Next trip: Do you head to Temp yet again or do you give GOV a try?

Donald · Dec 14, 2013

give you an Idea,, don't know witch portion gets applied to what,, like trading in a used car

jandpyoung · Dec 14, 2013

Jen&Kyle said: ↑

Well for us the nightly rate of $139 for gov on orbitz booking hotel only with celebrate coupon code and then doing a partial hotel stay in a package on orbitz is cheaper than the entire package rate on Expedia with a split hotel.
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Check out Cheaptickets.com. Room worked out to $106 when we bought the package deal with the coupon.

Jen&Kyle · Dec 14, 2013

jandpyoung said: ↑

Check out Cheaptickets.com. Room worked out to $106 when we bought the package deal with the coupon.
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With cheap tickets can you break up the hotel? We are only doing part gov. These are great rates. A good sign that gov is doing everything they can to fill the place and change the party!

Donald · Dec 14, 2013

You can always use the old fashion way and ''call'' Orbitz, I,m sure they can book it all together for you if thats what your looking for.

Or cheaptickets if they have 109 @ night for the room

jandpyoung · Dec 14, 2013

I boooked a package thur cheaptickets 2 days ago. We paid $1670 TOTAL (flight, room, taxes, ins) the only thing not included was transportation, but I want to book that separate. I also used a promo code for $150 off. When they charged my credit card the room only came out to $106 per night. But it was by buying the package.

jandpyoung · Dec 14, 2013

Oppps. Sorry . I think they have an option to book two separate hotels but not sure. We never do that.

Liv & Ren · Dec 14, 2013

We found the flights we wanted and called Expedia...they made it happen for a very good price including insurance. Cheaper than AAA.

GOV came along at the right time for us. TTR was tired last summer, we narrowly escaped the GI bug and had issues with the front desk (rude, unhelpful...Paulina came to our rescue..she is awesome). We had fun, but it shouldn't have to be such a struggle. To be fair, our room was clean, great AC, and we loved the massages. We did a split trip btw TTR and the Valentin Imperial Maya...the Valentin had AC issues, so the AC was a big deal when we arrived at TTR.

We have been shopping, to say the least. I appreciate Steve making space in the forum to spread the news about GOV.

jandpyoung · Dec 14, 2013

We LOVE the Valentin. We went two years in a row but the prices have gotten ridiculous. It is twice as expensive as it was in 2010 and 2011. We love the Emerald rooms on the beach. Just heavenly....

Sultryfox · Dec 15, 2013

TimBeck2 said: ↑

So, a group of us went to GOV for a tour on this past Monday while at TTR. JerandMel, TimBeck and the wife half of NEcouple01. We attempted to walk, because we thought (well, we being me and the friends I brainwashed to follow, but I think Jerry of JerandMel was with me in thinking it was closer - we got it mixed up with Oasis Palms b/c we thought it was at the same location as the pirate ship, which it is NOT). :redface: LOL Anyway. If you want to tour you need to take the bus for sure. It's a short bus ride for 1 dollar per person but def not walking distance unless you're wearing sneakers.

Upon entering - The first thing that you notices is the lovely smell. It's clean, and smells like a spa.
The lobby is nice, big, lots of seating and the first thing you see before you even walk through the front doors is the beach/blue blue waters. (Beach on other side of lobby glass). We later found, the entrance was moved on purpose to showcase their lovely beach.

We walked up to the front desk and said we were from Temptation and CancunCare and that we wanted a tour. We asked for water, and were directed to the lobby bar AKA Diva Bar. The bartender denied us water when we asked for it because we weren't wearing the proper wristbands. We said we were there for a tour but he didn't care. It wasn't until we told him we were told to come to him by the front desk that he poured the waters. So, that was a bit off putting, but other than that, there is not one bad thing we could say about GOV.

The tour was given by a young girl named Xiochitl. She was relatively new at GOV (1 month) but knew the resort's areas well and also spoke English very well. We were shown all the common areas as well as all room types.

The spa is small but lovely. I haven't seen the spa at TTR but am told it's comparable in size. This one has a wooded/organic feel to it vs. the dark/modern look of TTR's though. Also, after your couples massage, there is a private small hot tub for your use. They said they do not 'kick you out and you can use it as long as necessary'. Each indoor common area has it's own scent, aromatherapy. This is done on purpose, she said. Outside of the spa are 2 hot tubs, a cold plunge pool, and an outside shower as well as a Temazcal (sweat lodge -used in ancient ceremonies). These are located near the spa on purpose but ARE available without spa-services/totally accessible. There is a 'health bar' juice bar near that as well.

