I've never really understood the frustration with the timeshare spiel. Either you go or you don't. If you go it's just a couple hours of your day, let them make their pitch, say no and be on your way. If they are calling your room because you skipped out, unplug the phone. Granted I am a member so they already have my money but timeshare spiels are common at resorts. As for the members perks, I don't make use of a lot of them but at the same time I do like that I can have them. But I like partying with everyone either way!
I agree with almost everything you said beyond the Premier section, which doesn't bother me. More hotels in general need free Wifi. A lot of the lower end hotels have free Wifi as you mentioned, but many higher end (4 star plus) hotels charge for Wifi. They also tend to charge for a lot of things that are free at "lesser" hotels. Free Wifi is often slow and unreliable, unfortunately. I'd much rather it was free, but it's an expense that I expect at most nice hotels. The big advantage in the US is that I can just use my phone, which I don't have in Mexico. Anyway I appreciate you pointing out legitimate faults with the resort and generating discussion.
The moment during or just after check-in when the "resort tour" is mentioned, I just reply that we've been here many times and don't require a tour...and have no interest in a membership Their reply is "enjoy your stay"...and we head to the room without any hastle for the rest of our stay. The problems start when people say things like..."we'll stop back and schedule the tour later". At that point you're on their 'call five times a day" list and it's game-on for them. Give them a firm "no thanks" immediately and you'll be fine. I've never done a time share tour anywhere in my life and the only time I was hastled is when I told them I'd think about it.
I read this thread and I have to say that after 8 trips to TTR over a 10 year period, I'd have to agree with the OP...for the most part. Health and Safety: Lets face it, Health and Safety are the most important things when on vacation. Food prep and cleaning of glasses DO leave something to be desired at TTR. I have personally been the victim of food prep issues (Health). With a large count of people this past May, June that all had stomach ills during their stay due to hygene issues of the personal. To the resorts credit they attacked the issue (when they finally decided it was the resorts problem to fix) and the illnesses drop off quickly. And I can't count on my fingers and toes the number of slip and falls I personally seen over the years. I've watched people being very cautious with every step only to have their feet slide right out from under them. Flip flops, high heels, bare foot, tennis shoes all are in danger when it's wet at TTR (Safety). Please read this TTR and help us out with this one. People going home from their vacation injured is not what the resort wants the customer to reflect on for the next year. Timeshare: I throw up the hand and say "No Thank You" and "This is my 8th visit I'm not interested" and keep walking...do not make eye contact or act like you even slightly are interested in what they have to say or they will focus on you like a sniper looking through a scope. Walk ignore walk ignore walk and repeat!:icon_cool: The food: I have to say that the lunch food in the buffet is a bit tired after a few days. But as stated elsewhere there are great choices other than the buffet for lunch. At Margarita's ordering from the menu is usually quick and cooked to order. And if you want extra fries or 2 patty's on your burger...just ask, they are happy to fill your wishes. I'd have to say the same for the specialty restaurants...just ask for what you want, I've never heard a "no" from any of these fine waiters in the restaurants. Also after our last visit in June, I have to give props to the buffet choices in the evening. The quality of the food and the unique choices offered at the buffet at night has gotten much better in the last couple of years. Fun theme nights and a better quality of food is now being offered in the buffet. My wife and I had almost started to completely skip the buffet at night until one of our group talked about their great dinner there and so we gave it a try the next night and they were right, it was great. Premier Perks: Hummm, well if you want the things that the Premier peeps get, seems the answer is simple...become a Premier member...or...stop by WalMart on your way in and buy you some Red Bull and a bottle of your favorite booze.