calberry
TUG Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2005
- Messages
- 559
- Reaction score
- 25
- Points
- 388
- Location
- Lake Wildwood, Ca.
- Resorts Owned
-
Marriott Timber Lodge, Lake Tahoe (2 weeks)
Marriott Ko Olina, Oahu, Hi. EOY
UVC, Villa del Arco, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.EOY
Our stay at the Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta was from Sat. Mar. 18 to Sat. Mar. 25, 2017.
We are an active couple around 70 years old, and are frequent Cabo and PV travelers (In fact, we had stopped at PV on a cruise just 2 weeks before this stay.) We own 2 weeks annually at Marriott Timber Lodge, one week EOY at Marriott Ko Olina, and points for one week EOY at UVC, with Villa del Arco (Cabo) being our ‘home’ resort (we used that week one year to stay at Flamingos, NV, just up the beach from GM). Most of our stays in Mexico have been trades through Interval International.
Pre-trip planning
We planned a two week trip to PV/NV after getting a one week trade into our favorite PV resort in the Romantic Zone. That same resort was completely booked for a 2nd week (either before or after), so we did a trade search using Interval. After a while we went ahead and booked our air, and made our reserved week our 2nd week. We then needed to find a resort for our 1st week. After several more weeks of checking availability on Interval a trade opportunity came up for the Grand Mayan, NV. After doing lots of research on TUG and TripAdvisor, even though we had never even heard of it before we accepted a trade for a 1BR with full kitchen in exchange for our 1BR Marriott Timber Lodge. This was our 14th trade through Interval in 9 years.
We found it interesting that as our travel date approached that there was no advance phone call or email from anyone at the Grand Mayan or Vidanta to discuss any options available to us during our week. About 3 weeks before our check-in date I contacted the concierge desk about an airport shuttle and was instructed to submit this form:
https://precheckin.vidanta.com/shuttle/guest
The form asked for a reservation number, but we only had the Interval confirmation number. The form would not accept that number as a valid reservation number, so I contacted the concierge again and was then provided a reservation number to use (which also confirmed that indeed we really did have a reservation.) After filling out the on-line form we were provided an “Airport Transportation Confirmation” document to use for checking in with Vidanta at the PV airport. It contained a map for exiting customs at the airport and where to check-in for the shuttle.
Arrival and checking in
After getting our luggage and going through customs we realized the map they had provided was not very accurate, so we ignored it and just kept walking through the gauntlet (even past people that claimed they were with Vidanta) until we were completely outside and saw the Vidanta crowd off to the left.
After checking in with them we were escorted across the street to a very nice bus (in a row of many). We were one of the first couples on board so had to wait a while for it to fill up. A cab ride may have actually been a quicker alternative to get to the resort (and the fare was probably not that much) but we opted for “free” (or at least “included”) and it worked out just fine. We landed at PV right around 12:30pm, and it was approx. 1:30pm by the time the bus left the airport. Given the normal long lines through customs, that was not bad at all.
Once arriving at the Vidanta complex (as indicated by the large sign and security gate) we couldn’t believe how long we traveled on the bus before actually arriving at the drop off point. The place is HUGE.
The bus stopped at the large “Motor Lobby Central”. First they unloaded all the bags, and then we were allowed to exit. We quickly found our bags and they were immediately tagged and secured in individual little carts. Those were then held and brought to our room after we checked in and were assigned a room.
We were then escorted to the close-by waiting area where we caught a large golf cart type shuttle that takes people to their appropriate resort. It was sort of a circus with people not knowing which shuttle to take (no signage on the shuttles), but there were plenty of helpful employees, so it all worked out fine. There was comfortable seating available while waiting for our shuttle, and cold water was available as well.
After a short ride on the shuttle (through a wonderfully thick jungle of foliage) we were dropped off at the regular shuttle route stop for the Grand Mayan (after a stop at another ‘hotel’ along the way). This was not the actual main entrance to the hotel though we found out the next day: Video:Grand Mayan Entrance
Other people on our shuttle seemed to know where they were going, so we just followed them (and there were signs directing us to the front desk). Little did we know at the time that our room would end up being almost directly above this shuttle stop.
The check-in line was typical of any large resort, with at least 8 people working the desk, with ropes/markers designating the serpentine waiting line. After getting all the paperwork filled out and a credit card accepted we were provided our wrist bands. These became our room keys and identified us (by color) as to which resort within Vidanta we were staying at (this was important as some pool areas are restricted based on where you are staying).
