April 11-18, 2015 (First report but 15th visit to Desire)

[ms914]

After our 15th trip to Desire properties over 9 years (our 5th to Pearl), we are writing our first trip report. We thought we could give a pretty good perspective and share our impressions and observations of Desire Pearl. We will attempt to categorize our comments instead of a day by day report.

Overall Service: Still one of the best assets of DP. Everyone from the waiters, bartenders, pool staff, housekeepers, front desk staff, etc go out of their way to accommodate you. However, there were some gaps in service, particularly at the restaurants, as there were many new workers being trained while we were there. I’m sure this is a temporary gap that will be resolved.

Dining: This is one area where we would like to see improvement. Breakfast and lunch options are great and food quality is very good. There is a buffet and also menu service available for both meals in Aphrodite. But there needs to be more than 2 options (Aphrodite and Pearl) for dinner. While the food quality is good, the menu options are very limited. It would be nice if there was a buffet option or another quick, casual option for those that don’t want to get dressed or sit down for a couple hour meal. Several meals took way too long. We had a couple 3 hour meals at Pearl and even 90 minute + meals at Aphrodite. The new sushi restaurant on top on Aphrodite was only open on Friday and Saturday evenings and had 2 seatings. Would be nice if they expanded this to be more like Suki at RM. Did a beach BBQ for lunch one day and Fish Market another day, in addition to the normal lunch menu and buffet.

Bars/Drinks: Generally very good selection and service but there were a couple instances where a bar “ran out” of a certain liquor, which is not acceptable. The pool bar had “last call” around 4:30 everyday which is way too early considering the sun sets after 7pm and there are a lot of people socializing in the pool late afternoon before heading to hot tub. Should stay open until 6pm to accommodate guests.

Entertainment Staff: They all did a great job and were more engaging with the guests than ever before. A special shout out to Zoe and Marco who both went out of their way to spend time with us many times throughout our stay. The staff not only tried to rally everyone to participate in the various day time activities but were also very involved in evening activities (much more so than we have experienced at RM in past 2 years).

Theme Nights: Themes stuck to the posted schedule. Unfortunately only a small number of participants on most nights (20-25% of guests). Neon night was the greatest participation (75% or so). Hopefully more will participate in the future.

Nightly Entertainment: Most evenings there was a band or other performers in the lobby prior to the disco opening. The nights we attended we felt the entertainment was excellent. There was also a show in the disco every night as well. These performances lasted about 15-20 minutes and were a great warm up for the disco. There were a couple contests as well that were a lot of fun (Chippendales, lingerie, etc).

Late Night: Disco - Music selection was improved and very good. Disco was very active until about 11:30 then quickly emptied out (many to the hot tub). There were a couple nights where several couples hung out in Disco until after 1am. Hot Tub - very active, much more so than previous trips. On average 15-20 couples in tub late night and a fair amount of “activity”. From midnight until 2am the beds were rockin (90% occupied at all times). We closed the bar a couple nights and there was still activity in the beds after 2:30am. Lobby bar - not many people there after 1am but there were a couple people around until as late as 4am a couple nights. Unfortunately the late night snack options are not so good. Alternate between tacos and pizza, but neither very good. They need a better option, similar to RM (fresh pizza, club sandwiches, chips and salsa, etc).

Rooms: Rooms are very nice and housekeeping staff was great. They serviced our rooms 3 times per day with fresh towels, turn down service and little surprises (rose petals in the tub, chocolates, etc). Definitely a big plus over RM.

