Hidden Beach Resort, Mexico June 2004 by Bill and Deborah Smith
We have been to several Nude resorts: Couples OchoRios, Couples Negril and Grand Lido Braco, several times…... Along with AventuraSpa which is a clothed Adults only resort. It has been several years since doing the nude resort and we wanted to do it again. After reading trip reports on Hidden Beach, we said YES. This resort has had mixed reviews, but I figured after a year from the opening of it, all or most of the problems have been worked out. I wanted to pick a time when the resort would be almost full, so our choice was to go when the group “Rowdy’s” was hosting the resort. June 12-18, 2004. The Rowdy’s group was great and we had plenty of fun and met new friends. We were there
June 14-20, 2004.
Before going into the trip report, I have to say this is a true 5-Star Resort, compared to others we have been at. There are only 42 beachfront suites at the resort. It was one of the best vacations ever, the staff could not have been any better; they would go out of their way to please you. A special thanks to the staff: Claudia, Chava, Lucrecia, Jonathon, Galdino, Tito (the fabulous, funny, bar tender), Isadoro, Aniceto, Arsenio, Ricardo and of course John, Mariella and Ruben (General Manager) The food was good to excellent, no complaints, service was prompt. The staff made you feel special, most of them calling you by name.
I will not go into arrival at Cancun airport, all this information is standard on any trip report….HBR is about an hour from Cancun…Royal Tours was our shuttle service from airport to resort. El Dorado Resort and Hidden Beach uses the same entrance from the highway, the driver turned off the highway and about a ½ mile we came upon the entrance to El Dorado Resort and Spa, we got out and told them we had reservations at Hidden Beach. We were escorted with our luggage about 50 feet, to the private entrance of Hidden Beach.
We proceeded thru the guarded gates, where there is a 24 hour guard and on to the main lobby to check in. Outside the lobby was a beautiful rock waterfall. We were greeted by John, who is the resort operations manager. We were given a cold glass of champagne and a wet washcloth to wash our hands. John got all of our information for check-in. John handed us our room keys and safe deposit box keys. In the lobby there is an internet connection for the guest to check on emails free of charge. John proceeded to give us a tour of the resort. While on the tour we meet Butch our Rowdy’s host for the week.
I noticed a sign in the lobby, the American Association of Nude Recreation (AANR) membership plaque sitting on the registration desk. While not a family resort, HBR does seek to maintain a nudist/naturist environment. From the posted rules: “Please no explicit sexual behaviors in public areas”. At this point I will also go into detail on the resorts au-natural policies. You can be nude 24 hours a day anywhere on the HBR property including the dining room and disco. From the resorts posted statement and rules: “We are pleased to offer full Au Naturel facilities at Hidden Beach Resort. Our Resort is designed for guests participating in all types of nude bathing only!” and “Dining is clothing optional”.
We were then escorted to our room with our luggage. Our room was on the second floor, all the way to the north end of the resort next to the new pool and hot tub. The room was very adequate, Mexican Décor. Mexican tile on floor, large king size bed with a beautiful towel arrangement in center of bed (the bed was built on a concrete stand with mattress on top, firm but very comfortable), liquor cabinet on wall (tequila, rum, bandy, and scotch), refrigerator (stocked with Dos XX, Tecate, sodas, and water), remote controlled TV with DVD player
(In the lobby you had use to a variety of DVD movies), there was a couch and table with cold champagne, on one wall was double folding closest with two robes and slippers along with shelves and the safety deposit box. There is no drawer space. In the room was a coffee pot with bottled water. The bathroom was very large, plenty of towels, tub and shower (plenty of hot water), very adequate hair dryer and large vanity, bottle water, and makeup mirror. Outside on balcony was a chair and hammock. Maid service was very good during our stay.