Then we were escorted to the Timeshare breakfast invitation and property overview person (TIMESHARE NAZI!!!!). We were provided a booklet about the overall property, with a great foldout map showing all the features. Our gal was very nice and did a great job of explaining everything and pointing out key things on the map. But when it came to setting up a time for our breakfast meeting we declined. When asked why, I explained we bought timeshares when we were working to use when we were retired, and now that we are retired we did not need any more time shares…so why go to a meeting??? She explained this was not a sales meeting, but an education meeting about their company and their properties. We said we knew all we needed to know about the company from the internet (TripAdvisor, TUG, their websites, etc.), but she just wouldn’t take no for an answer. She kept offering more and more ‘gifts’, and finally offered an ‘owners’ ocean view room. [You have to understand that my wife HATES presentation meetings and the mere thought of one can practically ruin a vacation, so we simply/firmly kept reiterating our position…NO GRACIAS!] When she finally got the point we really didn’t want to go to a meeting, she told us to have a great stay and to contact her if we changed our minds. She then said to come back around 4pm and check at the concierge desk to see if our room was ready (it was approx. 2pm at that time).
With time to kill we went to the outside deck of the Grand Lobby bar in that same building, got a margarita, studied the map and brochure, and just relaxed in the shade for a while. A few minutes later I took the shuttle over to La Plaza (the on-property shopping center) just to check it out (my wife stayed at the bar and read her book). When I got back we had another margarita and then just before 4pm went to the concierge desk (not the check-in desk) and found that our room was ready. (Just a note on the shuttle, after that first day we walked everywhere and didn’t take the shuttle anymore. But the shuttles are great and they everywhere on a regular schedule.)
After the concierge activated our wristbands, I then logged into the internet on my phone with the help of the concierge. During the on-line prompting for signing up the concierge said to take the premium package option that showed it had an added fee (he said not to worry about that…more on that later), and then we did the same thing in our room on our other devises. While with the concierge we also bought the 6/6 meal coupons for $269 (see Food/Restaurants below) based on recommendations on TUG.
Our room
When we got to our room (M bldg., room 3188), we were VERY disappointed. The room/suite itself was lovely but it had absolutely NO view. It was on the 1st floor of rooms (the actual 2nd floor of the building) facing away from the ocean/pools, with nothing to look at but trees. Literally, just trees. No roads, parking lots, backs of buildings, just trees. If we stood outside at the rail of balcony we couldn’t even see the ground. There was sure no reason for modesty or concern about what clothes you were (or weren’t) wearing, as no one could possibly see onto the deck, or into the room. High off to our right in the distance we could see several floors of the Grand Bliss.
We were really ticked off and felt that we now had a new ‘worst trade’. But by the next day we got used to it and it ended up working out just fine. At least we were at end of the building so we only had the lock-off on one side as a neighbor, but boy was it noisy through the door to the lock-off! We could hear all their conversations very easily…and we also realized they could probably hear ours too!
We had a lovely dipping pool on the deck off the bedroom, but it was on cool side, with no controls. I went in it once just to say I did it (and get a picture), and then again after a VERY long walk…then it felt quite refreshing. Our weather was right around 80 every day (with a light breeze), so it was never really that hot. I suspect if it had been 90+ degrees we would have used the pool more.
At first we noticed a really bad smell with the sliding doors to the deck open, and were afraid we were by a sewer pit or something, and that also added to our original bad feeling toward the room. Since it seemed to come and go we later figured it might just be propane (a different smell than US propane???) as work vehicles were just around the corner from us a lot, going in and out of a small bldg. next to ours at the end. I asked an employee what the bldg. was and he said offices…uh, no. I walked around it once and there was no sign of any walkways or doors (other than storage access). But looking out the window at the end of the corridor right outside our room I could see trucks in the drive now and then loading supplies). It is a good sized bldg. It shows on their map, but it does not have a code associated with it to say what it is. (Still could be for sewer!)
Our 1st night we noticed a loud blower-type noise, even when I turned off the AC to see where it was coming from. We never did really determine that. But by having AC fan on high it blocked it out (mostly). I really like rooms where the A/C fan speed is adjustable and can be set to always be on regardless of the temperature or whether the A/C is actually working, so that was great.
