Super excited to return after a 2 year hiatus. Not sure how this happened, but so stoked to get back. This was trip #9. We arrived late Friday morning on a delayed redeye to find ALL gates occupied. Taxied over to an area where we had to take busses to the terminal. We were so bummed that we were going to be in the back of a very long line. Nope, no line! In and out of immigration and customs in record time. Hit the duty free for a bottle of 1921 cream tequila, and out the door to meet Lopez, our USA Transfers driver. He said he usually had beer in his cooler, but the last bunch of people he drove to TTR drank it all. (Fuck you, whoever you are! ). He stopped on the way out and got us some fresh ones, and off we went. We arrived at our happy place some 30 minutes later. Check in was a breeze, but we had to wait til 3 to get in our plush jacuzzi room. Nice touch: at the front desk every day was a cart full of finger sandwiches and pastries. Premier approached us twice, we declined politely both times. Changed into swimsuits in the lobby bathrooms, then off to the pool we went. Met up immediately with old friends, stashed out stuff under their seat, and into the water with our new Bubba mugs. First observation was WTF is with the cabanas? They are literally at the pools edge from the area to the left of the playmakers “stage”, to the bridge. Second observation was where is the clean air? Hookahs, cigarettes, capes, pot. You name it, we smelled it. It was anything BUT fun. Since the majority were smoking, they didn’t seem to care where they blew their smoke. That had to be the biggest negative of the trip. Daily Activities: We were there during a week where they were more risqué. Played naked tequila volleyball with the playmakers, (who generally got naked as well) for 3 hours. We played most days (naked was only one day). Most people there played nice, but some people took their testosterone seriously. JJ was the only playmaker we knew, friendly and funny as ever. We met and chatted with quite a few of the new ones. Great energy as a whole. We play or volunteer for games throughout the day, nothing you haven’t seen there before. A few of our favorites are Jungle Jay, Barbie, Mar and Pauly D. The crowd: There seem to be a lot of weekend/long weekend visitors. The place was booked both weekends we were there, and less so during the week. As a whole, the weekend crowd were younger, were more likely to keep their tops on, and did not participate in theme nights. They also did not go to the restaurants, we never waited once for a table anywhere. They are a different crowd than what us “old timers” would expect. Food: The menu has changed quite a bit since out last visit. Except for the Romanza, there were less options, smaller portions, and more offerings at an up charge. Our last few visits, we have not enjoyed Romanza, but this time it was our favorite. Close behind were the Sea Flirt and the hibachi. We ate at, but did not care for the Flame, the open seating at Sutra, or She. Bash: We always dress up for theme nights. It was disappointing that more people did not. I’d say it was 33% most nights. They redid the elevated dance floor, not nearly as slippery as it once was. The DJ was on point every night except one, where it just didn’t seem right. Oh well, we danced each night til way late. There are a LOT of tables around the dance floor that are “Reserved”. We always found a spot to park ourselves and grab a drink. The servers were excellent, except for one night where they cleared the table of all drinks if no one was there to claim them. That night, they said they only left drinks at reserved tables. Room: We were in 7329, plush jacuzzi room in the quiet pool area, next to Romanza. That room was spic and span. Even if we stepped out for just a minute, the housekeeper was in and out so damn fast. The AC did not work, and it was not resolved before we left. Since they were full, there was no where to move us. Weather: We have never seen so much rain in all our trips to Cancun combined (15x) as we did this trip. The pool was a little cooler, and when it was dumping, we moved into the lobby or Score to keep up the party. Premier: We’re not members. Don't want to be. We would walk through the lobby each morning to get change for tip money and a drink from Caffeine. Each day, the sales reps pounced on us, even ones we had said no to the previous days. It was not terrible, but not pleasant. Staff: Lots of old faces still work there, we were happy to reconnect with many of them. Seems the bartenders are now rotating locations, instead of being in a fixed spot. Summary: We missed our happy place, and based on a lot of things we read here over the last year, questioned our decision to return. We are happy we did. We did not like everything, liked some changes, hated others. But, it’s still what you make of it. And we will be back.
I think that last sentence puts it perfectly. We feel the same way. It's up to those who know what Temptation is about/can be to educate the newer generation and hopefully keep the vibe going as much as possible. We did end up one morning over breakfast thinking about what they would monetize next. We came up with an onsite humidor and cigar sales. Coming in 2022...lol
Like a lot of couples on here we have kids at home and like(d) TTR for the total escape from family life. If we have to educate a newer generation while we're on vacation too...... .... hell no! Of course there are also many people reading this thinking, "Wait a minute, I've had great fun, ahem, educating someone younger while there." Two sides to every coin, right?
Nice review.. Honest and to the point. We agree with you vacations are what you make it. We have a blast whenever we go no matter what..Thanks for the review.
They used to have a "cigar lounge" prior to the renovation, but it was never really used from what I saw.
I think that last sentence puts it perfectly. We feel the same way. It's up to those who know what Temptation is about/can be to educate the newer generation and hopefully keep the vibe going as much as possible. We did end up one morning over breakfast thinking about what they would monetize next. We came up with an onsite humidor and cigar sales. Coming in 2022...lol[/QUOTE] They used to have a cigar lounge back in the day and mr. fjsone1 would love for it to return. We have to leave and go downtown to La Case Del Habana for him.
