TRIP REPORT
TERRY & GREG (LV2BENAKED)
HIDDEN BEACH RESORT
For the first time in six years, we decided it was time to try something new for our Annual “No Kid Vacation”. As we many know, we had become disillusioned with Hedo, in part because of the increase in PDP during the afternoon hours (we witnessed far less at night than we did during the day on our last trip). In addition, the service had deteriorated and we felt the food/drink quality had also diminished in our six trips there. We discussed it many times. To be honest, I would have gone back to Hedo again this year, but just avoided the pool/hot tub in the afternoons and spent my time on the beach. Greg felt that this was unfairly limiting our vacation and just felt it was time to go elsewhere.
We did lots and lots of research. We looked at Hedo III, but were fairly certain what we disliked at Hedo II would be just as prevalent at Hedo III. We had no idea where we could go to get the party atmosphere we loved at Hedo, the nude beach we loved at Hedo, yet not have to deal with the things that made us uncomfortable. By chance, we received an email from another couple who had visited Hedo with us several times. They told us they were looking into Hidden Beach in Tulum, Mexico, gave us a link to the site, and told us to check into it. I went to the website and it was incredible. The place was absolutely beautiful. The rooms offered a refrigerator and bar cabinet. Every room is oceanfront, and the first floor rooms are Swim Up Rooms. We got a price for the week we normally go in June, and it was fairly comparable to Hedo (swim up rooms were a bit higher than Hedo, but others were about the same price as Hedo’s gardenview rooms).
While doing our research, however, we found that Castaways Travel was planning their annual Nude Week for the same week we were going. The price dropped significantly during that week, if we booked through Castaways. We learned that Castaways was not only taking over Hidden Beach for Nude Week, but the resort next door, El Dorado, which is normally a family resort. Guests at Hidden Beach always have the ability to travel to El Dorado for the gym, spa, watersports, etc., but must normally be clothed to do so. Hidden Beach is totally au natural.
We decided to book with Castaways and we were set. Our friends booked at El Dorado to save money (the rooms were very much cheaper there than at Hidden Beach), but we decided we wanted to experience Hidden Beach, so we booked an oceanfront room (the Swim up rooms were already taken).
We departed Philadelphia, in the cold, at 5:30 AM. We had a 2˝ hour layover in Atlanta, which was torture since we had been up since 3 AM, but we took off on time and were headed to sunny Cancun.
The airport in Cancun is far nicer than the Montego Bay airport. You actually depart the plane into a normal airport gate tunnel and walk right into the airport. It is very clean and bright and there were tons of places we could have stopped to shop in the airport on the way to baggage claim. The baggage claim area is clearly marked, and clearing customs is no different than Jamaica…depending on when you arrive, it can go quickly or take some time. We were through customs and immigration in about 30 minutes. We grabbed our suitcases and headed toward the transportation.
One thing that is not included in any package from Hidden Beach is airport to hotel transfers. You must arrange for those yourself. The cost was $120, round trip, per couple, which we purchased from Castaways and it was arranged through Lomas Travel.
When you get into the baggage claim area, there are booths setup along the wall labeled “Informacion”. People working there call to you, as if they were official employees. We walked to one woman who gave us a map of Cancun and told us we could get free tickets to attractions if we were interested. We hadn’t gotten our bags yet, so we said we’d check later. We got our bags and were grabbed by another one of these people, offering free tickets. It was only after a few minutes we realized that it was a Timeshare company and we had to take a tour of a Timeshare in order to get the free tickets. When we told them we didn’t have a major credit card, they offered to sell us the tickets. We walked away.
We got outside and the Lomas company was easily recognizable. They wear aqua shirts, white pants and white ties. We handed them our roundtrip transfer paperwork and they immediately loaded us into a car for the hour ride to the resort. The road to Tulum is like driving on a four lane highway, absolutely nothing like the Road to Negril. There were no cows, chickens, school children, donkeys or other livestock standing on, near or in the road. There were no horns honking. There were not three vehicles headed in opposite directions on a two lane road. The driver did offer to stop if we wanted a beer or anything, but at that point we were far too tired to think about stopping.
We arrived around 1:30-2 PM, which is before checkin. They already had our room number assigned and our little packet of coupons for massages, etc. ready for us, but our room was not quite ready (check in is not til 3). They told us to go have some lunch and then check back (sound familiar?). We knew that our room would be 1128, so while we ate lunch, I saw 1108 and realized we were on the third floor (there are only about six or eight 3rd floor rooms in the entire place), but that we’d be directly overlooking the pool and dining area.
