Trip Report 6/24-6/28, 2013

[candtdesire07]

A quick, short trip for us this year so we figured we'd try out Pearl. For the first time since we started going in 2007, we weren't sad to be going home. Here is the report. I tried not to compare Pearl with RM too much as I wanted this to be mainly about Pearl.

This was our 6th trip to a Desire Resort (all at RM) but our first time at Desire Pearl.

Lets start off with the good:
The resort itself is visually beautiful. The rooms are big and look nice. The pool is also big & beautiful and has a nice pool bar. The jacuzzi is huge and looks awesome. The breakfast & lunch buffets were also big & there was a lot of variety and the food was generally good. The staff & service were top notch... which is what we have come to expect at Desire. Unfortunately, that's about all the good we can write about.

Now the bad:
Although the rooms looked nice, there were a few problems. The shower head had a big leak in it & would spray water everywhere. We had to drape a towel over it when showering so the water would stay in the shower area. This problem was never addressed.
The toilet wasn't secured to the floor properly & anytime you sat on it or got up off of it, it would tip & lean to the side. It almost felt as if you were going to fall over & the toilet would pull out of the floor. The toilet also stopped working at one point but maintenance fixed that problem very quickly but still didn't secure the toilet to the floor properly.
There isn't nearly enough lighting in the bathroom area & my wife found it difficult to get her makeup & hair ready for the night.
There were some renovations going on in our building so being woken up at 7am with hammering kind of sucked after going to bed at 3-4am.
The rooms are all "oceanview" but you can't see beyond the pool or trees in a lot of them on the first & second floors. The three rooms we were actually in had ZERO view of the ocean,
The "nice" restaurant called Pearl was below average. The food wasn't very good, the portions small & they are trying too hard to be "fine dining". We ate there once & never went back.
The Dinner By The Sea out on the pier was way below average compared to the one we had at RM. The pier was nice, the scenery beautiful and the service excellent. Unfortunately the surf & turf dinners arrived lukewarm and weren't great. We expect great or at least above average when we pay an extra $160 (with tip) for a dinner.
The entertainment staff was a bit boring. Not many people participated in any activities outside of volleyball. It could be the people at the resort but it didn't seem like the staff tried too hard to get people involved.
The disco was ok although a little small. The playroom was also very small so it didn't see much, if any action. Not everyone wants to be right on top of another couple. The DJ needs to mix up the music a bit instead of playing the same exact songs every night. The disco was totally empty by 11-11:15pm every night.
The WI-FI is horrible no matter where you are in the resort. If you were lucky enough to connect, it was extremely slow & you would lose your connection shortly. The only place to have a chance in connecting was in the lobby which was very warm & stuffy with little air flow.
The beach has lots of rocks at Pearl & it can be painful trying to get into the ocean past all the rocks. There are only a few beach beds reserved for the penthouses which we didn't like. At RM, we like reserving a bed for the week and there are two rows of beds for us non-passion suite couples there.
The mosquitos & bugs were pretty bad at Pearl. Our balcony was overrun by ants and even with bug repellent, bites were plentiful. We never had an issue with bites at RM after 5 trips there. The swamp in front of the resort with a single fountain could be the problem. They did fog the area every night but it didn't seem to help much.

