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| 2006 - Grand Playa Turquesa, Holgin, Cuba
2005 - The Reef Coco Beach, Playa del Carmen, MX
The beach is very nice, but there are plenty of boats for scuba, fishing, parasailing, etc, that are moored right off the hotel's beach area. The resort has public beaches to both the north and the south which creates some public traffic just to the north of the property. That said, none of this created any problems.
The food in the main buffet restaurant was decent but was really very unexciting. Deb and I both found the breakfasts great with a variety to chose from. By lunch and supper my appetite just didn't seem to be there. Nothing much caught my fancy. I think I've decided that I would rather eat a solid breakfast and then a light lunch and supper.
We tried both of the el a carte restaurants. Although the food was good I was still struggling with my appetite which might make my opinion a little unfair. I found the food nothing more than buffet quality fare in a full service restaurant.
The resort is clean and well maintained. Our room was the most modern we have had in many years and the grounds were compact and very nicely laid out.
Trips into Playa del Carmen are a short walk (15-20 minutes) or a 5-10 minute cab ride (30 pesos). 5th Ave in Playa is a hustle and if you like this kind of thing, you'll find everything. If you don't, you might find it annoying as everyone tries to get your business. We took the ferry to Cozumel one day which was a nice boat ride and lunch, but Cozumel really has nothing to offer unless you want to get away from the downtown and snorkel or scuba. We also took a day trip to X-Caret (sha-karet) which was very enjoyable with all kinds of things to see and do. Click here to view pictures of X-Caret. We give the Reef Coco Beach **** 2004 - Viva Vallarta, Neuvo Vallarta, MX
This isolated resort was about a 30 minute bus ride or 15 minute cab ride into PV. The resort is set high on a volcanic out-cropping that moves down towards the bay. The beach area itself has large volcanic outcroppings and when tide is up, it makes for a relatively small beach area. When the tide is out however, there is lots of area to explore and walking can be quite an adventure. The resort has a number of levels and we explored many of them. There is an adults only area that is a little more private with an elevated view of the ocean from the infinity pool. The area has a number of walkways that wind their way through the mangroves. If you have a problem walking steep hills, this may not be the resort for you. This resort was a little too isolated for me and I think Deb and although it was nice, we would not go back. 2003 - Sunscape, Punta Cana, DR
2002 - Holdelpa, Punta Cana, DR
Overall, this was a great resort and one that we would go back to.
2001 - Blue Bay Getaway, Puerto Vallarta, MX
2000 - El Pueblito, Cancun, MX For Canadians looking for the traditional Mexican price value, Cancun is not
your spot. Prices for various items (transportation, food and liquor) easily are
30 to 40% higher than in other Mexican resort towns we have visited. Again, this
is probably due to the fact that the area appears to cater more to the American
tourist, where even at these prices there is still value. If you enjoy haggling
for price when you make your purchases, the Hotel Zone is not your spot. Prices
are posted like you would expect at a Canadian shopping mall. You can find the
traditional street/beach vendors in the flee markets and on the public beaches,
but you will need to go looking for them. We chose one of the older all-inclusive hotels, the El Pueblito Beach Hotel.
