Newbie Trip Report with pics - October 5-13, 2014

[here2benaughty]

Your trip reports and tidbits were incredibly helpful in our decision to vacation at Desire Pearl so we felt obligated to contribute one of our own. Hopefully our experience and suggestions assist in your planning and enjoying a great vacation. I thought about writing this as a day-to-day trip report but frankly after as many Tecate and Miami Vices as I drank, the details are hazy.

So strap in. Here goes.

Background:
We are an early 30-something married couple. We stayed at Desire Pearl October 5-13, 2014 to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. This was our first CO resort experience. When planning this vacation we set out to combine the naked/naughtiness of our Haulover Beach vacations with the convenience, relaxation and camaraderie of our vanilla resort/cruise vacations. Honestly, we could not be happier with our decision to visit Desire Pearl.

We were asked this question a couple of times, especially in the Jacuzzi around 1am so I felt it would be a good idea to mention the $64,000 question here… and no I’m not referring to whether or not we joined the members program but rather lifestyle or non-lifestyle?

We’ve had experience swinging with others here at home and on vacation but previously distanced ourselves from the lifestyle label. We have new perspective on the lifestyle after this trip. If [naked] vacationing with a bunch of other couples some of whom say “no way, not for us,” or with others who say “maybe we’ll try this trip” or other’s who ask if we’d like to come back to their room to see their toy collection puts us in the lifestyle, we’ll own it. The people we met, swingers or not, made the trip what it was because hands down the best aspect of the trip was meeting so many absolutely super nice folks from all walks of life and all areas of interests.

We are typically introverts at home, focused on work and our female half is working and in grad school. This trip was so different for us. All we did was meet other couples. We enjoyed dinners with other couples; chatting about life and liberty in the pool/Jacuzzi, etc. Our age difference was irrelevant. We would occasionally receive a comment from a couple who would joke about having kids our age, but it was minimal. And we had a blast with everyone we met.

So more about our trip…

[here2benaughty]

Flight / Airports:
We were lucky to grab non-stop flights on both of our trips on United from Washington-Dulles. Our flights were full but uneventful. I snagged a last minute first class upgrade on the way down to help celebrate our anniversary. Turns out we were on the same flight as another couple from the forum and our Yahoo group.



Once we landed our bags came pretty late after every one else’s and of course I got the red light whilst exiting. That’s right! I let this group of women blatantly cut in front of us much to the chagrin of my wife who predicted I would get the dreaded ‘red light.’ She was right. So I proceeded over to the very nice agent who opened my suitcase, went straight for my wife’s “silver bullet” and then lifted my king’s costume for King and Queen theme night in the air (complete with crown) and asked loudly if “this is yours?”

Once out of the security area we walked through the door and instantly spotted the USA Transfers rep. I watched the bags while J grabbed some Tecate and within 10 minutes we were on our way. My only disappointment with USA Transfers was the van ride to the hotel. The van was well past it’s prime and at one point the driver had to slam on his brakes and the brake shudder was so bad I thought we might become apart of the accident scene we were slowing to avoid. Van ride back to the airport was flawless. Ontime and the driver was great.

Arrival at Desire Pearl
We arrived at the resort around 12:30pm. We were checked-in quickly though our room was not ready. We originally booked a regular ocean view room and inquired about an upgrade. We were offered a Lovers Upgrade to a master suite and included a Lobster dinner and a relaxing massage for 2. We inquired if room 79 was available but was told it was spoken for.

A lovely young lady (who’s name escapes me) took us on a tour of the resort and at the end was able to show us the ocean view we were assigned and room 85, the available master suite. Frankly, there was no comparison. And I’m sure they showed us the worst ocean view in the house to compare but we figured, what the hey and grabbed the upgrade.

We headed back, paid the man, and met Paloma our “new BFF.” She gave us the run down on various aspects of the resort and of course signed herself up for a “date” with us next Sunday at 10:30am to discuss the members program.

Coincidentally enough once we were done with the membership talk and coupon book intro, our room was ready.

[here2benaughty]

Our Room:

Room 85 is at the quiet end of the resort in the “Starfish” building. It’s a FANTASTIC room, on the 3rd floor with a great view; 2 bathrooms, etc. Our only complaints about the room was the mattress and horrific pillows. The mattress was too hard and the pillows were so thick I woke up with constant neck pain. I ended up tossing it off the bed and sleeping on my arm.

Here are some pics:

Living room:
[fimg=700]

Bathroom off of living room:


Main bathroom:


Bedroom Area:


Balcony off of Bedroom:


View from Living Room Balcony:

More tomorrow...

[tan44]

Super pictures!
Looking forward for the rest of your trip report.
Thanks.

[couplenindy]

Wow...Great trip report so far! This is really getting me excited for our trip in November. Can't wait to see the rest!
Indy

[youme69]

Great report... Brings back fond memories, we were in master suite 84 best room and view we've ever had. Looking forward to the rest of your trip report and pics!

