March 24-31, 2004
This was actually our 2nd trip to Desire but our 1st trip report (well-deserving of a spanking I’m sure.) We’re also big Hedo3 fans, so we’re including a summary at the end of (1) the changes we’ve noticed in the resort over the past 4 months, and (2) how we think it compares to Hedo3. So stay tuned. But first things first – thank you Denny for an awesome site!
Arrival
Desire is very convenient for us to get to because we have relatively inexpensive non-stop air between Cancun and Indianapolis. We pre-arranged roundtrip transfers with Carlos from Deluxe and had no problem whatsoever. We were a bit worried when we had to wait for him upon landing for about 15 minutes, but we were first off the plane and our luggage was first off the conveyor, so we BREEZED through the airport. How often does THAT happen? We barely had to stop walking! So, anyway, Carlos finally showed with our name and off we went.
Reception is very relaxed at Desire - you have a seat, they pour you as much champagne as you like, you’re given a nice cool towel and assigned a room – immediately. It was the same on both visits for us. Milko at the front desk is wonderful and bent over backwards for us on at least one occasion when we had a special reservations request.
Room
We had a 2nd floor room in building 19 with a peek of ocean that was just beautiful. The ocean, that is. The room was very standard to what we had last time and functional. The beds are hard though.
Entertainment
We settled into a routine fairly quickly of getting up by 7 (apparently there is no resetting Kevin’s internal clock), then maybe taking an early walk on the beach, moseying down to breakfast, then laying around the pool. The entertainment crew started activities at 10am with stretching every day followed by horseshoes and beach volleyball on the beach at 10:30am. We both tried the stretching (neither of us is very flexible and Nathalie the EC is Gumby) and recommend it only because you are rewarded at the end of the class with a mini massage from the EC’s. It’s a beautiful (and short) 2 minutes, and it’s really just a tease, but worth the stretching effort! Then at noon they alternated between water volleyball or tequila volleyball, water aerobics, or water polo. The planned activities ended at 4:30 and then started up again at 9pm at the main bar. Lots of silly games and trivia – all a level “tamer” than Hedo, but for sure great fun and a good way to meet people. All the EC’s are great, too – a little shy maybe, especially if you never participate, but warm and friendly once you talk with them.
Themes
On arrival (late – around 5:30), we headed straight to the Jacuzzi bar and had to withstand being razzed for having our travel clothes on. At least until we started stripping some off. Then it changed to razzing Kev for the socks he was wearing. But we met some wonderful couples right off. The rooftop is where most everybody migrates to around 3 or 4 pm and stay until 6 pm or so. We made a habit of watching the sunset (and many pda’s on the beds and in the Jacuzzi) on most days. We managed only the briefest of appearances at the disco that first night – so we missed the kissing contest. Bummer – sounds like something we would have enjoyed participating in…!
Thurs was costume night, and it wasn’t widely participated in, but for those that do, it’s a great ice breaker. We mingled in our ice princess and polar bear outfits - which were a big hit - and we met many new couples. Sam really enjoyed leading Kevin around on a leash all night. It was fun to leave him with another woman to “keep an eye on him” when Sam needed to visit the ladies room at the disco. Kevin was well watched over that night!
Fri was Black & White night. We tried the Piacere restaurant and really enjoyed the company, the wine, and the food (in that order.) Piacere is a nice change from the buffet, and is really worth it, but service can be relaxed, so don’t make reservations too late if you plan to participate in all the evening’s activities. Sam competed in the strip tease contest that night in the disco. In November, most girls did the “fake” strip tease and left their clothes on or just went topless. This trip, though, everyone stripped nude. It was great fun, and all the girls got lots of applause! It was our turn tonight to test out those rooftop beds under the stars. Apparently, we did something right, because we got lots of compliments in the days following…
Sat’s theme was pj’s, and it was widely participated in. We won the “most sexual positions” contest in the disco by a slim margin – the competition was fierce! But our practice and strategizing paid off in the end – and we’re now the proud owners of two t-shirts. Tonight we joined the party happening in the disco playroom. We found the room almost full and most of the action in groups of 2’s and some 4’s. Convenient to get to when you get heated up on the dance floor.