The hotel is at kilometer 17.5 on the Hotel Zone which makes it one of the more
southerly hotels on the strip. The hotel shows its age from the outside, but our
room was large, clean and, as requested, came with a King bed, great ocean views
and a large terrace patio (we requested a balcony, but got much more). Our room
was one of two rooms on the top of our building (we called it our penthouse
suite). The property is made up of many individual three and four-storey
buildings. As you can see from the photograph, these buildings surround a
garden/pool area that is terraced down to the ocean. Food at the resort was the standard buffet fare that you come to expect at
the all-inclusive resorts. Plenty of it, lots of variety (but not much variety
day over day), fresh and for the most part tasty. Overall, nothing spectacular
to note, but decent. Breakfasts were much better with a good variety of fresh
fruit, egg dishes, tasty sausage and pancakes. You can have omelets, eggs of
your choice and waffles made fresh to order. There always was lots of fresh
juices, coffee and hot chocolate. If we could live on one meal a day, at this
resort we would chose breakfast. There is a separate al a carte restaurant on
the property with reservations required in the morning. We had a nice meal one
night, but again nothing stellar. It was nice to be able to sit in a quiet
atmosphere, down by the ocean and away from the main dining area. The pool area, which is really four smaller pools connected by cascading
waterfalls between, ends in a large swim-up bar pool near the ocean. The lower
pool was generally quit busy and the smaller pools were very shallow and really
only useful as wading pools. However, the treatment is very nice and the sound
of cascading water tended to drown out the noise of the larger and busier pool. The ocean is only steps away and the beach offers lots of walking distance in
the beautiful white sands of the Caribbean. We hate to admit it, but perhaps we are getting older (say it isn't so!!) and
finding that we don't need to gorge ourselves three times a day, drink ourselves
senseless, stay up partying to all hours and be part of the maddening crowd.
Unfortunately, our hotel was overrun with partying spring breakers (probably
because it was a less costly hotel) and it was nice to get away from this
periodically. We did not take in any the of the nightly entertainment, primarily because we
found ourselves ready for bed by 10:00pm and the nightly entertainment got
underway at about 9:30. It don't think this is very unusual for the average
person on winter vacation, not yet accustomed to the heat and activities of the
day. We don't feel guilty about this, after all holidays are about rest and
relaxation and pretty much doing what you want to do when you want to do it. We still are not certain if the all-inclusive approach is to our liking.
Certainly, being able to do little more than just show up is nice. The problem
is, once you've made the commitment (and the costs are substantial) all you can
do is hope that you have chosen a resort with great food, one where you would be
happy to eat almost all your meals. If the food is only marginal, then you are
duplicating your costs to go out and eat. In Cancun, this would have been
costly. We went out for lunch one day, had a BLT, Hamburger, fries a couple of
domestic beers and two ice teas and with tip, the bill came to $322 MX ($53 Cdn).
We were afraid to think what a nice seafood supper would cost. We are going to be thinking lots about this as we plan for our next holiday,
particularly in the light of the fact that we'd finally like to go for two
weeks. Away from the hotel, the area has many historical sites to visit. We went on
a day outing to Chichen-Itza to see the very impressive Mayan ruins. We are
going to put out a special page on this once we have some content created. The
day trip was very nice with express transportation to the site, a nice lunch at
the wonderful Mayaland Hotel in the heart of the jungle and side visits to a
cenote (a limestone sink hole over 350 feet deep) and a small Mexican town. We
also spent another day at the Isla Mujeres (Women's Island) for snorkeling, a
dolphin show, parrot show, some shopping and the best lunch we had all week.