Pool/Beach: Victor and staff did a great job accommodating us at the pool. Chairs and towels were always ready for us. There was a DJ at the pool several days. Music very loud (too loud for some after 4pm which is usually time to mellow out a bit). But you could always sit on the quiet end of the pool if you wanted to nap. The foam party was fun and most people participated. (were 2 foam parties last week…..one for the group that was there). Staff did a great job getting participation in most activities (volleyball, water basketball, water polo, water aerobics, beer pong, etc). Lots of umbrellas at pool….plenty of sun and shade. Beach was generally in the shade except for early morning, unless you pulled a chair away from beach beds and palm trees. There was a delightful breeze everyday that made the 90 degree heat and bright sunny skies bearable.
Interesting observations: there were 2 days where nearly 90% of the women and 50% of the men were not totally nude. This is something we hadn’t observed before. By the end of the week it was more like 60% of the women and 80% of the men were nude. This might have been partially attributed to the high number of “first timers” in attendance. There was a also a group there where many kept their bottoms on. Certainly not judging just making an observation. To each their own……

Other: Sue and I both enjoyed massages at the spa with Veronica and Rebecca who were both excellent. The resort was extremely well maintained and spotless. Every night the crew was scrubbing the pool deck, restaurants and common areas. First time ever i did not get eaten alive by bugs. The windy conditions helped and they also sprayed every evening. I did not hear anyone complain about bugs.

Overall it was a very enjoyable week thanks to the many great people we met and new friends we made. We really enjoyed hanging with Mark and Jo, as well as Tony and Maria, Brad and Kelly, Mark and Suzanne, Ken and Kim, Frank and Kallie and several others. We are looking forward to our next visit in November.

Hope this report helped. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Sue and Mark

[Budlee]

Great report... thanks for taking the time to write it.

We too would love to see more dining options at Pearl, but understand, that with a no reservation system and so few rooms/guests, it isn't easy. No one likes to waste food! We were there for 8 nights last year, and I don't think we repeated a menu, between Pearl restauarant, Aphrodite and one meal at the Asian place (old location). So, repetition wasn't an issue for us.

And, as far as long meals go.... we love that. Who's got time to really sit back and enjoy a well-paced meal at home? On vacation, we take advantage of that luxury to its fullest extent, with cocktails, perhaps a bottle of wine with dinner, and after dinner drinks. Really, what else is there to do, at Pearl, during dinner hours, other than to enjoy the meal? Show doesn't start until late, hot tub is deserted, etc.... If they're not looking to turn over tables, then I'll take my sweet time and have a relaxed meal. I suppose you could always ask them to pace it a little faster when you sit down, right?

[Travelcouple89]

Great trip report ms914. We enjoy reading trip reports from first timers but it is also nice to read a report from someone who has been there as much as you guys. Quick question, did you get a chance to hit the play room? If so, what was your take on the activity level? Thanks for sharing.

[ms914]

Agree that a long, leisurely meal is a luxury but when you can't get a table until 8pm or later and the nightly entertainment starts at 9 (or 10:30 in the disco), it can be frustrating. The service was slow even at Aphrodite when there were only 5 tables occupied. We did notice that if it was only my wife and I dining, rather than 4 or 6 people, the service was quite a bit faster (75 mins).

Regarding the play room, there was very little activity going on. Most people left for the hot tub which was unusually active. At one point there were bodies everywhere.....all of the beds, pool deck, top steps of hot tub, on the bar, on the edges of the tub......too much to look at.....lol. Much more activity than we have seen even at RM.

[two4funinpa]

Good report...I agree, they do need more meal options. This could be easily accomplished by opening the We are working on booking our next trip, and we are doing 6 nights (even tho we'd get 2 for one for our 7th and 8th nights) partly because of the food monotony. My point is, if they had more food options, we'd probably stay longer (or that could just be an excuse because it would be hard to leave the kids for longer.) We are not foodies. Don't get me wrong, Pearl is our favorite place on earth, I'm just being a little over critical. And someone else mentioned, opening the Sushi restaurant every night would be helpful. We understand with the size of the resort (which we really like), it's hard to have more restaurants.

Jeez, we love Pearl so much I feel bad saying anything negative.

[tspad]

During our trip in February we ate every night at Aphrodite-- Arrived at 7:30 each night and were seated right away. Thought about trying Pearl, but did not want to want for a seat and miss any of the fun that starts around 9 in the lobby. On the night we tried to get into the Sushi restaurant, they were booked. Our waiter brought us down food from the sushi restaurant and set up a very romantic table for us on the balcony outside Aphrodite-------

On our last night a Pearl they were having a special champagne and lobster diner in the sushi restaurant space which was excellent !!!