And the ugly:
Due to Desire Los Cabos being sold, Desire Pearl made the decision to host a takeover group who were supposed to be at Cabos. This was a group who do not meet the requirements of a Desire resort (unless it was a true takeover). This group was full of single men & single women. We choose Desire because it's COUPLES ONLY! If we wanted single people, we'd go to Hedo.
The management didn't even consider how this group would affect the resort & all of the other COUPLES staying there. The moment this takeover group arrived at Pearl, Desire was no longer Desire... It was Hedo Cancun. After 5 previous trips to Desire, this was the first time either of us ever felt uncomfortable. My wife was approached on a few occasions by some of these single men and rude & crude propositions were directed at her (during & after dinner). This has NEVER happened at Desire to us before but this was also the first time we had singles there.
We now felt like we were banished to our room. There was no way my wife was going to go to the disco or jacuzzi and I sure as heck wouldn't want to bring her there.
I can appreciate Desire trying to accommodate this group who was supposed to be at Cabo, but hosting them at Pearl while the resort was still 60% or so occupied was about as bad of a decision as they could have made. Why they didn't send them to Temptations where single guys & girls are allowed is beyond me.
After wasting two days & nights of our vacation because of this group, we requested to be moved to RM. The staff understood our concerns & the next day we were at RM. We were only able to get a basic gardenview room but at that point, we didn't care. We know of 5 other couples who switched to RM and I am positive there were more. We are beyond disappointed we had two of our days & nights ruined by Desire Pearls poor decisions, we are disappointed we spent more money to go to Pearl & ended up at RM in the cheapest room there (although remodeled & nice)
If Pearl would have told everyone that this group was coming in & what they were about (management knew they had singles) we wouldn't have wasted two days of our vacation and would have transferred to RM asap!
We are disappointed we still had to pay a cab $15 to take us out of Pearl & to RM.
I will say that we have already been offered a free night at Pearl on our next vacation but it is doubtful we would ever go back there. We will be at RM in 2014 IF we decide to return to a Desire resort.

An unbiased review:
We brought friends of ours to Pearl. It was their first time at a Desire or a clothing optional resort. Since they didn't have anything to compare it two, their comments warrant a post here.
They said they really liked Pearl. The rooms were beautiful & the general look of the resort was impressive. The pool was outstanding, the staff great and the food was good. They really enjoyed Pearl right up until the group came in. Being first timers, even they said the resort completely changed and they weren't comfortable anymore.

If you want a Desire that is bigger, has a bigger pool, a bigger jacuzzi, bigger rooms and is a more mellow, relaxing, not much of a nightlife place, Pearl is your place.
If you have been to RM & can live without more of a party atmosphere at night, good vibe all day, lobby bar, 2am pizza & a fun jacuzzi... Pearl is your place.
If you are a first timer looking to ease your way into a resort like this, Pearl would be a good start.
If you already love everything about RM.... stick with RM. We had more fun in the one day/night at RM than we had all week at Pearl.

All in all, Pearl has it's place. I'm sure there will be many people who prefer Pearl over RM. With a little more work, Pearl can be great but it's just not for us.

Thankfully our one day/night at RM salvaged a little of our trip. Thanks B & S (our new Virginia friends) and our awesome New Zealand friends (who we talked & laughed with until 3:30am) we met at RM for making our last day & night memorable. We had such a great time with you and haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

C & T

[poolcple]

Your trip report has us worried, we are going down in July. Desires web site says "couples only". I hope that policy has not changed . Thanks for taking the time to do a trip report.

[Mr_big60564]

Poolclpe: my understanding is that Desire LC had scheduled a "one off" singles week before it changed hands. I would assume that they honored that commitment by hosting the group at Pearl after Cabo was no longer an option. I would not worry about it...there is no indication that RM or Pearl are leaving the couples only format.

I will agree that this group should have been sent to Temptation Cancun instead of Pearl.

[poolcple]

Poolclpe: my understanding is that Desire LC had scheduled a "one off" singles week before it changed hands. I would assume that they honored that commitment by hosting the group at Pearl after Cabo was no longer an option. I would not worry about it...there is no indication that RM or Pearl are leaving the couples only format.

I will agree that this group should have been sent to Temptation Cancun instead of Pearl.

Thanks Big, that's good to know. TA has had a few bad reports recently that kind of spooked us a bit. But I also realize people's expectations are different. 12 more days!

[candtdesire07]

No worries. The rules have not changed. We were just unlucky to be there when this group came in due to Cabo closing. It was just a poor decision by management.
We like some of the groups we have run into but none of them brought along 20 single guys like this past group.
As I said, Pearl is very nice but was a little too mellow for us. Not sure if we would ever go to Pearl again but its a nice option if we want to have a more relaxing vacation one year. Maybe we would do two days there & finish up at RM... Best of both worlds

Don't worry too much. Our first timer friends loved Pearl.

