Christmas in Mexico

Just the two of us. Daughter lives out of State. Parent lives out of State. “Petless” for the first time in the last three decades. Debated on heading to MS as we have the last few years but for some reason wasn’t feeling it. Lights and Tree? Bah Humbug; wasn’t feeling it. What to do … what to do. Mexico!

We’d just gone to Secrets in Cozumel the previous month and I wanted to change it up, but Lucy loves Secrets so, …. Secrets it is. Cashed in some miles for flights, got bent over a lil on the Resort costs (Holiday Pricing), but .. .we’re in. Booked and Ready … but this time, a nine dayer. Huh … we’ve never done more than an 8 day trip … but … screw it .. here we go.

Flying in the Big Boy Chairs

Pretty uneventful getting there. Same ol’ process; head to DFW early due to traffic, hang out at the Admirals’ Club, got some First Class tickets this time around, and we’re soon on the ground and the terminal is fairly empty as we go through Custom’s .. I’m liking this! We checked a bag this time so 15 min delay, through baggage check and we’re soon exiting in search of a Taxi. Thirty bucks agreed on and we’re rolling in. Twenty or so minutes later, checking in, got the room I’d requested (911 .. go figure?) and we’re soon checked in, changed up and headed to the pool!

We got really lucky this time around with the weather. Every day would be in the low 80s, pool temps not too bad (85ish?), and we’d have no problems daily getting a beach front or pool side lounger. We’d meet some great folks as always, even some that live literally 45 minutes away from us (hoping to connect up soon for some more laughs). Surprisingly, the resort wasn’t packed, We were there in November before Thanksgiving and it was a lot busier. But the upside is, the Preferred Lounge isn’t overflowing and lots of seating at the Bars and Restaurants? So, big plus there.

Our Room is one of the best on the property in my opinion. We love buildings 900 and 100 in the preferred section. We’ve got a corner room with a huge space outside, and good or bad, we’re beach front with a small path between us and the beach. So if you choose to, you’ve got an opportunity to wave and say hi to pretty much everyone in the resort if they walk by? Me … if you make eye contact, I’m saying hello …. EVERY morning, we had a bottle of champagne out there sipping mimosas which was a conversation starter for many… “How’d you get that?” “What’s this room called?” “You guys are here every morning!” .. etc, etc. Cracked me up. No sunrises visible from this vantage points but beautiful daily sunsets. It’d only rain one afternoon and one morning the whole trip, and our back area had a ceiling which is a total game changer since the second floor has no covered area like we do.

Did a lot of walking this time around. Paced ourselves and hit the sack 'early' most evenings. Surprisingly didn't do any 'napping' every day, but to be honest, didn't need to. We'd head to Cozumel to visit Friends and Family and couple of times .. a group on fine were staying at the Barracuda for a Budget Trip. We'd almost meet our fate in a taxi ride when the driver almost did a head on, waking up with me screaming in his hear narrowly missing the oncoming car. Got a late check out on day 9 and had a great final pool day, walking into a chaotic airport for our departure but got access to the Priority Pass lounge for some quiet and drinks/snacks. Damned time flies when you're having fun?

So, nine days of heaven. But ….. seems like there is never a perfect vaca? This one was full of lil surprises.

Day One .. I’m ordering at the bar and sit on the stool. It literally imploded. We’d just shown up, this was our first round and I’m now laying on the ground with about a dozen witnesses whom all seen it happen from beginning to end. The guy sitting in the barstool next to me is saying “I told them yesterday that had a problem and they needed to fix it” … huh. They brought in paramedics whom asked a lot of questions and wanted to know if I needed to go to the hospital. Well, I can stand. I can talk. Neck is a lil stiff but I’m functioning. So, they left me with advice to call if I needed anything. How the hell I recovered from that is beyond me, still resilient at 64 years of age I guess. Had a dozen people ask me over the next week how I was doing, what I was going to do about it, if I was going to pursue it. Hmmmm… I’ve never been that guy … still, never should have happened. Was their negligence on their part? Yes.

Champagne. This has become a huge issue for me. It’s so friggn’ minimal, shouldn’t be a big deal, but pisses me off. We pay stupid $ sometimes for these trips. All food and drinks are included (well, except for certain dinners, events, wines, etc). That being said, we like to have mimosas every day on vacation. It’s just our thing. One bottle equals two each. Sometimes, they’ll put a bottle in your room. Sometimes, you have to ask. Sometimes you have to beg, Sometimes, they just won’t and argue you have to buy it. Now, I can order room service and request 4 mimosas, and they’ll bring them. But ask for a bottle to be delivered and they say ‘no.’ WTF? Now understand I researched the costs. The bottle they use at the bar and put in the room sells for 170 pesos. That’ like 7 or 8 bux USD. Cheap, entry level champagne. So what’s the problem? Now I solved it’ this trip. One upon arrival, two other rooms gave us theirs and a concierge finally gave in twice .. and .. lets just say .. I might have ‘found’ a few others. Is it a big deal? Well .. I’m writing about it so yes, it is.

All Adult Resort. Here’s a huge pet peeve of mine. Next door is the Sabor which is a family resort (same ownership as Secrets). Everyday … you’d see kids walking by .. down the side walk… in the sand .. swimming in the ocean. YET, there is a sign between the two properties saying they can’t. Now, if a family is headed to the dock for some type of excursion, it’s allowed. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. I told myself, hey … they're not in my pool, trying to hang out in my lounger area .. .I can’t hear them .. But I could hear them. Crying kids in the water, etc. WTF? No security putting a stop to it. No employees putting a stop to it. And yes, I brought it up to the staff. Pisses me off.

Dreams. Couple of years ago, they built a Dreams Resort on the North sides, resort #3. On a positive note we can go down there and access a few of their restaurants. But, there is no other positive. It’s a family resort. Now here is the negative downside. I’ve been coming to this location since 2006. I’ve been actively coming to Secrets Cozumel since 2014/15 time frame. The seating has always been at a premium, never enough. You must play the towel game usually to get a good spot early. Many resorts are like this. BUT, now they allow ANY and ALL Adults staying the Dreams to come to Secrets to use the Pool, Lounge, Beach Loungers. They don’t have enough on their end, so a flood of folks come to Secrets every day. So, there aren’t enough daily for the Secrets folks at their own Resort. Period. Truth. Then to make things worth, they (Dreams) sometimes sneak their teens in and claim they are adults. Seen it.

And finally, I’ve seen another problem the last nine years. They no longer require wrist bands like some resorts do, but have a Preferred Option. How does one enforce it? EVERY time I go I come across this abuse. Yes they ask room numbers at the restaurant. Yes, they sometimes index it to verify. But not all do at the pool. Not all at the Lounge. Yes, I’ve seen a concierge sometimes ask and enforce. But I know for a fact other’s abuse it. Seen it. If they’d simply go to a wristband process, all solved.

Hyatt purchased this property … well, the whole chain, a couple of years ago. I’m watching this hotel slowly getting worse. Is it Hyatt’s fault? The private Owners whom franchise it is, at fault? I know management is partially at fault. Yes, it’s still one of the nicest resorts on the Island of Cozumel, but it’s known as one of the worst Resorts in the chain. I spoke to over a dozen UVC members that told me just that. I can’t believe folks even join UVC using this place as the baseline.

Whew.. I normally don’t get negative. Got on a roll there. Will be go back? Always do, but it won't be my first choice. Thinking Airbnb next time ... we've done that 1/2 dozen times and loved it. When? Hell, who knows... Maybe in May? Calendar is booking quickly with other things .. mostly motorcycle related. Still, had a great time overall.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year : Belated :)