To be honest, this trip was a last minute decision since my wife gets out for Thanksgiving break on Nov 22 and goes back Dec 2. USA Transfers did a great job getting us there in spite of all of the repaving. We had wanted to go to TTR, but Nov 22 was full and we really wanted a resort with a great swimable beach. Check in was very smooth!!! Charged us $7 a day for the lock, but we knew that ahead of time. Internet was $30 for 5 days (pretty similar to TTR). Didn't charge for the Balcony rooms. The hotel itself is much nicer than TTR !!! Very much so. Some of the bathrooms at TTR were really a step above an outhouse. GOVs were great.Really big Tub shower, dual sinks, etc. Everything is laid out very well, none of twists and turns or hidden passages like TTR. On the 6 th floor there was a very low ceiling near one elevator!!! I'm 6 ft and barely passed thru, anyone taller might get a BIG headache!! An improvement would be to add an "office type" chair to each room for the internet crowd. Employees were excellent. Our favorite employees were a father/son combo. The Dads name was Erico (I think), he and his son went out of their way to get anything you wanted. Didn't see one employee that didn't smile and say hello. And they all recall what you like to drink !!!And they make the drinks STRONG !!! Don't recall if they had "top shelf" liquor. They did have Bicardi and Dos Equis so we were happy !!! Our favorite Bartender was named Daniel and was practicing serving topless gals by simply "looking everyone straight in the eye". LOL, Good luck !! The security men were all rather stern faced!!! I asked one about the Ganja thing and he just frowned a little harder. I would assume it be OK in your room. They are all looking forward to the big change next mouth !! GOVS biggest plus to us was the beach and water. Its is everything TTRs beach is not. Very clear water, few waves and almost 6 ft deep at the ropes. My wife and I spent at least 3 hours a day out in the water. Bring you own floats. GOV is going to have a chore pulling people away from the 'water'. There are a LOT more vendors than a TTR, to escape them somewhat, I think you can move higher on the beach, behind the white ropes. But, at least the Vendors are just selling Jewelry, clothes, hats, etc and not anything else. There is a jet ski rental place directly adjacent to GOV. We have stayed at both Breezes Grand and Riu Tropical Palace in Negril, Jamaica and can honestly say that GOVs beach is on par with those. Really!! If you want to see a bad beach just stroll down to Riu Palace Las Americas. The water is SO ROUGH that the US Navy should use that place for its SEAL training. You can walk north at least 1/2 mile with no problem, However South is a different story, Very little beach and a lot of steps,rocks, etc. It is very curious how GOV is going to handle being topless on the beach. Not a lot of kids, but Sunday at least 10-15 came by. The resort directly North seemed totally vacant. If that fills up, could be a LOT of kiddies around. The pools are very good. However, there is very little in pool seating like a TTR (with all of the whirlpools and underwater tables). The new area(above the restaurants) is supposed to become a "special area" for all guests. That will be interesting !!! They are spending lots of $$$ on that area. Lots of hot tubs !!! The niteclub (Coyote) is located on the south side and while it was mainly dead while we were there, it does have potential, Its pretty large with two stripper pools and a fairly good sized stage !!! I thing a few of the TTR regulars could find great use with that !!! The food was the only low point !!! Another reviewer called it "Uninspired" and that was pretty much spot on. We enjoyed the Moroccan restaurant and the others were okay. The did have a little grill adjacent to the swimup bar with bargers, hot dogs, etc. I think it closed around 6pm. The beach bar also had a Sushi bar, but we didn't eat there. I would say just hire a TTR type EC team, but without the TTR type crowd, I don't think it would help. The Crowd there at the time seemed to be more in need of Miralax than KY jelly !!! LOL I don't think we spoke to but 4 Americans the whole time, However, we met some really great folks from Canada who more that made up for that !! I ws tempted to suggest the gals get topless, but didn't want to cause an international incident!!! Did notice a couple of the 25-30 year old drunk British guys that were up to no good. Similar to TTR, unfortunately . If you like a great beach with great swimming, you will love GOV. With an improvement in the food and more of "us" in attendance, this place could be great !!!
I like the last line of that review A LOT! "With more uf us in attendance, this place could be great!" I think that applies to nearly every place we've ever been, actually. But, the TTR people don't seem to go and do anywhere like TRTR anyplace else, more's the pity.
I would say just hire a TTR type EC team, but without the TTR type crowd, I don't think it would help. The Crowd there at the time seemed to be more in need of Miralax than KY jelly !!! LOL Instead of Jell-O shots, we'll have to make Miralax brownies, I guess! Burning question: are the toilets private? I can't tell from the pictures, and some of TTR's rooms aren't. Stuffy people and having to watch each other on the crapper would definitely be my deal breakers...although I'm itching to get on those stripper poles in the bar! --Laura
Laura: We did have one of those "open toilet" bathrooms once at TTR. Happy to report that YES the GOV bathrooms (containing the toilet) all have lockable doors. I also think that the stage at GOVs niteclub might also get used quite a bit!!! At least, I hope it will.
We also were impressed with the "no towel policy" policy. You just walked up to the towel/excursion hut beside the main pool and got the towels you wanted. No exchange, no card , no nothing !!! Most folks just left their old towels on the beach at night.