We also were greeted with a glass of champagne, poured and brought to us by the desk clerk. We were guided to the dining area by the pool that has tables set like a five star restaurant, even for lunch. There was a menu to make lunch choices which included salads, soups, appetizers, entrees, burgers and desserts. A very large wine list is available, but you must purchase the specialty wines. They cost about $15-25 per bottle and you just charged them to your room.
We ordered lunch and asked what type of beer they had. They had Dos Equis, Ceurvesa Sol and Ceurvesa Sol Light. Since he drinks Bud Light and I drink Coors Light, we went with the Sol Light. It tasted very much like Coors Light, so I was set! Greg didn’t particularly like it, so he tried the Dos Equis, which he preferred. We ate lunch and checked on the room again, but it wasn’t quite ready, so we headed to the beach. There was a wonderful breeze blowing off the ocean, but it made the water very choppy. The beach itself is not great as the sand is very full of small bits of coral. The water was very rocky, much like Hedo, and the water is too rough for floating, so you don’t need rafts there at all. We were told that they are going to be redoing the entire beach and removing the rocks so you can walk through them. I’d definitely suggest water shoes if you want to do any swimming in the ocean.
There are small huts on the beach with mattresses and curtains that are tied back, I believe called “polapias”, but they are taken fairly early in the day. We found two lounge chairs toward the end of the beach and plopped down there. That’s when we met the first Host Couple.
Castaways provided several Host Couples who walked around making sure everything was going okay for your trip, pointing you in the direction of the activities, planning the activities and making them happen, etc. They wore yellow armbands and, when they were on duty, they wore yellow shirts. They carried two-way radios and could communicate with each other. Gary and Terry came up to us and told us that there was a Welcome Reception at El Dorado for everyone. Since our friends were staying at El Dorado, and we hadn’t caught up with them yet, we figured this would be the best way. We went to check on our room, which was ready, and headed up to drop our stuff.
The room was incredible. We had the swan on the bed (must be a Caribbean hotel requirement) with flowers around it. We had a little swan washrag in the bathroom. The bathroom is four times as big as Hedo’s, and you don’t get hit in the butt with the door while you are brushing your teeth. The tub is a huge garden sized tub, although they do not have Jacuzzi tubs. The entire room is tile, including the bathroom, and the countertops are all covered in decorative tile. There is a huge closet with a safe and shelves down one side and a large shelf across the top. We were provided with slippers and robes. The refrigerator was stocked with beer, sodas and water.
When you check in, you are told that the water in the bathroom sink is not drinkable, so to be sure to use your bottled water. There is also a sticker on the mirror in the bathroom that reminds you of that. We were very careful to shower with our mouth shut just to be safe, as well, but it really wasn’t a problem.
The bed is a king sized bed and there is a little table with two chairs by the balcony doors, along with a small sofa against the wall. Each balcony is equipped with two rope chairs, similar to Adirondack chairs, and a hammock. The view was incredible. We did overlook the pool and dining area and had a wonderful breeze from the ocean with the doors open. There is a TV and DVD player in the room, as well as a clock radio. The radio was playing soft music when we walked in. There is a remote control for the air conditioning unit, which took some time to get used to for adjusting temperature. There is also a remote for the TV/DVD.
We dropped our stuff and headed over to El Dorado for the reception. We had to go out the front gate and across the little alley to the entrance to El Dorado, and it was just as beautiful there. There are fountains and gardens everywhere. We found our way to the reception, which was held at the bar on the furthest side of the resort (don’t recall the name of it). All the bars at El Dorado had swings…some of the bar seats were swings and there were some sitting back where you could actually SWING back and forth. There were little round tables around trees and a grill where you could get chips, salsa guacamole, chili dogs, cheeseburgers, pizza, French fries, etc. Since Greg and I could not speak Spanish, we got very good at saying “Dos Cheeseburgers, por favor”.
Most of the staff speak English. The cooks, maids, maintenance men and, unfortunately, a few of the guards (more on that later), for the most part, do not speak English. All of the wait staff, bartenders, entertainment coordinators, spoke fairly fluent English, so it was rarely a problem.