Sun was Dress to Kill. Kevin participated in the fake orgasm contest but lost out to an uninhibited woman who shared all with the crowd. The contestants were encouraged to use props, so there were fire extinguishers, towels, and other miscellaneous items to offer assistance. Lots of hilarity.
Mon was lazy Monday. And lazy for us it was. Our day to recuperate after too many late nights. Friends started leaving today, so lots of goodbyes and making plans to meet again. Some friends who don’t like champagne (is that possible?) were given a bottle with their room that they presented to us in the morning. Although we shared some with those gathered around the pool (by the way, we weren’t REALLY celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary) we managed to consume it all before it got too warm. Made for a fun game of darts!
Tues we actually managed to get away from the pool for a couple of hours and go snorkeling. There are 3 choices to do this: (1) go through the resort and pay $25pp, (2) walk half a mile down the beach and get the same deal for $15pp, or (3) go with the water sports guy for free – he’ll take a group of kayakers out a ways in the water and then watch the equipment while you snorkel. We chose option (1) and enjoyed it. The guides take you to two different spots. The first was not very exciting, but the second was really nice. The provided bread, too, so you could feed the brightly colored fish out of your hand. It’s hard for us to pay the $50 when it’s included at Hedo, but it was the only thing that really got us out into the ocean. I would recommend it. Tues was billed as Cross Dress night, but it was changed to Wicked White night. The Chippendale’s contest in the disco was great – 6 or 7 competitors who really knew what they were doing made for an enjoyable show. The guy who won really knew how to use a pole! Be sure to pack a few one dollar bills for your next trip!
Food & Restaurants
So we didn’t try the new Mexican restaurant. Heard good things about it which honestly we didn’t expect to hear. The seating (maybe 4 tables) is outside where the ping-pong table is during the day. It seemed a little hokey to us, but as I said, we heard good things about it. You get 2 coupons for a weeks’ stay, and we used ours for Piacere. As mentioned, it is nice and the décor is beautiful, but the menu doesn’t change (not from Nov to March.)
I will also note that we felt the food and bar service people were angling for tips much more aggressively on the second trip than the first trip. Nothing too overt – but they came out of the woodwork when it was discovered someone was leaving. We don’t have a problem giving a small tip to a waiter we enjoyed visiting with and chatting with all week who knew our names and whose name we knew.
We searched diligently for a “good” margarita the whole week – and only found them twice. Most of the time, a margarita with lime was just tasteless. The “good” ones were the typical Americanized tangy things we adore. The first time we came across this treasured find, we made sure to learn the bartenders name (Carlos) but later discovered – I’m not exaggerating – there were at least 4 bartenders named Carlos and we weren’t sure what he looked like because we were served in the dining room when we made the initial discovery. We were introduced to Electric Lemonades (vodka, lemonade and Midori) and found them addictive enough to make at home on our return. Beware green tongues, though! Drinks were hit and miss, and what one bar made was no guarantee it was available at another bar. But we had no complaints at all – we always found something we liked!
Weather
It may have showered briefly the first day we were there. But it was followed by 6 days of glorious sun. The pain of leaving was eased a bit when our departure day was the first overcast day with lots of rain in the afternoon. This is a HUGE difference from our November trip – the weather dipped into the 50’s (yes, that’s RIGHT) and it RAINED and the wind BLEW and for the entire 5 days, we wished we’d brought heavier clothes! But we all bonded at that time huddled under the pool grill area bundled up in towels and in constant search of a warm cup of coffee or hot chocolate! We won’t travel to Cancun again in the months of Dec or Jan. Maybe this is over-reacting, but really – brrr!
