November Trip Report - My Experience Of The New Ttr

Just landed back home this morning from my 8th trip to TTR. I've been fighting the urge to sleep all day, yet now when I should be sleeping I'm wide awake. Happens every damn trip, so figured now is a good time to write down my thoughts whilst they're still fresh. Apologies for length. I tend to go on. Tried to bullet point and bold highlight new sections so feel free to skip anything that doesn't interest you.

Visited with the husband for 14 nights, 19th November through to 3rd December. I like to summarise my reviews as the good, the bad and the ugly rather than a breakdown of 14 whole days, that's too much to do day-by-day reviews!

THE GOOD

It's fucking awesome. I love the new place and there isn't anything I found that would prevent me visiting again. Service is amazing, atmosphere is the same as before. Go with a decent group of repeaters and in my opinion it can't be beat. Many improvements, I was not disappointed.

New sexy pool. It's so big! I love it. I know for some people this is a complaint, that the party is spread out a bit more, but I like the space. It got a little claustrophobic for me before. When there's big groups of people going crazy, I prefer there's room to move around now. If you want to talk with people, you just rock up to the bar. The depth isn't a problem for me either. That layer of scum that used to form on the surface of the water by mid-afternoon? That's gone. The filtration system washes everything away directly over the side.

Servers around the pool are crazy attentive and there's plenty of them. You don't even need to go to the bar. The new concrete flooring is great and way better than what was there before. Very non-slip. I was worried the height of the new tower would block the sun in the winter months. It actually gets more sun. Old pool, the sun would set behind the buffet around 4pm. Killed the party. Now there's still sun by the bar after 5pm and people still partying after 6. The washroom is fine. I didn't find it too far, and didn't find the slope slippy either.

I didn't really interact with the new entertainment staff, but they're all young, smile a lot and very energetic. Definitely help get the party started if you're into the entertainment side of the sexy pool. The games aren't my thing. I'll watch but it's not something I'm keen to participate in. Some people mentioned in recent reviews that the games were more sensual than before but I didn't see that. Same old spring break antics and hollering as before, maybe back to old ways once JJ took charge, who knows.

If I was to complain about anything with the pool, it's those new loungers. They suck. It's style over function and I don't think they even look good. There's no way to get comfortable on them. The curves don't work, you can only sit in one position, the foam padding constantly moves. Once that padding is wet with pool water or rain, it's wet for a while too.

Renovations. Everything is beautiful. The lobby is vastly improved. Restaurants are nicely decorated. Everything is new and impressive. The Sports Bar is fantastic, such a great use of the old Nice Shoes space. That gross, mildew-smelling space is gone and replaced with something bright and airy with comfortable seating. I've seen reports the new spaces are slippy. Now I'm the type of person that falls over their own feet, and usually slip over at least once every trip. I never had a problem, even when it rained. It's no different to how it was before. You have to be careful on the tiles, but it's always been that way. At least at Bash, the flooring is the same as at the pool. It's very non-slip. I'll admit I was too afraid to use the dance floor at Bash though. It's raised pretty high and needs a rail barrier. I know I would have slipped off the edge of that at some point had I tried it.

About the only space I found less impressive than pictures I'd seen online was the lobby bar. They've spent a fortune decorating the lobby, flooring, decorations, seating etc. but the lobby bar itself reminds me of cheap Ibis Styles hotels. It's already scuffing black where people's feet touch the bar and the walls around the service hatch are getting very dirty. I can't understand, the rest of the lobby is so nice, why did they go with cheap surfacing just for that part? The stairs down from lobby bar to the buffet are beautiful, but they need to put a guard rail or bring the handrails up beyond the start of the stairs. Walking through that space towards the washrooms from Bash, with people drinking it looks like an accident waiting to happen, someone not noticing where the stairs start, and I don't like to think how bad it would be falling down those.

Additional services. I loved ordering room service on days the hangover was too bad to venture out. Having that extra quiet time in the room was much appreciated. What they brought was hit and miss, but I only ordered when I wanted a quick bite so not a big deal for me. Cheese platter with strawberries was very good. People that want fine dining in the room might be disappointed. The menu is different for breakfast, dinner and lunch. Ordering off the TV is easy, but there isn't any way to tailor your order. You get it as it comes. I think you can call for room service but never figured out how to do that. Free wifi across the resort is great. So much easier to keep in communication with people, make dinner plans etc.

Bash party. The late night party is awesome. Shows at Bash much better than before. The party isn't split like it was between Paty O and Nice Shoes. lingerie night was a bit boring. Just a fashion show with nobody watching then they had that electric violinist guy back again. Hoping he was gone for good. Saturday was my favourite, but some of the other nightly shows were impressive too. The space is much bigger than Paty O. Great view of the ocean, watching the pirate ships go out each night. Nice breeze. When it does get hot the lobby bar is right there to cool off for 5 minutes. Old TTR I would come home with dozens of irritated mosquito bites all over my legs, from sitting out at Paty O in the early hours. This trip I only had 2 bites (whilst sitting for 20 minutes at the quiet pool bar one night). Bash is mosquito-free, a welcome change for those of us who react badly to the bites! Never had a problem getting served at the bar. The bar staff work hard. Music is fine. They don't turn the music off at 2am any more, it's still going until around 3 but they just start winding it down from 2am.

