Desire Resort, Cancun, Mexico
May 13 – 18, 2004
As members of the Jamaican Waterslide Team that goes to Hedo III, we decided to take a trip to Desire Resort with three other couples to do research for a possible large group trip. We set up a Yahoo group, made a group logo, and spent time on several message boards to see if others would be interested in the trip also. This is only our opinion of what we found.
We flew Alaska Air direct from Los Angeles. Check–in was easy and fast, and security moved very swiftly.
We arrived at Cancun airport 20 minutes early, and they parked our plane about ½ mile away from the terminal. Busses were brought in to transport us to the immigration and customs area. As we got off the bus, they had not unlocked the doors to let us in, so we stood there for a few minutes until they unlocked the doors. The lines were long, but moved very quickly, and we did notice that people traveling with small children were put to the front of the line. Baggage claim went very smoothly, and we were off to customs. There you show them more paper work, then step forward an push a button under what looks like a traffic signal with a green and red light. Push the button and get a green “Pass” light, and you are on your way. If you get the red “Stop” light, get ready to have everything you are carrying searched. After a few minutes of being searched, you are on your way.
Here is where the fun begins….They will try to sell you all kinds of taxi services, as well as get you to talk to them about tours, and try to get you to sign up for time share visits. If your transportation is already paid for, pay close attention to where your travel agent tells you to go. “TIP”…If your voucher or agent says “Look outside for someone holding a sign with the agency name on it.” That means OUTSIDE the terminal, not outside of customs.
Once we found our transportation, we were on our way to the resort.
After a short ride from the airport, we arrived at Desire. The front desk staff quickly went to the bar and brought back drinks for us. A safety deposit box is free of charge with the room, but if you loose the key, it is $50.00 US. Check-in was fast and smooth, and we were off to our room.
The only problem we had was that we could not get a second key to the room. We tried 3 times, and got 3 different stories why we could not get a second key.
Our room was on the second floor with an ocean view just behind the beach gazebo. It had a queen size bed (very uncomfortable), a chair, and the shower was an open walk-in. The hot water was hit and miss, sometimes only getting warm at best. The room had a small refrigerator, and there was always bottled water in it.
The biggest problem we had was that they slipped a letter under our door late in the afternoon on Friday, informing us that they were having the beach party at the gazebo from 10:00 pm to 1:00 am. So much for getting any sleep that night. Had we known…we would have asked for a different room.
The resort has beautiful landscaping, with sidewalks that wind their way around the grounds. Nothing is to far away, and the beach is very nice with lots of fine white sand, lounge chairs, and tables with shade. There is a gift store and a jewelry store in the lobby, with clothes, gifts, snacks, necessity items, and very nice jewelry.
Problems…The sidewalks are narrow, and it is hard to get two people to walk side by side. The grass next to the sidewalk is about 4 inches lower, and you have to be ready for that step. I saw two people fall when stepping off the sidewalk. There are also some uneven areas that can cause you to trip.
We wanted to swim in the ocean, but as we waded out into the water, we noticed what looked like little jellyfish. I managed to get one in a glass, and took it over to Charbel in water sports, and asked about it. He showed me his arm where he had been stung the day before. There were no warnings anywhere to let you know that the jellyfish were there.
With the exchange rate of 11 peso to $1, the store charges you at 10 to 1, and any change is in peso’s. If you ask to change your peso’s back to dollars, they are always out of US dollars. They also will not take $2.00 worth of quarters at the front desk. In the paperwork given to you at check-in, it states…”Money Exchange: 24 hours. This service is available to you at the front desk. You may change USD, CANADIAN and EUROS to PESOS.” Nothing about changing it back to US.
Melange Lobby Bar is a 24 hour bar located outside of the lobby. During the day, Edgar was the bartender and was GREAT. The evening bartender was Oswaldo, and he was friendly but sometimes slow with the drinks. There is coffee here in the morning, as well as juices.
Coconut Bar is at the poolside next to the snack bar. They do have a waiter that covers the beach and pool area. This is not a swim up bar, so you have to leave the pool to get to the bar. This bar closes at 5:00 pm.
