I'm a first-timer (50yr old single stud) and was very excited when I walked in the lobby. My room was not ready but after reading all the tips here I knew to have some shorts and flip-flops in an outer pocket for easy access. Changed in the bathroom and headed to the Sexy Pool for a Corona. Well the Sexy Pool was OK if you like Big Canadian Women (ha ha) - but seriously there was some good scenery to be enjoyed and I flopped in a lounge and just drank it all in. I got into my room around 3 and it was nicely done. Garden view, one queen bed (comfy). They've redecorated with "Euro-chic" and part of that I guess are dressers with few drawers that are very shallow. Not much drawer space in the room and hung/stacked most stuff in the closet. But no gripes about the room - AC worked fine and the bath was OK too. Later on had my first meal and was pleasantly surprised by the quality and this basically was the same throughout my stay. I did the a-la-carte thing one night but being stag it felt a little weird and I had most of my meals in the buffet room. First night (tue) went with the bus to Senor Frogs - much fun and got a cab home around 2. No drama downtown - other than the hustling cab drivers nothing to be concerned about. Wed AM I had an appointment for the "newcomers breakfast" which was a disguised word for "time share sales pitch!" It wasn't all that bad and when I said that I'd had enough they relented and I left with my $25 spa coupon. They said that by law the timeshare people can only come after you once and sure enough that was the last I heard from them the rest of the week. The numbers don't make sense for me now (nor do I have the time to use all those points) but it might make sense later for me as part of retirement (rather than buying a 2nd home). But as my sister later told me - its "throwaway money" and at the end of the day you don't have an investment that has gained any value - anyhow - moving on.... Wed I hopped the bus and did some shopping downtown at Fiesta Plaza - the bus is easy and cheap - just tell the driver where you want to get off and they'll let you know. Got back to the pool in the afternoon and things were going full guns. My new NASCAR buddies from South Carolina were getting it on at the pool bar. This trip really reset my scales about how much people can consume when the alcohol is unlimited!! Was amazed to see the same people going back time after time for 2 at a time! But the bartenders were happy to oblige and flipping them a few bucks every once in a while assures instant service. Interesting thing was that the rumors circulating around the hotel weren't as much about "who was doing what with who" but "who was getting into fights with who." Again - with unlimited alcohol seems that good judgment sometimes takes a back seat. These were mostly couples where one or the other had done something that the other found inappropriate. Fishing trip Thu - on one of the boats at the Cha-Chi dock, boat was showing some wear and tear but the capt and his mates did their best to hustle up some fish for us - problem was that the winds were up and we were getting the wee knocked out of us. We dragged up some barracuda, triggerfish, and snappers. We did try sharking for a bit and I had a big one on but it broke off. lingerie show Thu night and the casino was fun - bring something fun to wear. Some of the wives and girlfriends were smoking! Dady-O later that night was also fun. Friday did the snorkeling thing with Snorkeling Adventures and that was great. Went to Punto Morales (bit of a drive) but it was worth it. No idea that they had a reef of this quality - it was really something else. Also at nights there was some dude and his posse (some hot latino women) shooting music videos in the quiet pool - Ja Fus I think was his name - saw him at the resort all week and looked to be enjoying himself. Supposedly a big-time Canadian rapper and I'll have to google him. Some more shopping on Sat and here's where I made my one bad turn the entire week - was in a hurry to get back to the hotel - the one "real" cigar store was closed - and I asked some shopkeeper who took me to his buddies store to buy some Cubanos. They looked "official enough" but later when taking them out of the box when packing on Sunday realized that they were total sh*t and threw the whole lot of them in the trash - $80 down the toilet! Went out to the gift shop and got 8 there that were the real deal (I had one after dinner each night!) and was able to get them back into the US no drama. Lesson learned - stick with the real cigar shops that have walkin humidors, etc. Saturday night was at the Bulldog which was OK but the dance floor was too small for a club that size. It is nice going in with the bus crew as you are treated as a VIP and the bottle service appears out of nowhere. The "guide" as I'll call him (the guy with the craziest clothes in the room who sells the wristbands) used to work at the resort and he really knows the club scene - seemed very plugged in and wherever we went we got great service. So it was a strange deal - so there was not an endless line of adventurous women waiting in line to take me back to their room - but the place DOES grow on you and I found a LOT of people who were making their 3rd, 4th visits. I think the thing for me now is to find a way to make the trip next year (not in October/November which I was told is rainy season) and do it cheaper. Yes - I would come back here again and even hope to win the karaoke contest next time!
nice trip report. Glad to see someone else from NJ has caught the TTR bug. Looks like May is a good month to go for a 2nd trip
Nice trip report. We were there at the same time, but I don't think we met. The "guide" selling the wrist bands was Lalo! He worked at the resort on the entertainment staff until the end of August beginning of September.
