The Estates Suites are about two miles from the beach. But that's OK. It's only a 10 minute ride. You just have to plan and stay in touch with your personal butler....
The Two Bedroom Estates Suite - A Great Experience
January 11, 2022
After a wonderful Holiday with our Seattle daughter's family, we moved from the Loft 2 Bedroom Residence to the Estates 2 Bedroom Suite. Although I was lucky enough to be invited to stay with Maria and Larry in a 4 Bedroom Estates Suite during the first week in November, 2021 (More on that wonderful trip with two very generous people later...), we did not know if we would like the size or location of our new accommodations. Well, we left after a week of complete enjoyment looking forward to our return. Following are our impressions and thoughts:Location - Too Far Away From Everything?
Yes, it is quite a distance.
- Pro-shop at the Residence Tower - ~1.4 Miles
- Tower 4 - ~1.5 Miles
- The Roundabout at La Plaza - ~1.8 Miles
- Tower One - ~1.9 Miles
- Beachland and the beach - ~2.1 Miles
How to mitigate the transportation issue? Always use the What's App connection with your Estates butler! In La Plaza? Message your butler when you plan to be at the Plaza roundabout. At the beach? Message your butler when you plan to be at Tower One lobby or the Plaza roundabout. Taking the SkyDream Gondola from the Grand Bliss pool station? Message your butler when you get on the gondola. A cart will likely be there waiting for you.
So, give your butler 15 minutes to get you a cart. The wait time will be short, and the time spent riding is no more than the time spent walking from the beach to the Residence Tower. Just less exercise.
Quality - Is It Really That High?
Yes! The couches are comfortable, the chairs are comfortable, the stools are comfortable and the outside seating is comforatble. Also, all is high quality. Just look at the runner down the middle of the dining table. The first thought we had was "Don't spill that red wine on it." Well, you know what happened....Bob spilled red wine on the runner! Luckily, water took out the stain, and not a bit of red was left.
Plus, there are a number of chochkees that make the unit warm and friendly. The unit is very pleasant to live in.
What's Needed?
We recommend the following fixes:
- Felt patches on the bottoms of all chairs. This will allow the chairs to slide quietly across the floor and not screatch the way they do now. Every chair should have felt tips on each leg!
- Instructions for starting the cooktop. Everything is touch-key. Somewhat a mystery without trying all the keys at once. You need to start the cooktop with the icon with the circle around an "!". That key unlocks the others. Once pressed, the other keys light up, and then you can press the one you want to start and pressing the "+" sign to increase or decrease the heat.
- Instructions for starting the oven. Again, this is a black inlaid icon activated system. First of all the oven is very low to the ground. Secondly, there is very little light, so you have to use your phone flashlight to see what you are doing. There is an arrow that activates the scroll setting. Tap that and get used to seeing subtitles that tell you where you are in the process.
- Dishes are on high shelves. Coffee cups are too high. So are the plates and bowls. The china is very nice, but most everything is too high to reach.
- Kitchen counter is too crowded with unnecessary items. We moved the Nespresso Coffee maker and its complete tray along with a tray with the $55 peso water bottle and put them on the shelf across the living room to the right of the door to the 1 BR unit.
What Does the Suite Look Like?
The videos that appear below provide a very good feeling for the unit. We were not disappointed, and we hope you aren't either...enjoy!!
Entering the Estates 2 Bedroom Suite - A Long Hallway - 2nd Bedroom is on the left.
Entering the 2 Bedroom Estates - a long hallway with the second bedroom on the left side.
Photos of the Master Bedroom and Video of the Master Bath
The Master Bedroom entrance is on the right side of the entry hall in our unit. This is a very good sized room with a large sized bath area. Very high quality!
The Main Living Area - Step Down.....Watch Your Step.....
The living/kitchen area is at the end of the entrance hall. Watch your step - there is a single step down to the main floor. Easy to miss....
This is the view of the living and dining area from the deck.
Looking inward from the deck shows the quality of the furnishings and interior. We were surprised and pleased.
Looking across the way at the golf course and buildings.....
This video shows the view from the deck across the Ameca River and in between.
We spent time at the pool areas too. They will be covered in another post.
The Estates Pod 1 has proven to be a nice surprise. Just be ready to plan your day, and don't get over anxious about where you are. The Estates area will improve over time, and the time it takes to go to the other side is no different from walking from the Residence Tower to the beach.