Security is a lot more low-key. They're there and they're watching but they only get involved if they need to. Seemed like anything goes with the costumes now. Nobody was bothered as far as I could tell or told to go change. One big change, no pictures allowed anywhere. If security spotted you taking a picture (anywhere except the restaurants) we were told "no pictures", even if nobody else was in the background. I have got a few private pictures (always respectful and never post public) but none from any of the parties as it's not allowed.

Food / restaurants. Great selections, all good meals for me, except the buffet. Every other restaurant I tried, I liked what I ordered. Lasagna at Italian is a million times better than before. I liked the meat at the steak restaurant. Only restaurants I didn't try were SHE and the Mexican place at night. Addition of the coffee bar is great for the days you don't want a sit-down breakfast. Open from 6am. They have loads of options and serve pastries and cakes there if you want that. Sea Flirt has sit-down breakfast menu too. Looked fancy but only tried it once. No matter how hard I try, after a couple days partying hard, I struggle to make it out before 11am.

Being able to eat without making reservations was great too. Had no problem finding tables at any point, and they were much more accommodating with us asking for tables of 4, 6 or even 8 people. At the old TTR, asking for a table for more than 4 they always said no or would only have space at 10pm. Out of about 10 dinners we had at various restaurants, only had one with bad service, at the Italian. Went with a group of about 10 people. They had a party in the private dining room and that took priority. We waited 45 minutes without anyone taking orders, bringing drinks or anything. In all that dinner took about 3 hours and only made it to main course. I'd of preferred if they'd been honest and declined to table us that night knowing they'd be so busy with the private party going on. I did get sick one day after eating at the Italian on another occasion. Not going to blame the resort for that though. It was early in my trip and think I just had stomach sensitivity issues with the change in food I was eating. I've had full-blown food poisoning before and this wasn't that bad.

Rooms. I stayed in two rooms during my stay. Nothing wrong with the first room, garden view room 1333 (top floor, furthest west block overlooking the pier the Boobs Cruise leaves from). We moved because we bought in after doing the premier talk a day later, and negotiated an upgrade to a jacuzzi room rest of our stay. Upgraded to ground floor quiet pool, behind SHE restaurant. Both rooms very quiet, air con worked fine. New TVs are great. Loads more channels. Yes there's no Channel 12, but I liked how there was now a choice to watch something in the room whilst getting ready in the evenings, and the off days I had. Great makeup mirror in the bathroom, straightening iron and hair dryer in room. Only as powerful as a travel hair dryer, but good enough for me. USB charging station each side of the bed good addition too. You get tons of huge comfy pillows and the bedding is soft. The cupboards don't make the rooms smaller and I didn't have any trouble with the amount of space you get. I did bring a load of extra hangers with me and they came in handy to be able to hang everything up. Blackout blinds look better than the old curtains, seem easier to maintain and when they were down the room was pitch black.

Couple of annoyances with the new rooms, the biggest being that the damn balcony light stays on all night and you can't turn it off! That was fun using the tub with the jacuzzi room privacy shade down (which isn't a blackout blind) to only be lit up like a christmas tree when the light turned on automatically. Also forced me to sleep in longer than I'd like some days. I rely on the sunlight waking me up in the morning, but would have to leave the blind down all the way as the balcony light would light up the whole room even if you only nudged the blackout blind up a bit. Also I found the beds too firm. It's been glorious today back home with my comfy bed, after 14 days on the TTR bed. Other complaint being no proper bathroom door, just a shower-type swing door. You can hear everything going on in there, which is not sexy. I'm on a sexy romantic vacation...I do not want to hear bathroom noises and smells!!

Sky bar / pool. Not going to lie, this spot is just breathtaking. A real selling point for Premier. Service even better than the Premier bar down at the pool. Different lunch menu. Had better selection of drinks. The water in the pool is warm, water in the two hot tubs even warmer. Washrooms right by the pool. Sun loungers and comfortable day beds available, then at the two ends of the towers they've added club-style bench seating. Didn't sit on it but looked way more comfortable than what they have in Bash. It's only open in the day currently, but seeing that seating, they must be planning on opening it for parties or at night. Premier/Tower only, or $20 cover charge for white bands for the day. I would not pay if I was still regular white band. Not worth paying, but nice additional option for those already signed up or have a tower room.

I do have a tiny complaint. So we all know the party place to be is the Sexy Pool. Always has been, always will be. That's where the magic happens. The Sky Bar is a nice addition of another pool / area to take some down time away from Sexy Pool madness (if you need it) but with a view. They need to quiet the music down up at the Sky Bar. Had a DJ going the day I went up there. He plays what sounds like one song on a loop, elevator music with an electronic beat. Over and over again. Not real music, but it is full-blast Sexy Pool loud up there. It doesn't need to be. When you want the loud party, you go to the Sexy Pool. I think this new roof top pool would benefit from music being a little more tame. Make it relaxing background stuff, give people a chance to enjoy the view, grab some food and have a real conversation without having to shout to be heard.

