Desire Jan 14 to 24 '04
This is going to be a short trip report since there is no point in repeating what others have already written. Instead I will give you our impressions of the resort and tell you about a couple of things that happened to us.
Right off the bat you should know that we had a great time and are already looking forward to going back again. It's not perfect, but then no resort is. We have been to Hedo II three times, and while we enjoyed our Hedo visits, in our view Desire is both better and cheaper.
But a few things got screwed up. We had booked a tour of Isla Majeres that was to leave from Blue Bay. The tour was overbooked, and we couldn't get on the boat. Blue Bay provided transportation from Desire and back again, and our money was promptly refunded.
The Desire front desk had made a mistake on our bill. We didn't discover it until we were about to leave. The desk clerk couldn't figure out how to put a credit on our credit card, so we now have an inch high stack of pesos to use next year.
A couple of us paddled kayaks out to the reef to do some snorkeling with one of the Desire staff as a guide. The kayaks got loose from the buoy they were tied to leaving us stranded out there. One of the motorboats with snorkelers from another resort gave us a ride in. They could have dropped us off at the dock, but instead came right in to the beach where a volleyball game was being played. I was wearing a bathing suit, but most of the volleyball players were not. The whole thing was very funny. I'll bet the other passengers on the boat are still talking about their brief visit to Desire!
The food was very good. Most were dishes that we had never heard of before, but we liked most of them anyway. We always enjoy trying new things. It's not American food, but if we wanted that we would have vacationed in Miami instead. The french restaurant is, well french, and could hold its own with any good french restaurant anywhere. Unlike our previous trip to CRC in Mexico we didn't get sick, and didn't hear of anyone else who got sick from the food either. Of course, we drank only bottled water even for brushing out teeth.
We booked transportation to and from the airport and another day long excursion off the Resort with Carlos de la Mora's company and were very pleased with the price and service.
The staff were great. We had a talk with Mario, the manager. He was very interested in our suggestions for improvements. The day before we left, they started installing drawers in all the closets. This should go a long way towards solving the lack of space to store clothes.
There are two staff members who I want to mention for exceptional service. Frank is nominally the bellhop, but he is actually the consierge. Ask Frank for anything, and he will arrange it. Sylvina is the recreation director. We were amazed that she could work 18 hour days 6 days a week and still be enthusiastic and energetic.
Thank you Desire for a great vacation. See you again next year.