We also did notice a musty smell (as others have noted), but it was not bad. I think that is fairly typical of high humidity locations. Once we got settled in and had the windows open the smell went away (or we just got used to it).
Another strange thing about the room was the shower drain. It made sounds now and then like it was flushing. It did that all day/night long. Not often, but noticeable. At least at night the A/C fan blocked it, but the first time it happened I was afraid we might end up with a flooding issue. It wasn’t worth complaining about so I never did find out what caused that.
Over the course of our stay the hot water temperature fluctuated several times. Once it was so cool we didn’t want to shower. I called the front desk and they said to try later as they were working on it. It did improve after that.
The daily maid service was very good. If we had the Do Not Disturb sign out in the morning she would come back in the afternoon.
The Internet was also very good. We logged in with our Kindles, phones, and my laptop. I was able to browse all my favorite sites with excellent speed.
We got a call our 2nd day to see if we had changed our minds about attending the breakfast information meeting. He said we could upgraded to an owner’s room if we signed up. But when I questioned him more about that he said it would not be a 1BR. By then we were OK with our room, so we declined the offer.
Here is a link to some pictures of us arriving, checking in, checking out La Plaza while waiting for our room to be ready, and of our room:
https://goo.gl/photos/9EyEyyJ9ih7utHLp9
Food/Restaurants
Since we were staying a 2nd week in PV and knew we would be dining out at local restaurants then, we had no real desire to leave the property during our stay at GM. And since it was just the two of us, and we were on vacation, we opted to not do any cooking.
As I indicated above, we bought the 6/6 meal coupons. The breakfast coupons could not be split (since the breakfasts are buffets), but the dinner coupons could be split (meaning you can use one coupon for two people). We used our breakfast coupons once at Havana Moon and twice at Samba’s. The choice of food was very good, and of course the omelet station was very popular. There were bottomless screwdrivers, bloody marys and mimosas at both locations included with the coupons. For our other four breakfasts we did room service once (reasonable priced and very good food) and we bought fruit juices and sweet rolls at the Plaza for the other two (on those days we did an early lunch at the beach). For the convenience, we thought the prices at La Plaza were fairly reasonable.
We ate dinner our first night (no coupon) at Ola Mulata, and then used our coupons at Costa Arena 3 times, and once each at Tramonto, La Cantina (LINK to laser/light show) video and Samba’s. For each dinner we made sure we made reservations at least a day in advance to get the time we wanted (especially at Costa Arena for the beautiful sunsets!) Since each day consisted of some sort of good sized breakfast and/or lunch, when it was time for dinner (with drinks before and wine with) splitting the appetizer, entre and then dessert was just a perfect amount of food. We certainly never left the table feeling we needed more! And as I mentioned above, we walked everywhere, so walking from our room the Costa Arena took right at 15 minutes.
In essence we had 12 dinners (by splitting our coupons there were 6 for me and 6 for my wife, and 6 ‘bountiful’ breakfasts (3 for each of us). So that was 18 meals for $269, or just short of $15 per meal including tax and tip. Really not a bad deal, especially for the convenience…and all the food was very good.
We also had tacos at Tacos Break (on the top back of La Plaza) one day for lunch and that was really enjoyable experience.
Happy Hour was from 11am to 3pm daily, so we really took advantage of that, especially at the beach!
A couple of nights they had big beach party dinners with bands, dancers, etc. We walked by them on the way back to our room after dinner and they looked like people were really having fun, but it was an extra cost and coupons were not accepted, so we didn’t participate. Short video of walking by one of them:
https://goo.gl/photos/RtyBemTcVGcGEibM6
Grounds, beach and activities
The Lazy river is amazing. At first we thought it might fill up and there would be no tubes available if we arrived at peak usage time, but there was never an issue. It takes approx. 15 minutes to make one full lap. The only minor issue was security of belongings while on it. We liked spending most of the day at the beach and then hitting the river to cool down after, so I would just take or Kindles, phones and camera back to the room before we did the river.
We felt the GM was a marvelous place to take kids. The pools, the beach, the water slide, the wave pools, the play area, and all the activities. Several times we commented on how much fun our grand kids would have if we brought them!!!