There are 2 pools, both large and not heated. The main pool has a nice swim up bar and snacks right at the pool. The quiet pool is not too far away, but is separated enough you could get away from the action. Both are located between the hotel and the beach. The pool appears to be in direct sun and won't be hidden by the building upon sunset but we can't say for sure b/c we were there at 2pm.

(Edited to add, saw some pics on Google Earth and this is not the case. Does appear to shade the pool in late afternoons but am unclear what time/time of year this is).

Hot Tubs: Scattered around the resort are hot tubs. Real ones, with hot water and jets! Semi-secluded, with the sheer drapes around them. Not sure how many. Maybe 4 or 5? Looks to seat about 8 which by TTR party rules means 15. :icon_smile:

The beach: GORGEOUS. No seaweed, rocky sand, and blue blue waters that look straight from a postcard. The beach is long and narrow but does have more white sand/deeper than TTR's beach. There are many white chairs sprawled out, not all stacked upon each other, offering a bit more privacy than you might find at TTR. The buffet and all the restaurants look great. Food at the buffet smelled lovely! I know Breezesfan said he wasn't a fan of the food, but I figure it can't be worse than TTR's lol.

Anyway, there are a number of restaurants, open different nights/posted schedules. We were told only one required a reservation - White Box. We were also told reservations are only taken the DAY OF for White Box because people often make reservations days in advance only to not show at other places (which we DID experience at TTR)...so we were pleased with that. The Black Box (blind tasting experience) is not yet open but will be shortly.
The Moroccan place is indoor/outdoor and very pretty. There is also a sushi bar which we glanced at but didn't look at up close.

The Coyote Bar is a legit bar/night club. Lots of seating, a stage for music/shows, sofas, dance floor and two stripper poles. We looked into the Italian place (all very pretty) and another dinner place I can't think of the name right now. Everything looks top notch.

The rooms: NICE! Keep in mind this has more of a Hotel feel and less of a resort feel. Outdoor areas feel like a resort but indoor, it's a tall building with elevators and corridors. The standard room is comparable in size to TTR's but the bathrooms are superior. And they all have ALARM CLOCKS!!

The 'middle' grade room is my favorite! As pictured in Steve's post, the bed is in the middle of the room and there is a seating area. The room is LARGE and has a good 4-6 ppl jacuzzi in it. Also, the room we saw had a door connecting the room next to it. I asked about it. This was once a family hotel so they have ajoining rooms which would be fun if traveling with with close friends.

She then took us through construction areas out to the rooms with the shared balcony/area. The rooms here are nice but the draw is the private/semi private (separated by bamboo) jacuzzis on the balcony/deck. They lead out to the common deck area with the covered beds that overlook the sexy pool/main pool and beach. These appear to be on floor 4 or 5? NOT on the roof roof. So one kinda sexy thing, depending on how you look at it...the entire hotel can look down into your private hot tub. :angel1: This would be fun to get if all your friends to go at the same time and get the rooms next to each other.

Oh, and did I mention ALL rooms are ocean view?

We ended the tour by taking a stroll to the COFFEE BAR where you can get real coffee/lattes/cappucinos/etc. With flavors, even, if that floats your boat. This is huge for me. I LOVE a good coffee and I found the coffee at TTR to be hard to enjoy. Right next to that is also a bar where we were offered a drink! We each tried some different drinks off the menu...I had a banana daiquiri, Melissa had an appletini, Tim had a Bahama Mama, and I can't remember what Jerry had, but they were made with import alcohol. We all agreed they were the best drinks of the week! Oh, and also, chilled wet washcloths were offered up to us, and they had some sort of aromatherapy thing on them, eucalyptus maybe? It was great.

For us, It was lovely. Walking through the resort made us realize how much work TTR needs. The prices are barely more than TTR and this is a 5 star resort. Nothing is rusty, musty, or old looking. This is by no means a knock on TTR as I know it's old...but it really does need work.

GOV really feels elegant and clean, and nicely appointed. Modern, but not cheesy silver and glass modern. The staff (minus the grumpy bartender) is all very smiley and clean, well put together. We are looking to book at GOV next Dec.

We plan on making the party... but we do want to make sure the place is in full concept before we get there. I think that about covers it.
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Wow! Sounds divine and I cannot wait to visit GOV! Literally everything you said is exactly what we want - and if it is at or even close to TTR's per night cost, this is a no brainer for me!! At this point, I don't even care if the "party" isn't as wild as TTR, I want the luxury and "spa-like" ambiance and the great beach - and would take some friends with us and make our own party in the pool :daveandmo:

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Next trip: Do you head to Temp yet again or do you give GOV a try?

Donald Devil's advocate Registered Member

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Jen&Kyle I can choose my own title Registered Member

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