I understand how easy it is to open those safes. But at Temptation and Cancun in general, I think using the safe is a better to use than it would be in the states. I know it seems naive to say, but the staff seems less likely to steal your stuff there than other places. I use the safe because if the room door was drunkenly left open, and someone was to walk in the room, then my valuables are less easy to pocket than if they were just laying out in plain sight.
I've said it once but it's worth repeating, it's not the staff that you need to worry about. Not sure why everyone thinks immediately of the staff who would get fired instantly for theft. Its' the local thieves / travelling thieves you need to worry about. My point remains that if you are really worried about your valuables, use the safe at the front desk instead...
we always use the safe ..and the guys are really nice about coming to unlock it for me when I type in the wrong numbers when I go back down to the party after drinking a little bit to much ..
We have always used the safe and have never ever had a problem with theft of anything Unless you include the "black out" times!! LOL Maids are great! We have left money out during a drunken stupor and have come back to a clean room with money still there. We usually have to put the money in a spot so they know it is there tip to take (usually use the comment cards or something like that). Never had a problem anywhere in Mexico on any trip, any where with theft.
I've always brought a wad of cash with me to TTR and kept it in the safe in my room. The biggest challenge is to remember to close the freakin' safe when you've been drinking. Everything I've read here and elsewhere indicates that you are not going to get a good rate at an ATM, but I have not tried it myself, as I have better things to do when at TTR than wander around looking for an ATM and trying not to lose my bank card while I'm at it. That responsible adult you are when holidaying with your kids? Don't expect him/her to make an appearance at TTR. As a Canadian, I bring US dollars instead of pesos, becuz when drinking I can't do the math (pesos to US dollars to Cdn pesos) to figure out what I am actually tipping, and I don't want to try. Also, if I come home with money left over, I don't want it to be pesos as I go to the US a lot more often than Mexico. But that's not a concern if you travel to Mexico more often than I have been able to manage in the last 5 years. If you want to use a credit card in Mexico, bring a low-limit card (under $5000). You will always do better on the exchange rate with cash, however.
We have never had a problem with the safe in our room, other than a malfunction where it wouldn’t open. But they quickly came up and opened it then fixed it for us...as far as theft, our first trip on the first day we got the typical first day curse and left our bag at the pool. Which we figured out when we got back to our room and couldn’t get in. I hurried back and our bag was gone. I reported it to guest services. A couple hours later someone on staff returned it to our room. Everything was in our bag (cell phones my wallet etc...) except $170 cash I had in my wallet!....anyhow, learned a big lesson on what’s necessary to take down to sexy pool! This June will be our seventh trip and havnt has any issues since!! As far as room safes, we keep all our valuables in there, with confidence! .... just realized we may be straying away from this thread?! Oh well
Tipping..our way to calculate what we need and keep each day separated.... per drink/ round each for maid service and turndown in-room refrigerator stocking Dude towel/pool service buffet waiter restaurant waiter seating hostess Snack/coffee server Room service concierge/butler first and last day Entertainment staff transit driver for each trip transit greeter at airport bellhop at each end of stay hotel greeter with Champaign and towel Baggage assitant at airport for return flight Probably a few Others I didn’t include $$ amounts as those are personal preferences. We usually take $500 and will have some left...usually because it seems like we only eat a light lunch/ breakfast when we stumble out of our room at 11 and then a nice dinner later in the evening. Most of our calories are in liquid form. We just save our $1s, $5’s, and some $10’s throughout the year and by vacation time we are good to go or close.
Most every 1 or 5 in my wallet goes directly to the next vacation fund. Had 300 for the last trip for tipping etc... Just like a piggy bank.
