Just returned after a week at Desire. The resort was sold out for our week. We met some nice people and had a fun week, the resort is still going through some growing pains though. Here is our breakdown of services for our week:
Staff - Very friendly and helpful
Food - uninspired and unmemorable, very repetitious but always edible and safe.
Entertainment - Minimal and chaotic (they need to chose a schedule and stick to it!). The staff are very nice, they just need to be managed better.
Beach – Amazing!!! Amazing!!!
Disco - Music is mostly early 80's pop and repeats the same songs every night. Would have preferred more dance and modern tunes, or at least more variety.
Rooms – Small but cute, Gardenview has much nicer and bigger rooms than Oceanview.
Hot tub - Only worked one night :( Another hot tub would be great, especially when the resort is sold out. That is 220 people that could be trying to cram into that one hot tub! They also turn off of the hot tub at 2am every night :(
Bars - Close at 2am, they no longer leave the bottles out; they are locked up at night. It would be nice if the bartender stayed around if there is a crowd, instead of watching the clock the whole time. The party should not have to end just because the bartender is off shift.
People - The average age was much older than we expected, into the 50's with even some people into their 70's. During our sold out week only 10 people were under 40.
General – The resort shuts down all bar service at 2am, food at Midnight. They turn off all the lights in the resort at 3am. This does not really promote the party atmosphere we were expecting. Plus trying to find your way back to your room without any lights was dangerous.
We found the resort to be average in most aspects, probably about 3 stars. But the thing that surprised us most was the lack of party atmosphere being promoted by the resort. Shutting off the hot tub and bars at 2am and all lights at 3am, made it difficult to party late at night. I think they need to decide if they are going to run the resort as a peaceful getaway, or a party place. Right now things are pretty muddled up.
The management is still fairly new (even though it is an old facility) so there is lots of time to improve things. They were sold out during out week and did not seem prepared to deal with that at all. The front counter was especially unprepared. I would give Desire at least another year, maybe longer to work through a lot of these growing pains and find their focus.
A Last Comment on Hedo vs Desire: One thing to keep in mind, Desire is cheaper, but you are getting less for your money as well. Many people seem to think Desire offers the same amenities as Hedo, but it does not. Hedo offers much more entertainment, more food options (and better quality food in our opinion), more alcohol options (including premium liquors), 24/7 food and drink service, numerous hot tubs and pools (Desire has one of each), and larger rooms. In Canada the price difference is about $300 more for Hedo. For those facing the Hedo vs Desire debate, hopefully this helps.
Great Travels Everyone!