We met up with our friends and met a few new people standing around the reception. Castaways provided us with an outdoor picnic that night, so we ended up eating there, then decided to check out the hot tub. The hot tub at El Dorado has no temperature setting. They adjust the temperature by adding cold water, we think, and it was about lukewarm. There were very few jets working. We met a few couples there in the hot tub and just sat talking for awhile before we decided it was time for bed. It had been a long day, and even though it was only around 11, we were pooped, so we headed back to Hidden Beach. We had to show the guard our room key to get back into the resort, which we realized was going to be a bummer.
We learned that although we could go to El Dorado whenever we wanted, our friends could only visit Hidden Beach if they were at the front desk early enough to get one of five free day passes. They were not allowed to go to Hidden Beach without those passes, and the pass was only good from 10 AM to 6 PM. Apparently, this was because during last year’s Nude Week, Hidden Beach was overrun with those staying at El Dorado for meals and drinks. Since El Dorado is so much larger, they could accommodate the smaller crowd from Hidden Beach with no problem, but it was much harder for Hidden Beach to do the same.
The next day dawned the same as the day before…sunny, a nice breeze, a bit humid. I got up and unpacked the suitcases. I quickly realized there were no drawers anywhere in the room, just lots of shelves everywhere. No problem, I just put the folded clothes on the shelves in the closet in little organized piles. Perfect. While I did that, I opened the patio door to feel the breeze. Greg had set the air conditioner the night before, and it felt like Greenland in the room. The remote said it was 18 degrees Celcious…I think it was 18 Farenheit! I turned off the AC and opened the door…oops…never thought about the instant condensation that would form on the tile floors. We were laughing as we walked around like on eggshells. A knock on the door, and we had fresh towels delivered. We had fresh beach towels in the room every morning, and could pick up plenty around the resort. We didn’t ever use the ones we brought from home. There was a Miami Herald/Cancun Edition placed under the door every day when we got up. The room service department was there every morning filling up the refrigerator as well. There were at least six or eight bottles of water, both small and large bottles, all over the room, as well as a bottle of chilled champagne when we got in our room, along with real, stemmed champagne glasses.
We gathered our beach stuff up and headed to the dining area, which is both a patio type around the pool and an indoor dining area. We were told there was a buffet or we could order from the menu. We decided to check out the buffet. It was incredible. They had fruit, Mexican breakfast specialties, all labeled, cereal, milk, several different kinds of juices, breads, croissants, rolls, etc. There was a grill where you could get French toast, waffles, pancakes, omelettes, etc. There was bacon and sausage. However, we learned that if you wanted the grilled stuff, it was better to order off the menu, as it was quicker.
I asked for a cup of hot tea, and was disappointed to find they only had Earl Grey, Celestial Seasons Flavored Teas and English Breakfast Tea. I drink hot tea for the caffeine, and know that American teabags provides the exact amount of caffeine for me. So, I resigned myself to drinking sodas for the kick every morning. They had Coke products, both fountain and canned. They are a bit sweeter than the American version. We were told that the government gets a kickback when sugar is used in food production, so many Mexican drinks have added sugar.
After breakfast, we headed to the beach, since we had not arranged to meet our friends anywhere. We relaxed in the beach chairs we used the day before, until that day’s host couple, James and Champaign arrived to tell us about the Orientation Meeting. We went to that and learned of some very cool trips that had been planned by Castaways for siteseeing. There was a trip scheduled to take 4-Wheelers through a forest, then driving a speedboat, then a Catamaran cruise for snorkeling and then a visit to an amusement park with floats through an underground river. There was a trip to a Clint Black concert at Margaritaville in Cancun. There was a trip planned to Chichen Itza and to Tulum to see Mayan ruins. There was a shopping trip planned for Playa del Carma. You could also just arrange for a taxi to take you to all the sites for about $20. We figured we’d play all the siteseeing by ear.
We left there and caught up with our friends by the pool at El Dorado. That’s where we ended up spending all of our time. They had a pool with a swim up bar (they had the same at Hidden Beach, but since our friends couldn’t go to Hidden Beach, we ended up hanging out with them). The days were spent lounging by the pool or swimming, playing volleyball, reading, chatting, singing very loudly with the CD’s played, etc. Lots of people brought CD’s and they were pretty good about playing just about anything you wanted to hear. One afternoon, we listened to about an hour of country line dancing, while a few people line danced by the side of the pool.
