- Approximately 20 minutes after departing Cancun airport, the van arrived at the entrance to DPearl. Approximately 1PM. Previous reports about the terrible road leading into the resort are no longer operative. It was in final stages of repair upon our arrival, and totally done by our departure. The couple we had shared the van with had been to Pearl about six months earlier and were back for another go. Instant friendliness which is the norm of everyone we conversed with during our stay. They shared a funny story of how she entered the pole dancing contest at the disco one night, only to be beaten out by an 81 y/o favorite of the crowd. She performed on the pole a few nights into our visit, and was spectacular.
A bellman unloaded our bags and escorted us to the front desk. There we were seated, offered a cool fresh towel, and a drink of our choice. I did not ask for an upgrade, complimentary or otherwise...but did ask for whatever best room he could find us. We had booked simply Ocean View. Turns out the hotel was only 50% occupied at the time, and he upgraded us to a junior suite, with plunge pool. Evidently only two on the property. He never even said he was upgrading us. Just did it.
The front desk then turned us over to a hostess, who was to tell us about the resort. She did. But her main role was to schedule us for a session (normally a day or so later, over breakfast) to discuss DP's membership program. I will cover that separately. But suffice to say that for some reason she gave us the 20% coupon package to start using on various hotel benefits like 2 free room services, 2 free WET Area Spa uses, Massages, Photos etc. Other guests we met did not get that coupon package until they had attended the sales pitch for the membership program.
After agreeing to meet our hostess for breakfast on Friday, we were done with check in, and our same bellman escorted us to our room, which was ready. This whole process took about 30 minutes. Our new friends from the van were not as lucky in that their room was not available. After unpacking quickly, we rushed quite hungrily to lunch, where we saw them dining. Moral of story....if you arrive early afternoon, your room may not be ready, but you can go ahead and enjoy lunch.
- The Junior Suite with plunge pool we were given was room 79. It was on the quite end of the pool. Think of the pool as roughly a figure eight with one loop at the south end and the other at the north end. The loop on the south end is the closest to the jacuzzi, the restaurant, and has a swim up bar. It is also the end where the music speakers are located and the daytime activities.....like pool volleyball, lap dance lessons, pole dancing lessons, and anything else the staff can dream up takes place. The north loop of the pool is much quieter.
We were pleased having our room on the quiet end of the pool. We retired each evening after the disco and a stint on the beds by the jacuzzi by about midnight. Each night about 2am, we were awakened by later night partiers returning to their rooms in our building. I would not have wanted to hear the jacuzzi activity from 12 - 2am.
As part of the membership pitch, we viewed the Penthouse and Master Suite accommodations. They are both quite lovely. The Penthouses are huge. With fantastic views. But for us, unless we were planning to meet and entertain at least three or four other couples, the space and overall luxury is more than we need. The Master Suite, on the other hand, is really superb. The biggest selling features for me were: TWO bathrooms, two balconies, a separate living room from the bedroom. Plenty of room to invite another couple or even two over to have drinks before dinner, for example. If in reserving for the future there was an Ocean View available on the quiet end, but a Master Suite available only on the jacuzzi end, that would be a very difficult choice.
- On inquiry, the front desk told me that the resort was about 50% occupied on Wednesday the 26th and Thurday the 27th. It rose to about 80% on Friday the 28th, and 90% on Saturday the 29th. I asked for those figures in trying to assess part of the value of the membership package. In any event, our first couple of days, there was no difficulty in getting lounge chairs or beds either around the pool or on the beach. The beach has lots of palm trees and seemed for the most part to be shaded except for the early morning hours. The pool is pretty much in the sun all day long, so access to an umbrella is essential if you want some shade protection there.
That's where Victor(by the pool) and his compatriat (on the beach) come in. Meet and greet them first thing. Tell them your room number and you preferences. Lots of sun, need shade, quiet, action etc. Then a good tip. I did $10 a day. [Cokeman chimed in on Part One of this report to suggest that my tips were more than normally necessary. So I welcome his superior experience here. But that's what I did. ) And each morning as we headed to breakfast, Victor had already laid out towels for us on a lounge and let us know where we would be.
One last point regarding the beach. Yes there are occasional pedestrians who wonder by. But they are few and far between. And DP security personnel make sure there are no local guakers. As for Desire quests wandering off to Puerto Morelos, I have read "Fantasy" entries on this forum about walking naked from DP down to Puerto Morelos and even a block or two into town. Nice Fantasy. And they are always fun to contemplate. But the fact is the walk is about 25-30 minutes. The first 15-20 would be fine nude. But after that, you encounter civilization, much of which is populated by youngsters 5-15 years old. and as you get toward the heart of PM, I think it would be downright scarey to be walking nude. That's my takeaway. But to each there own[/list]
Tomorrow night...the Jacuzzi activity, staff, spa etc. So much more to cover. But not tonight.
