Desire Resort, Cancun Mexico, June 10th – 17th
Pictures from our trip can be found at: http://community.webshots.com/album/551500257SYNQas
Pre-Trip Planning: This was our first trip to Desire. As usual, we researched our vacation destination online, and found the two best sources were desireresorts.com and dennyp.com. We booked our trip with DennyP and obtained our own airfare. Joining the Yahoo group for June 2006 led us to meet several other couples online, so we didn’t feel alone at the resort. If you and your SO are traveling alone, I would suggest that you post your travel dates with DennyP’s calendar, and meet others going beforehand. It will make the trip much more fun!
Arrival: We arrived in Cancun Mexico at 10:30pm instead of 11:30am, due to a horrendous comedy of errors by US Air. I won’t go into detail, but we were worn out from sitting in airports all day long. We had booked the transfer from Desire, provided by Extra Services, so we called them when we found we would arrive late, and they were there at the airport, just like they said they would be, holding the Lifestyle Resorts sign. We gave them the transfer voucher, and we were off to Paradise. The ride was about 15 minutes, as there was little traffic at that time of night. Check in was fast, as we were probably the last ones to arrive that day. Our baggage was taken to the room for us.
Our Room(s): We had booked a Garden View room. Upon arrival, we were escorted to Room 2013. Unless you are staying a day or so, you DO NOT want this room. It was small, and the door actually bumped the bed when you opened the door. There were NO drawers, and NO place to hang your clothes. This wasn’t going to work for the wife and all of her nice outfits. I placed a call to the front desk and explained the situation. They were very apologetic, and said they would switch us the next morning as soon as a room was free. That worked for us. We were too tired to unpack anyway, so we grabbed some pizza, hit the Disco and hot tub then crashed for the night. The next day, we were placed in room 2114, a garden view room, which worked MUCH better. There was plenty of room and a nice closet to hang clothes in. We stayed here the rest of the week.
Food: Overall, the wife and I were very pleased with the food. We ate breakfast each day at the buffet. The items changed slightly each day, and you could have your eggs, omelets, hotcakes, and french toast prepared fresh on the grill. Coffee was good, and the juices tasted fresh squeezed. Fruits, cheeses, etc. accompanied your normal breakfast fare. For lunch, we ate at the Coconut grill by the pool. There was always a nice selection of snacks/food available. We loved the Jalepeno poppers. Suki, the Japanese restaurant was good, and the Sushi they served was great! We ate there twice. The Crème Brulee was excellent. The international restaurant, Il Piacere, was our favorite. Everything we had was delicious. We were the most disappointed with the Italian restaurant, Tentazione. It is outside next to the pool bar. The food was Ok, but not in the class of the other two restaurants. Reservations were not required at any of the restaurants, and we were always able to obtain a seat. On our last night, we ate appetizers of Sushi at Suki, went to the Il Piacere for salads and main course, then went back to Sushi for dessert(Crème Brulee).
Drinks: You can always get a drink at Desire. The lobby bar is open 24/7. We tried drinks from the menu and had them make up some to try. Well liquor was used unless you asked for top shelf. The frozen drinks are on the mild side, so we would ask them to top it off with Absolut. No problem. The bartenders would make whatever you wanted, as long as they had ingredients. The Mexican champagne was actually good. We had it several times. House wine was OK, but they had better stuff for extra $$$. We used large insulated mugs out by the pool, and it was not a problem to get ‘em filled up with whatever you desired.
Entertainment: The Entertainment crew was top notch. Hats off to Diana, Mia, Beto, Aldo, and Enrique. By far, the friendliest EC staff we have ever encountered. Most activities scheduled during the day had plenty of participants, thanks to their prodding. No one was forced to participate, but it was much more fun to take part in some of the activities. Each evening, a band played in the lobby bar until the Disco opened. They were good performers, and should have been allowed to play longer. The nightly contests in the Disco were always a lot of fun to watch and participate in. There was never a problem getting volunteers for those contests. I think drinking all day provided a nice pool of participants. Disco music was hit or miss. Sometimes it was OK, and other times a bit slow. If the Disco wasn’t rocking, then it was off to the hot tub.
Service: Everyone on the staff we encountered was friendly, courteous, and always wanting to help. Bar staff would bend over backwards to make your drink like YOU want it. Bar waiters by the pool were great. Sylvia is awesome! She would bring you your first drink, and then keep you filled until the end of your trip. We were impressed by the staff in the restaurants. They were quick to serve you, and never let your glass go empty. The staff in the lobby were equally impressive. They managed to grant our every request, most notably the room change. Everyone was always asking if we needed anything. We were never asked for a tip, nor did we ever feel as though we had to give one. However, we did reward those that provided exceptional service at the end of the week.
Beach/Beach Beds: The beach was a little rocky in a few places, but still a great place to swim. The staff raked up seaweed when it was a problem. There were plenty of empty chairs on the beach, and a few umbrellas for shade. The one time we attempted to use the beach chairs, the little no-see-ums hit us pretty hard, so we stayed at the pool. The beach beds were nice, but they would be reserved EARLY in the morning, so they were pretty much unavailable unless you got up early and put your stuff on one. Since we spent most of the time at the pool, we only used the beach beds at night(fun).
Pool/Jacuzzi Areas: As stated before, we spent most of the day by, or in the pool. All of the days’ activities occurred there, so we hated to miss out on something. There was always plenty of room in the pool, even when water volleyball occurred. Towels had to be checked out, which is usually not a problem unless they forget to sign off your slip when you return them. This happened to us, and they had a charge to our room for two towels, but they quickly took the charges off when I complained that I HAD returned them. Avoid the hassle, and make sure they sign off your ticket when you return them. The Jacuzzi area, which opens at 1pm and closes at 3am, was a nice place to go late at night. It was a little too hot for us in the late afternoon, but perfect in the evening. The beds at the Jacuzzi were usually full late in the evening. The Jacuzzi towels they provided did not have to be checked out, but are only for use when there. A cubicle shelf was provided to store your stuff while using the Jacuzzi and beds.
Guests: The guests at the resort were a fun bunch of people. Average age looked to be about 40ish. We met people from all walks of life, every shape and size, lifestylers, and non-lifestylers. We are not lifestylers, but it certainly didn’t keep us from making new friends and having a lot of fun.
Departure: Check out was reluctant, but quick. Check out time was 12 noon. We were asked to fill out a survey form, where we mentioned the staff by name that had made our stay so pleasant. Our flight left Cancun at 4pm, and we were picked up from the resort at 1pm. We made it to quickly through Mexican immigration, and had time to do a little shopping before boarding the plane. Luckily, we had no problems on our return flight, and actually arrived 20 minutes early.
We will return……………..
John & Phyllis