November 2014 Pearl Trip Report with Pictures!

[couplenindy]

My husband and I traveled to Desire Pearl with Party Naked Baby November 9-16th. I'm not sure how to organize this report, but I took a lot of pictures...so I will let them tell the story when I can. I could not take pictures of most of the resort for guest privacy.

We booked Lomas for our transfers through Castaways Travel (they handle travel for Party Naked Baby). Castaways was easy to work with and did a wonderful job! The transfer in with Lomas was smooth (the transfer out was another story).

I will test my ability to post pictures...with a picture of the road in front of the resort before I continue:

[couplenindy]

It didn't work...someone please help!

[CokeMann]

Hint - here's how to do it

1. From your album select the picture you want to share
2. click the download icon bottom right of the Flicker screen
3. Select view all sizes
4. choose and click an appropriate size (ie Medium 640)
5. when that image displays right click in the picture and select "View Image"

Now Copy the URL that is displayed in your browser bar and that is the link to the image

Paste the Image in your post then highlight the full link and select(click) the Img tool from the posting tools
It should look like this:

Code: Select all

[img]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8666/15813953626_320369716c_z.jpg[/img]

And it will display properly like this:

[nologic]

Looking forward to your pics!

[miranda2]

We can't wait to see your pics as well! We're heading back to Pearl May '15 for our second visit and reading up and seeing pics of Pearl will fill in the gap between now and then.

[couplenindy]

Thanks Cokeman...I will try again!

When you come up to the resort there is a waterfall garden in front of the resort:


There are steps throughout this garden and it is actually quite pretty and worth a quick trip out to look around! We found quite a few beautiful little areas around the resort!:


Then you are finally at the resort...YAY!:


Our check in was quick and we had no offer of a time share meeting (maybe it is good to show up at a busy time!).

Much more to come!

[couplenindy]

The main building at the front of the resort houses the front desk, lobby, disco, Pearl restaurant, and the main bar (open 24 hours a day...YAY!)...I think this picture of the bar is a little fuzzy...probably due to the all-inclusive drinks I had been enjoying, but it does give you an idea of some of the liquors they have:



I tried a few new drinks during my visit...the mango margarita from the hot tub bar was my favorite!!! 1921 is a tequila cream liquor that is great on the rocks! I also love liquor 43 on the rocks...I think it has a caramel vanilla flavor. They make a mean pina colada at the pool bar too. Other than that I stuck with the house wines (I thought the cabernet sauvignon was the best red and sauvignon blanc was the best white) and my standard gin and tonic. Oh...I also love the cappuccino! It is available at the bar in Aphrodite or at the main bar...a great 4pm pick me up! I did miss the "drink of the day" that Desire RM had when we visited a year ago...it was always nice to try something new.

The lobby has recently been extended towards the pond (maybe 25 feet). The pond was empty while we were there, but we were told they would be refilling it once they fix the liner. I was told many people do not like the pond due to mosquitos, but even bone dry the mosquitos were pretty bad (though Pearl fogged often...even in the guest rooms). The extension gives plenty of room for dancing to the great bands they have a few nights a week.

Once you leave the lobby from the back, the spa is on your left. We did not use any spa services during our visit, but heard generally positive feedback from those who did. The walkways between the buildings only have a solid walkway large enough for one person to walk comfortably. Some walkways have a lattice concrete that is hard to walk on (dangerous in heels):



The walkways are well lit at night and are pretty. The entire resort is well maintained with beautiful gardens and flowers:

[couplenindy]

We were in a basic ocean front room (room 54 in the Shell building). We visited a few other basic ocean front rooms. They are not all laid out quite the same, but they were all equally as nice. We were very impressed with the room! It was much nicer that the rooms we have had at Desire RM or Desire Cabo! The doors have a standard card swipe entry. The bathroom was right inside the door on one side:


I loved the nice scale in the room to keep track of how much weight you are gaining on the wonderful food! We had towel animals in our bathroom on a few days. I LOVED the Malin & Goetz peppermint shampoo they had in the rooms (but wasn't such a fan of the conditioner...just ok). We had a full sized Conair hairdryer...much better than the hairdryers at Desire RM...lots of power! I loved the small touches...like the live plant in the bathroom.



The tub was a nice deep soaking tub...wonderful!! It was separate from the shower. The shower and commode were behind bamboo doors. The entire room had nice bamboo touches with nice tilework:



My only complaint about the bathroom was that the sink drained a little slow. Oh...they also had a lighted makeup mirror on a telescoping arm...LOVED this!! They really didn't forget anything...Desire Pearl goes above and beyond!