They claim their beach is one mile long, and having walked it a couple of times I have to agree! We were always able to find a nice palapa at the beach, but you have to get there early to get the ones closest to the water (so you aren’t looking at the backs of the people in front of you). From the palapas to the water is at least 100 yards, and with the sun heating up the sand it was quite entertaining to watch people start to slowly stroll barefoot toward the waves only to then take off in a sprint because their feet were getting hot The food and beverage service at the beach is very good and the servers seemed to go out of their way to take care of us.
We loved the landscaping and lush foliage everywhere. Very beautiful. They do an excellent job maintaining it and there were always crews around trimming, mowing, etc. There are trails everywhere with great signage to keep you from getting lost (we still took the map with us all the time though), and we even noticed several 2, 3, 4 and 5K trail markers for those that want to get in some exercises. Our first morning we set out on a long walk to orient ourselves with the complete property. After walking almost 5 miles we stopped for lunch and had still not seen it all. Amazing! I am an amateur photographer and the NV Vidanta complex provided MANY wonderful locations/opportunities for picture taking: landscaping, birds, iguanas, turtles, pools, etc. Short video of some of the sights:
https://goo.gl/photos/wm9rfxo9kZWC9SAZ6
We walked through Santuario during the day a couple of times, but did not go see what it was like at night.
The employees were all very friendly and helpful. The hand over the heart ‘salute’ was a very nice touch.
I checked out the Turtle sanctuary and it was very interesting. We did not go back at night to see the hatchlings released though…so little time and so many things to do!
Mosquitos and no-see-ums just love my wife, but some how we managed to leave home w/out our repellent. So we went to La Plaza and got her some ByeBites. That stuff is amazing. We tried to buy some on-line after we got home but could not find it anywhere. Had we known it was not available for sale in the States we would have brought some home with us.
Black squawking Grackle birds were everywhere, and it was interesting/fun to watch the falconers walk around with their hawks scaring them away…but not for long! Grackles at the beach: VIDEO, https://goo.gl/photos/Nv6L2MDtK13GfcZ39
Here is a LINK to a 180 photo album that is a sampling of what I took over the course of our stay at GM: https://goo.gl/photos/ymcLJiWmH5EJABD36 The intention of these photos is to give a ‘first timer’ (like we were) an overview of the property, and for others perhaps to bring back some memories . These pictures are in chronological order of our stay so they include our long walks, time at the beach, some meals, and then departure (we took a cab to the other resort for our 2nd week in PV.)
Conclusion
On the Thurs. evening before our Sat. morning check-out we received (under our door) a detailed printout of all of our daily charges. We keep all of our receipts, so we made sure everything was in order. The only exceptions were (insert a drum roll here) a large charge for internet and a charge for the coffee ‘set-up’ and bottle of water that were on our kitchen counter when we first got to our room. The printout said the front desk would be open until 10pm that night, so after dinner I went down to see what was going on since 1) we were told there would be no internet charge, and 2) we did not use their coffee or the water. I was like the third person in line waiting to discuss our bill, and I could hear others discussing the same issues. When it was my turn and I asked about the charges, without hesitation the clerk simply said they were ‘automatically’ put on and that he would remove them. It makes me wonder though how many people don’t ask and just pay those extra fees.
On our Interval Trade Confirmation it indicated there would be a $75 a week resort fee charged at check-in. Between the time we received that certificate and our arrival I read on TUG that Vidanta had changed that fee to $11 a day per person, and there was some discussion about whether the $75 would be honored or not. Nothing was mentioned about it when we checked in, but when we checked out the $75 was on our bill…so that was good! I have to admit though that we would have to think twice about staying at Vidanta again (given there are so many other lovely resorts to choose from) if we had to pay double that (7 days x 2 people x $11 per day = $154 for a week for two). And that would be one heck of an expensive trip if you were traveling with a large family!!!
Recommendation: If you are staying there on a trade and want to guarantee a better room then just go to the presentation! But don’t agree to going until they offer up a room upgrade. We were offered that after like our 3rd or 4th “no thank you”. However, having said that, if we were to do another trade into GM and were told in advance we would get the exact same room, we would accept that trade w/out hesitation! Part of our normal timeshare experience is to spend time on our balcony enjoying the view both during morning coffee and evening cocktails…but on this trip we learned to ‘cope’.
We currently already have several other trips planned over the next couple of years, but are now trying to figure out how to squeeze in another stay at GM NV, as we really did LOVE IT!
