Open letter to Desire Management...

[beach bums]

Hi all, well we thought it was just us struggling with the decision of continuing our business with Desire. We have been to Desire RM 12 times and Pearl 2 times and are really undecided as to what to do. We used to go 3 times a year at 14 nights at a time, then dropped it to 3 times a year at 10 nights at a time, then 2 times a year at 10 nights at a time. The last couple times, we have really noticed a decline in everything at Desire so in 2014 we have already booked somewhere else and don't know if we plan to book Desire for another trip or not. Desire prices are ridiculous and they have issues to work out before we plan to go back. We really do love Desire but it's just not worth it anymore. There are options out there and maybe we all need to get together and do a takeover somewhere else. It's the people that make the vacation, not Desire. Desire only provides the accommodation. Open for any thoughts...

Sandy & Stew

[20'scouple]

Hi all, well we thought it was just us struggling with the decision of continuing our business with Desire. We have been to Desire RM 12 times and Pearl 2 times and are really undecided as to what to do. We used to go 3 times a year at 14 nights at a time, then dropped it to 3 times a year at 10 nights at a time, then 2 times a year at 10 nights at a time. The last couple times, we have really noticed a decline in everything at Desire so in 2014 we have already booked somewhere else and don't know if we plan to book Desire for another trip or not. Desire prices are ridiculous and they have issues to work out before we plan to go back. We really do love Desire but it's just not worth it anymore. There are options out there and maybe we all need to get together and do a takeover somewhere else. It's the people that make the vacation, not Desire. Desire only provides the accommodation. Open for any thoughts...

Sandy & Stew

Where are you guys booked for next year?

[tommer]

We are also curious where others may be going in the future. When we booked at Pearl for June 10-17, we told each other that it may, unfortunately, be the last time as the prices just keep climbing. Management really needs to reexamine their pricing structure. Desire is especially attractive when they have full occupancy .... we all love the crowd. If others begin to go elsewhere, occupancy will drop and then even fewer will entertain visiting Desire .... very sad. Minimally, they should not increase prices and offer an incentive such as stay 6 nights and get a 7th night free. This is a competitive world and I hope management will listen to this blog and use sound, common sense.

[westcpl]

Common sense isn't all that common after all...

[beach bums]

Well, our next trip is going to be a short vacation to Cuba since we have never been there. We are staying at Melia, Cayo Caco. I know, I know, it's just an Adults Only resort but we plan to make our own fun and liven the place up. We have fun no matter where we are or who we are with. We are tossing around the idea of trying Caliente in Dominican Republic when a lifestyle group is there. We will not go there without a group being there though. We've read some good reviews and seems to be a possible option - again, we will have fun no matter what. Any comments on Caliente from anyone that has been there lately? We've also looked at Costa Rica. We think it would be so fun to get a good size group of us go to any nice resort anywhere with a good nightlife and make our own party. We stayed at Azul next door to Desire one night (very expensive) before going to Desire and met some couples at the resort while having a few drinks and later while dancing and a bunch of us ended up swimming in the pool nude late at night and having a real fun night. We had so much fun that we took it easy at Desire the next day. Hmmm, regular resort and lots of fun still!

[NiceAndSoft]

Hello all , wife and I have never been to Desire before but this thread is really starting to make me wonder if we made the right decision to try this place out. Just discovered Desire resorts last summer, did some research and presented it to my wife. This would be our first time to a C/O resort and had read a lot of nice reviews. Now it's starting to sound like it might be more stressful than relaxing. We have never been to Mexico so this will be a completely new kind of experience for us. I don't need someone pushing timeshares on me the whole time we are there. We can't afford or want that. Some of the other complaints are not that big of a issue for me and I can deal with. Had to save for a long time before we decided where we were going to go next year. Wondering if the positive reviews I've been reading are just from people that have only recently started going and don't know any better ( if that makes sense ). We are very easy going and don't let the small stuff bother us. There are always 'bumps in the road'. We will be at Pearl June 14-18. This may be our first and only trip depending on how it goes. We may end up back in Jamaica in 2015. Love that island and the people but wanted to try someplace new. Desire sounded like a lot of fun when I first learned about it. Now I'm not so sure , but that is how it always is for me , I always get in on the hind end of a good thing. I do want to thank everyone who post on the forums. Have learned a lot and enjoy reading them.

[EandV]

NiceandSoft, Go. You might notice that while we're all looking for Desire Management to take notice and address a few items, we're still here writing about it. The place is fantastic, which is why we're all concerned with making it better and have not already moved on. So go, you'll love it, and then maybe we'll have one more voice trying to make it great again. btw, no reply to my original email yet...

[NiceAndSoft]

EandV, We WILL go and we will give it a chance. Just that when you read a lot of negative about someplace you've never been it starts putting doubts in your head. i do understand where the "repeaters" are coming from. You all have been there multiple times, know what you like about the place and what could be improved on and are voicing your opinions. People who have never been, don't know any different so are not affected the same way and can still have a great time. Going to do my best not to go into it with a negative view and be "looking" for things that others are complaining about. Like I said in my previous post, we are very easy going and some of the things people are having a problem with just aren't an issue for us. We've been going to Couples in Jamaica the last few years and have seen changes there already. Some things I'm not fond of but hey, that's life and nothing stays the same. Still enjoy going there. So I can relate to the situation going on here for you. It does seem that changing up the music is a VERY common request and would be very easy to accomodate. It's like going to Jamaica and not hearing much reggae music. Only rehashed American top 40 / pop junk. You go there to experience the culture and get away from the "norm" of everyday life at home. Anyways, I do appreciate the reassurance and if all goes well we WILL be back in the near future and I would be happy to lend my voice and help you guys out on something that would help improve the resort. We are not the most outgoing but we hope to meet some great people while there. Just takes us a little bit for us to loosen up. So if anyone reading this runs into us, please don't take it as being antisocial. Usually just need the other couple / person to drive the conversation in the beginning until we come around.

[mande]

I just sent an email to Desire Management expressing some frustration, not because of specific policies, but rather because they don't seem to listen to their loyal customers very well. I will post when/if I get a reply. I mentioned in particular the apparent unpopularity of some of the current theme nights and the appearance that those theme night decisions are made without guest input. I also mentioned the seeming trend of closing sections of the resort for non-guest parties or events. I also think it's odd that Desire Management has only posted here about a dozen times and not in over 6 months. I start this topic not simply to complain, but because we love the place and want to see it be great for decades to come. The other guests are fantastic, the employees are the best and the amenities are terrific. Some of the management decisions could be better. There doesn't seem to be a topic designed to say "Management LOOK HERE!" So I started one. Please add your feedback so we can keep this place we all love great!

Our sentiments exactly. We have been feeling this way for a while now. We must have spent over $70,000 staying there since it opened, and - oooh maybe I'll get another baseball cap at the repeat guests night, can't wait. We do not get recognized by management for our loyalty, (but the staff we love - as all of us do). Really tired of the greediness, for lack of a better word, and this January trip will be our last trip to Desire. (On a positive note, looking forward to seeing a bunch of our friends when we return in just under 3 weeks.)

[Jamand]

So my wife and I went to Hedo this past summer and one of the couples actually brought their Ipod and alittle boom box to play their own music for our entertainment. Do they have a DJ onsite to adjust the music or is on some backroom stereo system that's fed to the outside speakers? I ask only because I'm willing to bring my Ipod/Mp3 player and give it to the DJ if this is allowed. Sounds pretty petty but I enjoy good party tunes as much as the next person.

[tommer]

Like others have said, I hope that new readers are not discouraged from coming to Desire via some of these entries on the blog. The place (Desire for us) is truly amazing and it has been one of our top life's highlights. Loving it so much, we are afraid that the prices will continue to climb and thus, we will not be able to return. We love all that it has to offer ...... hoping to meet many a new person upon our return June 10-17th! Cheers!

