Our Review - 21 Jul - 28 Jul (little Long So Grab A Drink)

Wow! Okay, where to begin?

USA Transfers - Incredible. Total professionals, on time both ways, cold beer both ways, and on time. Easy 5 stars.

When we first walked in the resort staff was there with a cool towel. Weird I thought since we left an air conditioned airport and got directly into an air conditioned van with an ice cold beer. Got out of the air conditioned van and into an air conditioned lobby. Oh well, it was still a cool thing to do. 5 stars for cool towel guy.

So we got to TTR at 12:30 with spare swim suits packed in carry on because we thought room would not be ready. Surprise, it was ready! Check in was fast and champagne cocktail was refreshing. Check in person was very polite. Timeshare person approached us immediately and was also very polite. We smiled and said we were not interested. She smiled, gave us brief rundown of where the concierge was and their function along with a brochure of the resort and said "thank you and call me if you change your mind"! Mind blown! Baggage guy immediately took us to our Garden View room and was also extremely nice. 5 more stars for all them!

Our room was a "Garden View" which must be Cancun Spanish for "view of the street" because last time we were here we had almost the exact same "Garden View". Luggage Guy saw the look in my wifes eye and said he would be happy to try and arrange another room. We politely refused because it's like everyone says, 'you're not here for the room', so we were happy with it with a few exceptions (we did give him a nice tip). 1 - it was on the far side of the quiet side on the third floor. Our view was of the bus stop in front of the hotel. Which I am sure a few random bus riders caught a few late night shows. The noise was also bad but hotel supplied some ear plugs and that resolved the problem. 2 - NO ICE MACHINES! Not sure how it is in the tower but for us, we either had to a) order ice through room service which was $5 per trip, or b) walk down three flights of stairs, through another maze of up/down stairs, walk into the main lobby, get a bucket of ice from the bartender (whom we still tipped a couple of bucks), and reverse the magical stair process. Which, by the way, the stairs are straight out of a Harry Potter novel, I swear they changed every time we walked them. Other than that, our room was pretty damn good considering we were ready for it with all the hacks you gracious people prepped us for. PLUS - eight channels of porn for about $12. Double plus cool. 4 stars but I'll explain why later.
Restaurants were very good. Guys, bring a couple of pair of pants. I only brought one pair and that was my mistake. We did not eat at She or Romanza but every where else was top notch. Service was excellent and fast, and food was hot. Except the ice cream...that was cold. 5 stars easy.

Sexy pool... what can I say that hasn't been said already? It's huge. A little too huge for my taste but I only have the old one to compare it to. Bartenders, wait staff, and entertainment staff were EFFING AWESOME!!! Always on point and always there. We chatted with all the staff we could there and they were always polite and friendly. As a matter of fact, so were the guests. Only complaint...ALL THE FUCKING CELL PHONES!!! Twice people were trying to take selfies with my topless wife and me behind them. I'm not saying we were in the picture but I personally had to remind them of the policy. And one time it was five minutes after one of the staff held up the "no cellphone" sign. Still, 5 stars overall.

Quiet pool was still, well, the quiet pool. 5 stars just because we meet so many cool people there as well.

Bash is no Paty'O's, but knowing that and trying not compare the two and you will find that it is it's own very cool place indeed. Shows were very good and service was always top notch. However, TOO MANY FUCKING CELL PHONES! However, yup, you guessed it, 5 stars.

MUSIC - Now, let me start by saying, I am old school rock and roll and Motown and my wife is country so we did not hear a whole lot of our type of music. And that's cool. And I am saying this for both Bash and the Sexy Pool, so, the DJ in both places has the most un-enviable job of moving booties from all parts of this globe with all tastes in music. I think they accomplished that and came through like champions! 4.75 stars! Could have been 5 but just too much Pit Bull!

Side comment, the most under valued and under utilized place in the place is Score, the sports bar. That place has a TON of potential. I can't believe they don't hold more events there. Anyway, we would stop by there between dinner and Bash and have a couple of cocktails, a little pool, (bartender even showed us how to play dominoes), and some cool A/C while catching up on local sports scores. 5 stars.

My next shout out is to Lu Lu, Victor, Fernando, Savy, all the security guys, and all the cool people behind the scenes that never stopped making this an awesome vacation. 5 HUGE stars!!!

Next note is all the single people we ran into. There were a lot. Both male and female. "Feels" like that's kind of the flow the resort is going for. It wasn't bad though. Just a little different. They get no stars cuz they're still just kids and they'd end up posting them on facebook.