NOTE on photos and video: I take my Canon 70D camera on every trip, but on this stay at the GM I did not even get it out of the case. All the pics and videos I’ve shared were taken with my Google Pixel smartphone.
We are an active couple around 70 years old, and are frequent Cabo and PV travelers (In fact, we had stopped at PV on a cruise just 2 weeks before this stay.) We own 2 weeks annually at Marriott Timber Lodge, one week EOY at Marriott Ko Olina, and points for one week EOY at UVC, with Villa del Arco (Cabo) being our ‘home’ resort (we used that week one year to stay at Flamingos, NV, just up the beach from GM). Most of our stays in Mexico have been trades through Interval International.
Pre-trip planning
We planned a two week trip to PV/NV after getting a one week trade into our favorite PV resort in the Romantic Zone. That same resort was completely booked for a 2nd week (either before or after), so we did a trade search using Interval. After a while we went ahead and booked our air, and made our reserved week our 2nd week. We then needed to find a resort for our 1st week. After several more weeks of checking availability on Interval a trade opportunity came up for the Grand Mayan, NV. After doing lots of research on TUG and TripAdvisor, even though we had never even heard of it before we accepted a trade for a 1BR with full kitchen in exchange for our 1BR Marriott Timber Lodge. This was our 14th trade through Interval in 9 years.
We found it interesting that as our travel date approached that there was no advance phone call or email from anyone at the Grand Mayan or Vidanta to discuss any options available to us during our week. About 3 weeks before our check-in date I contacted the concierge desk about an airport shuttle and was instructed to submit this form:
https://precheckin.vidanta.com/shuttle/guest
The form asked for a reservation number, but we only had the Interval confirmation number. The form would not accept that number as a valid reservation number, so I contacted the concierge again and was then provided a reservation number to use (which also confirmed that indeed we really did have a reservation.) After filling out the on-line form we were provided an “Airport Transportation Confirmation” document to use for checking in with Vidanta at the PV airport. It contained a map for exiting customs at the airport and where to check-in for the shuttle.
Arrival and checking in
After getting our luggage and going through customs we realized the map they had provided was not very accurate, so we ignored it and just kept walking through the gauntlet (even past people that claimed they were with Vidanta) until we were completely outside and saw the Vidanta crowd off to the left.
After checking in with them we were escorted across the street to a very nice bus (in a row of many). We were one of the first couples on board so had to wait a while for it to fill up. A cab ride may have actually been a quicker alternative to get to the resort (and the fare was probably not that much) but we opted for “free” (or at least “included”) and it worked out just fine. We landed at PV right around 12:30pm, and it was approx. 1:30pm by the time the bus left the airport. Given the normal long lines through customs, that was not bad at all.
Once arriving at the Vidanta complex (as indicated by the large sign and security gate) we couldn’t believe how long we traveled on the bus before actually arriving at the drop off point. The place is HUGE.
The bus stopped at the large “Motor Lobby Central”. First they unloaded all the bags, and then we were allowed to exit. We quickly found our bags and they were immediately tagged and secured in individual little carts. Those were then held and brought to our room after we checked in and were assigned a room.
We were then escorted to the close-by waiting area where we caught a large golf cart type shuttle that takes people to their appropriate resort. It was sort of a circus with people not knowing which shuttle to take (no signage on the shuttles), but there were plenty of helpful employees, so it all worked out fine. There was comfortable seating available while waiting for our shuttle, and cold water was available as well.
After a short ride on the shuttle (through a wonderfully thick jungle of foliage) we were dropped off at the regular shuttle route stop for the Grand Mayan (after a stop at another ‘hotel’ along the way). This was not the actual main entrance to the hotel though we found out the next day: Video:Grand Mayan Entrance
Other people on our shuttle seemed to know where they were going, so we just followed them (and there were signs directing us to the front desk). Little did we know at the time that our room would end up being almost directly above this shuttle stop.
The check-in line was typical of any large resort, with at least 8 people working the desk, with ropes/markers designating the serpentine waiting line. After getting all the paperwork filled out and a credit card accepted we were provided our wrist bands. These became our room keys and identified us (by color) as to which resort within Vidanta we were staying at (this was important as some pool areas are restricted based on where you are staying).
Then we were escorted to the Timeshare breakfast invitation and property overview person (TIMESHARE NAZI!!!!). We were provided a booklet about the overall property, with a great foldout map showing all the features. Our gal was very nice and did a great job of explaining everything and pointing out key things on the map. But when it came to setting up a time for our breakfast meeting we declined. When asked why, I explained we bought timeshares when we were working to use when we were retired, and now that we are retired we did not need any more time shares…so why go to a meeting??? She explained this was not a sales meeting, but an education meeting about their company and their properties. We said we knew all we needed to know about the company from the internet (TripAdvisor, TUG, their websites, etc.), but she just wouldn’t take no for an answer. She kept offering more and more ‘gifts’, and finally offered an ‘owners’ ocean view room. [You have to understand that my wife HATES presentation meetings and the mere thought of one can practically ruin a vacation, so we simply/firmly kept reiterating our position…NO GRACIAS!] When she finally got the point we really didn’t want to go to a meeting, she told us to have a great stay and to contact her if we changed our minds. She then said to come back around 4pm and check at the concierge desk to see if our room was ready (it was approx. 2pm at that time).
With time to kill we went to the outside deck of the Grand Lobby bar in that same building, got a margarita, studied the map and brochure, and just relaxed in the shade for a while. A few minutes later I took the shuttle over to La Plaza (the on-property shopping center) just to check it out (my wife stayed at the bar and read her book). When I got back we had another margarita and then just before 4pm went to the concierge desk (not the check-in desk) and found that our room was ready. (Just a note on the shuttle, after that first day we walked everywhere and didn’t take the shuttle anymore. But the shuttles are great and they everywhere on a regular schedule.)
After the concierge activated our wristbands, I then logged into the internet on my phone with the help of the concierge. During the on-line prompting for signing up the concierge said to take the premium package option that showed it had an added fee (he said not to worry about that…more on that later), and then we did the same thing in our room on our other devises. While with the concierge we also bought the 6/6 meal coupons for $269 (see Food/Restaurants below) based on recommendations on TUG.
Our room
When we got to our room (M bldg., room 3188), we were VERY disappointed. The room/suite itself was lovely but it had absolutely NO view. It was on the 1st floor of rooms (the actual 2nd floor of the building) facing away from the ocean/pools, with nothing to look at but trees. Literally, just trees. No roads, parking lots, backs of buildings, just trees. If we stood outside at the rail of balcony we couldn’t even see the ground. There was sure no reason for modesty or concern about what clothes you were (or weren’t) wearing, as no one could possibly see onto the deck, or into the room. High off to our right in the distance we could see several floors of the Grand Bliss.
We were really ticked off and felt that we now had a new ‘worst trade’. But by the next day we got used to it and it ended up working out just fine. At least we were at end of the building so we only had the lock-off on one side as a neighbor, but boy was it noisy through the door to the lock-off! We could hear all their conversations very easily…and we also realized they could probably hear ours too!
We had a lovely dipping pool on the deck off the bedroom, but it was on cool side, with no controls. I went in it once just to say I did it (and get a picture), and then again after a VERY long walk…then it felt quite refreshing. Our weather was right around 80 every day (with a light breeze), so it was never really that hot. I suspect if it had been 90+ degrees we would have used the pool more.
At first we noticed a really bad smell with the sliding doors to the deck open, and were afraid we were by a sewer pit or something, and that also added to our original bad feeling toward the room. Since it seemed to come and go we later figured it might just be propane (a different smell than US propane???) as work vehicles were just around the corner from us a lot, going in and out of a small bldg. next to ours at the end. I asked an employee what the bldg. was and he said offices…uh, no. I walked around it once and there was no sign of any walkways or doors (other than storage access). But looking out the window at the end of the corridor right outside our room I could see trucks in the drive now and then loading supplies). It is a good sized bldg. It shows on their map, but it does not have a code associated with it to say what it is. (Still could be for sewer!)
Our 1st night we noticed a loud blower-type noise, even when I turned off the AC to see where it was coming from. We never did really determine that. But by having AC fan on high it blocked it out (mostly). I really like rooms where the A/C fan speed is adjustable and can be set to always be on regardless of the temperature or whether the A/C is actually working, so that was great.
We also did notice a musty smell (as others have noted), but it was not bad. I think that is fairly typical of high humidity locations. Once we got settled in and had the windows open the smell went away (or we just got used to it).
