Vanilla First Time Pearl Visit, 14-21 Jan 25

[C&T]

This was our first trip to Pearl (after visiting RM 3 years ago), so our second LS resort trip so far. We're non-lifestyle but totally love the relaxed vibe and have made lots of friends in just our two visits. This discusses our trip and provides some brief comparisons to our experience a few years ago at RM.

We took a redeye flight and that worked quite well. We wanted to make sure that if there was a delay or cancellation, we didn't lose a day to travel. (We'd heard others describe that frustrating experience.) Flight was just fine, got there at first thing in the morning and USA Transfers (solid as always) spirited us off to Pearl.

We loved Pearl. The level of service, friendliness, orientation to the resort, and attentiveness seemed much better than our previous experience at RM. The check-in process was very smooth and, may I say, more elegant than that we experienced at RM. They did a great job of helping us to consider activities to add to our week and planted seeds to explore membership (which we declined) and a cruise (which we have booked!) Interestingly, the sales process for signing up for the cruise at the resort (which we did on our last rainy day there) was much more pleasant than the Premier presentation. The representative was super helpful but not pushy.

We'd arranged to have a Master Suite. As others have noted, these rooms are huge. We had some fun inviting another couple over to get ready to go to neon night (much neon paint was applied) and the second room was excellent for that as well as lounging and relaxing. I think if you like to invite folks over, it is great to have that space. Not sure it's really necessary, but it was nice. Also, having a second bathroom is nice, too.

Down at the pool, Victor was superbly service oriented and accommodating - helping us with chairs each day. Other folks there weren't bad, but Victor remembered us and where we liked to sit and was super pro-active in helping. The layout of the pool, hot tub, and beach all felt, somehow, more convenient, nicer to us, and more intimate.

Not sure if it is representative, but our crowd at Pearl was older (40-s to 70's) than that we experienced at RM. It provided a much more laid back (less party like) vibe but we found it quite relaxing and still plenty sexy. We're in our sexy 60's and fit right in.

We enjoyed the socializing scene at the pool and the hot tub. I think the flow and arrangement at Pearl is much better for my taste than RM. (Though we had great fun at RM, too!) Of course, theme nights are super fun and we participated to the max. Our experience at both resorts is that the more we participate (in pool scene, jacuzzi, theme nights) the more fun we have. So, while we don't have energy to do everything every day, we do most things most days -- and end up having loads of fun.

We did witness just a small amount of creepy-guy behavior that really wasn't proactively addressed by the staff. During the foam party a male playmaker was on a raft getting women to get on the raft with their other consenting folks to enjoy all manner of sexy mischief. (So far so good.) At one point, though, a guy, without his partner, attached himself to the raft, began pushing the raft around and then he would dive into another group's action on the raft without their apparent consent or any communication. We saw this and decided to steer way clear of that scene. Several of us wondered why the playmaker didn't ask where the man's partner was or ask if there was consent. It was super obvious that several people were surprised by and uncomfortable with this guy's touching and diving in.

Other than that, it was usual Desire super-cool respectfulness. Loads of people there with excellent skills at understanding boundaries and following them. We made friends with 5 different couples and exchanged contact information.

Our stretch experience this time around was the Erotic massage, which is super sexy and totally worth it. Just. Do. It.

Entertainment was pretty good - I think the low ceiling in the patio area outside the lobby (where most entertainment is held) makes it challenging for some of the acts. We saw one acrobat get tossed by her partner into the ceiling support beam, with a "thunk" that made me hope she was OK. Fetish night entertainment as an absolute blast. Very sexy and they did a ton of hot audience involvement.

In terms of Playmakers, Candice is, simply, a complete one-woman party. she really makes that place rock. She's an instigator in all the right ways and they could probably use a couple of more Playmakers who exhibit a similar outgoing initiative, as a number of the other playmakers are pretty much like background music -- there, noticeable, but don't stand out.