There was a pier that you could walk down to go out snorkeling and there were tons and tons of fish. They actually swim up to you to just about take bread out of your hand. Once, I was sitting on the step with my toe hanging over the edge, and I guess my toe looked tasty, because one of them nibbled on it. They were far more colorful than the fish you see when you snorkel off the beach at Hedo…more like the ones you see on the snorkeling trips out on the reef…but much larger. The water was very shallow, though, and we didn’t snorkel since we were worried about the coral. One of the guys in our group did get a nasty coral scrape on his leg.
We never ate dinner at Hidden Beach, so to be honest, I cannot tell you how dinner was. We did eat breakfast and lunch there a few times, and those meals far surpassed any meal I’ve ever had at Hedo. In addition, there was no buffet line at lunch or dinner. You were given a menu and ordered your food. You could order as many items as you wanted. One day, I didn’t want the soup, so I ordered two appetizers. They brought one appetizer, and when others had the soup, I got my other appetizer. The food was gourmet, but had small portions, much like Pastafari’s at Hedo. However, you had five courses, and by the time dinner got there, you didn’t want a huge portion.
El Dorado has two restaurants. One is Italian and one is Mexican. The Italian restaurant was incredible, and seemed to have larger portion sizes than the Mexican. The Mexican was also very good. While we arrived at the Mexican Restaurant, one table was doing tequila body shots on the table, which was rather entertaining.
May 5, Cinco de Mayo, was incredibly fun in Mexico. They closed the Hidden Beach dining room and everyone ate at El Dorado in the Main Dining Room or the Mexican Restaurant. There was a buffet in the Main Dining Room and a menu in the Mexican. We chose the dining room and it was a blast. They had a wandering Mariachi Band and every Mexican dish you could imagine. The Entertainment staff all wore authentic costumes and they later put on a Mexican History show outside that was interesting.
One night, I had been drinking Dos Equis draft because we were told that El Dorado only had Dos Equis. I saw a couple we had been talking to drinking Sol from a bottle. I asked where they got it, and they said they begged the bartender. Apparently, because these two asked, they went and got a cooler full of Sol from next door just for them. We emptied the cooler and they dug around til they found six more for us that were warm, so we just added ice and kept drinking them. That’s what I call service…no “We’re out, mon”.
On Thursday, most of our friends got passes to Hidden Beach and we spent the day there. They had an activity they call “Massage Lessons”. They did it at both resorts. Basically, you got a five minute free massage and they attempted to get you to book one. At El Dorado, it literally was a poolside, five minute massage. At Hidden Beach, they actually had you or your partner GIVE the massage and it was almost a full massage. The girls even climbed up and walked on your back, bent your legs and arms up stretching, etc. They did this by the side of the pool for hours.
The hot tubs at Hidden Beach, and at El Dorado, are about the size of the prude hot tub at Hedo..maybe a bit larger. Like Hedo, they have problems with adjusting jets and adjusting temperatures. One night it was lukewarm, the next boiling hot. But both were very, very clean. At Hidden Beach, they were always cleaning the tile with a brush, scooping out debris, testing the chemicals. Hidden Beach is building a huge, covered hot tub, pool and swim up bar on one end that was not completed when we were there. It will be very nice when it is done.
There are only two bars at Hidden Beach. One is in the disco, and we didn’t go there often, so I don’t know the hours. The few times we were there, was fun. The music was great, mostly American ranging from the 50’s through now. The disco has a small dance floor, a pool table, a couple bar type tables and two sofa/chair seating areas. It opens to a deck with tables and chairs, and we actually saw food being delivered there one night.
The other bar is a swim up bar in the dining room. Daily, it is run by Tito who is the funniest, coolest, friendliest bartender I think I’ve ever met. If you are not swimming, the bar is a bit awkward, but you can still get drinks, you just have to stand on the steps where the waiters are or on the bar itself to get drinks. A friend who had been to Hedo III said it was a lot like that bar.
We only got one room key, and the room number was written on it on a little sticky label. One day, I threw the key into the beach bag and the label came off. When we tried to get back to Hidden Beach, the guard stopped us. I had to go into the office and have the clerk come out, speak to him in Spanish and let us in. We went into the office and she wrote the room number on it with a magic marker. A few nights later, with sweating and all, the number wore off and it happened again. This time they taped the number on with a piece of packing tape. This is probably only a problem during Nude Week, as there probably aren’t that many people going back and forth.
