TRS Yucatan – Pure Bliss

[Anne]

By Ken Z

Mission Accomplished —the Trip of a Lifetime

Well, if it is not perfectly clear after the numerous outstanding reviews written, I will simply state that the TRS Yucatan is pure bliss. What is at the core, that raises the TRS Yucatan to a level of perfection beyond that of other five star resorts, are the staff. It is clearly evident that each and every employee wants your vacation to be the trip of a lifetime.

Our “resort experience” began well in advance of arriving at the resort. My partner and I have been loyal TRS Turquesa fans, travelling exclusively to the TRS Turquesa for over 14 vacations. We were a little apprehensive leaving our favourite vacation location but decided to try a new TRS location for a milestone birthday. We had many questions about our new location. We contacted Cynthia Yadira through e-butler and she quickly put all of our fears to rest. We can not commend her professionalism high enough. Cynthia responded to any emails within hours—outstanding customer service. She spent time getting to understand who we were and what would help to make this vacation experience a trip of a lifetime. It was because of her skilled ability that she anticipated all of our needs and desires before we even knew what we needed. When we arrived we also got to meet Cynthia’s assistant Martha, it is evident that working collaboratively together they will make a dynamic duo! We were so touched that these two ladies even took time away from the demands of their job to both personally welcome us when we arrived and to wish us well when it was sadly time for us to depart. In addition we would be amiss if we did not commend Carlos Froilam the front desk Assistant Manager. He too quickly responded to any of the questions that we had, making notes of our preferred room location. As a professional he made no promises but assured my partner and I he would do all that he could to meet our wishes. He also took note of our commitment and dedication we have made to the TRS brand after over 14 visits and surprised us with TRS Black Bands.

Our Experience
We arrived at TRS Yucatan eager with anticipation and a wee bit apprehensive leaving our favourite TRS location in Punta Cana to try a new location. However we felt confident in our choices after numerous emails, hours spent on Fans/Addict TRS Yucatan by Palladium, Unofficial Palladium & TRS Resorts & Spa, Palladium Addicts TRS Resorts & Spa Facebook groups and many visits to the Tripadvisors review pages. Unfortunately we were not prepared for what we encountered; we were not prepared to spend a week being pampered and indulged in absolute bliss. From the moment we stepped out of our private transfer to receive our glass of champagne and refreshing towel to the moment it was time to say good bye to the ocean with a glass of Kir Royale we had an unparalleled experience.

As travellers, we are creatures of habit. Our mornings began with breakfast on the terrace at Helios indulging in great options selected from the alacarte menu, drinking mimosas all the while overlooking the turquoise waters of the ocean. After a relaxing leisurely breakfast and several mimosas, we were off to spend the rest of the morning lounging in our private plunge pool. As requested, room 6511 offered perfect full morning sun and just the right amount of privacy.

Lunches for us were an event. After a morning of soaking in our plunge pool and lying in the sun on the nap worthy round sun bed, we headed into our suite to shower under the rain-head shower and dress for lunch. Lunches were once again spent on the terrace of Helios enjoying ocean breezes and turquoise views. The alacarte menus offered varied options to appeal to anyone’s tastes. We were delighted with all of the options that we ordered. It was easy for us to spend a couple of hours enjoying our lunch and drinks while watching the ocean and listening to the crash of the waves along with enjoying the live entertainment.

But what made both morning and afternoon dining experiences memorable were the extremely attentive services of the staff. Alain (Angel) Cavich Poc went out of his way to ensure each visit was memorable. He anticipated all of our needs and often made great suggestions or offered suggestions on additions to selected items. Alain always ensured that red wine was in our glass served at our preferred temperature level and a bottle of champagne was chilling. It was clearly evident that he was dedicated to ensuring we had a memorable experience each time we visited Helios. We left a piece of our heart with him.

Afternoons found us once again in the full sun enjoying the day. We spent our afternoons at the infinity pool enjoying the sound of the ocean as the afternoon lingered. We spent most afternoons at the infinity pool, toasting the end of the afternoon with a cocktail overlooking the ocean. The infinity pool is heated unlike your plunge pool. There were always sun beds available and plenty of fresh towels. While we choose to laze our days away in the sun and pools there are many other options for those who desire to be active including archery, mini golf, spa treatments, and fitness options.

