Recently got back from 5 nights at Pearl. Overall, a nice visit, but there definitely ups and downs.
For reference, my husband and I are not swingers, but we are lifestyle-friendly, lifestyle-adjacent. We have loved visiting both Desire resorts over the past 12 years or so. I have posted trip reviews previously:
October 2024 RM: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13534
May 2026 Pearl: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13965
I will try to summarize our experience.
The very good:
Staff: the staff members are all top notch. Every waiter, every bartender, every drink service person, every housekeeper, every groundsman, every maintenance worker, every Playmaker... each person employed that we met was so kind, welcoming and respectful. Everyone had a smile at the very least and offered to help when asked.
Entertainment: The theme nights were fun. Lots of good participation. The live bands were great. The DJ was great. The Playmakers made the daytime activities fun and entertaining.
Other guests: we met so many wonderful guests from all around, mostly from the US and Canada. A few others from England, the Phillippines and the West Indies. Everyone was super friendly, kind, funny and respectful.
On a side note, we met Bob and Maura from Florida. Apparently they visit Desire almost every month, so they must be legends there. They were a ton of fun. Who says you can't have fun well into your 70s and 80s?
Room: we booked the lowest rate room (Ocean view) but got upgraded to a spacious Junior suite with 2 bathrooms and tons of storage space. Some people say the rooms are outdated but we love them and have no complaints... well except for the shower: sometimes can be hard to get steady hot water.
The OK:
Entertainment: Back to entertainment, the performances at night were OK. The dancing was great, but dancing is dancing. I was hoping for a fire show, acrobatics, just something more performative. I'm a kid from the 80s, and the entertainment reminded me of the Solid Gold dancers. Nothing against any of that, as I feel they are all very talented. However, sitting and watching dancing night after night got a little redundant. There were also some special event days that were not really advertised. I found out from a social chat group. but the information was not readily available from the Desire website.
Food: We did not have one meal that impressed us. Most of the food we had was just OK or at best, pretty good. A lot of the food tasted bland. We had a steak that had the weirdest texture; it did not feel like meat, but almost like fat mixed with juicy styrofoam. We had shrimp on the day they did an outdoor BBQ and the shrimp was barely cooked. It was still pale pink when we got it, no grill marks and no seasoning. Almost looked microwaved. There were some special event nights with outdoor buffets, but again, the food just did not taste spectacular.
Food service: we love the wait staff, especially at Aphrodite for breakfast and lunch. However, there were many times our plates weren't collected, or our drinks took longer to be refilled. And I know restaurants can get busy but this wasn't the case. The wait staff would be in a corner or by the bar talking, while we waited for drink refills, for example.
The bad:
The beach is absolutely horrible. Even if you say "well we don't go for the beach" it will still affect you. The stench is awful, pervasive and is everywhere. It hits you when you leave your room but it lingers all day, all night. Sometimes a breeze will mitigate it for a few hours or maybe we just got so used to it. But it was horrible to see and smell.
Overall, we did enjoy our stay at Pearl and met some amazing couples. The staff members were phenomenal. We are not Premier members, but still had a great time and never felt like we were missing out on anything. Hopefully the beach situation is at its worst and can only get better.
Some photos of the beach and smelly sargassum:
Here's a video:
