September 12-15
Please keep in mind that this report contains my own opinions and observations. I won't compare this resort to any other resort because I believe that each property must stand on it's own to earn its guests' business. Any comparison with other resorts would be too subjective to my own personal biases. Additionally, many people have not been to other resorts and would not understand any comparison.
Airport Arrival
The arrival into the Cancun airport was uneventful. I hadn't been in the
Cancun airport in about 4 years. The original circular terminal is under
renovation with a lot of the seating area removed and much of the
food/drink/souvenir areas closed. There is a new terminal that is discussed
below in the departure area. We landed in the middle of the afternoon on an
American West non-stop flight from Phoenix. The immigration area was empty and
the entry doors had to be unlocked to let us in. There were plenty of
immigration officers and we quickly passed through. One point, if using a
driver's license and birth certificate and your name isn't the same on both of
them, be sure to bring other documentation like a marriage certificate (not the
church copy), divorce decree, or other court papers that will affirm the name
difference. The customs area also went quickly. After your bags are picked up
you press a button that randomly lights up either a green light or red light. if
it's a green light you are free to go, if it's a red light, you are subject to
further inspection which is either a scanning of your luggage or a physical
inspection. As you leave customs, there are many people who try to sell you
transportation. If you have a prearranged ride, simply walk past everyone, exit
the terminal and the transportation area is immediately outside. However, before
leaving the building, make your pit stop because once you leave the building,
you can't get back in the way you came.
The ride to the resort is only 15-20 minutes down a 4-lane road once you leave the airport. However, the last mile between the highway and the resort can take 5 additional minutes because there are major speed bumps every 100 yards or so.
The front desk is open 24 hours.
Resort Arrival
Upon arrival you are presented with champagne and a cold towel.
Registration is quick and a bellman takes you to your room. On the way, the
major areas of the resort are pointed out and questions are answered. You get
the option of receiving a lock for the in-room safe deposit box. You also get a
plastic wrist or ankle band to identify yourself as a resort guest.
Room
I can only describe my room since I didn't see any others. The bed was a
king size bed, but a smaller version of one. There was a canopy over the bed -
sorry, no ceiling mirrors here. A short wall divided the sleeping area from the
sitting area. There was a l-shaped couch in the sitting area with a coffee table
in the middle. There was a small refrigerator that was kept stocked with bottled
water. You could also bring things back from the bar and store them in it. There
was a TV with several satellite channels. Some were in Spanish some in English.
The bathroom had a shower stall, sink, toilet and bidet. A hair dryer was
provided along with soap, shampoo, and conditioner. The room was air-conditioned
with a remote control to control the functions. The room temperature was fine.
Water temperature and pressure were fine, too.
Beach
The beach was great. Very clean and powdery sand that was raked twice a
day to keep it clean. The water was warm and the bottom sandy and free of rocks.
There was a little wave action, but the majority of the wave action occurred
about 1/4 mile offshore where a depth change was evident. Lounge chairs were
available the entire length of the beach with a dozen or so grass-topped palapas
scattered along the beach for shade. The beach faces generally to the east, so
the sun is available all morning and into the early afternoon. Shade from the
buildings and trees behind the beach reaches the beach in the afternoon. There
was a volleyball net at one end of the beach. The beach is on protected federal
land and there were occasional inspections by armed foot-soldiers. The beach is
also open to the public and people from a nearby resort do walk through on the
beach. This includes children on occasion. No one gawked, though, and many of
them politely smiled, said hi (hola), or just nodded.
Pool
The pool is quite large and big enough to accommodate a full load of
guests. A volleyball net and out of bounds lines were occasionally set up by the
entertainment coordinators. Water polo was also played with the nets and colored
bathing caps provided by the ECs. There is not much natural shade by the pool.
There is a large gazebo at one end of the pool, though, that has cushions for
laying on. Towels were plentiful and almost always available. If it rains, the
towel stand is wheeled off to the side to keep dry so you have to look for it in
a different spot than normal.
Jacuzzi Lounge
The Jacuzzi Lounge is located on the 3rd floor. It can hold 50 people
comfortably and more if being cozy is no problem. There is a deck with redwood
loungers for sunning. Towels are provided in the area. There is a swim up bar
that becomes self-serve when the bartender leaves for the day. At the other end
of the area are about 6 mattresses for a play area. What is played there is left
to your imagination.
Bars
As mentioned earlier, there is a bar on the Jacuzzi Lounge level. There
is a bar just outside the lobby in the main courtyard area. There is a bar in
the disco. There is a bar at the pool combined with a grill serving food -
called the Coconut Grill. There is also someone taking bar orders up and down
the beach. The hours of this service seemed to be spotty and inconsistent. The
time between order and delivery was 15-30 minutes. At times, the orders were
incomplete. Here are the published times for the bars. Of course reality might
be different.
Melange Lobby Bar: 500p-100a
Nude Jacuzzi Lounge Bar: 1000a-700p (self-serve after 700p)
L'Alternative Disco Bar: 1100p-200a
Cocunut Grill & Bar: 1100a-600p (the bar appeared to be open earlier)
Food
The food was good and plentiful with, of course, a Mexican flair. The
main dining room has theme nights which can be found
here on the resort
activity page. In addition to the main dining room (El Arrecife) there is the
Cocunut beach grill with a limited menu of burgers, fries, nachos, and other
such foods, and the Il Piacere restaurant requiring reservations where you order
from a menu. The Piacere restaurant does not allow shorts, t-shirts or sandals.
It also has a bar for the dining patrons. The menu at Piacere had various
offerings of beef, chicken and seafood along with a limited dessert menu. The
main dining room serves food buffet style. The breakfast offerings are fruit,
cereal, juices, custom cooked eggs, pancakes, french toast, bacon, sausage, meat
pies, oatmeal, and various other choices. Lunch the one day I ate there
consisted of fajitas cooked to order, along with salads, fruit, and some Mexican
dishes like beans, vegetables, and others. Dinner follows a theme as mentioned
earlier. Ice cream is available at lunch and dinner. A continental breakfast is
served at the Melange Lobby bar from 600a-700a. Night time snacks like burgers
and hot dogs were also available at that bar.
Disco
The disco opened around 1000p each night. There is a theme for the disco
most nights. The themes are listed
here on the activity
page. About 1/2 the guests participated in the theme. The disco has a bar, a
dance area with 2 poles, another pole at the other end of the disco, and a lot
of seating. There is a private off to the side. The DJ played a variety of
music. It appeared that requests were honored. The disco was active until about
200a. There was some "slutwear" seen in the disco. This was the only place I saw
any. There was none in the dining room or restaurant.
Entertainment
There is no main stage and no nightly entertainment. On a couple of
nights there was a single musician or duet playing near the Melange Lobby Bar in
the early evening. The entertainment coordinators organized several activities.
Those are listed on the
activity page. Participation ranged from minimal to moderate.
Tours
There are several tour options available with a tour desk located in the
main lobby.
Water Sports
Non motorized water sports are included. This covers sailing,
windsurfing and kayaking. SCUBA and snorkeling are available through an outside
contractor. Check
here for more information on SCUBA and snorkeling (note: this web site
appears to be up and down a lot).
Spa & Gym
I did not try any of the spa services. A list of the offerings is
available here. The
spa services were temporarily relocated to another area while construction on
the large spa and gym was continuing. I was told that completion of the new
facilities was about a month away. I peeked into the construction area. There
still is a lot of work to be done.
Departure
Departure went smoothly. Room and safe deposit box keys were returned. A
short comment form was filled out. Any house charges were taken care of. The
ride back to the airport was quick and comfortable. The airport has a large new
departure/ticketing area. After going through ticketing and security you enter a
large area with new shops and food courts. There is a variety of offerings to
help pass the time. Depending on your airline, you will either leave from this
new terminal via door stairs to your plane (ala Jamaica), or leave from the
older terminal through jetways.
General
Most of the staff spoke & understood English. However, the level of that
varied from very good to pretty poor. Knowledge of some basic conversational
Spanish is useful. There are usually enough bi-lingual guests or staff around to
where there is no language problem. If you are interested in learning some
Spanish while there, the staff will happily teach you some key phrases.
The resort is not a totally nude resort. Nor are there separate nude and "prude" sections. There were clothed people on the beach, in the pool, and in the Jacuzzi areas. Nudity was not forced upon anyone anywhere on the resort.
The guests were mostly Americans and Mexicans. There were some people speaking what I guessed was Italian. But the ratio of American guests to Mexican guests was about 70% to 30% (my estimate). I was told that the resort was at 75% occupancy over the weekend. At no time did anything seem crowded. There was very little wait at the bars at any time.
Internet services are available at $5 (US$) for the 1st 1/2 hour and $10 (US$) for 1 hour. There is a gift shop and jewelry shop that specializes in silver items.
The front desk operator will connect you to make collect or calling card calls. I'm not sure which pre-paid cards, if any, will work. Ask your vendor before you leave. Car rental is available at the front desk. They drive on the right side of the road - same as in the US. Most road signs are in English as well as Spanish with international symbols used where appropriate.
Here are some excerpts from the information packet guidelines handed out at check in.
Please email me with any questions that might not be answered by this report.