We love Pearl !!!!!!

[northernlightscpl]

After our 15th trip to Desire properties over 9 years (our 5th to Pearl), we are writing our first trip report. We thought we could give a pretty good perspective and share our impressions and observations of Desire Pearl. We will attempt to categorize our comments instead of a day by day report.

Overall Service: Still one of the best assets of DP. Everyone from the waiters, bartenders, pool staff, housekeepers, front desk staff, etc go out of their way to accommodate you. However, there were some gaps in service, particularly at the restaurants, as there were many new workers being trained while we were there. I’m sure this is a temporary gap that will be resolved.

Dining: This is one area where we would like to see improvement. Breakfast and lunch options are great and food quality is very good. There is a buffet and also menu service available for both meals in Aphrodite. But there needs to be more than 2 options (Aphrodite and Pearl) for dinner. While the food quality is good, the menu options are very limited. It would be nice if there was a buffet option or another quick, casual option for those that don’t want to get dressed or sit down for a couple hour meal. Several meals took way too long. We had a couple 3 hour meals at Pearl and even 90 minute + meals at Aphrodite. The new sushi restaurant on top on Aphrodite was only open on Friday and Saturday evenings and had 2 seatings. Would be nice if they expanded this to be more like Suki at RM. Did a beach BBQ for lunch one day and Fish Market another day, in addition to the normal lunch menu and buffet.

Bars/Drinks: Generally very good selection and service but there were a couple instances where a bar “ran out” of a certain liquor, which is not acceptable. The pool bar had “last call” around 4:30 everyday which is way too early considering the sun sets after 7pm and there are a lot of people socializing in the pool late afternoon before heading to hot tub. Should stay open until 6pm to accommodate guests.

Entertainment Staff: They all did a great job and were more engaging with the guests than ever before. A special shout out to Zoe and Marco who both went out of their way to spend time with us many times throughout our stay. The staff not only tried to rally everyone to participate in the various day time activities but were also very involved in evening activities (much more so than we have experienced at RM in past 2 years).

Theme Nights: Themes stuck to the posted schedule. Unfortunately only a small number of participants on most nights (20-25% of guests). Neon night was the greatest participation (75% or so). Hopefully more will participate in the future.

Nightly Entertainment: Most evenings there was a band or other performers in the lobby prior to the disco opening. The nights we attended we felt the entertainment was excellent. There was also a show in the disco every night as well. These performances lasted about 15-20 minutes and were a great warm up for the disco. There were a couple contests as well that were a lot of fun (Chippendales, lingerie, etc).

Late Night: Disco - Music selection was improved and very good. Disco was very active until about 11:30 then quickly emptied out (many to the hot tub). There were a couple nights where several couples hung out in Disco until after 1am. Hot Tub - very active, much more so than previous trips. On average 15-20 couples in tub late night and a fair amount of “activity”. From midnight until 2am the beds were rockin (90% occupied at all times). We closed the bar a couple nights and there was still activity in the beds after 2:30am. Lobby bar - not many people there after 1am but there were a couple people around until as late as 4am a couple nights. Unfortunately the late night snack options are not so good. Alternate between tacos and pizza, but neither very good. They need a better option, similar to RM (fresh pizza, club sandwiches, chips and salsa, etc).

Rooms: Rooms are very nice and housekeeping staff was great. They serviced our rooms 3 times per day with fresh towels, turn down service and little surprises (rose petals in the tub, chocolates, etc). Definitely a big plus over RM.

