actually I'd say it's really just about one thing - money. And for the operators that's exactly what it should be about, it is a business after all, certainly nothing wrong with it. And the operators should be excited too - it's an exciting thing for them. However, for the vast majority of Desire clientèle who will likely never even be able to set foot in there, I don't see where there would really be anything to get excited about at all.

I could be wrong though, I mean, how many here are thinking "Oh man, I can't wait for that to open"

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 11:41 pm
by CokeMann
jandr1013 wrote:If I had to guess, it's probably about two things for the operators: those who will pay whatever is asked to know they have "the best", and a way to offer preferred guests an upgrade at a discount to make them feel special, while making room in the cheaper rooms for more price sensitive guests.


The question wasn't that it would be a viable business decision for OR.
preferred guests
OR isn't like Vegas where high rollers are comp'd or upgraded depending on their expected table loosing will make up for it - the OR product is heads In beds ....

The question was put out to the 22,000+ forum member couples here(ie Desire repeat customers) how many of them are excited by this possibility of some new super expensive rooms at Pearl and are able and waiting to pony up the money to book them ??

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2018 7:42 am
by eddieandjojo
CokeMann wrote:The question was put out to the 22,000+ forum member couples here(ie Desire repeat customers) how many of them are excited by this possibility of some new super expensive rooms at Pearl and are able and waiting to pony up the money to book them ??

After scanning this thread, I don't think I saw anyone comment on how poor the physical location is of the future "mansion".....no matter what the price, it has absolutely zero appeal to us with no view of the ocean and being totally isolated from everything and everyone! We'll make a deal on a penthouse suite if available but count us out on the mansion.

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2018 8:12 am
by K&RinTX
eddieandjojo wrote:
CokeMann wrote:The question was put out to the 22,000+ forum member couples here(ie Desire repeat customers) how many of them are excited by this possibility of some new super expensive rooms at Pearl and are able and waiting to pony up the money to book them ??

After scanning this thread, I don't think I saw anyone comment on how poor the physical location is of the future "mansion".....no matter what the price, it has absolutely zero appeal to us with no view of the ocean and being totally isolated from everything and everyone! We'll make a deal on a penthouse suite if available but count us out on the mansion.


We totally agree, it wouldn't interest us in the least, even if the price were the same as the penthouse suites. We wouldn't want to be isolated at the back of the property with just a few other couples.

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2018 9:18 am
by NaughtyKittenandB
Based on the reported location, the Mansion would seem to much less desirable than the villas at RM. It doesn't make a ton of sense for the most expensive rooms at Pearl to be basically garden view. I'm sure there will be walls and pools and landscaping that make it more inviting. But can you imagine staying basically back by the spa in the summer months without the ocean breeze?

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2018 10:38 am
by texascouple1208
I won't pretend to know their business, but it seems like lately the rooms at RM are in higher demand than the rooms at Pearl, which is odd, considering that everyone pretty much agrees that Pearl has more upscale facilities overall. I wonder if this has something to do with the number of rooms (e.g., more at RM) lending RM a more desirable vibe than Pearl. If you buy into that line of thinking at all, they might be better served to add, say, 16 "garden view" rooms to Pearl to bring the room count closer to RM rather than adding 8 premium rooms in an isolated location. But if you think you can sellout 8 premium rooms at more than twice the price for most of the year, go for it. I am guessing that labor is fairly inexpensive in Mexico for the extra pampering they plan to provide to guests in these rooms.

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:15 pm
by Explorer79
Yeah, but hey, at least from what I hear they'll give you a discount on premium liquor if you pony up the big bucks for a mansion room!

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2018 4:25 pm
by shore128
This is getting off the "mansion" topic, but in response to the last poster, I believe that RM has consistently had a higher occupancy rate than Pearl. (but certainly don't know that for a fact). Original Resorts has frequently offered higher discounts vs. list prices at Pearl as compared to RM. We have booked several trips at RM through Expedia, and each time I have checked its prices, (which is quite a bit over the last 4 years) a gardenview room at RM is more expensive than the standard, oceanview room at Pearl. While we have been to Pearl three times over the last 5 years and have enjoyed each vacation, we strongly prefer RM. While obviously the pool and hottub at Pearl are larger and nicer, we favor the restaurants, outdoor lobby area and bar, nightclub and resort layout and overally experience at RM over Pearl.

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2019 1:01 pm
by NaughtyKittenandB
We were at RM the past two weeks, and our membership salesperson gave us our usual "update". This included artist renderings of the mansion at Pearl along with the sales pitch for it. There are (reportedly) only 6 units in the mansion. 4 smaller suites and two larger suites. The mansion has its own bar, restaurant, play area, pool and jacuzzi (rooftop). Our salesperson confirmed (or reconfirmed, since that is what we were told last time) the location is set to be next to the spa at Pearl, and they have not broken ground yet. In August, we were told it would be under construction when we visited in January. Now, during this visit, they say they expect it to be open before EOY 2019. They are saying (at least saying) that they are trying to avoid the oversold situation they have with villas at RM. We'll believe that when we see it. With only 6 units (and really, it's 4 of one type and only 2 of the larger ones), these units will likely be sold out constantly, as with the villas.


The new rumor we were told was that there were plans for a mansion at RM on a lot just north of the resort that they just signed a deal for. Obviously, believe nothing until you see it.

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2019 8:40 pm
by barebuns
A little late to the discussion but to answer Coke's question : Not interested at ALL in the development of new rooms that we could never afford or would book even if we could afford it. We use our room to change clothes, wash up and sleep, albeit very little of the latter. I would be more interested in seeing some regular room rates at levels that would encourage us to come back to a place that we enjoy but feel it is pricing us out.

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Fri Jul 05, 2019 7:32 am
by doberso
And there is the important piece of info of this tale (not that you told one but rather there's a reasonable chance that you were told one, if history is any indication). Take anything they say with many grains of salt. Only believe it when you see an official announcement from Original Resorts.

Re: Rumor - Mansion to be built at Desire Pearl

PostPosted: Fri Jul 05, 2019 4:31 pm
by Explorer79
Well, the membership group anyway. Trust is not something they have at all earned in my estimation. They don't really like it when I tell them that but they don't actually put up much of a counter argument either, especially after I give them concrete examples. They know what they are. Trust at your own peril.