THE BAD

Running out of the better booze constantly. Once or twice, fair enough, but almost every day they'd be out of something or other. They've hiked the prices and offering everyone better quality drinks justifies the cost, but they would constantly run out of better quality drinks, and there's no effort made to re-supply it. If it's out, it's out for a few days or never seen again. Not something you'd expect from a resort reaching for 4 or 5 stars. I'd expect them to have this stuff in stock. I suspect it is in stock, but they cut you off after one or two drinks. If you want a Fireball at the Sexy Pool, you shouldn't have to wait more than a few hours for a re-supply, let alone 3 days.

Weird layout connecting old buildings to new tower. I know they can't help this, they had to connect new parts to the old buildings somehow, but it was annoying walking up sets of stairs, only to walk down others and then up again to get to the lobby. They need to add a walkway connecting the far east side of Bash to the stairs leading to the outside washrooms, or just have a set of stairs coming down from there. Would solve a lot of problems, plus give the hot tub in Bash access to the outside washrooms.

Bash hot tub. New hot tub is underwhelming. People were getting kicked out at 7pm and it was shut down all night. What's the point of having a hot tub up there if nobody can use it evening and night? Like, they've built this awesome feature and now nobody can use it when it's the ideal time to use it. It's pretty cool in November nights, but I think in June or July people will definitely want this open at night.

THE UGLY

Bash furniture. It sucks! It doesn't even look good. There's no room to move when Bash is packed. The wire patio furniture takes up so much room, but can only accommodate a few people. It's ugly and uncomfortable. It scrapes on the floor whenever people move or sit down and makes an awful sound. The furniture is so low to the ground, you can't communicate with anyone unless they're sitting right in front of you. I noticed it is already leaving orange rust stains on the concrete flooring too. The upright tables and chairs in Bash are equally unsuitable. Stupid curved tables so drinks constantly fall off. Up at the Sky Bar on the roof, they've added these awesome bench seating areas that would be ideal for Bash too. Hell, even having the bar stools and tables they have at the Sports Bar would be vast improvement. If I could ask for one change at the new resort, it would be to get rid of the stupid wire furniture in Bash and lounge chairs at the pool. It's a design concept that's been tried out but doesn't work in real life.

So, all in all an excellent trip. Couple of niggles but for the most part some big improvements. Fix the balcony lights not turning off (or have them turn off at 2am) and change the furniture at Bash and it'd be a perfect score from me.

 

Great read. Thanks Trish.

A couple questions...
Great to hear sky is officially open. You mention the lunch options were different. Do you recall some of the options? Would they deliver food to the lounge chairs. How were the lounge chairs up there? Hopefully nicer than the sexy pool. Better cushions maybe? Adjustable seats? Don’t think we would pay $ to go up there either. Would fear we would miss out on the fun at the sexy pool.

Re the music up there sounds like they are going for that sensual hip day club type of feel based on the music you mention. Has its pluses and minuses I guess.

He the main jacuzzi it wasn’t ever closed when we visited. The entire 2 weeks you were there it closed at 7pm ish? That stinks.

Anyway thanks for the great report with lots of interesting info.

 

Hey Kyle,

This was posted on Facebook.

 

Good honest report!!! I cannot to check out the new TTR in FEB. 66 days but whos counting...

 

Excellent report. Was very nice to finally meet you and your husband.

 

Great trip report!

 

The trip report we've been waiting for!

Sold.......

Booked....

TTR, we're coming for New Year...!!

 

Thanks for the report.

The room shades and lights really suck, you got that right. The pool furniture, has there been one positive review?

I agree access to Bash from the quiet pool side would have been nice. Could have made a ramp on that side just like the other one, and made Bash look more like the focal point of the resort, like to grand stair cases when you enter a nice house.

Our last day on October 31st they were playing something like that I think at the sexy pool. It sounded a little like what was at the quiet pool, with just a touch more beat. No words at all. They did it all afternoon, and it just killed the party, and they never went back to the party music, and girls getting up and dancing on the bar in the afternoon.

One of the biggest disappointments of our trip.

 

Very honest trip report from the same time we were there!

The only thing I would add... The sexy pool music could do with being turned done a notch to enable conversation without losing my voice and, they will need way more loungers for around the sexy pool during peak times! We struggled to get seats some days when we didn't 'chair reserve' from the night before (which many people did, but I refuse to do...). Even the 'rack them, and stack them' type would do....

No offense to premier members.... but when they reserve many seats around the sexy pool, when there are many free in the premier area? Could these people not just drag their seat out from the premier area to the sexy pool? We also seen reserved seats like this, never used all day.....

Personally, I am a bit concerned about the increasingly extensive areas for premier members - to me Temptation is about everyone welcome, shape, size, colour, age.... I worry that there may be a new way to divide with premier. In that... only the ones willing to be premier can be in this area, sit here, party here?

We go to Temptation for the people, the no judgements.... Now, it seems like they want to judge people for not becoming premier.... Don't get me wrong, absolutely love the place, will always be back! But, looking at middle of April for £2000 for a week, we simply can't justify upgrading.....

 

Great TR Trish!