This was an all-inclusive day and I even won a bottle of Tequila (I didn't have
to strip down to my underwear like Joe from Purdue did… you had to be there!). The hotel is rated three star by World of Vacations. We would agree with
this. We give the El
Pueblito Beach Hotel ***
The Qualton Ixtapa is 10 minutes away from downtown Ixtapa and is located at Playa Linda. Other than Club Med and a new hotel directly next door, the Qualton sits on a large secluded acreage directly across from Ixtapa Island. The photograph we have chosen best shows the resort's strengths… its grounds. They are extensive and well kept. There is a variety of tropical shrubs such as Bougainvillea and Hibiscus in addition to a large quantity of Coconut Palms. The property is located directly on the Ocean and shows a variety of elevations. Most notably is the Villalinda restaurant which is located high above the resort offering a wonderful view of the sunsets over Ixtapa Island. The grounds feature a number of buildings which house a variety of restaurants, bars, shops, a disco and the main lobby. There is even a Day Care Centre on site for those folks with children. There are two pools; an adults-only-pool with swim-up bar and the main pool, which features daily aerobics, tequila volleyball, water polo and a variety of poolside activities. The poolside bar ensures that the adult's pool is not the quieter of the two, particularly late-day when the tequilas start to take hold. Either pool offers ample lounging equipment and space and both are located nice and close to the bars and food areas. The focal point of the resort is the stage area that offers nightly shows and most of these nights also include a thematic buffet dinner. The resorts Actividad crew do a tremendous job of keeping the quests entertained wearing many hats including; poolside activities, nightly theme shows, disco contests and guest relations. These guys and gals make this resort and work hard every day. We had a chance to sit with one of the crew for lunch one day (Christian) and we found out that he works 12 hour days, six days a week, pays $5 US per day for Room and Board and likely gets paid very little (we didn't ask). However, he is young and what better way to spend your time. The Resort bills itself as a 4-Star resort. If you based this on the grounds and the staff, that would definitely be the case. On the other hand, the rooms are not 4-Star. All the rooms are housed in a number of single and two storey row-style buildings. The rooms are very small (about motel size) with only a limited number of rooms offering views of the ocean or grounds. They were clean, but offered very little amenities (no phone or bar fridge). In addition, it took over 15 minutes each morning to get warm water for a shower. We still loved the Resort, but to be billed as 4-Star, the rooms need to be on par with the rest of the resort. The food was standard fare for resorts with lots of variety each day, but day-to-day the choices remained basically the same. Some additional local food choices, rather than the standard Americanized fare, would be nice, but sadly most resorts realize whom they must cater to. The service was great with the staff very friendly. An a la carte service is offered a couple of times each week. We went the first night and this was definitely an exception to the normal fare. The presentation was excellent, the location superb (outside overlooking the ocean) and the service was again very friendly. We also strongly recommend the dinner/shows. The food presentation is worthy of photographs and the shows always offer lots of energy and a great entertainment package. Although by no means a professional production, these kids put their heart into it and always get the audience into the show. Buses run past the resort about every 15 minutes (in fact this is the end of the route for the bus) and cost 3.5 pesos per person (Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo). Cabs are always standing by (40 pesos to Ixtapa, 60 to Zihuatanejo). We recommend the buses, where else can you see someone taking their live turkey home for supper? Both Ixtapa and Zihua offer many sites and flea markets that you need to explore. Ixtapa Island which is a five minute boat ride across the bay from Play Linda (25 pesos per person return) is a must see. Coral Beach offers great snorkeling and food and beverage service is offered. Expect to be shadowed by local "guides" who really work to get you as their captive customer for the day. The natural sites are fantastic, but the man-made areas are run down, burned out and greatly contrast the beauty of the island. We give the Qualton Ixtapa *** 1998 - Hacienda Tropical, Puerto Plata, DR