As others have noted before, the music and Disco experience at Pearl is, well, lacking. For the DJ, we noted that each night they seemed to have the same songs - many older ones - and not too many current artists. I think the music experience and disco at RM was much more lively and hot. The age of the crowd at RM might be a factor there, too. Some nights, after entertainment, everyone just skipped the disco and went right to the hot tub! (Which was fun when a few of us popped into the disco and had the place all to ourselves.) Definitely didn't see some of the hot shenanigans that we'd previously noted at the RM disco.

Let's talk about the restaurants. We loved the food. We ate breakfasts and lunches in Aphrodite and enjoyed those buffets as well as the view of the ocean. Suki was good, but their sort of "general Asian" menu didn't really do it for us. It's like they have a slug of different items from different countries, none of which really stood out for us. Pearl (the restaurant) was, by far, our favorite. Each night has a particular focus (Mediterranean, Italian, etc.) and each was very well done. Service was excellent - prompt, well timed, elegant, the plating beautiful, and food delicious. We liked that the portions were reasonable but not huge and the restaurant is elegant, making you want to wear your sexy-elegant clothes.

We attended the dreaded membership presentation to get our freebies and it was, well, taxing. We went in knowing we weren't going to buy anything but we stayed too long and it did get to be a bit of a pressure experience. I felt I needed another massage to just get over the presentation. I think we'll skip that in the future and just pay the full price for our other services - it will be more relaxing.

We did take a snorkeling excursion one day, which also involved lunch and a couple of hours of strolling on Isla Mujeres. The snorkeling was great and we enjoyed it, but just a half hour of a long day. We were less thrilled that the bus ride involved visiting 6 different hotels to pick folks up and then to drop them off coming back. So it meant we left at 7AM and got back at 4:30PM. Not sure I'd want to do that again as it was a lot of logistics for a half hour of snorkeling and Isla Mujeres was pretty much just a complete tourist trap.

In terms of weather, on our arrival at Pearl, it was raining, then, the rain cleared off. The weather was gorgeous for almost the whole week up until our last day or so, when clouds rolled in, then on our last day, it absolutely poured. It was interesting to watch the staff switch into "rainy day mode" with games in the lobby and people milling about. Definitely glad we didn't have much of that, as it's just not as fun as being in the pool/hot tub under the sun/stars.

Speaking of pool and hot tub (and apologies for rambling around a bit here) but my wife and I typically remain clothed (albeit with much sexier clothing than we would wear elsewhere.) We didn't feel awkward about this at all and there were others doing the same. So if you prefer not to be totally nude, our experience is it is just fine to do that and you won't feel out of place. That said, we definitely have some clothing items that are much sexier than we can wear anywhere else and we enjoy bringing and wearing these.

We'd definitely enjoy coming back to Pearl. Not sure we'd need a Master Suite, but if we get another deal on it, well, why not? The service, feeling of intimacy, age range of the group, and wonderful food at Pearl were great. And, as I mentioned, we've signed up for this fall's Mediterranean Cruise!

[livelearn131]

First off, was great to meet you guys (as you already know ) .... But just wanted to give an "agree" to pretty much all of that. Although we like Suki quite a lot too, actually.

And if the reason for the bad music in the disco is because they think it's an older crowd that doesn't want newer music, that would be an even sillier reason than just being generally bad at picking music. ... I don't understand how difficult it is to mix things up. I love Van Halen and what not - but it's pretty difficult to get into dirty dancing mode to disco-ized versions of Van Halen songs. Amazing this is still the playlist in there. We all manage to have fun anyway - but c'mon.

And moving the entertaining to the lobby is a mistake. I mentioned it a few times. I hope they correct it. I even asked Candice if it was due to anything bad (lack of funds, lack of entertainers, business getting worse, etc...) and she said no. Though I'm sure she wouldn't tell me the truth otherwise. But as you pointed out, the more acrobatic stuff was difficult if not impossible to do.

Along those lines, there has been a lot of playmaker turnover lately, moreso than usual. So while the new guys were doing OK -- one was on his first day on the job when we were there -- it's going to be a while. There's very little staff turnover there in general - except with playmakers lately. Gotta be a tough job.

