I'll try to break this down into different categories to make it easier. BOOKING Used Expedia for our flight, hotel, transfers. Price was reasonable, and the only issue was the transfers. They use Best Day, and even though they were very nice, it took us over 2.5 hrs to get from arrival to the hotel due to..Waiting for the bus to fill up and making 6 stops to drop others off. While we received a nice tour of the hotel zone, next time we will use the tour company recommended in the forums. I think it's USTOURS, or USA Tours. COMING IN ON YOUR FLIGHT Before arriving in Cancun, you will be given 2 forms to fill out on the plane. One will be the immigration form, to be filled out by each person, and a customs form, to be filled out for the family travelling together. Upon arrival, you will proceed thru immigration. They will stamp your passport (a must have), and your immigration form you filled out on the flight. They will then hand you back a portion of the form DON'T LOSE IT. You will need that stamped form upon departure from Mexico. You will then pick up your luggage. There are porters available, or FREE luggage carts. You just have to look for them. Proceed to the exit where you will hand your customs form to the officer. You will then press the magic button. Green? you go, Red? inspection. Cleared customs? Proceed past the guantlet of people trying to sell you everything including their own sisters. UGH. Don't stop, a firm "no thanks" will get you through. If you stop and talk, they got ya and it's a bitch getting rid of them. Proceed to your transfer company for you trip to the hotel. ARRIVING AT TTR Your luggage will be kept near the front door while you check in. The porters will give you a tag to keep with you to claim it when you are ready to go to your room. They do this because sometimes the rooms are not ready upon your arrival. Them holding the bags allows you to explore while waiting for your room. HINT: Pack a swim suit or shorts in your carry on if your room is not ready. You will need your passports upon check-in. You will be given a red wristband. Make sure it will not come off. $50 IF YOU LOSE IT Note, if you change USD or CAD at the front desk, you will only get Peso's in return. The exchange rate is posted. Stay away from the Concierge, they will try to get you into the Time Share Tango. They will tell you it only takes a few minutes, but it takes up to 3 hours. Talk to Premium members before you decide whether you want to sign up. Premium members have gold wristbands. ROOMS Your room is ready, the porter has escorted you with your luggage. We had 2 different rooms. I will explain each. 1st room 5334 We asked for a quiet room. We got it. This is a very nice room, but it's about as far away from everything as you can be. King Bed. Large bathroom. Shower area big enough for 2. The sink is outside in the room on what must be a 15-18' counter top. Shelves next to the sink to hold everything. 3 drawers, closet, safe, minibar, (Water, 2 beer, soda, v8) coffee maker, iron, ironing board, TV with some US channels. FYI, The channel 12 Porn really sucks. They are using Conair 1600 hair dryers, and a built in magnifying mirror is mounted next to the sink. The balcony has 2 chairs and a small table, but you cannot see over the top of the railing without standing. Lighting is poor. 2nd room 1123 We got tired of walking up and down stairs, and after seeing the jacuzzi rooms, we asked if we could upgrade. The cost was $75 per nite, and we felt it was worth it with a few exceptions. The porters moved our luggage after we repacked, a $5 tip took care of that. Upon arrival in our new room, we just about shit. King bed, safe, mini bar etc. But the bathroom was miniscule. NO counter space at all, the shower was barely wide enough to turn around in. The room had zero storage. A couple of shelves and a couple of very small drawers. We kept most of your clothes in our luggage. and pulled them out when we needed something. The balcony was huge, and we could just step out over the ledge to head to the bar. Count on 30-45 min to fill up the tub. But it was worth it!!!! Then the second suprise hit us. The hotel is marble and stone. There is no soft materials to deaden sound. We were 20' away from Nice shoes. Convenient? Yes, Loud? OH YEA. Every person, cart, music, bang, resonated through the room. The carts they use to move food, liquids, laundry between bars and restaurants sounded like a freight train going thru the room. IF YOU WANT A QUIET JACUZZI ROOM, rooms 1130-1140. FOOD The food was excellent, don't let any of those idiots who write reviews saying the food is tasteless throw you off. We ate in every restaurant, and each meal was served as promised, hot, and full of flavor. The portions are not large. If you want more? ASK! Yes you have make reservations for Italian and Oriental. 10am-12am each day, but you can book up to 2 days in advance. Plan and there will be no problem. If you are a couple, book for 4 and ask your new friends to join you. You WILL meet new friends. Breakfast is buffet, with an egg station for omelets and eggs over easy, fried etc. They are fast and good. Lots of fresh fruit and juices available for breakfast. If you don't like the powdered creamer that comes with the coffee in your room, grab some creamers and put them in your mini fridge. ENTERTAINMENT Not going to get into the entertainment, it changes alot. But the staff is awsome. AMY, PALONIA, SARAH69, they know how to get things going, even on crappy weather days. BOOB CRUISE DO IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN AFTER ARRIVAL. You'll make lifelong friends on this trip. SEXY POOL Yep it is THE PROPERTY Yep, it's showing it's age in some places, but the staff does one hell of a good job keeping it clean. DRINKS If you can't find anything you like to drink, YOUR DEAD!!!!. There are a couple of things that cost extra, Jack, Crown and some kind of Tequila. If you want brandy or something like that, it is available at a cost. There is also cappacino machines in all the restaurants. Hated to leave, but work calls. We will be down for our next vacations soon. CHEERS ALL
I hear you on the jacuzzi room and no storage - that is the unfortunate trade off. The closet is big, but not enough hangers to use it. Unless we can get room 1201 - which is the 'model' suite the timeshare people use to promote being a member, I don't think we will pay for an upgrade in the future. The rooms by the sexy pool would be fine with us. Glad you had a great time, and great report!
Great trip report...to the point. One of our suitcases is a rolling garment bag so we always have a bunch of extra wire hangers with us, so hanging stuff in the closet isn't an issue. D