Another strange thing about the room was the shower drain. It made sounds now and then like it was flushing. It did that all day/night long. Not often, but noticeable. At least at night the A/C fan blocked it, but the first time it happened I was afraid we might end up with a flooding issue. It wasn’t worth complaining about so I never did find out what caused that.
Over the course of our stay the hot water temperature fluctuated several times. Once it was so cool we didn’t want to shower. I called the front desk and they said to try later as they were working on it. It did improve after that.
The daily maid service was very good. If we had the Do Not Disturb sign out in the morning she would come back in the afternoon.
The Internet was also very good. We logged in with our Kindles, phones, and my laptop. I was able to browse all my favorite sites with excellent speed.
We got a call our 2nd day to see if we had changed our minds about attending the breakfast information meeting. He said we could upgraded to an owner’s room if we signed up. But when I questioned him more about that he said it would not be a 1BR. By then we were OK with our room, so we declined the offer.
Here is a link to some pictures of us arriving, checking in, checking out La Plaza while waiting for our room to be ready, and of our room:
https://goo.gl/photos/9EyEyyJ9ih7utHLp9
Food/Restaurants
Since we were staying a 2nd week in PV and knew we would be dining out at local restaurants then, we had no real desire to leave the property during our stay at GM. And since it was just the two of us, and we were on vacation, we opted to not do any cooking.
As I indicated above, we bought the 6/6 meal coupons. The breakfast coupons could not be split (since the breakfasts are buffets), but the dinner coupons could be split (meaning you can use one coupon for two people). We used our breakfast coupons once at Havana Moon and twice at Samba’s. The choice of food was very good, and of course the omelet station was very popular. There were bottomless screwdrivers, bloody marys and mimosas at both locations included with the coupons. For our other four breakfasts we did room service once (reasonable priced and very good food) and we bought fruit juices and sweet rolls at the Plaza for the other two (on those days we did an early lunch at the beach). For the convenience, we thought the prices at La Plaza were fairly reasonable.
We ate dinner our first night (no coupon) at Ola Mulata, and then used our coupons at Costa Arena 3 times, and once each at Tramonto, La Cantina (LINK to laser/light show) video and Samba’s. For each dinner we made sure we made reservations at least a day in advance to get the time we wanted (especially at Costa Arena for the beautiful sunsets!) Since each day consisted of some sort of good sized breakfast and/or lunch, when it was time for dinner (with drinks before and wine with) splitting the appetizer, entre and then dessert was just a perfect amount of food. We certainly never left the table feeling we needed more! And as I mentioned above, we walked everywhere, so walking from our room the Costa Arena took right at 15 minutes.
In essence we had 12 dinners (by splitting our coupons there were 6 for me and 6 for my wife, and 6 ‘bountiful’ breakfasts (3 for each of us). So that was 18 meals for $269, or just short of $15 per meal including tax and tip. Really not a bad deal, especially for the convenience…and all the food was very good.
We also had tacos at Tacos Break (on the top back of La Plaza) one day for lunch and that was really enjoyable experience.
Happy Hour was from 11am to 3pm daily, so we really took advantage of that, especially at the beach!
A couple of nights they had big beach party dinners with bands, dancers, etc. We walked by them on the way back to our room after dinner and they looked like people were really having fun, but it was an extra cost and coupons were not accepted, so we didn’t participate. Short video of walking by one of them:
https://goo.gl/photos/RtyBemTcVGcGEibM6
Grounds, beach and activities
The Lazy river is amazing. At first we thought it might fill up and there would be no tubes available if we arrived at peak usage time, but there was never an issue. It takes approx. 15 minutes to make one full lap. The only minor issue was security of belongings while on it. We liked spending most of the day at the beach and then hitting the river to cool down after, so I would just take or Kindles, phones and camera back to the room before we did the river.
We felt the GM was a marvelous place to take kids. The pools, the beach, the water slide, the wave pools, the play area, and all the activities. Several times we commented on how much fun our grand kids would have if we brought them!!!
They claim their beach is one mile long, and having walked it a couple of times I have to agree! We were always able to find a nice palapa at the beach, but you have to get there early to get the ones closest to the water (so you aren’t looking at the backs of the people in front of you). From the palapas to the water is at least 100 yards, and with the sun heating up the sand it was quite entertaining to watch people start to slowly stroll barefoot toward the waves only to then take off in a sprint because their feet were getting hot The food and beverage service at the beach is very good and the servers seemed to go out of their way to take care of us.