Nude Jacuzzi Lounge Bar is on the roof that over looks the pool and beach. It does have a swim-up bar in the Jacuzzi, as well as a walk up side. Only being there once, service was good, but no other comments.
L’Alternative Disco Lounge Bar is in the disco serving until 2:00am. The Disco was nice, with a stage and two poles to dance on. There are large chairs at the back of the disco, and it is quiet enough to talk, but it is much warmer, with only a fan to help with the heat. We did not spend much time there, so nothing more to add.
Problems…It seems that one bar carries one brand of alcohol, but the other bar does not. So what you get at the Lobby bar, you may not get at the pool bar. They also seem to run out of certain brands, and will not restock until the next morning, so you may be out of luck for that night drinking your favorite brand. There is only one beer served, and that is Sol. It is very much like Corona if you put a lime in it, and it is poured from quart bottles into your glass.
El Arrecife is the main buffet that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is open daily from 7:00 am to 9:30 pm. Everyday has a different theme menu for choice of food. There is a grill that will make you your eggs anyway you want them in the morning. There are great fruit plates for breakfast, as well as anything you can think of for breakfast.
We never had lunch in here, so no comment.
Dinners were very good, with a wide range of food to be had. They have a small bar set up at dinnertime, so drinks are very easy to get.
Coconut Grill is located at the pool, and has great snacking foods, with chips, hot cheese, and salsa being made fresh all day. Great nachos!!! They also serve burgers, hotdogs, finger foods, and some sandwiches.
They have a BBQ set off to the side were they cook carne asada, chicken, sausage, cactus, onions, and hot peppers. This was the best food found at the resort, fresh off the grill.
Il’Piacere is a fine international cuisine restaurant open Monday to Saturday for dinner only with reservations required. They food was good, but they are not set up for a large group to have dinner together. The booth we had was very cold from the air conditioning, but our friends across the room were fine.
The only ones we met from entertainment were JJ, Silvina and Sara. They managed to get people involved in the games and activities that they had scheduled. They did sometimes try to hard, and not take no for an answer.
Charbel, a very nice gentleman was in charge of the water sports. We only talked to him a couple of times. We saw two Hobie cats, one Sunfish, one wind surfer, and five kayaks.
Problems… The Hobie cats had no rigging or sails that I could see. The Sunfish looked like it had not been used for some time, and only saw the wind surfer out one time. As for the kayaks, three were yellow and on the beach. The two red ones were in the crocodile pond out front. We never saw anyone use them as the wind kept the water very rough. If you wanted to snorkel or scuba, you had to pay extra to the vendor that came around every morning. I am not sure where they took you.
The best part of our trip was going off property to Tulum, and then into Cancun to Margaritaville for lunch and shopping. We hired a driver (Jose) for the day, so we could do things at our own pace. Jose stayed and waited for us, and then took us where we wanted to go. I would recommend him to anyone that wants to go sightseeing while staying at Desire. You can e-mail me for more information (jwst@cox.net ).
For us, Cancun is only ½ hour closer by air than Jamaica, and the climate is very similar.
After 5 trips to Jamaica (Hedo III), I will say we have never been harassed as bad at the airport, as we were in Cancun. The resort made us feel that if you want a nice quiet day to read your book on the beach and be left alone, this would be a good place. The pool is friendly, but it is not the same friendly crowd we are used to at Hedo. Yes there are PDA’s, the same as Hedo, and couples hooking up also.
The main reason for our trip was to look into planning for a large group to go back next May. We did not get the feeling that the resort is set up to take care of the concerns of a group like ours. We want to set up large tables to sit together, eat breakfast and dinner, and just socialize.
The biggest problem was that we tried several times to speak with management, but they never showed their face, and we never did see them. In fact, we never met anyone from management all week long….Seems they are always in meetings or off property most days, and not at all interested in our business.
Would we go back???
As a couple…probably not.
As a group…NOT A CHANCE!
Questions..just e-mail us
Phil and Terri