One thing we've grown to enjoy and love about Desire is that no two trips are the same. Sure, there are common elements each time we fly down to Mexico, but we've never left the front door thinking "been there, done that".
Having done about a trip per month over the last year, that's somewhat remarkable from our perspective as we've tripped to other places on the globe and after one sitting our review is more/less "that was fun, don't need to do it again".
After visiting from Sept 30 through Oct 5th, we're still not there yet with the resort, and don't appear to be getting any closer either.
What follows is our latest recap, summation, etc. (Please forgive any typos)
ARRIVAL/TRAVEL
Once again Delta to Cancun allows us to get to our local airport early (5 AM wakeup call) and to be at the pool by 1:30 so long as everything goes well. That means flights on time, customs not taking long, and transport from CUN to Desire being prompt.
We've had trouble in the past with USA Transport, but this time no such issues. We landed and were through customs (via arrival service) within 18 minutes from seatbelt sign going off to walking to baggage claim. Bags were off the plane and there within 10 minutes and we're walking out with our escort...out past the rental car gauntlet, through the crowd to the USA rep who....tells us our car is here and waiting.
Praise Jeebus!
Driver is great and asks to sanitize our bags. We ask him to avoid spraying the carryons, but the checked bags are fine. No problem and bags are loaded into car and we're on the way. Total time...34 minutes according to the iPhone stopwatch. Had we not checked bags (shoes) we'd have been out much quicker. But, all in all, no worries at all.
After a quick trip down the road we're at the front door. Met by Alexis who provides a handshake and hug and tells us that the Mansion is being worked on so we'll do check in at the front desk. No worries. We scribble the usual acknowledgements and scan the QR code for the COVID tests (why is this still a thing?)
The room isn't ready, but another is. We decline and opt to wait for our favorite room (91). Bags are taken from us and we head off for lunch and to say hello, etc. Within an hour the room is ready and we head over to change, unpack our bags and to pull the other bags out to get our cups, costumes, etc ready.
At the pool before afternoon water volleyball.
All in all a very easy process and, frankly, how it should be. Kudos.
DEVIANT DESIRE / DIRTY VIBES
When we booked this trip for her birthday we weren't aware of a partial takeover by the above said group. However, in the weeks and months leading to this trip we discovered the trip (via the Desire site which clearly listed it on their calendar) and via the event's website. - This is important a bit later.
So what is a takeover/party event like? Well it's...different. And a lot of fun.
In this case there were professional DJs throughout the day and night, themed afternoons at the pool, special theme parties, and similar.
These events are planned by the group itself and the resort is simply a setting. Because the resort's resources are being utilized there is no room for the resort to put on their usual activities. This means no membership sales team, the playmakers don't really have much to do in the way of activities during the day, and the night time entertainment is non-existent.
Being non-group members we did NOT want to be gate crashers but were assured that wouldn't be the case. We met the owners of the event service and they welcomed and assured us we were welcomed to attend their events even as non-members of their group. It was a very nice gesture and sentiment which we appreciated.
We were there for three three days and nights of their event and enjoyed it. There was bling night, neon night, and masquerade themes at night with DJs playing on a set schedule.
One party (masquerade) was at the Mansion courtyard with the DJs installed on the balcony overlooking the pool and lights, etc going. Dancing by the pool with a show/performance dancers down there as well. Really a cool vibe. Concurrent and after party event moved into Mansion lobby as well. Then to the disco. Then to the hot tub. Fresh DJs at each stop.
Our favorite night actually got cut short due to a heavy rain and what appeared to be an expensive bunch of electronics getting soaked from it. On Saturday the main pool turned into Neon night for a midnight foam party. Again, the best theming I've ever seen at the resort with everything from the volley ball net to the Aphrodite entrance themed with neon decorations and black lights everywhere. Great performances with costumes and characters all in force. Sad that the rain came on so sudden, but after covering what they could, the event moved to the disco to continue. Bit of a bummer, but still a fun night.
There was a reggae band one day at the pool that was pretty good (real Jamaicans!) as well.
During each of the theme nights the playmakers were there and participating and having a great time. One thing you noticed with this event was the energy was different. Everyone was participating (from costumes to dancing, etc), thus the playmakers were able to blend in instead of leading the charge. I'm not sure if that made their nights easier or not, but pointing this out is more a commentary on the crowd than anything else.
Speaking of the group as a whole, there was certainly a different vibe than we've usually seen. I guess the best way to describe it is more of a Temptations crowd than your typical Pearl crowd. Extrapolating that explanation out a bit, we've always found the idea of Desire is about connecting with your significant other and that leads to a sensual and sometimes more erotic (and then some) amount of activities. For this time period there was certainly a lot of the erotic and then some, but it seemed more of a byproduct of people getting absolutely wasted. Like Daytona Beach undergrad spring break wasted (a good example of this was a guy being hammered and dared and then actually gargling the hot tub water around 3 in the morning as he was cheered on...while probably contracting COVIDCancerAIDS).
