ATM Desire Pearl Trip Report - Feb 2015

Mrs. Morgan and I decided recently that 5 days is our maximum length stay at TTR. Any longer and we lose our voice, our energy, and usually our dignity. Being that we had 8 total days we could go for with kids out of school, we decided to split our trip -- 5 days at TTR with the Shitshow, followed by 3 days at Desire Pearl. The idea was that we would rage with the Shitshow, and then dial things down a bit at Pearl, hopefully getting somewhat rested before getting home on Sunday, and back to work first thing Monday morning.

We left TTR around noon on Thursday, and had decided previously to take a cab from TTR-->Pearl so that we had flexibility in our schedule. Since a cold front had come through the night before, and it was very windy, there wasn't much happening at TTR so we decided to take a chance and leave earlier than we had planned. We decided to share a cab with another couple who were going to Pearl on day passes but did not have a room for that night. Being that there were four of us, the bell hop called over a minivan taxi. I knew to pre-negotiate the rate and he told me $90. Everyone we had talked to had told us it was a $45 cab ride and he said his was more because it was a "more taxi". I got him down to $70 and off we went.

When we arrived at Pearl we were greeted immediately and shown to the check-in desk where there are seats (nice touch) and we were immediately brought champagne and warm washcloths. We were given a choice of wristband attachment, ankle or wrist. We chose ankle. These are much nicer and less obnoxious than TTR plastic wristbands, and we were not given a $50 warning if we lost them.

From there, we were given the hand-off to the concierge who did a very nice job explaining the layout of the facility, restaurants, entertainment schedule and options, rules, etc. And that if we wanted to listen to his presentation we would receive a coupon book. He was not at all pushy and said that since we were only there three days he wanted us to start our vacation immediately.

Our room was not ready, but were offered an option to use the spa, which has lockers, to change. Since it was going to only be an hour till it was ready, we decided to go find our friends (Rnj and Hot_2_Trot) who had gotten there the night before.

First impressions walking around... the grounds are very nice, much nicer than TTR. When you are walking on a sidewalk and a staff member is coming from the opposite direction, the stop and move off the sidewalk out of your way. This happened every single time over the course of our trip and I thought it was a nice touch. The beach is MUCH nicer than TTR's (though a little smaller), but since it was cold we immediately abandoned our beach bed and decided to go grab a bite to eat at the lunch buffet. The buffet building is beautiful. Well spaced out tables, and they did a great job of maximizing the ocean view -- the entire wall facing the ocean is glass. The buffet food was better than TTR but not as good as I expected. I saw that there was a menu but we were hungry and so we did not even look at it.

After eating, our room was ready. Fourth floor (lots of steps) overlooking the jacuzzi. Overall a nice location and a very nice room but the giant palm trees outside our balcony were blocking our view of the jacuzzi fun, which was a shame. I also did not care for the bathroom layout. Waste of space. Tiny shower and bathroom "closets" and the tub was a waste. I would have rather had a large shower.

At this point we weren't comfortable going nude so we threw on suit bottoms and went down to the pool. There's a small jacuzzi sized pool adjacent to the main pool (same water, but considerably warmer) where we sat with Ryan and Jess and had a couple drinks. We were waiting for the main jacuzzi to warm up, apparently they do not heat it at night and with the cold weather, they didn't start it up early enough the next morning for it to be warm by early afternoon, which really sucks IMO.

We had some food sitting by the pool with us and there was this stray cat sitting right behind us waiting for us to put the food down, which was really annoying. Saw this cat the whole trip wandering around the pool. You'd think they could catch it or somehow get rid of it!

We were told Jacuzzi fun time usually starts around 4:30 so we decided to head over there. Mrs. Morgan was having serious sensory overload with all the mens packages hanging out and told me she was going back to the room to sleep, which bothered me because this is not a place where I felt like I could be comfortable there alone by myself. It's all couples and it seemed like they were joined at the hip. Fortunately, good friends Ryan and Jess offered to let me hang with them so I wouldn't feel out of place (although I later paid a steep price in multiple tequila shots from Satan, I mean, Jess).