(probably cheaper). We pack our "Personal Stock" in our checked bags and never have any issues. Oh and do you really want to sit in the Premier areas and be further from the cool pool action. And do you "REALLY" use your chair anyway? I saw a thread the other day with CCC's talking about sharing chairs because they don't sit in the chairs anyways...we rarely use the chairs for any real length of time and now just get one chair for the 2 of us and give it up if a person needs it and lets us keep our bags underneath it. WiFi: Hard to believe they actually charge us for the poor quality of WiFi they have. Should it be free...I don't know, maybe. But if it was at least a good signal and bandwidth I would not complain about the cost. The Buffet door: LOL...yes yes yes! Either use it or lose it. Lock the darn thing or fix it, I agree! People, Groups and Cliques: Yup, they're always there. So I tend to ignore these snobbers. Usually consisting of "Kens and Barbies" that don't get what TTR is really all about. I, like most of the people on this site, go for the "like minded"(no not the Life Stylers LOL) people we count on being there. The fun, normal folks that hang out on this site work ahead of time to link up with CCC groups so they don't have to worry about the cliques and private groups. PatyO's: You know I agree with you on this one. Though not a roof, but I have seen some great things done with these colorful sail panels stretched and overlapped to create an outdoor environment that's still open air but covered from the elements. And in addition at least some dry areas where guests can enjoy drinks outside, while sitting, with some rain falling. But it still needs to be open air...I mean, it is Cancun! Nice Shoes: Again I agree it is a dump. Not a club I'd hangout at at home. Smells bad, too warm, ripped carpet, trip hazards (OMG that step coming off the dance floor is going to hurt somebody bad) and poor access to the bar area. I have a hard time going to the shows (I mean there's not much changed with the shows the last few years) so why subject myself to that. I wait out a PatyO's for the shows to end and get a few chairs together for our group to sit. Oh Yea the Music: Like most things in life I focus on the things I can do something about. All of us have tried different things to get the DJ to play our favorites. Usually it doesn't work..I have seen the ladies reveal their "Nice Shoes" and get something played. Being a man I'm guessing I'm not going to get anything on that list. The live band has helped with variety on one night of the week. It's weird, I'm 54 and my wife is 29, and I have started liking the dance music. I love the ladies all dancing together and having a great time. Most ladies I have had talks with don't even know what to shake when dancing to classic rock...LOL. Lastly...Security: That's a hard one. On one hand glad to see them around. They never seem to bother me or my friends. Also glad to see them when someone gets out of hand at PatyO's. But what happens when you can't find one when you need them? It happened to us a few visits ago. Ran into a girl that was wandering around late. She was drunk and was obviously distraught about something. We approached and see she had been beaten up. We find out it was her boyfriend and he was in their room. I took her to the front desk and tried to find security for her...they could not find anyone to respond. It's a strange feeling when you can't find help when you need it. So do we need more or less? I vote for balance and consistency in the way security handles the day to day. I spent about an hour this past June with the head of security. He was extremely professional and appears to be ex-military and runs a tight ship. He's also a medic thank goodness! I do agree with the OP that there needs to be some changes, but also see great improvements having been made over the last couple of years. The Premier folks will always be a part of TTR life. They pay more than others do and deserve a little extra pop for their money. Making friends with a Premier couple has it's perks too. :wink3: But as always a vacation is what "WE" make of it. Nothing More, Nothing Less! The above thoughts are Jeff's... Jill was not present during the preparation of this op-ed piece. :biggrinbandit: Jeff
This is an excellent idea as I am a safety consultant. They could hire me for a couple of weeks. Just provide me room and board and I'll give them a quick look over followed by a few recommendations. I could take notes for several minutes a day in between drinks. :icon_smile:
We went in early August and we had a good (not great) time. The place is a little worn, but the grounds were immaculate, the food was better than decent, housekeeping wins an award, and when we witnessed our lunch waitress bless herself with our $5 tip... well we immediately realized how blessed we were. We took almost no cash home with us. We enjoyed the buffet breakfast, and dinner at the asian place. Two things that didn't sit so well. The first was that drinks tasted like they were mixed with Dawn diswashing detergent. This was even in our mugs when rinsed out at the Sexy Pool bar. Same at Patty-O's. I hope it was Dawn anyway becasue it tore me (Sil... or am I Lee?) up. That was a huge negative because I'm going to drink, dammit! But still, it sucked. The other was very few CCC peeps and therefore, no Boobs Cruise. We plan on fixing the second "complaint" by coming back in April. Any ideas on how to address the soapy drink issue? Or was it (gulp) something else?