We loved the landscaping and lush foliage everywhere. Very beautiful. They do an excellent job maintaining it and there were always crews around trimming, mowing, etc. There are trails everywhere with great signage to keep you from getting lost (we still took the map with us all the time though), and we even noticed several 2, 3, 4 and 5K trail markers for those that want to get in some exercises. Our first morning we set out on a long walk to orient ourselves with the complete property. After walking almost 5 miles we stopped for lunch and had still not seen it all. Amazing! I am an amateur photographer and the NV Vidanta complex provided MANY wonderful locations/opportunities for picture taking: landscaping, birds, iguanas, turtles, pools, etc. Short video of some of the sights:
https://goo.gl/photos/wm9rfxo9kZWC9SAZ6
We walked through Santuario during the day a couple of times, but did not go see what it was like at night.
The employees were all very friendly and helpful. The hand over the heart ‘salute’ was a very nice touch.
I checked out the Turtle sanctuary and it was very interesting. We did not go back at night to see the hatchlings released though…so little time and so many things to do!
Mosquitos and no-see-ums just love my wife, but some how we managed to leave home w/out our repellent. So we went to La Plaza and got her some ByeBites. That stuff is amazing. We tried to buy some on-line after we got home but could not find it anywhere. Had we known it was not available for sale in the States we would have brought some home with us.
Black squawking Grackle birds were everywhere, and it was interesting/fun to watch the falconers walk around with their hawks scaring them away…but not for long! Grackles at the beach: VIDEO, https://goo.gl/photos/Nv6L2MDtK13GfcZ39
Here is a LINK to a 180 photo album that is a sampling of what I took over the course of our stay at GM: https://goo.gl/photos/ymcLJiWmH5EJABD36 The intention of these photos is to give a ‘first timer’ (like we were) an overview of the property, and for others perhaps to bring back some memories . These pictures are in chronological order of our stay so they include our long walks, time at the beach, some meals, and then departure (we took a cab to the other resort for our 2nd week in PV.)
Conclusion
On the Thurs. evening before our Sat. morning check-out we received (under our door) a detailed printout of all of our daily charges. We keep all of our receipts, so we made sure everything was in order. The only exceptions were (insert a drum roll here) a large charge for internet and a charge for the coffee ‘set-up’ and bottle of water that were on our kitchen counter when we first got to our room. The printout said the front desk would be open until 10pm that night, so after dinner I went down to see what was going on since 1) we were told there would be no internet charge, and 2) we did not use their coffee or the water. I was like the third person in line waiting to discuss our bill, and I could hear others discussing the same issues. When it was my turn and I asked about the charges, without hesitation the clerk simply said they were ‘automatically’ put on and that he would remove them. It makes me wonder though how many people don’t ask and just pay those extra fees.
On our Interval Trade Confirmation it indicated there would be a $75 a week resort fee charged at check-in. Between the time we received that certificate and our arrival I read on TUG that Vidanta had changed that fee to $11 a day per person, and there was some discussion about whether the $75 would be honored or not. Nothing was mentioned about it when we checked in, but when we checked out the $75 was on our bill…so that was good! I have to admit though that we would have to think twice about staying at Vidanta again (given there are so many other lovely resorts to choose from) if we had to pay double that (7 days x 2 people x $11 per day = $154 for a week for two). And that would be one heck of an expensive trip if you were traveling with a large family!!!
Recommendation: If you are staying there on a trade and want to guarantee a better room then just go to the presentation! But don’t agree to going until they offer up a room upgrade. We were offered that after like our 3rd or 4th “no thank you”. However, having said that, if we were to do another trade into GM and were told in advance we would get the exact same room, we would accept that trade w/out hesitation! Part of our normal timeshare experience is to spend time on our balcony enjoying the view both during morning coffee and evening cocktails…but on this trip we learned to ‘cope’.
We currently already have several other trips planned over the next couple of years, but are now trying to figure out how to squeeze in another stay at GM NV, as we really did LOVE IT!
NOTE on photos and video: I take my Canon 70D camera on every trip, but on this stay at the GM I did not even get it out of the case. All the pics and videos I’ve shared were taken with my Google Pixel smartphone.
We also love watching the employees coming and going in the back gate where they check in and out of work..
