Desire Resort Forums

We wanted to share a report from our recent trip to Pearl. We’ve been several times, so this will focus mainly on the things we found notable as returning guests. Overall we had an awesome trip. It’s hard to have a bad day at Desire.

The individual staff members were all awesome (like always), but there were a few evenings that the restaurants were noticeably understaffed. I assume they were similarly shorthanded in the back of the house. This resulted in some slower service, a few instances of mediocre food, and one night of inedible entrées. I put this fault on management, not staff. I am sure management would prefer to get by with as few staff as possible, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of guest experience. Desire’s obsession with cost-cutting and maximizing profit is affecting the day-to-day experience.

Along those lines . . . the resort is still serving Pepsi instead of Coke. *eye roll* The enshittification continues.

The beach is gone. It was completely covered with sargassum. There were several spots that looked to be 4’ tall, almost like snow drifts. Everywhere else looked to be at least 2’ deep. The resort has given up on cleaning the beach and I don’t blame them. The floating barrier didn’t do anything to stop it. The odor wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t always overwhelming. The wind was blowing small particles of sargassum into the pool, causing a dark brown scum line to form at the waterline, particularly on the “downwind” edge of the pool. Almost every hour, a worker would get in the pool to scrub the scum off the tiles. 20 minutes later, we would see the scum line coming back. After an hour or so, the guy would get back in the pool with his rag. Rinse and repeat, literally. We aren’t beach people. Other than the smell, it didn’t really affect our trip. If you’re a beach person . . . yikes.

The occupancy was significantly lower than normal, especially during the week. Even when people started showing up for the weekend, it was still obviously less than a normal “full” crowd. From articles that I’ve read, there is a general downward trend in tourism numbers this year for the Cancun area. I’m curious whether that is also affecting Desire or whether the low occupancy is just a normal slump for the hottest time of the year. I could go on for a few paragraphs speculating about the possible impact of Desire's higher prices and simultaneous downgrades in service, but I will spare you. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds over the next few years.

The playmakers were struggling this year. Kia was the only familiar face. Candice is at RM (from what we’ve heard), and her absence is very apparent. There’s not much else to say. They made an effort, but it seemed lackluster compared to years past.

There were definitely more folks wearing clothes this trip. More ladies wearing bottoms and/or tops and a surprising number of guys wearing shorts. In years past, every trip had a little more or less, but this time the percentage was noticeable. Maybe folks were a bit more shy with the smaller crowd? Whatever it was, I hope it trends back to mostly nude. (Even though I’m complaining about folks wearing clothes, all the guests were still awesome.)

The new stage area and lobby bar are very nice. It is a nice space with a modern feel. It is much better than the old derelict fountain area. I don’t think they have figured out how to best use the space yet. The band or DJ played out there before the shows, and there was a decent amount of dancing. But most shows were still in the disco, except for the fire dancer show. In talking with other guests, we agree that there is also a vibe shift. With so many couches and chairs, there seems to be less mingling and socializing than the old lobby area. Then again, it could have been the smaller crowd? Either way, the new area is a welcome improvement.

Again, this report is mostly commenting on things we found notable as returning guests. Everything else is pretty much unchanged. Most of the good stuff is still good. We had a wonderful trip and are already planning our next trip.

Thank you for the trip report! We were there in May and are going back next month.

It's really sad to see the beach conditions. We love the beach and love lounging there during the mornings.

Hoping the food will be better when we go. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for the great report. Normally we've been there once by this time, but lots of things have conspired against that.

Just wanted to say that I've got pics from the same room looking down the beach from last June and November. The June pics would make you cry regarding the sargassum. Exactly as described. Multiple feet tall and a couple guys that are the living embodiment of the Little Dutch Boy with his finger in the dyke. The November pics look AI generated they are so different. Completely clear and those same guys standing around with nothing to do. Fingers crossed that'll happen again

We've got friends that returned home today from Pearl. He sent me a pic of the beach that was exactly as described. He also described the resort capacity very similarly. They actually moved to RM for Monday and Tuesday. He said it was no better there those days. He also said it was easily 75% fully suited in pool

Thanks for the trip report!
This was supposed to be the year we squeezed in a July summer trip, I'm glad we were unable to go as we're beach people and the piles of sargassum would have been a vacation let down.

It seems like every trip we walk out on one meal mid-service at Pearl due to a variety of reasons, inedible food, ridiculously slow service, late seating times with a promise of just 5-more minute wait on repeat. No idea how they screw it up, its rinse/repeat 6-days a week.

Hi all, due to some family obligations, aging in-laws and the like, we haven’t been to Pearl since December. Our observations were similar. The food is one area where there isa significant difference between RM and Pearl. Every year since COVID the food at RM has gotten better and better. Unfortunately, I cant say the same thing about Pearl. The food is edible but not really tasty and reservations are either late or early for us. The bathing suit thing has been hashed out many times here so sffice to say that about 80 percent of women and about 50 percent of men are wearing suits in the pool and hot tub. The worst change is that there is some shaming of people, especially women, who go nude by some of the temptation crows that wear suits. The new lobby bar is nice and there is even snacks there. However, it is not as social as the old lobby bar at RM. Most folks keep to themselves or have their heads stuck in their phones. No nudity or PDA at the lobby bar, don’t ask how we know that. Honestly, I don’t know what pleasure some guests get in trying to shame other guests who just want to sit naked at a bar and have a mocktail. We didn’t experience any of the seaweed blowing into the pool. Maybe the winds were more favorable when we were there. I think management has put too much resources into the Mansion and needs to look at some of the other issues that can use improvement.