[here2benaughty]

Staff:
So aside from the other guests, what makes DP so special is the staff. Our favorites were Koko from the entertainment staff and Judith our room attendant. We enjoyed many a drink from Juan at the various bars. On departure day he went so far as to make us a special drink called a Bob Marley.

Collectively, they really made the trip. It's easy to feel uncomfortable with all of the nudity and the sexually charged atmosphere but it wasn't because the staff along with other guests made the place feel like home. We were so comfortable and relaxed within a few hours of our arrival.


Food:
Overall, the food was decent. Nothing was over the top great but short of some type of crab strudel in Aphrodite which employed Krab, nothing was bad either.

We enjoyed dining in Aphrodite as opposed to Pearl. We preferred the dressier atmosphere of Pearl but wished we had dined at Aphrodite more often. Aphrodite has a much better setting. It’s brighter, more open and we found the service to be better.

Breakfast -
Breakfast is held in Aphrodite. There’s a small buffet selection of hot items, cold cheeses and cold cuts, as well as a fruit and yogurt. I was a big fan of the sweet breads! One of the couples we met mentioned how great the omelets were. I thought that was weird since there isn’t a designated omelet guy. Turns out you can order cooked-to-order eggs, omelets, huevos rancheros, etc. off an unprinted menu. Strange. But the omelets were very good! We loved sitting at the tables by the windows enjoying an omelet and a mimosa (or 3).


Lunch -
Truthfully, we rarely ate lunch since we typically slept in so late. We tried the shrimp tacos one day and one afternoon there was a wood-fired grill cooking fish, chorizo, burgers and chicken breast by the pool. There is almost always a small pizza oven going so if you get snacky, you can grab a slice of pizza.

Dinner -
Again, we probably ended up eating 4 dinners at Pearl and 3 at Aphrodite. The first night we landed in Aphrodite was because I was turned away from Pearl in a button down, khaki shorts and Topsiders. My fault, I didn’t realize the dress code mentioned long pants. Turns out it was a blessing in disguise. We had a very good meal and enjoyed the ambiance. Aphrodite is larger, brighter and IMHO offers more sophisticated decor compared to Pearl. I felt like I was sitting in a nice restaurant in Miami.

We received a lobster dinner with our Lovers upgrade package and enjoyed it at Aphrodite.


One area I feel Desire can upgrade the guest experience and maybe even generate a little additional revenue is in it’s wine program and upgraded food options. The table wines are pretty ho hum. It wasn’t until one of the last nights that I realized they have a pretty decent bottle list. In fact, one of my favorite French chardonnays was on the list at a reasonable price. And it wasn’t until the 2nd to last night that I saw the option to upgrade the quality cut of steak or you can order a lobster a la carte.

If you’ve ever cruised on Royal Caribbean, the upgraded “Chops” steak is on the menu each night for a small up charge. And there are always higher quality wine options available.

The most disappointing aspect of our food experience at Desire was the overwhelming bloat after eating the food, large or small. I spoke with a couple of other guests who complained of the same sensation. I thought it might be the alcohol I was drinking so one day I dialed back quite a bit and still felt the same thing. Also, the heart burn in the middle of the night was terrible. I’m not sure what they are adding to their food, but I heard a few other guests complaining about it as well.

Speaking of alcohol…

Bars
The bars are fantastic mainly because the bar staff is top notch across the board. I never had an issue asking for a high shelf drink over well liquor. By the end of the week the bartender in the night club saw me walk over and poured a Sapphire and Tonic for me, Champagne for the lady.

One other helpful hint, the lobby bar makes a mean double espresso. Later in our stay someone recommended the espresso martini too. My wife dubbed them viagra because they got me feeling frisky and gave me plenty of energy for the Jacuzzi beds. RAR!

[K&S4Fun&Sun]

We will have our report up later today. S loved those espresso martinis so much she had one in a to go cup waiting for our transport yesterday.

-K

[maltesefalcon]

Thanks so much, guys, for the trip report (so far). We arrive on Sunday and can't wait. Your comments on Pearl vs. Aphrodite restaurants really help!

Looking forward to hearing more!

[Jasonky]

I love the pics! We had the same room($550.00 upgrade). You guys got it the day we left. I had a hell of a time figuring out the Tv. We just left it on the porn channel...Sorry hahaha
The safe had a small glitch one day or I drunk dialed the code. I also experienced heart burn.... My wife Jill is working on a review too. Thanks!

[Lavinth10]

Great pictures and reviews! DP is an amazing place, only issue, like you said, pillows. Those pillows were very uncomfortable! I wonder if we can bring our own next time. I heard some guests purchase small items and have them stored at Pearl until their next visit. I suspect this would only apply for those visiting 4x a year. Wonder if we can do that with pillows

Again thanks for the pics! We left on the 6th and were in the same building top floor