We proceeded to get naked and go down to the pool. There were plenty of fresh towels rolled up on the bar. Also plenty of lounge chairs around the pool area with floats on them. Finding an empty lounge chair was not a problem at HBR. We met Butch and Kathy (the host for the week), Ron & Christine,
Bert & Linda, Chuck & Kathy, Jeff & Becky, Jackie &Jim Bob, and numerous other Rowdy members. Most were from Texas, Louisiana or Florida, except Tracy and his fiancé who were from New York. Tracy was a hoot. We found out that there were five couples from Mississippi, which I considered very unusual, as we are from Mississippi. All of the Rowdy’s were fine folks and we hope to return with them in the future.
Resort overview: The resort consist of two blocks of rooms, which are three levels high, with the La Vista Restaurant, disco and main nude pool separating both blocks of rooms. All rooms weather on the ground level or second or third floor, have chairs and hammocks outside the patio doors. All ground floor rooms are swim up rooms, just step outside your door and enter the water; the waterways connect the rooms with the main nude pool. This is where the swim up bar is. The main pool is adequate, not real small but not huge either. The HBR pool is very nice, offering swim-up bar with barstools, the depth of the pool is about 4 feet, on the outer ledge of the pool the water is about 1 foot deep that can hold 3-4 lounge chairs. There is a volley ball net stretched across the pool for playing volleyball. On the bar was always stacked/rolled up fresh towels for any guest to obtain. To the south side of the pool, was the hot tub. It would hold about 12 or 14 couples, temperature was either comfortable or too hot.
On the other side of the swim up bar, are outdoor dining tables with umbrellas over them along with palms towering above. On the beach overlooking the Caribbean, are approximately 12 -14 palapa huts, they have four post attached to the roof, with curtains attached to the poles, there is a futon mattress under the palapa to lay on and enjoy the peacefulness of the Caribbean. The beach is beautiful but not swim-able, there is a lot of coral, so take water shoes, but still great for floating on a raft.
The best part of the resort is its compactness. You will have every excuse to meet others at the nude pool and grill, in the restaurant, disco or at the beach. There are enough spots to be on your own, too, for a quite time. The resort was kept immaculate and clean.
To the north end, they were completing another pool with swim up bar, hot tub and large brick oven. This entire area is covered by a huge palapa hut, great for cooler weather or rainy season. Hopefully it will be complete in just a matter of days.
Liquor at the Bars: There are two bars at HBR, one is the swim up bar and the other is in the disco. Both bars stay open till 2 a.m., so there was always a place to get a drink. Both bars carried premium liquors and they seem never to run out of your favorite brand. The had Bacardi Anejo, Jack Daniels Bourbon, Jose Quervo, Absolute Vodka, Beefeater Gin and too many more to list. Dos XX was on tap, but they also had in cans or bottles, Sol (very similar to Corona) , Tecate and Tecate Light (which are awesome light beers) , all served with a lime. They offered several house wines; they were a good quality, Chilean Red Merlot and a White Chilean Chardonnay wine. For drinks around the pool, beach and disco they used large sturdy plastic glassware that looked like real glass. These were very nice to drink out of vs small plastic cups…..A very nice touch for a 5-star resort. The main pool bartender is Tito and he is funny, fabulous, says he is gay (but who cares) and makes great drinks. It seems the favorite frozen drink was his “Dirty Monkey”. Tito, the bartender and disc jockey,
always played a song called, “Who the F**K is Alice”, which was a hit with the crowd. Lucrecia, would walk around about every 20 min or less to pick up empty glasses and take orders for more drinks….in fact most of the time you did not have to ask her for another drink, she would bring you one before you were ready…..this is top notch service. Another think that stands out in my mind, the service was excellente’….the other bartenders including Tito, Lucrecia and the wait staff at lunch could remember what you were drinking, so you didn’t have to ask for another drink, they either brought you another one or if you walked up to the bar, the bartender would remember what you were drinking. Also there was plenty of bottle water available for those who wanted it. Around 4 pm each day, a cook would come out with fresh pastries that she passed around to anyone who wanted to partake, just another sign that this is a 5-Star resort.
