Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

Ahh, Mexico!  I booked this trip in September through Travelocity.  I called the hotline to see if they could help me locate a discount that had disappeared from the website.  After 2 hours on the phone, it was booked.  I realized two weeks later, the rep had booked the flight for the correct dates but the room for October.  After 3 weeks of daily phone calls with their overseas customer support, it was finally resolved at no additional charge (but not without much aggravation and frustration – not an auspicious start).

We flew from Manchester to Philly to Cancun without incident (except for much scrutinizing on lotions and lip gloss by airport security). Arriving in Cancun , you hit a button at customs – red you get searched, green you sail through.  We both got green, yay!  But, once past security, it is a nightmare.  Men from timeshares try to grab your luggage so that you follow them.  Just say “no gracias” and they back off.  But, we hired Cancun Valet to drive us to the hotel.  Other men kept trying to convince us they were with Cancun Valet.  I didn’t stop until I saw a clipboard with my name on it.  The driver then quickly made the drive 40 minutes to our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel and were promptly greeted.  A bellman took our bags and handed us a receipt.  We were seated in the lobby and handed champagne and then we checked in at the desk.  We were pointed down the hall to our room and told our baggage would arrive shortly.  Unfortunately, our keys did not work when we found our room, but there was a concierge steps away to help us. The bellman arrived, let us into the room, then returned with new keys minutes later.

Our hotel room was very nice.  Unfortunately, we had double beds due to the Travelocity headache, but it was cozy.  The fridge was stocked with mini Coronas, juice, soda and water (all complimentary).  The bathroom was huge – a large shower, a toilet with a door, two sinks, and a whirlpool tub with shutters that opened into the bedroom.  They also provided ample bath products, including incense in a holder and matches.  Very romantic.  We also had a balcony with a table and chairs.  From our tropical room, we could see a sliver of beach (but mostly the resort next door).

We headed to a late lunch at the Seaside Grill (with our bath suits on under our t-shirts).  We had wonderful guacamole, tropical drinks and turkey melt sandwiches (a little goopy in my opinion).  You just get and leave when you’re done, so weird.  We then enjoyed the hour or so left by the pool, the swim-up bar, and the hot tub.

After a shower, it was time for dinner.  The dress code was Elegant Causal, but it was usually guys in nice pants and shirt and women in sundresses or sparkly tops and pants.  After a few drinks in the hotel lobby bar, we had dinner at Oceana.  We sat outside and looked out on the beach.  For dinner, I had ceviche (a lot too creamy, not citrusy enough), my husband had soup.  I had sea bass for dinner (very good, but I was already full by then) and my husband had shrimp flambé (but it didn’t arrived “flambéed”).  For wine, you can purchase premium wine off the list or just get some of the house wine as part of the package.  We stuck with the free ones and they were fine.  We split a coconut ice-cream profiterole for dessert.  We were stuffed by then, so we strolled around the pool, enjoyed some drinks at the bar, and headed to bed.