[WhiteSands]

Wow. I guess it's all about individual experience. We have just returned from Desire/ Pearl, our 2nd trip to Desire and 3rd to Pearl this year. Management DO listen. They have changed the daytime music at Pearl, and the entertainment staff were going round asking, and noting down, individual's music preferences. Everytime I post a review on TripAdvisor I get a reply from Allessio (spelling? sorry!) the manager at Pearl, for example explaining they are soon installing air-conditioning in the lobby. He is also very approachable when around the resort.
I confess I haven't had any interaction with the "management" at RM, although Fabiola the guest relations lady there could not have been more helpful when we had a pretty major problem this last trip, and more than made up for our inconvenience.
You can't please all of the people all of the time. Some you can't please at all. I guess we're pretty easy going!

[bill_monica]

Wow. I guess it's all about individual experience. We have just returned from Desire/ Pearl, our 2nd trip to Desire and 3rd to Pearl this year. Management DO listen. They have changed the daytime music at Pearl, and the entertainment staff were going round asking, and noting down, individual's music preferences. Everytime I post a review on TripAdvisor I get a reply from Allessio (spelling? sorry!) the manager at Pearl, for example explaining they are soon installing air-conditioning in the lobby. He is also very approachable when around the resort.
I confess I haven't had any interaction with the "management" at RM, although Fabiola the guest relations lady there could not have been more helpful when we had a pretty major problem this last trip, and more than made up for our inconvenience.
You can't please all of the people all of the time. Some you can't please at all. I guess we're pretty easy going!

Looks like we have some good news, somebody is listening. The music subject has been debated for a long time on this forum and especially the music at the disco. We visited Pearl last spring and we loved the disco room more than the one at DRM. Still, after the nightly show it gets empty in less than one hour.
To much Pitbull every night maybe ? How come with the 80's as a night theme there is no music to match it?
And the DJ is not taking requests or even play some tunes form our iPhone.
Any changes at the disco, WhiteSands?

[werfun]

Like 99% of others on here we love Desire and hope that it keeps going forever. The important things at the resort are the property itself (rooms, pool and beach, and things like that) everything else is just frosting on the cake. A lot has been said about the music but to us the music is just background sounds because we are busy visiting and interacting with others in the pool. Like WhiteSand said "Everyone can't be pleased all the time" so why sweat the small stuff. The music in the Disco was just like any other club that we had been to in Honolulu, Chicago, Saint Louis, Los Angles. Of course the staff at the Desires that we have been to have been outstanding and going out of their way to welcome us and make us feel welcome they are the best part of Desire.
The thing that worries us it the rate that the room cost keep going up. We understand the need to raise the cost every year(just like everything else in the world) but the latest one seems extreme to us but then we don't know the whole story behind the increase. Hopefully the next increase will not be as big or we may have to start looking for somewhere else something that we really don't want to do as we love Desire.

[miranda2]

We really disliked the music in the disco at Pearl but we have almost always had pretty good music in the disco at RM. Heck, every time I requested a song, the DJ played it almost immediately! Kudos to the DJ!! We know our trips to Desire will come to an end in a couple more years - but we'll continue to do whatever we can to save enough money to make a couple of trips each year until then.

What we'd like to see management spend the money on is maintenance of the pool / beach chairs and the mattresses on the beach beds and the beds at the jaccuzzi. Also, maintenance of the wooden beach beds at Desire RM - they are rotting and a potential hazard.

We could care less about the decor reno's in the restaurants, we liked them 'before' and 'after' but didn't really see a need to re-decorate - but it's the things that really get the 'wear and tear' that really need to be looked at and fixed.

As multiple repeaters as well, there were at least 2 Thank-you Repeaters Cocktail Hours during the week we were there and we didn't get invited to either one of them! What's up with that? Yes, we have been invited to them on previous trips and enjoyed them very much. Not sure how, why, who, what kind of records they keep but I think they are dropping the ball in this area.

Oh, and the other thing I think they need to change at DRM is the beach bed / lounger system. They save certain beach beds for the 'passion suite' or other types of guests but that also includes 2 plastic loungers. Which leaves the rest of us poor slobs with nothing to sit on while we're on the beach. Why do they get a bed AND two loungers and basically don't use any of them all day!!

They need to get enough beach lounge chairs for everyone who would like to use them. Oh, and maybe some shade umbrellas for us at the beach, too.

Whew!! I think I need a vacation!!