Dining: Breakfast, lunch or dinner meals are served in the intimate clothing optional La Vista Restaurant or directly outside, several tables are set up between the restaurant and pool bar under umbrellas and large palms. Most people ate outside, since there was always a tropical breeze blowing………….. Plus 24 hour room service is available.
Breakfast is served from 7 am till noon, ala carte or buffet
Lunch is served from noon till 3 pm, ala carte or pool grill
Dinner is served from 6 pm till 10 pm, ala carte
Snacks are available from 3 pm till 2 am
Breakfast is either buffet or ala carte from a menu. The buffet located inside the La Vista Restaurant was excellent. It had a variety of fruits, Mexican pastries, Mexican breakfast dishes, sausage and bacon…a chef the would cook eggs to order, omelets to order, fresh waffles, pancakes and French toast. If one of the waiters saw you carrying your plate, he would rush up to you and take it out of your hands and deliver it to your table. Fresh juices were available along with coffee. Service at breakfast was good, no…it was top notch, the wait staff would continuously be refilling your juice and coffee cup, as soon as you were finished eating, the waiter would remove the dirty plate and empty your ashtray. You could be fully nude in the restaurant or outside eating, but just about everyone had some type of cover-up on.
Lunch was at the pool grill or ordered ala carte from a menu. Each day they would set up a large portable grill, and cold bar consisting of pastas, salsa, guacamole, lettuce and onions. In warming trays, there were fresh nachos, cheese sauce, Mexican beans. On the charcoal grill they grilled chicken, grilled fish, meat, and burgers. Several days the cooked fajitas outside, which were fantastic. If none of this appealed to you, you could still order from the menu. Service by the waiters was still top notch, continuously refilling your drink, water and removing dirty dishes and emptying your ashtray. Most people ate lunch in the nude or the ladies tied on a short sarong. Just remember nude protocol by placing a towel on your chair. Towels were always available.
Dinner This was truly a 5-Start resort, quality and presentation was excellent. Service was appropriately timed between courses, something that has improved from prior trip reports that I have read. Dinner was served inside the
La Vista restaurant or directly outside on tables that were set up in front of the pool. Always a tropical breeze blowing to make outdoor eating enjoyable.
Dinner was ala carte, always a five course meal. In each category there were usually two or three items to choose from, and always at least 5 entrée’s. The meal consisted of a cold appetizer, hot appetizer, soup, entrée and desert. The appetizers were small and presentation was good. The Caribbean Seafood Soup was loaded with seafood, only once did we get a soup that was not good, can’t remember its name. Each night the chef usually had an entrée that was not on the menu, which your waiter would inform you of. Lobster tales were on the menu each night along grilled fish or beef filets. Be sure to ask for melted butter for the lobster and the meat was of good quality but always ask for it
Med- rare as they seam to overcook it, if you ask for it done. One night I asked for 2 lobster tails with grilled shrimp, this was not on the menu but the chef delivered my request to me. He grilled me 4 huge prawns, which were just as good as the lobster tails. We did not try the lamb but the grilled fish, beef filets, and lobster was very good.
For desert the chocolate cake was excellent, along with Mexican ice cream…. the best taste you could imagine. The Crème Brule’ and Custard Flan was to die for….It was served in the proper dish and the top was caramelized right before being served. This was the key; the top of the desert must be caramelized with a blow torch right before serving. Items such as these I have described, indicate a great 5-star resort.
Attire at dinner consisted of short sarongs for men and women, some women went topless or some men wore thongs with open shirts and some ladies wore really Sexy X Rated clothes (clothes that you wouldn’t wear at your standard restaurant back home). Dress will always depend on the crowd from week to week. Deborah enjoyed wearing sexy x rated clothes along with about 3 other ladies; I think they were trying to dress the sexist.