People tend to keep to themselves much more here than TTR, from my limited experience, and the jacuzzi this day was no exception. We talked to a few people but mostly hung out together. None of us are shy, either, so this was a surprise.

We headed back to get changed for dinner, which we had decided would be at Pearl. Pearl is the nicer restaurant which requires men to be in pants and shoes. I knew this ahead of time fortunately so I was prepared. The theme for the night was "Glamorous" which was supposed to be dress-to-impress but I didn't see many people following the theme.

Service at Pearl was ridiculously slow, perhaps even slower than Italian at TTR. This infuriates me to no end. It's not just that they are giving you time to sit and enjoy the meal, but it took 20 minutes before we received our first drink. That's insane. The wait staff was otherwise very professional and courteous. Portion sizes were incredibly small and the food was OK but the presentation was much better than the taste. I'd rather have food taste good than look artistic, but then I'm not really a foodie, either.

Over 2 hours later, we had finished dinner and it was time to head into the "Disco" which is Pearl's version of nighttime Paty-O fun. It's much smaller than Paty-O but is indoors and is air conditioned. Note: temperature fluctuates wildly inside this small space. The far left corner where we usually hung out and danced is MUCH hotter than other parts of the room. Mrs. Morgan was dripping wet every single night, but then she never stops dancing, either. The dance floor is the same one that can be found at nice shoes in Paty-O and is mirrored with LED lights underneath. More than once person told me, while on the dance floor, LOOK DOWN because you'll get an upskirt-shot of the women around you. True story! So ladies, if this bothers you, wear underwear! Anyway, the DJ at the Disco was a REAL DJ (unlike DJ-PressPlay from TTR). He was mixing songs and the music was great. We noticed as it got closer to midnight that the crowd was thinning out, mainly because most people went to screw, or to the jacuzzi, which is where we headed. We met some nice folks there, the atmosphere was very sexual, and we all had a great time. We stayed in and around the jacuzzi till about 6am, entirely too late but we had a great time. One very cool couple we met, who were partiers like us, came up to me and asked if we'd ever read the childrens book "Which of these things is not like the others?", and said that Mrs. Morgan and I didn't belong at Pearl. They had come from Desire RM for 7 days and were finishing their trip at Pearl, and said our party personalities would fit in better over there. Good to know for next time.

Need to split this report into pieces, things to do, but I'll jump back on tonight and finish it up along with general thoughts and observations. But in general, there's a lot to like about Pearl, and there's plenty of things to dislike. I'll discuss both in the next installment.

 

Really detailed, honest report. Look forward to you telling us if you would do it again, or save lots of $dinero$ and stick with TTR. We are considering Desire Pearl next year, but may rethink it based on your report and another one just posted !

 

Mr. Morgan, I LOVE your trip reports but I have to bring one thing to your attention. ... You missed reporting on the first 5 days of your trip??? Give your readers what they want -a full shitshow review!

 

"DJ-PressPlay" I love that line.

Really enjoy your trip reports. Can't wait for the TTR portion.

 

No worries Amy, the TTR report is coming. I'm just doing Desire first while everyone's talking about it

 

Now I'm wondering if we didn't get the checkin drinks bc we were clearly loaded fr the shitshow party earlier that day.....that's still no excuse to not offer champagne!!

The cat! That bastard! I knew you were about to hurl when he was trying to eat my pizza.

Oh, and remember, peeps, the "hot tub" at the pool was really a "pretty much same temp as the pool" (aka fn cold) fun hole.

 

Gotta disagree, Jess, at least not on Saturday. When the foam party was going the small fun hole was at least 20 degrees warmer than the main pool. But yeah it's the same water.

 

I hated that cat. Wrong kind of pussy!!

 

Love your detailed reports. Have me on the edge of my seat looking for the next addition.

Was the hot tub not hot only that one afternoon? Understanding of course a hot tub should always be hot. Was it hot later at night and each of the other afternoons/evenings?

 

Kyle, it was only that one afternoon. A cold front had come in and I think it caught them off guard. The rest of the trip it was perfect, it was hot, but not so hot you couldn't stay in. To their credit they addressed the problem immediately after a couple people complained.

Next installment coming this evening.