People
Wonderful. Fabulous. Warm and friendly. For the most part, anyway. Lots of international folks from US, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Denmark, Russia, Germany, and UK. I say this every trip report – it’s the people that make or break a vacation. We’ve learned over our Hedo stays to be open and friendly to EVERYONE, introduce yourselves, be the first to say ‘hi’ and you make a lot of friends. OK, so you also meet some real marginal characters, but you never know til you try. The people at Desire are more mixed nude and textile, and that gives the crowd a different flavor, but the rule still applies. And we made some really wonderful friends we will keep in touch with after we head home.
OK, so now a few comments on the changes we’ve seen in the resort and also how we see it comparing to Hedo3. This is just our observation on the two times we’ve been at Desire, so we can’t say how statistically meaningful this is, but hey, it’s our trip report, so here goes:
Biggest differences from Nov03 to Mar04:
1) Weather! Ranged from worst case the last week of Nov (brrr!) to best case in Mar (beautiful!) We don’t recommend a Dec/Jan stay to anyone who asks!
2) Occupancy! Ranged from <25% in Nov right after Thankgiving to 100% over the weekend in March. Although being fully booked did give the resort more energy, I can’t say we still didn’t meet some wonderful people when at low occupancy and have an awesome time. We came back, didn’t we?! (And with our flamingo!!)
3) Addition of the new Mexican restaurant. Nice to have another option. Although we didn’t try it. L
4) Addition of a 24-hour bar. Not sure how important this was to us? We weren’t usually ready to drink before 10am anyway!
5) Addition of room service (never used it.) We much prefer to sit at a table and socialize as much as possible at mealtime…
6) Lots of turnover in the entertainment crew. Sylvina is the only one left from Nov. New faces are David, Nathalie, and Marianna. All are great! Really.
7) Hot tub was not in operation on our last visit. When it was, it was cold. It seemed to be working much better and more consistently in March. This is a MAJOR gathering place, so when it isn’t working, people tend to drift in different directions and you meet fewer people.
8) New “wait to be seated” and “let us serve you” policies at lunch and dinner at the buffet. This was ok at dinner (except when you wanted to find someone to sit with) but at lunch, when they wanted to serve you, it was trickier. You might ask for a salad at lunchtime, and the servers ask that you wait at your table so they can deliver it to you so you don’t have to stand around waiting. But then you have to go back to the buffet to choose which dressing you want on it anyway.
9) More evening 9pm activities added – karoke, live band, Mexican game night, and other contests at the main bar. Not only filled some dead time in the evenings, but gave people a reason and place to gather for more mingling!
Biggest differences between Desire and Hedo3:
1) For us, Desire is much easier to get to (and only a few minutes from the airport) and the stay is less expensive. These are MAJOR bonuses!
2) Desire has a beautiful beach which Hedo lacks, but we find we do more water sports at Hedo because it’s all included. Desire charges $25US pp to go snorkeling! And the view of the ocean is as beautiful if not more from H3 since the nude pool sits on the ocean.
3) Desire has only the one pool, and it is clothing optional, so it is a mixed crowd. We found the people to be great but more uptight than Hedo. Lots more coverage at dinner, less likely to strip in the disco. Yet still lots of pda’s day and night. How’s that?
4) We think Desire still lacks its own “flavor.” Not sure how to express this, but at Hedo, you get immersed in the culture - the people, the music, the food. Desire, even though it has an equally strong culture to offer, feels more international. It has no signature “feel” to it. We think they could capitalize more on the locale.
5) Finally, we tend to rate our vacations by the feeling we have when we leave – that total relaxation and total loss of sense that time is passing. We never quite reached that Hedo level of relaxation at Desire. Maybe that’s the difference between 7 days and 9 days, but we think Desire is just not the non-stop party that Hedo is.
I’m sure we’ll be back to Desire. And we’ll be back to H3. Now we have a choice, and they each have something unique to offer. Feel free to ask any questions!
Kevin and Sam