Don't get me wrong - like you, we manage to have boatloads of fun at Pearl still. And the age range is really not an issue. We're 50s and partied with people of all ages -- and there were some damn fine beautiful ladies in their 60s there - many more than one, and I won't name names. Ha.

We love the intimacy of Pearl, but do wish the night time was a bit livelier, especially in the disco. Because of this, we are probably going to go to RM next time, after 3 Pearl trips, now that RM is bigger. I am worried because I like to spend the day schmoozing and chatting up everyone in the pool/jacuzzi, and we get to know a good amount of people real well, real fast that way. How many more people do I need to get to know in one trip? If we were swingers, we had plenty!! of opportunities right at Pearl, and good ones, heh. ... However, the attraction of a livelier disco is pulling us in. Maybe because we are not into playing with others, we want to experience a more party vibe/edge, since that's as far as it will go. I don't know. Hard to decipher my own thoughts on this.

Anyway - sorry to hijack your thread - but this is in lieu of making my own

[Cheers2US]

C&T, thank you for your review! I loved reading it.

We are heading to Pearl in July, our first trip since maybe 2018. There are many things I love about Pearl: the jacuzzi layout, the ground floor disco and jacuzzi, the rooms (we always book the most affordable ones and the Pearl ones >>> RMs) Your review gives me happy thoughts!

How was the beach? We went to RM in October and the beach is sadly almost entirely eroded. The ocean comes up to the resort foundation in some parts.

LiveLearn131, I also appreciated your input. Nice to see favorable reviews of this wonderful place.

PS Every visit, my husband and I tell ourselves we'll get the sexy massage, then when we get there, the price puts us off and we chicken out. Maybe one day (if we hit the lotto?)

[livelearn131]

C&T, thank you for your review! I loved reading it.

We are heading to Pearl in July, our first trip since maybe 2018. There are many things I love about Pearl: the jacuzzi layout, the ground floor disco and jacuzzi, the rooms (we always book the most affordable ones and the Pearl ones >>> RMs) Your review gives me happy thoughts!

How was the beach? We went to RM in October and the beach is sadly almost entirely eroded. The ocean comes up to the resort foundation in some parts.

LiveLearn131, I also appreciated your input. Nice to see favorable reviews of this wonderful place.

PS Every visit, my husband and I tell ourselves we'll get the sexy massage, then when we get there, the price puts us off and we chicken out. Maybe one day (if we hit the lotto?)

it's the closest we come to "playing" with others without doing so, so we suck up the cost. Sometimes we've gotten % off from going through the member presentation. But I don't want to deal with that anymore.

The beach is still better than RM - there's some actual beach there - but not a lot. It's not something I care much about, however. I'm not a beach person, and this is the only way my wife can get me near one

[multiples]

So is that massage kinda like a "soft" swap?

[Luv2bnude]

What a great trip report. This site used to have so much more of these but over the years it’s quite diminished. We will comment on just a few areas but mostly agree with everything, and we were there Jan 23-29. Albeit sick in our room for most of 3 days with the flu . We’ve been many times to Pearl and our last trip was in July over the 4th. Each week is unique to the crowd making each trip a different experience. Many familiar and awesome employees and yes Candice is. One woman band making the place what it’s meant to be. The new guys need some time - they tried. The youngest one clearly is not comfortable and according to my wife not the same level of eye candy as the guys in the past. The crowd was definitely older than the July crowd and never once saw jacuzzi bed play which was a first for us but the jacuzzi crowd in the afternoon always a fun vibe. We too don’t like nor understand why they are using the lobby for nightly entertainment. Please go back into the disco for the evening fun where the lighting and atmosphere are way more sexier. We usually enjoy the playroom but never even went into the disco. Every trip at least once while in the disco clothes are coming off someone or multiple someone’s but the lobby vibe is so vanilla that it kinda put the flame o. Some of the nightly entertainment could use a sexy upgrade and some are very good. High percentage of nudity at the pool on this trip. We respect everyone’s decision but prefer when the crowd is mostly nude. If you’ve never tried letting go of those wet clothes just do it once and you’ll never go back. Cheers