Pool/Beach: Victor and staff did a great job accommodating us at the pool. Chairs and towels were always ready for us. There was a DJ at the pool several days. Music very loud (too loud for some after 4pm which is usually time to mellow out a bit). But you could always sit on the quiet end of the pool if you wanted to nap. The foam party was fun and most people participated. (were 2 foam parties last week…..one for the group that was there). Staff did a great job getting participation in most activities (volleyball, water basketball, water polo, water aerobics, beer pong, etc). Lots of umbrellas at pool….plenty of sun and shade. Beach was generally in the shade except for early morning, unless you pulled a chair away from beach beds and palm trees. There was a delightful breeze everyday that made the 90 degree heat and bright sunny skies bearable.
Interesting observations: there were 2 days where nearly 90% of the women and 50% of the men were not totally nude. This is something we hadn’t observed before. By the end of the week it was more like 60% of the women and 80% of the men were nude. This might have been partially attributed to the high number of “first timers” in attendance. There was a also a group there where many kept their bottoms on. Certainly not judging just making an observation. To each their own……

Other: Sue and I both enjoyed massages at the spa with Veronica and Rebecca who were both excellent. The resort was extremely well maintained and spotless. Every night the crew was scrubbing the pool deck, restaurants and common areas. First time ever i did not get eaten alive by bugs. The windy conditions helped and they also sprayed every evening. I did not hear anyone complain about bugs.

Overall it was a very enjoyable week thanks to the many great people we met and new friends we made. We really enjoyed hanging with Mark and Jo, as well as Tony and Maria, Brad and Kelly, Mark and Suzanne, Ken and Kim, Frank and Kallie and several others. We are looking forward to our next visit in November.

Hope this report helped. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Sue and Mark

We were at Pearl (first time, several to RM) April 16 -23. This is our same report as well, Thanks. We too noticed the extra high numbers of non to partly nudes as well. The evening lobby and disco entertainment was outstanding. The Tenors were a 10/10 and the bands played to dance music. Fully agree with the food. Excellent, but .....the ambiance just wasn't there except for Pearl dining. We always enjoy the lobby snack bar with fresh pizza, hot dogs, chips etc. at RM and found they could improve on this at Pearl.

Excellent report.........

[Gemini Rose]

We are making our first trip to Pearl in two weeks. We've made many visits to RM and the former LC locations. We really enjoy a nightcap and a late night munchie on the way to our room for the night. I've read many reviews that the late night food at Pearl is lacking. What do they generally have and where can it be found?

[ms914]

They have some light snacks near the main lobby bar every night starting around 11:30 or so. They alternate between tacos and pizza. In my opinion, these are just okay.....doesn't compare to RM in selection or quality. Even if they'd add chips and salsa that would help.

[miranda2]

Thanks for writing your trip report. We are heading back for our second visit to DP at the end of May and the trip reports help us really get in the mood and create more excitement and enhance our anticipation! As for the food - as long as I'm not cooking, how can I complain??!! I don't care if I eat the same thing every day (which I usually do, as there are certain things I can't and don't make at home and are a treat to me). Maybe I'm just weird. Yeah, let's go with that.

[feverpair]

Thanks for writing your trip report. We are heading back for our second visit to DP at the end of May and the trip reports help us really get in the mood and create more excitement and enhance our anticipation! As for the food - as long as I'm not cooking, how can I complain??!! I don't care if I eat the same thing every day (which I usually do, as there are certain things I can't and don't make at home and are a treat to me). Maybe I'm just weird. Yeah, let's go with that.

Just how we feel.

[Budlee]

I don't care if I eat the same thing every day (which I usually do, as there are certain things I can't and don't make at home and are a treat to me).

Our trip was eight nights, and aside from some breakfast items and the freakin' amazing fish tacos at lunch (which I would have eaten EVERY DAY for a month, given the opportunity), I don't think we repeated any meals. Both Aphrodite and Pearl have 4 (at least) rotating menus, so during our 8-night stay, we hit up each of those menus once, plus one night at the sushi place. Still not understanding the food monotony, even with the limited number of restaurants. At other AIs, the specialty restaurants have the SAME menu every night, and only the buffet changes.

For those that haven't given Aphrodite a try for dinner, you really should... Pearl was great, but we thought service and food and ambiance were better at Aphrodite, truth be told.

[miranda2]

I can't wait to try the Fish Tacos you speak of Budlee!!! And that lunch buffet - with all those amazing food selections. Good thing there are so many activities to do at DP to burn off those calories I'll be consuming very soon on a daily basis.