[poolcple]

Couldn't agree more with you on management making a poor decision. Sorry they ruined your vacation. The good news is we are a little more laid back, and looking for that in our vacation, with the possibility of getting a little crazy. We will probably venture over to RM to see what it is like. Thanks again for your post.

[heavyG]

Hey candtdesire07 We read your report and found it sort of distressing…

We're 'Pro' travellers (?) Already we've slept away from home 80 days in 2013, everywhere from 5 star luxury in Vietnam, to 0 star gulag in North Korea… That's for work. We hit Desire (Pearl) for pleasure and will be back for our 3rd trip (2nd this year) in a couple of weeks. When at Pearl we're incognito - don't want them to know what we do - we just want to play with other couples who are in the swinger lifestyle and chat with the nudists.

On our last trip we had some room issues; when we called the front desk to inform them, someone was dispatched to our room for a fix within 5 minutes. A manager from the front desk stopped by the pool later to apologise and make sure that we were satisfied with the repair. Did you inform them of your bathroom problems? Or did you wait hoping that some one would just notice? You've got to be proactive and point these things out.

As for the food… Sad to hear that it hasn't improved. I know that my wife and I are spoiled when it comes to eating out; but we've been amazed that Pearl can't get the restaurants together. When a resort down the beach from Pearl that charges ⅓ the price can outshine with quality of food / presentation / service… there's a problem. After our last visit I wrote a balanced yet somewhat harsh letter to management about the food service. This led to a phone conversation, and follow up letters from the resort with an offer of free nights extended to make up for the lacklustre performance. And a promise of improvement; that was back in March '13.

You have to write them directly - They don't monitor these boards or Trip Advisor; at all. They're social media strategy is one of shouting who they are rather than listening and engaging with their customers.

The singles from Cabo? I'd be really upset. Not cool to allow singles into a couple only resort. Why not put them at their Temptations resort up the beach?

[CokeMann]

They're social media strategy is one of shouting who they are rather than listening and engaging with their customers.

+1 they get the "social" side mostly "so right" with the on site staff service and "so wrong" from the corporate public media side ...

[COCONKITTY]

Hey candtdesire07 We read your report and found it sort of distressing…

We're 'Pro' travellers (?) Already we've slept away from home 80 days in 2013, everywhere from 5 star luxury in Vietnam, to 0 star gulag in North Korea… That's for work. We hit Desire (Pearl) for pleasure and will be back for our 3rd trip (2nd this year) in a couple of weeks. When at Pearl we're incognito - don't want them to know what we do - we just want to play with other couples who are in the swinger lifestyle and chat with the nudists.

On our last trip we had some room issues; when we called the front desk to inform them, someone was dispatched to our room for a fix within 5 minutes. A manager from the front desk stopped by the pool later to apologise and make sure that we were satisfied with the repair. Did you inform them of your bathroom problems? Or did you wait hoping that some one would just notice? You've got to be proactive and point these things out.

As for the food… Sad to hear that it hasn't improved. I know that my wife and I are spoiled when it comes to eating out; but we've been amazed that Pearl can't get the restaurants together. When a resort down the beach from Pearl that charges ⅓ the price can outshine with quality of food / presentation / service… there's a problem. After our last visit I wrote a balanced yet somewhat harsh letter to management about the food service. This led to a phone conversation, and follow up letters from the resort with an offer of free nights extended to make up for the lacklustre performance. And a promise of improvement; that was back in March '13.

You have to write them directly - They don't monitor these boards or Trip Advisor; at all. They're social media strategy is one of shouting who they are rather than listening and engaging with their customers.

The singles from Cabo? I'd be really upset. Not cool to allow singles into a couple only resort. Why not put them at their Temptations resort up the beach?

WELL THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'TRAVELERS' AND 'VACATIONERS...' I FEEL YOU FROM THE ROYAL HAWAIIAN TO A YOUTH HOSTEL IN NYC.... ENJOY THE WORLD!