Jane & Rusty Pearl Trip Report May 2012

[Rusty]

Should read above: by Jane and posted by Rusty

Upon arrival we were upgraded to a Master Suite (because the room we were first checked into had water all over the floor from a broken air conditioner), which was a nice start. The Master Suite was exactly the same as a regular room plus an extra lounge with very large LCD TV (we didn’t even turn it on), an extra balcony with a hammock and an extra bathroom with shower and toilet. Too much space really but we appreciated the upgrade. Both the original room we were given and the Master Suite both had a lovely view across the pool to the beach. From what I could tell all rooms had an ocean view. The rooms are very spacious with large bathrooms with bath, hair dryers, ironing board and good iron and all have a balcony or porch. There is one powerpoint on each side of the bed, one in the bathroom plus one on the wall near the cupboard so bring a power board if you need more outlets. There are more than enough drawers, hanging spaces etc.

We went into the a la carte restaurant as soon as we arrived around 9.45pm and had excellent service and nice dinner. The a la carte menus change throughout the week (rotating between Mediterranean and Asian Mexican) and the buffet restaurant has a different theme every night and also for lunch each day which gives plenty of variety all of the time. However you can always just order whatever you want anywhere (surcharge applies for lobster, Alaskan king crab and premium steaks and I don’t think there were any oysters available – could be wrong though) and if you order room service a $5 charge applies. We ordered nachos and pizza to the jacuzzi around 2pm one night – no surcharge and fabulous service. Food overall definitely higher quality than RM even though there are less restaurants, there was talk that they are going to build a sushi bar in the next 6 months above the buffet restaurant. The room service menu is quite extensive, as we never actually ordered anything to our room I cannot comment on the quality.

The minibar in the room does not cater for those that do not drink beer and want alcohol; there are only soft drinks (soda) and beer. No spirits and no wine although we had a bottle of sparkling wine in the fridge on day of arrival – not sure if everyone gets that or not though?

One gripe I have is that there is no air con in the foyer and the ceiling fans don’t seem to make any difference. The wi-fi is free in the foyer or $15 a day in your room BUT it is too hot in the foyer to use it during the day (probably fine when it is not summer), I went about 5pm one day and still sweated and stuck to the seat trying to quickly check emails. This is also an issue at night when you come out of the disco to go to the bathroom – its like walking into a sauna after coming from the air conditioned disco, you have no desire at all to stay for a drink at the bar, with most people just going straight to the Jacuzzi where you could feel the sea breezes.

The disco is nicely laid out with a big stone tile floor so no actual dance floor which is good as it can be as big as it needs to get when its busy. The bar service in the disco is fabulous at the bar but a bit slow if you expect them to come to you. There are no beds around the dance floor just chairs and drink tables. There are 3 long bars around the bar and in front of the dance cages. The play room is behind the curtains in the far back right hand side. It is a little disappointing after being to Desire Riveriera Maya as it is smaller and just not as welcoming. There is a swing in the middle of the u shaped lounge. The DJ was sometimes fantastic and sometimes completely lost the dance floor. There is one pole for pole dancing right on the edge of the dance area and 2 dance cages in the two back corners, the disco started at around 10.30pm each night with a show (which are mostly just a tad too long, but there are some very amazing and talented acts, so don’t miss them all) and dancing went until around 1am on the busy nights and seemed to empty out by 12.30am on the quiet nights. The Jacuzzi was busy between 5-7pm and then again from midnight/1am to 3am when the Jacuzzi bar closes. There is also sometimes a DJ at the Jacuzzi between 5pm and 7pm (but not all of the days we were there). The Jacuzzi has 4 beds around it and it is a much better designed Jacuzzi than RM. Water temperature pretty perfect – maybe a touch too hot one day when it was overcast. The only issue I have with the Jacuzzi is that the bathrooms are the ones that are beside the restaurant next to the pool, they really need to be right beside the Jacuzzi. Another guest we spoke to said that they missed the fact that there were no bar chairs at the Jacuzzi like at RM, but personally I think its better that they don’t have any.

Theme nights – around half of the guests dressed to the theme (more on easy nights like white night and casino night – note the casino is set up in the disco on the dance area so therefore it starts at 9.30pm so the show and dancing can begin at 10.3pm after the gambling finishes). Also note that the casino night theme is actually Casino Night: black tie and ball gown – I don’t think they had that extension on the website or if they did – I missed it. We were also there for white night (easy), neon night (which again the extension to the theme was neon or 70’s), Arabian (less than 20% people dressed up for this one – but those that did looked fabulous), black and red (easy – lots of devils and sexy lingerie). Some people go to dinner in their disco theme, some change after dinner.

The pool is very nice and the only day that they ran out of chairs completely was when a large group from RM came up but the staff went and moved double lounge rocker chairs from the balconies of rooms that were not in use so nobody was without a space to lay. On the day that this group came up the resort had an increased vibe to it and there was lots of action and fun in and around the pool. The following day it was much more subdued but still very enjoyable. The activities crew are great and while some staff are new they are all trying really hard and seem very determined to make sure you have a good time. One end of the pool is a quiet area and the other end is the spicy end – you can still hear the activities and music at the quiet end but it is not in your face. There is a mix of furniture around the pool, shady, sunny, beds with covers, beds without, on the beach there are 5 premium lounges and many more other beds and lounges – no need to get up early and reserve a bed.

It was a bit windy on a few days we were there, one night in the buffet restaurant it was blowing so much that we ended up moving inside. We were there 5 nights and it rained twice, once lightly around 2am when we were in the Jacuzzi and one afternoon for about an hour. This was the first time I had been in summer and it was not as hot as I had expected it might be. Very pleasant weather generally (last week of May).

The beach was pleasant enough and while there was people walking past it didn’t seem to be an issue. Some guests were still naked laying on the beds closest to the beach without worrying. Also, as you can see down the beach in both directions, if you felt uncomfortable swimming in the ocean naked, you can just wait until no-one is coming, most people walking past seem to early morning or late afternoon and they are not that frequent.

Yes we would book Pearl again next time (we have stayed at RM 3 times before), while we have many fond memories of RM I think Pearly is the nicer resort and as its occupancy grows, it will get the same vibe around the pool and Jacuzzi as RM.

We met some fabulous people – and sexy Michelle and gorgeous Travis if you are reading this – sorry that we bailed on you at 2am in the Jacuzzi but my kidneys were going into meltdown mode and stayed that way for the next 24 hours – too much alcohol in a short period of time I guess. Maybe next time…. xx



Note to Pearl management – add a laundry basket next to the Jacuzzi – then people will pick up their own towels and staff won’t have to figure out if they are finished with or not. Also move the overweight female cleaner who was sweeping around the Jacuzzi at 1am who doesn’t smile to another area of the resort. Apart from her attitude and grumpy face, every other member of the staff were obliging, happy and provided great service.

Add to the 2-3 year plan – to build bathrooms beside the Jacuzzi, put up some glass walls on the garden wall in front of the buffet restaurant, to stop the wind in the restaurant and sort out some air-con or better fans in the foyer.

I was really disappointed that there was NO laundry service at all – couldn’t send out, couldn’t self launder – this really needs to be addressed ASAP.