Trip Review, New Years 2017/2018

Apologies for taking so long to write up a review, I got busy right after getting home and also wanted to think about things a bit before putting finger to keyboard...

This was our 5th New Years Eve at TTR, from 25-Dec through 02-Jan, and we're now having an active conversation around if it will be our last. Let me say right up front - this isn't (*is NOT*) going to be a post bashing the resort or wallowing in negatives. In fact, in almost every quantifiable way Temptation is better than it ever has been... and that is actually a contributor to the problem.

Negatives...like I said, I'm not here to trash the resort these are simply some things we found to be negatives, and it looks like the resort is working to correct them in real time:
- Yes, the furniture almost universally sucks. That was our only real complaint about the remodel.It does have rather significant impact though as the lounge chairs around the sexy pool are just dumb and uncomfortable; the "chairs" and stools at Bash are a joke of discomfort and inconvenience; the chairs int eh restaurants are uncomfortable and oddly shaped.
-The roof bar was great but the pool up there was freezing (I'm from New England and grew up swimming in the northern Atlantic...that pool was COLD), also windy windy windy up there. The big disappointment was that it was closed at night. Best views in the resort, super cool space, the only bar in the resort with good seating and it's mostly closed.
-Multiple weird building design flaws... the door jam to our room had to be repaired twice in one week because the wind slammed it shut so hard it knocked the trim off the far side. There are multiple elevation changes where parts of the towers connect. And, that whole building is some seriously cheap and shoddy construction. It's a question of when, not if, the glass balcony panels fall.
-Bash sucks. Terrible DJ playing crap on an endless loop. It's bright like an operating room. Furniture is terrible. Dance floor is ridiculous. If it rains, you're screwed.

Positives that were a little unexpected:
-The sexy pool was heated the whole time we were there. Genuinely heated. the half of the pool (it's HUGE, more on that later) towards town was much warmer then the half towards the quiet pool but it was clearly artificially heated. The temp was great all week.
-the food was pretty good all around. Not great, but good. This was all about expectations...if you're thinking NYC restaurant or Ritz resort you will only be disappointed. If you're thinking mid-range all-inclusive it's pretty darn good.
-the big Jacuzzi is great

General Positives:
-It's where our friends are. Why we come, why we stay. It's for the people.
-The staff are simply amazing, all of them. Friendly, helpful, and great to chat with.
-It's super clean, all the time. this may not seem like a big deal, but it is. They keep this place clean.

Now the serious part...why we may not come back:
As I said, in most ways Temptations is better; the rooms are nicer (we had a Master Suite, which was baller and even came with a stocked bottle bar), the resort as a whole is nicer to look at and be in. From the toiletries to the sheets it was nicer and pretty darn good. But, it was also cold - not temperature, although yes chilly in areas - and too big physically for the number of people staying there. We NEVER waited to be seated at a restaurant, including when we showed up at the Italian restaurant at 7:30p with a group of 10. Bash looked half empty on New Years Eve. The pool ALWAYS looked at least half empty. Corridors are long, brightly lit, and empty.

The intimacy that was always a hallmark of Temptation is gone. PatyOs was sweaty and tight and all the rest, but that's what contributed to a lot of the fun of it. We were jammed together in a hot sweaty mess of barely dressed humanity. The sexy pool jammed. That's gone.

Now Temptation feels like any other hotel resort, any other mid-range hotel and in many ways feels more like a mid range business hotel than a resort. The people are less dressed, sure, and the pool is topless... but so what. There's lots of places you can go (a ton of them in Vegas alone) that have topless pools and beaches. As for the "wildness" and "sexy" vibe... that's a function of the people there. If there when the crowd is mostly first timers or tour groups it is not going to be a wild party. And there are more of those groups then ever.

Actually, one of the senior members of the staff summed it up nicely. We were chatting over coffee at the new coffee bar (also a great addition) and I asked what he thought of the new resort. He said "It's certainly different, and isn't intimate anymore. People are just too spread out." that covers a lot of it right there. It even makes it harder for the staff as people are always really spread out - tough to get a roaring crowd cheering on Temptation Iron Man when people are spread over an area larger than a basketball court. This is really felt at Bash too. Because of the elevated dance floor and crappy seating and table set up it is really tough to get a crowd dancing. Because everyone who does dance is either stuck in their group between tables, or on seriously public display (and likely in a very small crowd) up on stage, there is less sexy dance fun for everyone and people who would be on the fence tend to shy away since they can't "hide in the crowd" anymore. We ended up spending a number of nights on our balcony watching the "shows" at bash, then going down to dance for a while if the music was OK. We only closed it down once, something that we used to routinely do (and still do when we go to clubs).

This brings me to our problem: Yes it's nicer then it used to be BUT, you can get way nicer from a resort/amenities/food perspective from a lot of other places. Yes it's topless but, so are a lot of other places. and yes they promote a party atmosphere but, it just isn't there...not always, but enough of the time. This is the first trip where we thought "why would we go back?".

Temptation looks great, and if they keep prices down it will surely attract a whole new crowd of regulars who will make it their own. We just aren't sure that's us anymore. I think we may just rent a house on the beach or on Isle Mujeres and get a pass or two to TTR while there. We'll see.

Cheers!

 

Nice review. The possible change in party atmosphere was one of the biggest concerns we had about the remodel. Obviously the group staying during any period ultimately affects that vibe, but there was something about the 'ol dump that seemed more intimate and social than other large adult resorts. We are excited to see the changes and really looking forward to checking out the hot tub. We will continue to be as wild and dumb as before, and hopefully so will everyone else. Really hoping the changes make us want to return, because no other destination has come close to the fun level we have at TTR.

 

That was a really great review of the TTR experience, and matches our experience from back in October. Going back in March, and am going to check out the rooftop pool for ourselves, and if it's that windy, it'll be cold so we'll be up there for the time it takes Stacia to feel the breeze... and that's it.

Bash has potential, but when we were there it was freezing cold in there, and cold outside too, so no relief so no little clothes. Bright as an operating room, which could easily be corrected I think.

Maybe these things will get changed?

 

I will write something up when my work travel slows down, but I definitely agree with Rob/Lisa. We talked about this while we were there, but the resort is in dire need of another 100 rooms. Way too much capacity, and it seems like the resort is empty.

BTW, the pool heater stopped when you left

 

Well-written, articulated and an interesting review!
Nice job

 

Thanks for the review.

 

Nice review. Maybe it will take some time for the new TTR to get (seasoned) and be back like it was before. Time will tell.

 

The intensity of the crowd is definitely not there. Too much space for not enough people. We sat with Steve and his Mum one night for quite a while at Bash one evening, and still no crowd.