Disco: The disco is located above the La Vista Restaurant; it usually gets going around 10 pm. Chava and Jonathon were the DJ’s. Nightly shows or theme nights are held in the disco, Mardi Gras Night, Lingerie Night, etc. The entertainment staff instructed salsa dancing, while another night they had a group of entertainers put on a Mexican/Mayan dance show. Participation of guest varied from night to night. There is a bar in the disco that stays open till 2 am. The disco is not air conditioned but relies on two open sides providing tropical breezes. Some nights dance attire stayed on, while other nights clothes came off. The entertainment staff, Chava, Claudia, and Jonathon participates dancing with the guest. The bartender gets into dancing with the guest too. The staff tries their best to make sure each guest has a great time.
El Dorado Resort and Spa: This resort is located next door, walking distance. While a guest of HBR, you have full use of EDR, but must be clothed. There are 3 restaurants, 4 bars, 2 swimming pools, gym and spa, water sports center, etc. One day we put on our clothes and wandered over to EDR, just to check it out. It was spread out but well maintained, felt unusual seeing all these people with clothes on. We did find the bar with the double swings, very interesting. Guest of EDR is not allowed to visit HBR, unless they purchase a day or night pass. Cost of day pass is $45 per person and cost of night pass is $65 per person. This helps to ensure gawkers will stay out.
Scheduled Daytime Activities: There were plenty of posted activities on a board near the pool. From Spanish lessons, yoga lessons, body painting, cooking, water volley ball, & painting pottery. Some activities took place while others did not, but who is keeping track. Chava, Claudia and Jonathon would get naked to play water volley ball with the guest; this is very unusual compared to Braco. At least you felt the entertainment staff was interacting with the guest.
Dress Attire for Meals: Dress attire was anything from nude with a towel placed between your butt and the chair. Most women wore a short sarong, went topless for breakfast or lunch. Men for breakfast wore short sarong, or a thong, open shirt or a pullover t-shirt. For lunch most every one was naked or a towel wrapped around bottom half or short sarong. Dinner, had women wearing sarongs (full body sarongs or short sarongs covering only bottom half, topless), sexy thong and bra sets, or X-rated sexy clothes (things you would not wear at a regular restaurant), the guys wore short sarongs, no shirt or just a thong & open shirt or no shirt. Anything that you felt comfortable wearing was acceptable.
My overall opinion of HBR: We totally enjoyed our stay and were very much impressed with HBR, would we return….YES, in a heart beat. What impressed us the most was the attitude of the staff, it far exceeded any thing I have seen at COUPLES or Grand Lido Braco or AventuraSpa, which we thought was good. Each staff member at HBR had their own way of making you feel special. The staff tried to pamper each guest, and was genuinely interested in your well being. The staff got to know our names and repeatedly greeted us by our names at the meals. John (Operations Manager) and Ruben (General Manager) would come by twice a day to chat with the guest, making sure everything was to your liking & would listen to complaints if you had any. This is something that is not seen at any other 5 – star resorts in Jamaica or Mexico. The food was first class, well presented and courses were served in appropriate time frames and at correct temperatures. The booze was top shelf and they never ran out of any particular brand for more than a few hours. The size of the resort might be a critical influence to my opinions, but the treatment and attitude of the staff was what made this resort top notch, 5 –Star Quality, it was wonderful, could not have asked for more courteous and politeness from the Mexican staff. A lot of improvements have been made from the time the resort opened last year, so my findings will dispute other trip reports of problems others encountered. But this is only my opinion.
We are not travel agents but have been to numerous resorts, nude and clothed, the treatment we received at HBR; words are hard to find to explain. Yes a few things at Braco will outdo HBR, like Braco’s nude pool (huge), larger rooms on nude side (but who stays in the room anyway), Jerk Chicken, the beach is larger better at Braco, but at HBR you do have fulton bed palapas on the beach. At HBR, you didn’t have to get fully dressed up for dinner and walk several hundred yards to get to a restaurant………..in fact at HBR you didn’t have to get dressed at all or dress in little as possible. I hope I have been straight forward in my description of the resort and my opinions. We totally enjoyed our stay at Hidden Beach Resort with the Rowdy’s Group and will be back.
Contact me at bills52@bellsouth.net for anymore information you might need.
Pictures located at http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/bc/bsmith39056
Bill and Deborah Smith