Evenings at the TRS Yucatan can be spent enjoying a relaxing dinner, listening to live bands, watching a Moulin Rouge/Vegas style show or enjoying drinks with new found friends. For us, we started with cocktails in the well air conditioned lobby bar or at the Moon Bar in the entertainment courtyard. Once again the secret of the TRS Yucatan is in large part due to their staff, who watch closely and get to know the needs and desires of their clientele. After our first pre-dinner drinks the talented bartenders Christian and Wilbert had our Kir Royale waiting on the bar as they watched us walk across the lobby. They always asked about our day and if there was anything they could do for us. With them we felt both honoured, respected and well taken care of nightly.

After cocktails it was off to one of our dinner reservations. This is something that your butlers can arrange for you. My partner is an executive chef and dining is extremely important to us. We studied the menus in detail prior to arriving at the TRS Yucatan and pre-arranged our dining experiences with Cynthia Yadira through e-butler. Our only request from Cynthia was that we only want to attend TRS adults only locations, we wanted to dine between 8:00pm and 8:30pm, for my partner’s 60th birthday to attend Chic and that our 25th Anniversary was celebrated in a romantic dinner location. All of these requests were met by Cynthia with ease. Since we only wanted to eat at TRS restaurants we understood that some restaurants would repeat, but we felt that the menus were varied enough that we would still be please —and we were thrilled. Over our 7 night stay we ate once at La Boheme, once at Tentazione, once at Chic and four times at Goucho (intentionally).

La Boheme was lovely. We indulged in the baked Brie for two, followed by the French Onion Soup and then the lamb. For dessert we requested the Crepes Suzette. For us this was a misstep for our waiter. Earlier in the evening a couple had requested the crepes and a full dramatic production was given by the waiter upon their demand as they loudly exclaimed they were Palladium Addicts. The production is not why we requested the dessert, it was requested due to it being our favourite when we both stayed at the TRS Turquesa and when dining at several restaurants in Paris. Our waitstaff was hesitant to allow us to have the dessert. After a moment she informed us we could have the dessert but there would be no show because that previous table of guests were very important members of the Palladium Addict Page. Ouch. We smiled and said nothing. Our waiter prepared the dessert with little flair as we smiled on. It was evident that she realized that her choice of words was a misstep but unfortunately it resulted in the dining event ending on a low note. I am going to stress that this was the one and only offsetting experience in what was exceptional TRS service.

Our Chic experience was nothing short of extraordinary. The evening begins in the courtyard with performers tempting you with snippets of what is to come. At 8:00pm you are ushered down the red carpet and enter the dinner club. The seating is multi-levelled to afford everyone incredible views. For the next several hours you are served well prepared gourmet courses, as you watch highly talented performers sing and dance. This is a high energy experience that leaves all of your sense tingling. After the show you are ushered back into the courtyard where the music and dancing continues. It was an extremely dynamic way to celebrate my partner’s 60th birthday.

The highlight of our dining experience however was Gaucho. On our first visit to Gaucho we enter the restaurant signed in with our reservation, only to hear Mr. Anderson your drinks are ready. Wilbert Nahvat had been moved to Gaucho’s bar and sitting on the bar were two Kir Royale. That attentive level of service continued under the exceptional management of Diego Gonzalez. Each evening he organized an incredible table location, continuously checked in with us to ensure we were pleased. Each night he also arranged for us to have our favourite waiter Arturo Castro. Arturo is an exceptionally professional waiter who takes great pride in his profession. After the first evening we allowed Arturo to select what we would be eating and his selections were superb. His level of service and food knowledge is comparable to that which we have experience in fine dining restaurants in Paris and Toronto. Diego and Arturo discovered on our third visit that we would be celebrating our 25th anniversary and requested the honour of organizing a special evening for us. The two gentlemen created an experience that we will never forget and are honoured that they spent that level of energy to create a magical evening.

Evenings ended for us with nightcaps at the main lobby bar. Here we gathered with new found friends laughing and enjoying each other’s company. It was sad to say good bye to so many new found friends. At the end of the evening we would return to the luxury of our suite where we often would find treats organized by our butlers Paola, Oscar, and Mauricio. Whether it be special messages written in rose petals, balloons to celebrate a birthday, chocolate covered strawberries or a bottle of champagne to toast the end of an amazing vacation, the team of three did an exceptional job of making us feel like valued guests.

Blissful, magical, pampered, superb are adjectives that only begin to express our experience at the TRS Yucatan. As a gay couple who travel 2 to 4 times a year our holiday experiences are very important to us. At the TRS Yucatan we always felt accepted, valued and honoured. We are creatures of habit and we will return the TRS Yucatan but next time for more than seven days. If we were not already booked for multiple weeks this summer at the TRS Coral we would have returned without hesitation to the TRS Yucatan where we left a piece of our heart.

 

[Author]

Posts