July 22 -29 2013
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 9:58 amThis was our 3rd trip to Pearl in 10 or 11 months… so this report will be a bit of a study in contrasts / changes / improvements over that timespan.
Arrival was great, the front end staff all greeted us by name and remembered our battered luggage covered with stickers of the places we've visited.
We did the advanced check-in on the Desire website, and included a room request; so check in was fast and painless. We couldn't get the room we wanted (34), but got the one adjacent (46 seashell) so no difference, it was still ground floor walkout directly to the pool. We arrived at 11am, and our room was ready - no waiting.
Room was a Jr. Suite, everything is as expected but the patio door didn't lock - so we walked up to the front desk to ask if they could fix it. By the time we walked back to the room, someone was already there and taking care of it. (all you have to do is ask nicely)
When we walked out to the pool Jared was immediately by our side with a greeting, and to let us know that our fave spot down at the beach was ready for us. Love the service at this place!!!
On our first two trips the music at the pool was exactly the same everyday. Same songs, same start point, same order. By the 3rd day you wanted to poke your ears out so you didn't have to listen. I know musical style & genres are personal preference, and I'm not talking about that - It's just that there are millions of songs to choose from and there is no need to hear the same everyday over a 7 day trip. So at the end of our last vacation I wrote a letter explaining this… Not sure if that made a difference; but this time the music was constantly changing. Much better - We still would turn to each other throughout the day and laughed or grimaced at what was being played, but you can never please everyone all the time when it comes to music (more on that when we get to the disco).
The food has improved as has service. Service was always with a smile and politeness on our previous visits - but was somewhat lacking on followthrough and efficiency. This has improved vastly. It would seem that the team is coming together and doing a great job, and of course they are as friendly and professional as ever. We did have dinner with couples (at the 'Pearl' restaurant) who complained about how long it took to get the courses out to the table - but I don't think that they eat very often in sit down restaurants where conversation and ambiance trumps stuffing your face and running out the door. (perhaps an impolite observation, but timing was on par with other restaurants of this type) We didn't eat supper at the oceanside restaurant, just breakfast and lunch - food had improved, and eating off menu is accommodated.
Two things: We brought our own wine because the house wine is poor at best, and the menu rotation is still lacking. We dropped our wine off just before supper, and then chatted up by the lobby bar; it was chilled to the proper temp and presented well at the table when we sat down. The menu rotation alternates between Mediterranean & a love themed menu - get's a bit tiring. We did eat the sushi menu one night on the patio outside the Pearl restaurant; best thing about that was the company we had to eat with.
The nightly disco themes: I have to admit that we are complete and utter contrarians. More anti-theme, than theme and bristle at the idea of being told what to wear… We do dress to impress, and take great pride in what we wear to dinner and the disco. However about half of the women did dress the theme and looked great. The other half dressed somewhere between classically sexy and not dressed at all. Most of the guys made little to no effort to even dress up to impress, or maybe they think that GAP Khakis and a polyester golf shirt with a logo is dressing up? We completely missed the 'eyes wide shut' event - we were chatting with a group that had travelled together and were having such a great time by the bar we didn't notice that everyone had left to a room over by the spa… I 'blame' eddieandjojo / Powderfinger, we had a great time with you and your group. The other shows are on par with what you get at all inclusive resorts; dance routines and acrobats by the pool. Pearl has stepped up the pizza in the lobby after the disco - didn't have any we just were never hungry that late.
Music in the disco had also improved; in that there was a much wider variety. The last two times, the 'DJ' (and I use that term lightly) would just dance behind his computer after hitting start playlist… same songs every night in the same order every night, and as people started to leave he would just turn it up louder to make even more people leave. This time there was variety, though two nights it was the same songs same order problem. Again not sure why it's so hard to mix it up? And some slow jams would be great to dance and make-out (not asking for zep stairway to heaven like in high school, but maybe something slow and sexy?) They have dialled waaaaay back on the Pitbull & Mr. Worldwide.
The foam party was new feature. We were both a little sceptical at first, but loved it! Don't know how to describe it other than fun.
Occupancy was probably 80% or higher? When we arrived there was a small couples group associated with a website - I think only 5 or 6 couples - they tried to include everyone in their games and events. They were a much larger group that had been booked at Cabo - and well we all know what happened there. We also met a group of 6 or 7 couples that just travel to Desire together, had a great time meeting them, and it just re-enforced with us that it would be great fun to roll up with a ready made posse for a week of fun. Strangely - we made much better connections on our last two trips when occupancy was much lower (25 - 40%), not sure why.
We met a lot of non- swingers, had some great conversations with them and one couple invited us back to their room for their first experience. Conversely we introduced ourselves to a couple by the pool bar who didn't say hello back they responded with "we're not in the lifestyle" and then turned their backs on us. My lower jaw is still on the floor…
Hot tub came in waves - sometimes jammed, sometimes empty, sometime 6 couples playing on the beds, sometimes no-one. All depends on what's happening right then.
WiFi has improved - it's now free and doesn't require an access code. Though I must admit on our last two trips where they were charging for it, the charges never appeared on our bill. It could still be spotty, sometimes worked in our room, sometimes not, sometimes on the beach - the only sure spot was the lobby, and there were always a bunch of people there at 7am 'working'.
This seems a bit disjointed, and I'm sure that there is more I want to say but we're swamped with work that didn't get done while we were having fun in the sun. Can't wait to go back in February or March!
