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Gracias NS Stampqueen (Donna) for sharing
Visit number 5 to this property (once to Royal Suites, twice to GP Riviera and our second stay at White Sand). Many nice updates to this property. Nice new a la carte’s – great new features like cotton candy for the kids in the buffets, hot dog carts at the pool during the day – very popular feature by the looks of things! Lots of activities around the pools – exercise classes every day.
We arrived to a smooth and simple check in – took minutes at the most. Our flight was an evening flight so we arrived at the resort around 8pm. Got our package and quick update from reception and were whisked off to building 59. We booked a junior suite – which is more than big enough for the two of us. We were in 5914 – a nice view of the trees – second floor room – with just a hint of another building through dense trees. Very quiet location – we’ve been in this building before. Room was very clean and nicely laid out. A bottle of champagne (cava) and a fruit basket were waiting for us as return guests. We also had a very nice welcome back letter from management and a phone call shortly after arriving just making sure everything was okay.
We were giving the option to make 3 dinner reservations because we had returned 5 times. We booked a few dinners – for hubby’s 50th birthday specifically, as well as another. Then we booked the Japanese show table, always a favourite. The night we arrived, even though it was late we quickly changed clothes and headed to La Lola – the Spanish tapas restaurant and were able to walk in with no waiting (more than a few minutes anyway). The food was much better than I had expected. I am a bit of a fussy eater – not really picky, just fussy, and I found lots of choices – I could have gotten into the watermelon sangria bites and the melon mojito’s – they were very good; there were too many choices to list – I wasn’t big on the hot food choices, but the cold ones more than made up for it.
We went to the Brazilian restaurant on night two – this has always been our hands down favourite – we usually dine here 3 out of 7 nights, not this trip. We loved the updates – it has been remodeled and is very elegant and updated. The colours are stunning, the atmosphere is elegant and modern. Gone are the metal sculptures and outdated decor. Now the chairs are comfy and classy, the tables have no tableclothes, just placemats, the buffet is tucked in it’s own little inset area – makes it a little difficult to get a plate, but it’s ok – the buffet more than makes up for it the choices are fresh and different. No more mandatory bread service, the bread choices are different – although getting butter is a bit difficult. Service was a bit off for us – we found that with a lot of the a la carte dinners. On to the meat service – it has been scaled back from previous visits – they had two kinds of beef – brisket and one other, both extremely rare – to the point we couldn’t eat it – I like medium rare to rare and it was too rare for me. There was pork ribs and pork roast – the ribs were good the roast was undercooked – couldn’t eat it. There were two kinds of sausage – hubby said they were good – I don’t eat them. They were out of turkey – I thought that was odd as it wasn’t even 9 pm. They did have the pineapple which I am a big fan of but it was a bit dry – still good but dry. We thought we might give them another try another night but we wen’t to the buffet – Tikal I believe, that has the Brazilian corner and the food we were served was exactly the same so we said no more. Too bad as it was our favourite.
We also went to La Adelita – great food and service; El Dorado – great steaks and fair service. We ate at the three main buffets – Kabah – Marlene G is an amazing member of their staff there – we ended up in someone else’s section once or twice and had less than stellar service but whenever we were in Marlene’s section we never had an empty cup or glass and she always made sure we had everything we needed – no matter if it was breakfast or lunch. She even got my hubby a gorgeous chocolate cake all nicely done up for his birthday! Gracias Marlene and staff at Kabah. We had a decent breakfast twice at Tikal when we had early morning tours – we enjoyed dinner twice at La Hacienda – definitely a better dining experience for dinner than Tikal. They have great options for dinner in the buffets now compared to a few years ago.
We enjoyed time at the salt water pool and the main beach area a couple of times. We upgraded to a Mayan Suite for our last three nights and wow what a nice romantic experience that was. We were in 5512 and although it is directly on the corner by the pool it was still a great location at night to enjoy the deck and enjoy the peace and quiet of the resort. The outdoor shower felt a little less than private because of the walkway to the adult pool however we verified that it is in fact private just an uncomfortable feeling to see people walking around when you are showering even though they can’t really see you. I’d stay there again in a heartbeat.
Service cleaning our rooms and filling our fridges was good every day – we never had any issues. We only had turn down service once. Not sure why.
Things I love about this resort are – tipping is truly appreciated but never demanded or expected. I have noticed that if you tip you do get a little better service from whomever you tip – they remember that you have tipped them in the past and they treat you with appreciation – but they don’t go around with their hands out. This resort respects and cares for the environment – they look after the grounds, the water, the animals, the plants and more with the utmost care and attention.
We did the segway tour this trip and appreciated so much learning all about the different areas of the resort and more indepth information about what it takes to run the place.
We will return – again and again, this place is constantly striving to improve and it shows!
Room Tip: Junior Suites are large and roomy, second floor is a great location for peace and quiet – building 5…
See more room tips
Green Features: Amazing care for environment – sheet and towel program – composting program
Stayed June 2016, traveled as a coup -
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