While we were waiting for them to do this, a guy came in carrying a porn DVD. Behind the desk was a cabinet with tons of DVD’s that you could check out for as long as you wanted. Some were just regular movies, but some were porn. We spent some time that evening watching Trashy Sluts, which was kind of cool!
I’m going to summarize with two sections: Negatives and Positives. I will end with the Positives because I like to end on a high note:
NEGATIVES
Airport Transfers – To me, $120 for a van ride is a little steep, and I’d prefer that the travel agent include it in my price and just not tell me the hotel didn’t include it.
Room Keys – You only get one room key and one safe key, which is kind of a bummer. During Nude Week, if Greg wanted to go back to the room, I had to go with him or I couldn’t get back in.
Small Hot Tubs – The hot tub right now is very small, and the one afternoon we were in it, was very crowded. It will be better when the new one opens up.
Nude Week – I list this as a negative because if we had known that our friends would not be able to visit us at Hidden Beach we would have saved money and booked at El Dorado. One night, we asked if we could even arrange for them to come to dinner with us since we had eaten over there all week. We were told no. For this reason, we feel we really didn’t get our money’s worth out of spending the extra for the room at Hidden Beach, and would have been just fine at El Dorado for the week.
Gift Shop – WOW! The prices were far higher at the gift shops at El Dorado and Hidden Beach than the ones at Hedo. We never went on any excursions into town, and I wish I had because we brought back very few souveniers since they were so expensive at the gift shops.
Language – I will learn some Spanish if we return, if for nothing else than because the guards at the gate speak no English. This is a problem when you are going back and forth between resorts and the number rubs off your key!
POSITIVES
Service – The service at both Hidden Beach and El Dorado were incredible. You never heard that they were out of something. The food was to die for. The pools and hot tubs were always sparkling and clean. The food and bar service was fast. They even opened a bottle of champagne just for me one morning so I could have a mimosa. They even have a waiter/waitress who walks up and down the beach taking drink orders. You can walk up to the dining room, order your lunch and they will bring you your food right to the beach.
Property – The property is absolutely beautiful. It is clean, sparkling, bright and the grounds are beautiful. The beach is kept clean.
People – We have only done the nude sunbathing thing at Hedo and at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. I can say, without a doubt, that nude people are friendlier. We made so many new friends while at Hidden Beach and can’t wait to see them all again. We laughed the entire week.
Entertainment Coordinators – If there was an activity planned, it happened. There was never something posted that didn’t occur. The energy level of the EC’s is about the same as those at Hedo and we got to know several of them fairly well. The games and actions were sexually oriented, much like Hedo. On several occasions, some of the male EC’s stripped naked to join the fun.
Check In and Check Out – This went very, very smoothly. Your room number is assigned when you arrive and you know right away where your room will be. That made it nice to be able to find where our room would be located even though we couldn’t get to it.
Room Bar and Refrigerator – This was a definite plus. The refrigerator was stocked with beer, sodas and water. We only used the bar once (just to say we did), but it was so nice to get up first thing and grab a cold soda out of the refrigerator. It was canned soda as well, so no issue with too much or too little syrup (although, as I said, the sodas were a bit sweeter than American sodas).
Beer – I was so very happy to have beer to drink that I enjoyed. It would be nice if Hedo offered more varieties of beer than just Red Stripe on tap. Although this is a minor issue for many, I constantly have to search for what I want to drink while at Hedo, as I don’t care much for mixed drinks.
Telephone – We didn’t use the room telephone, but were ecstatic that our cell phone worked while at Hidden Beach. We turned on international service, and programmed the phone before we left the US, and it worked like a charm. Our daughter could call us at any time, and she did. We made about four calls home and she called us a few times, and the bill was only about $70 more than my regular bill. Well worth it for her peace of mind.
Credit Card at Check In – This is a policy that I truly wish Hedo would adopt. Greg got two massages and all he had to do was sign his name and room number. Several times, members of our group got a special bottle of wine and just charged it to the room. You could do it in the gift shop, at the spa, at the tour desk….it was just nice to not have to have money on you for incidentals.
Overall, the trip was wonderful. We met many new friends and we can’t wait to catch up with them again. Although we have decided to visit Hedo again this year, we do look forward to going back to Hidden Beach in the future.