It's a subtle (sometimes) difference, but makes for a different environment which, if you're neither prepared or willing to adapt, could be quite a shock for the regular guest.
Which leads us to....
Karen visits the disco
Again...having a partial takeover was interesting and new for us. We had not issues with the group there and met some great people. We also understood through logic, etc that we were essentially at their party. And since we chose to accept their invitation to attend the events they were planning, we understood we were playing by their rules.
A non-group guest (like us) who we'll refer to as "Karen" was of another option, unfortunately.
On two nights she was overheard ranging from complaining to and then almost berating the staff over the fact that the group throwing the party was promoting the party by employing two professional photographers to document the event. It seems reasonable that a traveling event planning service would, you know, want to drum up interest in their events by documenting them.
I should point out that we were photographed and videoed. Each time the photographer - who walked around with an iPad to show the photos immediately upon snapping - approached and asked if he could use this or that or to show us that we had been blurred out if appropriate. I found this also to be reasonable because in this kind of situation it's hard to maintain any shred of credibility (not to mention demand, repeat business) by alienating or violating your customer base.
Again, Karen disagreed. So much so that she repeatedly (over the course of two days at least) wanted everyone to know that it was "bullshit" and there were people with "important careers" in attendance. "One guy is a lawyer and one guy is in the local government" and "what was the resort going to do to fix this". This is interesting because she was, of course, (1)attending someone's party by her own choice; and (2)the photographers, etc were very forthcoming to respect privacy; and (3)Do you really think you were any more exposed by the professional company than you are by the fact that every guest at the resort has a cellphone these days?
Look, we all get it. There are parts of the world and society where your attendance at Desire could raise questions. But you'd also think that before you booked and certainly before you get on the airplane you are at least aware of the possibility of exposure - intentional (why on earth?) or not. And if you've continued to come back to resort you're clearly OK with that risk - however minuscule or maybe not - because you're back. Still, I saw no reason to be ugly which was my main objection (certainly her concerns deserve to be heard and considered, but that wasn't the approach or perceived goal)
That being said, I do think the resort could have done a better job of isolating the takeover. They had something like 74 rooms booked. So why not reserve one building for the guests not attending the takeover event to create some separation, etc? Seems like an easy fix. But I'm sure there were moving logistics throughout the lead-in.
Once the group departed on Sunday (and into Monday) there was a distinct change in the environment. Some good, some bad. The demographics definitely seemed to change as more of the traditional guests coming in had, shall we say, more life experience. On Sunday night the theme night had returned to normal (Desire University) and the participation fell off a cliff. The energy was far more subdued. And that carried over to the disco and then the hot tub. The same was true of Monday night. Not necessarily a bad thing, and wholly derived from the roster...but noticeable on a lot of levels.
That's not to indicate that we didn't still have fun. We did - for instance the water volleyball game on Monday was a blast and it was fun to have daily activities back as a whole - but it was, again, almost a polar opposite and striking to see over a 24 hours comparison period.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
- Hector remains the gold standard for us for the butler service. We had a special unnamed event scheduling mishap on Sunday night that could have been a real bummer had it not come off. He quickly addressed it and then came with solutions. I cannot sing his praises loudly enough and we were able to really have a good time because of it.
- The chef - Marco - gets 50 gold stars for the cuisine this time. Everything from lobster to duck to hot churros (her) and apple pie strudel (me) for dessert. All terrific.
- At Pearl we were going to order dessert until the manager came out and made us some sort of fruit (strawberry, black berry, raspberry) reduction over ice cream that was terrific. Made it at the table with open flame, etc.
- Wife was celebrating her birthday and the entire staff made it a wonderful day. Everything from kind words, hugs, to a card and special dinners, etc. They made her feel like a million bucks. They didn't have to, but they took time out of their day to do so...repeatedly. From the playmakers to the butlers to the wait staff to the managers to the bartenders to the DJs and performers...she was treated well and one could argue it dwarfed my efforts (though since I booked the trip I get corresponding affiliation or at least consulting points, right?). I'm grateful and she was very touched.
- The pier has some progress. There are two two more posts and that's about it. So seven in total (I think). Long way to go and no substantive updates after that.
- The Mansion playroom finally has a keycard lock on it. Only guests staying in the Mansion can access it. This is a welcomed development.
- For the takeover even the staff moved the beds from the beach to the pool which made it...sort of crowded. Neat idea but think they need more real estate if this is to become a long term layout.
- COVID test on Monday morning was easy. In and out in 10 minutes. Results in an hour. Minimally invasive.
- We did another photoshoot with Jahel and Provoke. Think we broke some new ground in terms of locations and shots and such. Pics were fun and some may not have to live in the safe. Also fun to find out you're in the example book that's shown around the pool unexpectedly.
- After speaking with several different staff members about ideas and collaboration, we are kicking around the idea of doing/hosting a sort of 'best of' or VIP Desire experience in the future. Just a way to maybe visit the resort and do things you may not have done, known about, etc before. Who knows if we'll actually pursue it, but it's something that could be fun if it came off.
Anyway...can't wait to be back, let the countdown to November begin.