Ask me anything and I will respond.
Arrival was great, the front end staff all greeted us by name and remembered our battered luggage covered with stickers of the places we've visited.
We did the advanced check-in on the Desire website, and included a room request; so check in was fast and painless. We couldn't get the room we wanted (34), but got the one adjacent (46 seashell) so no difference, it was still ground floor walkout directly to the pool. We arrived at 11am, and our room was ready - no waiting.
Room was a Jr. Suite, everything is as expected but the patio door didn't lock - so we walked up to the front desk to ask if they could fix it. By the time we walked back to the room, someone was already there and taking care of it. (all you have to do is ask nicely)
When we walked out to the pool Jared was immediately by our side with a greeting, and to let us know that our fave spot down at the beach was ready for us. Love the service at this place!!!
On our first two trips the music at the pool was exactly the same everyday. Same songs, same start point, same order. By the 3rd day you wanted to poke your ears out so you didn't have to listen. I know musical style & genres are personal preference, and I'm not talking about that - It's just that there are millions of songs to choose from and there is no need to hear the same everyday over a 7 day trip. So at the end of our last vacation I wrote a letter explaining this… Not sure if that made a difference; but this time the music was constantly changing. Much better - We still would turn to each other throughout the day and laughed or grimaced at what was being played, but you can never please everyone all the time when it comes to music (more on that when we get to the disco).
The food has improved as has service. Service was always with a smile and politeness on our previous visits - but was somewhat lacking on followthrough and efficiency. This has improved vastly. It would seem that the team is coming together and doing a great job, and of course they are as friendly and professional as ever. We did have dinner with couples (at the 'Pearl' restaurant) who complained about how long it took to get the courses out to the table - but I don't think that they eat very often in sit down restaurants where conversation and ambiance trumps stuffing your face and running out the door. (perhaps an impolite observation, but timing was on par with other restaurants of this type) We didn't eat supper at the oceanside restaurant, just breakfast and lunch - food had improved, and eating off menu is accommodated.
Two things: We brought our own wine because the house wine is poor at best, and the menu rotation is still lacking. We dropped our wine off just before supper, and then chatted up by the lobby bar; it was chilled to the proper temp and presented well at the table when we sat down. The menu rotation alternates between Mediterranean & a love themed menu - get's a bit tiring. We did eat the sushi menu one night on the patio outside the Pearl restaurant; best thing about that was the company we had to eat with.
The nightly disco themes: I have to admit that we are complete and utter contrarians. More anti-theme, than theme and bristle at the idea of being told what to wear… We do dress to impress, and take great pride in what we wear to dinner and the disco. However about half of the women did dress the theme and looked great. The other half dressed somewhere between classically sexy and not dressed at all. Most of the guys made little to no effort to even dress up to impress, or maybe they think that GAP Khakis and a polyester golf shirt with a logo is dressing up? We completely missed the 'eyes wide shut' event - we were chatting with a group that had travelled together and were having such a great time by the bar we didn't notice that everyone had left to a room over by the spa… I 'blame' eddieandjojo / Powderfinger, we had a great time with you and your group. The other shows are on par with what you get at all inclusive resorts; dance routines and acrobats by the pool. Pearl has stepped up the pizza in the lobby after the disco - didn't have any we just were never hungry that late.
Music in the disco had also improved; in that there was a much wider variety. The last two times, the 'DJ' (and I use that term lightly) would just dance behind his computer after hitting start playlist… same songs every night in the same order every night, and as people started to leave he would just turn it up louder to make even more people leave. This time there was variety, though two nights it was the same songs same order problem. Again not sure why it's so hard to mix it up? And some slow jams would be great to dance and make-out (not asking for zep stairway to heaven like in high school, but maybe something slow and sexy?) They have dialled waaaaay back on the Pitbull & Mr. Worldwide.
The foam party was new feature. We were both a little sceptical at first, but loved it! Don't know how to describe it other than fun.
Occupancy was probably 80% or higher? When we arrived there was a small couples group associated with a website - I think only 5 or 6 couples - they tried to include everyone in their games and events. They were a much larger group that had been booked at Cabo - and well we all know what happened there. We also met a group of 6 or 7 couples that just travel to Desire together, had a great time meeting them, and it just re-enforced with us that it would be great fun to roll up with a ready made posse for a week of fun. Strangely - we made much better connections on our last two trips when occupancy was much lower (25 - 40%), not sure why.
We met a lot of non- swingers, had some great conversations with them and one couple invited us back to their room for their first experience. Conversely we introduced ourselves to a couple by the pool bar who didn't say hello back they responded with "we're not in the lifestyle" and then turned their backs on us. My lower jaw is still on the floor…
Hot tub came in waves - sometimes jammed, sometimes empty, sometime 6 couples playing on the beds, sometimes no-one. All depends on what's happening right then.
WiFi has improved - it's now free and doesn't require an access code. Though I must admit on our last two trips where they were charging for it, the charges never appeared on our bill. It could still be spotty, sometimes worked in our room, sometimes not, sometimes on the beach - the only sure spot was the lobby, and there were always a bunch of people there at 7am 'working'.
This seems a bit disjointed, and I'm sure that there is more I want to say but we're swamped with work that didn't get done while we were having fun in the sun. Can't wait to go back in February or March!
Ask me anything and I will respond.