Riviera Maya Update from Bill
January 21, 2015
Bill just returned from a great vacation in Riviera Maya. His family and he enjoyed the new venues and had great things to say. Here is his review:
Dear Bob and Mary Ann,
My wife and I enjoyed our stay at the Grand Luxxe RM January 5-12,2015 and I'd like to give you the following report as an update on a prior recent review (but I can't find it because my membership expired so I can't enter the Member's Forum to see who wrote it).
- Check-in: absolutely no problem: no waiting when we arrived on Monday! Same no problem at check-out. Easy!
- Update breakfast: this time our reservation form clearly stated "Member's update" and no credit card required. We were also given a form inviting us to list our questions/concerns in advance of our update. When we showed up for the update, we were taken to a separate room which we were told was just for GL owners. Our briefer went right through all our questions and concerns. He then reviewed our contract, pointing out a couple of aspects we had not understood and explained our options. No pressure to modify whatsoever. For our first time in 11 years of ownership, this was a very pleasant and pressure free experience!
- Swimming off piers: there is a rope-float area between the two piers where we saw people swimming. The seas were rough and winds high enough that we did not get into the water at all, but we saw a few brave souls bobbing about, having entered from one of the piers. I think water shoes would be in order, but I could not see the bottom clearly because the hjgh surf action clouded the water.
- New restaurants: we ate at first the new restaurant out by the Cirque du Soleil theatre. Beautiful, but frankly, the menu was odd in that it did not have any clear entrees. Instead, there were appetizers, soups, salads and an odd (to us) mixture of Mayan foodstuffs. My choice was a bowl of stew containing large grilled shrimp (very tasty), hot peppers, Mayan sausage (very tough, unlike any other sausage I've eaten) and boiled/stewed cactus, cooked rice and beans.
- Chiringuito: a new restaurant located at the GL Beach Club, on the southern border of the beach. Advertised as a Spanish style restaurant, the menu was an assortment of Spanish, Mexican and American dishes, all very good, but the background music was oddly mostly Salsa as from Cuba or the DR, whereas I was expecting more Spanish guitar and flamenco music.
- For our last evening we dined at Azur, the new French restaurant, adjacent to the new GL Lobby. Menu was nice, service excellent. My wife ordered an entree which included flank steak, but it turned out to be quite fatty and a bit tough which she did not enjoy. I ordered a pasta entree containing scallops in fettuccine with a delicious sauce - very nice! We each ordered a glass of wine, but were disappointed when our waiter poured what we considered to be "skimpy" portions. No maitre d' or head waiter ever visited our table or we would have said something.
- GL East Cape: Construction has begun and they are working towards an opening in mid-2016.
- GL Acapulco: Construction well underway. (Note from B&MA: Looks as though the tower that has been under construction since 2007 may open in 2015. This is a view through Google Earth as of May, 2014.)
Acapulco tower under construction may open in 2015.
Acapulco tower under construction may open in 2015.
- RM boardwalks: Directional signs are all up and lit at night. Many include a current map/layout of the property, including some, but not all boardwalks. With the boardwalk lights, they are easy to walk at night. On the boardwalk between the GL lobby and Havana Moon, we could frequently see a wild alligator lounging in a pond.
- RM Nature Park: they hope to open it in about one year. At our member briefing we saw a nice video of the plans for the park. Quite an exciting undertaking. Also saw a very interesting video on the history and development of CdS in Mexico. Here's more about it: Cirque du Soleil - History and Development
- RM spa/gym: This is being constructed between the new GL Lobby, restaurant Azur and the GL pool. We were told that it will open by March, but in our opinion, it is not that far along.
- RM Cirque du Soleil: we had a stage-front table for the show and loved it. The food was excellent in all respects and it was fun to be so close to the performers, some of whom got right in our faces! The performers are all Mexican nationals, trained by CdS professionals and the whole show moved along seamlessly and most professional. The ending, which will not be revealed, was an exciting climax!
- GL/GB Beach Club: Located at the southern end of the property, it contains several pools which include Jacuzzi pools and several styles of lounge chairs, some with pads, others without. Some were reserved for owners "above my pay grade". We never found it crowded (like at the GL pool) and the atmosphere was more quiet and subdued than at the MP/GM pools. We had no trouble getting a shuttle from our GL building to the beach club and back. There is a vacant lot directly south of the beach club upon which will be built the RM Punta, but no visible work has begun.
- We had little problem connecting with the free shuttle to the resort. We learned that there is a shuttle from the resort to the airport, something new for us. The cost was $15 pp and the driver dropped us off at our terminal (there are 3).
- RM Santurario: to be built inland, across the highway, where all new arrivals will be brought to check in and then be taken by shuttle/train(?) to their lodging. This will greatly reduce a lot of the bus/car traffic in the resort campus.
Hope this helps,
Bill
Thank you Bill. Great review! Thank you. Sounds like there is much to look forward to in Riviera Maya.