While we do not always post trip reports we felt it was necessary after the reneovations for those with similar tastes like us (champagne taste on a cava budget) to hear about the differences. Background: We have traveled to TTR somewhere around 12 times as well as a few other resorts in Mexico and regular travel all over the world. Time is very precious to us as we have minimal vacation time so we like to make sure to take full advantage of every hour. Pros: Decor: Yes we don’t want to decorate our houses in such extreme colors but the front lobby, bathrooms, even the restaurants really made a splash. It felt like you really were in a different place from home and that made vacation so much better. Glassware: We really liked the improved glassware. You no longer feel like you are at summer camp while enjoying your meals and poolside drinks. If you order a glass of water in the buffet, it arrives with a fruit garnish and you can actually get a champagne flute poolside. Restaurants: We thought we would hate the new reservation process (or lack thereof) but we really enjoyed not having to worry about getting anywhere by any specific time. The resort was full but we had no trouble getting into each of the restaurants around 7:30 each night. Food has gotten a touch better as well. Jacuzzi: While we didn’t use it, we loved knowing that on a cooler afternoon the jacuzzi was an option for group gatherings. One afternoon was comical as we watched couple after couple make the sprint up the ramp in almost no clothing to get into the warmer water. Coffee Bar: This is the MOST AMAZING addition. It was great for us as we often just want a quick pastry in the morning with a coffee. In the past we would resort to begging coffee drinks from the nice restaurants and running into the buffet for a roll but now we could easily grab a cold or hot latte on the way to the room, pool, or in between. This is THE BEST thing the resort could have done. Cons: Rooms: The new rooms are impressively decorated but are difficult to use. It took us 2 days to realize there was a full length mirror in the room (it’s inside one of the cabinet doors). Ladies, if you want makeup space you may need to book a whole separate room, the bathroom didn’t have space for makeup and the pink decor gave off a weird light making it tough to see what shades were what. The electric shade is great for blocking the sun but you cannot sneak outside to relax while your SO is sleeping in the morning without raising the whole thing and flooding the room with light. Also, if you like to get dressed with the shade open, there is no light curtain to pull which means we gave off quite a few shows for the neighbors while running around the room unclothed and participating in extracurricular activities. Restaurants: The decor is fun but all of the restaurants are much more noisy than they used to be. We found that they were not as relaxing as you could hear general white noise throughout the entire meal. It was especially bad at the Asian place, Sutra, when the hibachi presentation was going on. Also, the food at Flame was good but the lights were on full blast, and the room had the same feel as the buffet which made me wish for some ambiance. Restrooms: This has been said before but it was a project to get to the restrooms at the Sexy pool. We finally realized it was easier to walk back to our room to use the restroom than all the way around the pool. All in all- Yes. We do believe that the changes will warrant a slight increase in price and we hope that that increase will not be unreasonable. We loved the new vibe and greatly enjoyed spending the time with old friends and a ton of new ones. Counting the days until we can get back there again.
Thanks for taking time for your trip report. It's nice to get all perspectives and makes us appreciate the renovations even more.
Remember good old days, when each room had a huge mirror on the wall ? After renovation, these mirrors are gone! Huge minus, among many others :-( . Without the mirror, how one suppose to know what he (she) is doing, and with whom ?
