rattravlers

Let me start by saying, my husband has been in the hotel/resort biz for 30 years and we have enjoyed some wonderful perks at some very nice properties around the planet...I consider myself to be kind of spoiled when it comes to hotels.

It was my turn to plan this years anniversary celebration (#26) so I booked this package on Luxury Link and he had no idea the destination until we arrived at the airport desk & they asked our "final destination".....I said Cancun! All he knew was that we needed bug spray (he thought we were headed to visit friends in Minnesota!). I had arranged resort transport via USA Transfers and without incident they brought us to the property.....shorter ride than expected and not as bumpy and rough as described by others....maybe it's improved...?

First impressions were "understated elegance". We enjoyed the cool towel, glass of bubbly & warm welcome. Sitting at the check in desk, hubby said he liked all the water walls in the reception area (I had not noticed...) & he said "wow it's really a nice place!" Right about then, I told him it was an all inclusive and he was pleasantly surprised for sure! (He did not have to worry about signing room charges or calculating gratuities!) We skirted around the timeshare guy and just said we wanted to go to our room and they promptly escorted us there to building 14, junior suite swim out. Nice banner on door and a bottle of champagne on ice in the room...welcome letter offering the anniversary breakfast in bed & spa discount....both of which we used.

We were both excited and impressed with the room decor and details.....could not have been happier, really. As soon as the concierge was finished introducing herself and welcoming us, she left and we popped the champagne and hopped in the pool! Loved having the swim out because it was something we don't normally get...didn't miss the sea views at all, but we do live near very nice beaches at home so it may be more important to others.

Splitting hairs here but a very minor issue would be the mini bar in room....every day we drank all the beer (maybe 4 in there?) we drank zero soda....it would be nice if they were more in tune with what you are consuming and give more of that and less of other items. Water bottles were super plentiful and appreciated. I also loved the toiletries....but wish they were smaller bottles so I could have brought them home...I got busted at the airport cuz they were too large & we had carryon only.. (I wanted them badly!!)

Once we left the suite to explore, we headed toward the pool, then beach..and just kept saying "wow". Just gorgeous, all of it. Had our first "inclusive" drink on the swings at the beach bar....the only place I didn't find the service top notch or very friendly...I felt you needed tip in hand to get noticed.

Anyhow, hubby just kept thanking me for booking such a gorgeous place!

That arrival day was our actual anniversary and I had pre arranged a private meal in the wine cellar. About an hour before our Rez time, we wandered toward the restaurant area to scope it out and on our way, a staff member started chatting with us and asked our dinner plans....i told him about our special plan (hubby didn't know about this part either) and he said, " I am Guadalupe, the sommelier, and I will be taking care of you throughout your dinner, are you ready to sit now?" So we went ahead and followed him to the room and were quite stunned to see the beautiful wine room with an elegant table for 2....husbands mouth dropped open and he was just wowed....again. It just felt so special to be waited on so privately. 2 or 3 servers tended to our every need and even the chef came in to meet us. We could choose from either restaurant menu (Bordeaux or Portofino) but decided to let him choose the entire menu for us with a combination from both places. Delicious, elegant, classy and very special.

The deal to dine there is that you need to spend $120 in wine.....caught up in the moment, we got a bit carried away and ordered a bottle of champagne and a bottle of red....spending way more than necessary. We could not finish either bottle so they held both for us....picked up the bubbly for pre-dinner sunset the following night and enjoyed it on the veranda. Had the remaining red with our meal night 2. I must mention that when we retrieved the bubbly, Guadeloupe went out of his way to bring it to us outside, with proper glasses, etc....he just could not do enough, even securing a table that appeared to us to be the best in the Bordeaux restaurant. The next night, he again saw us before dinner, asked our plans and saved us what appeared to be the best table in Portofino! He went to the extreme of hunting us down in the lobby lounge when the best table came available.....Yes, the wine list is way over priced but the real value was in the extra special attention we received, not only that first night but throughout our stay .....it's just nice to experience over the top service and attention once in a while.

The next big wow was the breakfast buffet....omg, I can't think of anything they did not have and it was all very good. Hubby even said "it's been a long time since I've seen a spread like this!" My fave was the crepes...with Nutella, peanut butter, mango......!!!

We toured the spa knowing full well it would lead us to booking massages, which it did. We did not book a couples massage but they put us in the couples room....nice but honestly I prefer separate rooms and will request such in the future.....but I do believe they normally charge xtra for couples room....just not my personal preference.

Note: bring plenty of sunscreen and bug spray because they are each $22 a bottle.

We got the 2story pafalito one day (slight disappointment....way too hot in that back row)--We actually preferred the complimentary hanging beds and the service there was just as good. Of note though....I saw a dinner set up on the top floor of a prez pafalito one evening and it looked very cool! The beach dinners in the cabanas looked much better in person than in the pics I saw, that's why I booked wine cellar and was not disappointed at all but I think the pics of the beach dinners don't do them justice, just not sure it's worth the high up charge.

We thought the evening entertainment was pretty lame but honestly, we could not have cared less....it was actually a struggle to pull ourselves away from relaxing and enjoying ourselves to go check it out.

We luxuriated in all the resort had to offer for 3 nights and even though our stay was brief, we felt so relaxed and pampered...it was a spectacular way to celebrate our anniversary!! Hubby has his work cut out for him next year to top this one!

travelenthusiast

I enjoyed reading your trip report. Your anniversary dinner sounds like it was very special. Did you go off property at all for dinner or excursions?

Little_Man

Thanks for your TR! Sounds very nice, maybe someday will be lucky enough to try Maroma beach. Hear it's gorgeous!

I also bought a luxury link package for my first stay at an all inclusive-- Secrets the Vine. It was a great deal. I liked Secrets the Vine very much.

rattravlers

Sorry for the delayed reply; no, we did not leave the property....not enough time and had everything we wanted there!

Katzgar

in the end its still nothing but an all inclusive.

KVR

"in the end its still nothing but an all inclusive."

So?

I appreciate your trip report and glad you liked it. Too bad, more people don't understand Mexico or their AI's. We love them too.

It is a shame you didn't get off the resort and see the area. It's awesome. I hope you do next time.

mnag

thanks for posting. We are planning a ladies getaway (6 of us) to Secrets Maroma this year. I expect to see lots of couples but will we feel out of place?