Now, here comes the weird part and I can't believe I'm saying this...Would we go back? Well as it stands the answer is NO. And there are two very fixable reasons why:

1 - ICE MACHINES - We have stayed in hotels around this planet and I can't remember any where an ice machine (or ice with a simple room service call) was not available somewhere close. Even in a closer central location would be okay. Twice a day I went to get ice. Once after 'snap' for an afternoon cocktail and late at night for night caps. I know, I know, some of you will say, 'just simply become premier and problem solved' but is it worth spending many thousands just to be a Star Bellied Sneetch? FYI - this is why the room only got 4 stars.

2 - CELL PHONES!!! - Until they ban these things from at least the Sexy Pool, we won't be back. Not criticizing those who need their cell phone for important reasons but if you do need it that bad, take a break, walk into the lobby and use your phone. This would be very easy for security to enforce as well. Just paint a red stripe around the banned areas and tell people "No visible cell phones beyond this point". We actually saw a girl in the buffet restaurant face timing her friend with her back to the glass of the Sexy Pool. At that point I was just over it but hey, check YouTube, some of you may be on it.

You may flame away if you must and I'm sure I'll get the 'don't let the door hit you' comments and that's okay but it's not a lot we're looking for, just some cold drinks and a little privacy. Which is pretty much their niche. We still love the place though. Peace out.

 

Thanks...great post. Ice machine solution...we brought two big yeti(or target brand) 40 something ounce cups and would put ice in after dinner...that seemed to work ok for us..

 

Thanks for the great TR. We are just a mere 49 days before we land for our first trip. Curious tho, you gave almost everything 5 stars and won't be back because of no ice machines and cell phones? The no ice shouldn't be a reason not to go IMHO, and I think that in this day and age, those fu#%ing kids will have their cell phones everywhere (kids are anyone under 30 to me, so sorry to those "young adults" who are offended. JK, I'm not actually sorry ). I can't speak from experience, not having been myself yet, but your list of negatives seems pretty minor (your privacy will be ignored/violated pretty much anywhere that doesn't have an under 45 age limit). Seems like the fun to me would be worth the hassle. Hope you change your mind .

 

Thanks for the trip report. It’s intersting how some things matter to different people. In four trips to Cancun in two different resorts, ice machines has never even once been brought up. When you mentioned, I realized I’ve never seen one or used one. For whatever reason we’ve never needed one. Too bad that was an issue for you.

Cell phones. I can see both sides, but I wouldn’t want them banned completely. Restricted areas are fine, but not being able to take any would be too much.

 

Thanks Steve, not looking for a total ban at the resort, just one in the topless areas. Plenty of other places to take great selfies. Security works too hard already to wonder if that person with the phone up is taking pictures or reading Joel Osteens latest self help book.

 

LOL that's because your phone is also your business That being said we also know you only take pictures of people who want you to and are always aware of stray boobies in the background

 

I enjoyed your review. Thanks for sharing.

In a weird way I get the ice machine point. We stayed in the tower so had ice machines and frankly I don’t care too much about ice. The reason I get it is the point to me represents the broader negative of why are some things so difficult at the new TTR? It shouldn’t be so difficult to vary the music, to deliver room service, to keep the bar stocked and yes to have ice near your room

Thru time I am sure you will miss the place and based on the number of 5 stars you gave hopefully the positives once again overtake the negatives. We didn’t have the best April trip and are taking a break but hopefully it will be on the shorter side rather than longer and during that time they make it so those minor things are no longer so difficult. In the mean time we will be watching, reading, listening and hoping for the best. Appreciate your perspective. Thanks for sharing.

 

you know we never looked for an ice machine either .. we just grab a coke or water from the box .. by the time we hit the room we are done drinking for the day so never thought about it .
when we stay at other hotels its always something I scope out ..weird
the phones though god we had to get security on so many people last time we were there most were just filming randomly

manners people
my phone stays up in the room .. the only time we had it out is when we were trading info with people to keep in touch

 

Thanks for the review, our phones stay in the room locked up in the safe but agree security should be on them more if there out in the public areas but you can't ban them. Ice machines if it wasn't all inclusive I might care about this topic more. Steve thanks for mentioning that there are ice machines out in the tower areas, only time we needed ice is when the wife slipped and hit her knee, the bars had plenty of it. Now if they can fix or mark the trip hazards maybe we will not need any ice this next trip.

T