[couplenindy]

I loved the room! The bed was comfy! I had read complaints in the forums about the pillows, but we had no problems with the pillows:


The room had wonderful storage!!! There were 2 closets (one had a safe and shelves...the other hanging space). Bring extra hangars from home. I save the metal ones from the drycleaner through the year and take them (and leave them). There was also drawer space under the TV:


My favorite storage feature was this cabinet...which opens for storing luggage!! LOVE this! Pearl outdoes RM in room storage for sure.


The A/C worked well in the room...there is also a sliding door leading out to the balcony with a screen for fresh air. There is a small stocked (beer, water, sprite, diet coke, coke) refrigerator (no charge to drink) in the room also. There was a sitting area that was very comfortable. It doubled as a single bed when my husband got really sick mid-week. I am hoping it was just a bug going around the week we were there...but 4 or 5 guests had major stomach problems that lasted about 24 hours. It sucked...but in 4 trips to a Desire property this was the first time either of us have been sick at all:

[couplenindy]

At this point I am starting to wonder if Cokeman is sorry he taught me to upload pictures...but I'll continue with my story until told otherwise

There are a few areas that Desire RM definitely does better!!

One is the robe. We loved the terry-cloth robes at Desire RM and Desire Cabo! We would wear them to the hot tub in the evenings. The robes at Desire Pearl suck (sorry I could not come up with a nicer term)! They are a tunic made out of a waffle fabric that actually hurts to sit on. They are also huge! My husband is modeling this one...but the best use I saw was a girl in our hallway wearing it with a blingy belt...silver gloves up to her elbow...high heels. She was joking it was a space outfit. Anyway...no one really wore them:


The other area is the art in the room. Desire RM and Desire Cabo really went out of their way to have sexy art throughout the resort and in the rooms. Desire Pearl really could work on this. I love that Pearl has a Mexican theme to their art...but I think sexy art would fit the resort better. Here is an example of a picture in our room:


Our balcony was wonderful!! It had a table for two. We actually sat here a lot! Our nightly ritual on every beach trip is to enjoy a glass of wine on the beach (it is wonderful to hear the waves crashing and have the beach to ourselves - except for the Security officer - at night). This trip we followed the beach visit by listening to the waves from our balcony before we went to bed. The private balcony is better than the balcony situation at RM! The view was perfect...with the ocean peaking through the palms...and the pool right there:

[couplenindy]

Ok...a couple general resort photos and I am taking a break for awhile.

This is a bathroom off of the main lobby. It is a good example of how the resort has a Mexican flair to it. I really like this for the most part (reminds me I am in Mexico):


Here are a few pictures of the outsides of buildings - both sides (different buildings):



I'll finish later tonight or tomorrow...so much more to cover!
~Indy

[eddieandjojo]

From one Indy to another, thanks for posting the pics! Makes the 20 degree temps a little more bearable knowing we'll be back in paradise in 98 days......

[couplenindy]

BTW...on the last picture of the exterior of the building...there use to be elevators that went from the ground floor to the penthouse suites...they are all long gone, but that explains a little on why the building was built that with all of the glass and old doorways.

[BottomsUp]

Thank you Indy for all your efforts putting the pics/ report together.......takes me back.
We are looking forward to our return in February.

Mrs BottomsUp

[couplenindy]

I see a lot of posts here on the forums asking about the vibe of the resort and what really happens at the resort. I think that differs greatly from week to week depending on who is there. We prefer to travel with a group...because there is generally a consistent vibe with a particular group...once you know you like the vibe of a group...you will probably like the vibe next year too. We travel with Party Naked Baby. They are a fun, laid back group. There are swingers in this group for sure and there is crazy sex happening at the resort...but most of it happens behind closed doors (or maybe on the hot tub beds - the hot tub beds were full more than one night - had some good shows)...but the vibe is more of a crazy party with good friends. I like this group because we have options to swing...but it is never high pressure or in your face! Tony (the group host) plans a lot of fun stuff for the week too...a cruise down the coast, a door decoration contest, special theme nights, etc. The group is pretty active all year on their website and Tony has weekly chats as the trip gets closer.

Here are a few pics from our Egyptian themed door decoration contest (we had an Egyptian dress up theme night too):



Here is a picture of the pool about an hour after the foam party. We were surprised how quick the foam went down. The foam does get over your head, but it wasn't as scary as I thought and you can easily get out of it. The foam is not as slick feeling in the pool. I think it made it a lot safer than the lobby foam party we went to last year at Desire RM, but it wasn't as sexy feeling. I didn't notice any random groping or sex in the pool with our group...just a fun dance party with good friends!