newbies trip resort - June 24, 2013

[GrandRapidscpl]

we are both in our late twenties and have traveled all over the Caribbean and mexico and stayed ( in our opinion ) the nicest all inclusive s that mexico has to offer. we decided to do something a little different and try desire pearl. first of the resort itself is small ( under 90 rooms) but the layout for the amount of people it can hold is fantastic. the pool is huge for the size of the resort and the images of the hot tub really dont do it justice. The beach is very nice with very little traffic walking by. the resort itself is beautiful and well designed. The rooms were perfectly fine. we had an ocean front room ( smallest category) and were perfectly happy with it. the rooms are not as large and elegant as you get at some of the larger resorts but that's not what we were there for Are first 2 days there there was a takeover group there and the resort was sold out. the atmosphere was great. lots of partying sexual activity , games ect. the second two days after the group left it really died down which was fine for us. The food was fine , to be honest ive stayed in more expensive hotels then pearl in mexico and still the food all seems to be on the same level . the entertainment staff was AWESOME they tried to get everyone involved and when you didnt want to be they didnt push. the people that were at pearl ranged late twenties to mid 60s with most being in the 35 to 45 range . if your worried about age like we were. there were some really hot people down there of all ages ( this goes for RM to) we both said well have some work to do if we want to look that good in 15 years lol. there was even one could we saw that we guessed were in thier mid 30s later we found our the were both over 50 lol. the people seem to be very nice and non judgmental at both resorts.

It seems like since desire cabo has closed a month ago all the reviews have switched to instead of a review of the resort itself to comparing it to desire rm. well heres our version. first off i will agree they are two different resorts, we took the LOONNGG walk to rm( please if you visit pearl and decide to walk to rm ... dont its not worth it and is not a very scenic walk, there is a lot of unmaintained beach along the way and it takes every bit of an hr or more) we got to rm and were not impressed. the pool is tiny and the seating around the pool is crammed. we've heard a lot of complaining about the staff at pearl which we thought was excellent and never had a complaint but when we got to rm after the hr walk n 90 degree heat we couldn't even get the bartender to look at us. we waited 10 min then decided to just walk up to the hut tub are and get a drink there since it was empty. we walked around the resort to see the whole place hung out in the pool a little bit . went to get another drink just outside the lobby . there was a couple having full on sex right next to the bar just out of the bartenders sight. not a turn on at all the way they were going at it was more uncomfortable. the resort has a lot more rooms then pearl but seems to have less space. the buffet was right next to the pool which we didn't like and it reminded us more of a carnival stand then an all inclusive buffet. the beach is huge but the water is not that Caribbean blue its more of a brown murky water because of were the resort is located. pearl has the turquoises water that we've come to love. the famous roof top jacuzzi lounge did not do it for us at allll. it seemed tiny and dirty . maybe it wouldn't have if we haven't enjoyed pearls jacuzzi first but we were not impressed at all. the nightclub and playroom were much better than pearls the playroom is huge compared to pearls and the nightclub seemed to have a much better layout on top of being bigger. we didn't stay long as rm just was not for us. all in all rm reminded us of the resorts we stayed at on high school spring break. before i get a lot of people mad , this review is about the resort not the people that were there, everyone seemed like very nice and great people and were having a great time.

It seems to me that all the reviews bashing pearl start with .... weve been to RM X amount of times and love it but decided to try something different. then the rm lovers get to pearl and guess what its different and they start complaining. pearl is a much more beautiful with a much bigger pool a much bigger hot tub and everything is more open and newer and over all nicer. we can agree that the vibe is not the same as rm. but every review since it opened has pretty much said that so i dont get why people are shocked when they get there. if you are looking for an all out party , then pearl is not for you. go to rm or you'll be disappointed. pearl in our opinion is somewhere in the middle which is exactly what we were looking for. its not like the place was dead. there was action in the hot tube and the playroom while we were there, im just assuming its not on RMs level. we enjoyed the hot tub beds twice and the playroom once while there!! we plan on going back to pearl 100% we loved the resort when it was full and we loved it when it wasnt.

[poolcple]

Thanks for taking the time to write a great trip report!

[heavyG]

We've been to Pearl twice - heading there for a 3rd time in a couple of weeks. We find it really strange when talking to RM regulars - and when we read trip reports here - that they seem to feel that there is only one way for the resort to operate: You must visit the pool bar at x o'clock for x number of minutes, then go to the hot tub at x o'clock, then to the bar, then to dinner, then to the disco, then to the hot tub, then to the lobby for pizza. Any deviation from this flow is a travesty! If you don't do these things in this order then you've somehow broken the magical 'Sexy Vibe' …

Gotta say we don't get it. Different resorts, different people, different experience. When in a hotel in Hong Kong, we don't slag it because the TV is in a different spot than in a hotel in New York.

Sorry for the rant - we just find it crazy that people who are swingers / lifestylers and can think outside the sexual norms of society; can be so 'inside the box' when it comes to these two resorts.

[CL3]

Jandk -

Thank you so much for the great review. As a couple in our 20's/30's making our first trip to this type of resort in Nov we found it very informative. Hopefully we'll have the same great experience!

[miranda2]

Wonderful trip report! Thanks for taking the time to post it. We have been to all the Desire resorts (now only 2) and love them equally. As HeavyG says, Different resorts, different people and different experiences. Each trip we have gone on has been different and we've enjoyed them all. That's what keeps us going back.

[MandD]

Great Report! Thank you. The Mrs. and I will be at Pearl in November and cant't wait. We have been to RM 2 times and loved it. We visited pearl on a day pass and loved the beauty of the resort. All and all I feel we will love it even more than RM, although i must confess I love the 2AM pizza at RM.