Trip Report: Dec 26-Jan 2 2021...Happy New Year...COVID

[tj71903]

We celebrated our second consecutive New Year’s Eve at Desire Pearl, capping off a stay that spanned December 26 – January 2nd. This marked our 12th trip to the resort this year (once a month) and we ended up somewhere north of 50 nights in 2022.

A lot of that frequency had to do with the rest of the world either being closed for most of the year or travel being either oppressively difficult due to regulation/requirements or too high risk. Just as much had to do with the management and staff at Pearl always being welcoming and helping keep the resort always fresh and new and exciting.

Throughout our trips we’ve always agreed that once it stops being fun, we’ll stop making the trips. So far…that’s not happened, and even with this trip’s major challenges….it’s still fun and we are looking forward to heading back next month.

Here’s the latest…

ARRIVAL

Given the holiday rush and the concerns with the latest COVID variant, we reverted to pre-trip testing and received negative test results on December 25th and 26th before boarding a plane the day after Christmas. As per usual, Delta Airlines delivered us on time (actually a bit early) to CUN after a stopover in ATL and we were on the ground shortly after noon.

Once again, we retained the VIP arrival service and were shuttled from the jet bridge through the customs hall and to the baggage area within 10 minutes, jumping to the front of the line where we recognized and chatted (in my broken, third-grade level Spanish) with the customs officer who had stamped us in November. From there it was to the bags where things broke down. Apparently, the airport workers were operating on around 40 percent capacity as around 60 percent of the roster elected to not come in on the 26th. Accordingly, the bags took 70 minutes to arrive from plane to carrousel. And so, we sat in a crowded, poorly ventilated room for that amount of time waiting. It SUCKED.

After the bags arrived toward the end of the rotation (Sky Priority…ha!), we were walked out to the waiting area expecting USA Transport to be waiting. Nope. We were checked in and told it’d be around 15-20 minutes. Thus was their streak of being prompt and ready was broken after back to back instances of doing exactly that. Perhaps a mulligan would be fair as it wasn’t their fault about the bags…but our concierge had gone outside while we were waiting to let them know we were here and on the way out. Again, their drivers are great. Their price (included with membership) is great. Their coordination at the front end….has room to improve. Anyway, they come and get us and we are shuttled to the car and then to Pearl.

Once we walk in, we do the hand sanitizing thing, check the bags, and get our temperatures checked. All is in order. We then are taken to the Mansion to check in. I should note that the Mansion front of the house staff has changed with Bruno replacing Diego. We quickly say hello to Bruno (having met him before) and Aline. We sign for the room, sign the Golden Rules, and schedule our COVID tests and are then taken up to Room 88.

THE ROOM

We’ve stayed in each of the buildings by this point, and this was our favorite outside of the mansion, and really…may have been our favorite overall. The view was terrific and the separation from the rest of the resort was a nice feature as well. You are literally on the perimeter of the resort and so far from the hot tub that there could be fireworks and it’s not a stretch that you wouldn’t notice it.

As far as getting around, it’s not a big resort so it may take you an extra two minutes to get around, but that’s not a concern with us. We like being able to have a refuge from the party if need be. Kind of a have and not need instead of a need and not have kind of thing.

There were some challenges associated with the room (as much as a challenge can be called as such) in that there are 47 stairs from ground to door. Not a big deal, but when your wife is in 100 and 120mm heels….that can present a set of challenges on a nightly basis as you go up and done for dinner, costume changes, etc. It also makes your conscience kick in when the poor butler is lugging up your bags. Or when the waitstaff is bringing up food, etc. Also, the wifi in that building isn’t great and there are definite spaces in the geography that are dead zones. (this is being fixed as the resort is installing a new access point system this month).

All in all, however, waking up early (our curse is that we can’t sleep past 6:15 no matter when we went to bed) and sitting outside to watch the sunrise offered a perfectly framed shot each morning.

We’ll be back to that room.

WE FINALLY RAN OUT OF LUCK

So we’d been to Pearl over 15 times since the pandemic hit and travel began slowly reopening. Never once had COVID or issue. Welp, that streak ended last week at Pearl. The day before we were ready to depart we popped up with a positive rapid test. One positive and one negative.

Bummer on several levels. For starters we knew it meant being quarantined in the room. And then there was the major concern of “oh crap, are we going to be stuck in Mexico?!?!?”. Fair to say there was some worry.

Rather than panic we spoke with a couple of staff members to figure out the protocol and then our options. We were told we needed to quarantine in our room immediately. We could order food, etc as needed. So we headed up to the home base. We then asked to schedule another test to confirm the results. In the interim we also scheduled a PCR in town at one of the local clinics. We called the butlers to let them know and they assisted us in procuring the roundtrip taxi. Fortunately two tests in town came back negative. When we got back to the resort we remained quarantined until the next morning when we were heading out as a matter of caution (and courtesy).

While I cannot speak to how we would have handled a different outcome as I have no context there, I can say that my opinion is the resort has dealt with positive tests a lot more than has been publicized. The entire staff was kind, understanding, and never treated us with anything other than professional courtesy. We asked questions and got immediate answers. Safety was well balanced with continued service and a mitigation of the uncomfortableness of the situation.

BUT BEFORE THAT…

Nights: We had a blast on New Year’s Eve and on the preceding theme nights. On 12/31 we stayed out until 3 AM and closed the disco around 2:30. The resort had the disco performance in the main lobby in between sets by a live band and, of course, the end of year drawings for prizes. Winners took home (or to the room or beach or wherever) bottles of champagne, free nights, and free stays. We ended up picking up a couple of raffle wins which was unexpected and pretty cool. In general the disco seemed to be longer lived than in some of the previous trips. We often left within 45 minutes of the show ending and were leaving some pretty heavy crowds during the week.

Dock: After many months, the dock is almost done. I would assume it’ll be finished this month (January).

Photo Session: We did another shoot with Provoke which took place in both the disco and our room. We experimented with lighting, props, and a few different eyes (two photographers). The results were terrific. We had a complete blast shooting with their team and if you’re on the fence, we’d both suggest just booking a shoot. Half the fun is the preparation and process. The results just reinforce that.

Next month we’re going to head back and this time we’re going to hope for no false positives and just as much fun.

[Fox&Vixen]

Thank you for the trip report! Glad you enjoyed the NY celebration but I believe we are only just starting to see the impact of Omicron. I have heard several stories lately of people arriving home from Desire and then testing positive. Coincidence or the quality of the testing being done? Can you tell me how far you had to go to get the PCR test and how much did it cost? I believe the hotel can arrange it but nice to have an option.

[tj71903]

Five minute taxi ride. Think it was 50 bucks.

[texascouple1208]

We celebrated our second consecutive New Year’s Eve at Desire Pearl, capping off a stay that spanned December 26 – January 2nd. This marked our 12th trip to the resort this year (once a month) and we ended up somewhere north of 50 nights in 2022.

I think we may have overlapped.

Will you adopt my wife and I please? So jealous...

But seriously, sorry your luck ran out on the covid tests.

[tj71903]

We celebrated our second consecutive New Year’s Eve at Desire Pearl, capping off a stay that spanned December 26 – January 2nd. This marked our 12th trip to the resort this year (once a month) and we ended up somewhere north of 50 nights in 2022.

I think we may have overlapped.

Will you adopt my wife and I please? So jealous...

But seriously, sorry your luck ran out on the covid tests.

Thanks. It wasn’t a big deal. Most everyone is going to get this latest variant. Fortunate we didn’t have symptoms (again). And hopeful the government becomes realistic with travel considerations sooner than later. Though given the makeup…I am not optimistic.