The Tropical was exceptional, and in particular the food was tremendous. The variety and availability of food is the best we’ve seen at an All-Inclusive in our price range. We used the main dining area for breakfast almost every morning and took supper there a few times. In the evening however, we preferred the intimacy of the Chinese restaurant with its great view of the ocean and pool area. In addition there is a fine seafood restaurant on the property (The Blue Marlin) and a Italian restaurant a short walk away in another Hacienda property. For lunch we would grab a light snack down near the entertainment area. For people who like a good cigar (and although we don’t normally smoke, we do enjoy a good after dinner cigar), there is a little cigar shop right on the resort with a great selection of Cuban and Dominican brands. For 10 pesos you can buy a decent cigar, but the sky was the limit in terms of price ranges. The picture above was our room (2nd floor). Unfortunately, the view from this room was of the main dining area and the noise around there was constant. However, it never really was too much of a bother. You go to bed late and wake up early, who wants to miss a minute. It's too bad however that there never seems to be any way to secure a specific room. Every time we book we ask our Travel Agent to specify a room preference, and every year you get what you get, some good, some not so good. Nevertheless, I shouldn’t complain, the room was still large, clean and very comfortable. The entire resort area is very well kept. Considering the size of the complex I was delighted to see very little signs of things left undone like you tend to in Mexico for example (and in Canadian and US hotels as well, I might add). The pool area has a unique two-tier design with a cascading waterfall. The upper area has a swim up bar on the north side. My only complaint about the swim up bar was that it was on the north side and therefore out of the sun. The lower area of the pool is split in two sections by a bridge with a pass thru between the two sections. One section is for loafs like me, the other is for all the activities. There always was something going on and the hotel personnel worked hard to keep everyone entertained. Every night there was live entertainment in the open-air stage. Drinks and food are available right at the stage area. There are lots of seats, but get there early as they fill up quickly. Patrons of the resort really seemed to enjoy the evenings that offered entertainment that included everything from local culture (music and dance), magic shows and even a local band doing covers of all the great songs. The performers always worked hard to encourage audience participation. After the formal entertainment was over, the stage turned into a disco with lights, good dance tunes and lots of fun. Deb and I really love the all-inclusive style of holiday. Some folks might like the adventure of searching out restaurants and having their own kitchen (Condos). When we go on holidays I like to sit back and do nothing more than walk to the restaurant, get up to the bar every so often (too often), keep my wallet locked in the room and veg out. As Puerto Plata had nothing really to offer us, staying on the resort was our only option and for us, that was just fine. We give the Hacienda Tropical… ****
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We
are just back from Playa Del Carmen on the Myan Riviera, south of Cancun (March
2005) and we very much enjoyed this compact and well-run resort. The resort is
only 200 rooms and is located on the northern edge of the 5th Avenue
strip. We liked the low-key nature of this resort as there was no need to
rush to reserve prime seats around the pool or beach.
In
2004 we found ourselves back in Puerto Vallarta (kind of, actually a few miles
west in Nuevo Vallarta). We went with some friends from Winnipeg and enjoyed the
opportunity to share some of our previous experiences with traveling and with PV
particularly. Other than a bit too much sun and food on the part of Mitch,
we feel they very much enjoyed their trip.
For
our second year in a row we found ourselves back in Punta Cana at the Sunscape
resort. Again, not having kept up with our reviews we are unable to
provide a detailed review. We have a few recollections particularly of the
Tex-Mex al-a-carte restaurant that we visited twice and a manager's reception
with champagne and snacks which showcased the staff. We like this resort
and would definitely go back again.
This
was our first trip to Southeast of the DR, Punta Cana. Again, not having
kept up with our reviews we can only recall the things that stood out most for
use. We loved this resort. Its expansive grounds and walkways from
the reception area to the room was a very nice surprise. During the evening this
was a great walk with accent lighting and music coming from the mangroves.
Sorry,
we have not done a good job of keeping the site up to date. As this this
trip was a little too long ago in our memories we'll simply say it was just
another of those wonderful stays.
To
begin the new century, we decided to try Cancun, not having been there before.
The Cancun area is probably the most Americanized resort in all of Mexico. It is
a very young, around 30 years old, with a wealth of modern hotels, restaurants
and shopping centres. Unlike our previous Mexican holiday destinations (Puerto
Vallarta and Ixtapa), Cancun offers, in our opinion, less of traditional Mexico,
until you head away from the Hotel Zone. Perhaps Spring Break, which brought
plane loads of University students swarming into the area, had more to do with
creating this impression than anything. Nevertheless, the area has been built to
cater to high volumes of holiday sun and fun seekers and does that very well.
Our
choice of Resort for 1999 was the 
The
Hacienda Resorts are really a combination of a number of properties that share
facilities, more or less depending on which property you choose to stay at. We
selected the Tropical, which gave us access to all the other properties with the
exception of the Villas. The Villas are really private homes anyway and didn’t
have anything extra to offer. The walk around the Villa’s area is worth the
effort and the view to the ocean is very nice.