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Currently at Lagunamar

DannyTS

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Finally offered explorer 210000 hotel points and 1 week in a one bedroom for $2500ish. We thought about that as he said he could book us for wk 52 next year as he had inventory available, hmm

So the guy was on the computer at 12AM to snap a booking for week 52. Oh i am sorry, i forgot, Vistana does not need to do that since it controls the booking system and can block as many condos as they wish before the 12 month window opens for any week of the year including 51 and 52.
It is obvious what is happening and it does not smell good.
 

carpie99

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So the guy was on the computer at 12AM to snap a booking for week 52. Oh i am sorry, i forgot, Vistana does not need to do that since it controls the booking system and can block as many condos as they wish before the 12 month window opens for any week of the year including 51 and 52.
It is obvious what is happening and it does not smell good.

If the week hasn't been sold then it is Vistana inventory right?
 

DannyTS

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If the week hasn't been sold then it is Vistana inventory right?

As far as i know Vistana has sold all event weeks at Lagunamar so I will go with the simplest explanation: Vistana owns a number of platinum plus weeks but because they can they keep the lion's share of 51 and 52.
 

TravelTime

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That is a big increase. It seems the resolution of the photos is pretty low, so I can't read the amounts even if I increase the size. We will be there in a little over a week and not looking forward to big increases like that. Though we rarely eat at the resort. We have done the Mexican buffet and breakfast buffet, but will probably skip them this time around. We might have an order of guacamole around the pool, but I may make some again this trip after picking up some avocados at Soriana. My only issue with that is they are usually rock hard and take four or five days to get soft enough for guacamole, that means we will be about ready to go home by they time I can make it.

Prices in Mexico are going up for many reasons.

The price to enter Chichen Itza is increasing from 242 to 480 pesos for foreign visitors.

https://www.riviera-maya-news.com/g...ase-chichen-itza-fee-by-110-percent/2019.html

I have read the price of concrete is going up 20%, electricity tariffs have gone up 500%, wages are doubling in some areas, to name just a few recent articles I have read in Mexican Daily News. These are all of the inputs for tourist destinations so it will need to be passed along.

This is why the Fed in the USA increased rates. They want to slow down inflation before it spirals out of control.
 

Mulege

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WKORV
WMH
WLM
Any ideas as to where to rent a car for a week? Looking online, cheap prices for car but huge prices for insurance! Do you take insurance?

Arriving 1/5
 

vistana101

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I saw some reports a while back of crime/people coming into villas at the resort, which made me a little hesitant. Do you feel safe there?
 

dioxide45

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Any ideas as to where to rent a car for a week? Looking online, cheap prices for car but huge prices for insurance! Do you take insurance?

Arriving 1/5
Check out the Mexico forum. Plenty of threads in there about renting cars in Mexico. My recommendation is to just take all the insurance you can add. Though your credit card CDW will cover you in Mexico, but having the added liability is a good idea.Of course, credit card CDW is where you pay for the damage and your credit card company reimburses you. Car rental CDW means you may pay nothing, except perhaps any deductible.
 

maddog497

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I was looking into this earlier this week. I found a site that you could include complete coverage. The car rental itself was next to nothing for 15 days. The included insurance brought it to just over $180 Canadian.
Any ideas as to where to rent a car for a week? Looking online, cheap prices for car but huge prices for insurance! Do you take insurance?

Arriving 1/5
4b7d65220fe8fd224b2c67d0fb7d2c37.jpg


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DannyTS

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I was looking into this earlier this week. I found a site that you could include complete coverage. The car rental itself was next to nothing for 15 days. The included insurance brought it to just over $180 Canadian.
4b7d65220fe8fd224b2c67d0fb7d2c37.jpg


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considering the cost of the 2 way airport-hotel transfer, you have the car virtually for free
 

Sea Six

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Lagunamar - Cancun
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I have always felt safe, just concerned when I see the heavy guns here and there.
 

Sea Six

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I saw some reports a while back of crime/people coming into villas at the resort, which made me a little hesitant. Do you feel safe there?
You might be thinking of the posts where there was a concern that employees were entering rooms and stealing things like phones and tablets. That problem has been fixed.
 

bobpark56

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We have also noticed a fairly significant rise in menu prices. My wife's favourite fig salad( Duo garden) was ,$145 last year and $250 this year.

I will try to post menu pics for Duna
That's bad news. We arrive in 2 days...guess we will be dining out a lot. We are just finishing a 2-week stay in Puerto Aventuras, where dining is half the price of what it is in the Zone Hotelera in Cancun.
 

bobpark56

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I agree that the owner's updates at Lagunamar are pretty low pressure.

My husband and I will be there in a couple of days. I would love to meet some Tuggers. If you would like to meet and chat pool side, please send me a PM.

Glorian
We may see you there...we arrive on Sunday for 20 Nights. Emma Bohigas at the concierge is our central contact. We highly recommend her.
 

mrpaulytx

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HRA wk24, HRA wk28, SVV wk26
Anyone in the Lagunamar Pool and how warm is it? I heard some forums they heat and some others point out its not heated. We usually go in the summer but thinking of a small vacation in mid January.
 

dioxide45

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I was looking into this earlier this week. I found a site that you could include complete coverage. The car rental itself was next to nothing for 15 days. The included insurance brought it to just over $180 Canadian.
4b7d65220fe8fd224b2c67d0fb7d2c37.jpg


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Is the full coverage through the rental company or supplemental through something like Expedia?
 

maddog497

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Is the full coverage through the rental company or supplemental through something like Expedia?
It is through the rental company. I did not save my results so I will have to look back through my history to find which car rental it was. There was an option after picking the car for including insurance. I check that box and the pic I posted is what the total came to.

I found the site https://www.economybookings.com/?crcy=CAD

I have not used them and can not vouch for them.

We actually liked riding the bus everywhere, which for most will seem weird I am sure but we found it to be part of the experience. We would not travel at night time on them, but we have no reason to either.
 
Last edited:

dioxide45

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The busses are great and we have rode them at night, at least in the evenings. As for the car rental. There are a lot of smaller agencies in Cancun that do offer full coverage car rentals. They ultimately make their money on the insurance part of the rate. If you are only going up and down the hotel zone, it doesn't make sense to rent a car and drive it as parking is often a problem at many establishments. I would only rent a car to drive south to Tulum or west to Chichen Itza or Merida. Round trip transportation for two people is only $55USD through either USA Transfers or Canada Transfers, it still makes sense to take transfers if you are not leaving the hotel zone.
 

grgs

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We may see you there...we arrive on Sunday for 20 Nights.

Hi Bob,

I hope you had smooth travels yesterday. We'll be here through Sat. Hopefully, we can meet up for a chat. PM me if you'd like to arrange a poolside meeting once you're settled.

Any other Tuggers around?

Glorian
 

dms11

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I don't know how anyone else feels about Lagunamar but we love it here. Not only is the place beautiful and well-kept (reminds us of the way they are constantly cleaning and painting at Disney World), but the people who work here are incredibly nice. If something is missing from your room, they bring it to you ASAP. If anything is wrong, they will do what it takes to make it right. In our case, Giuseppe Stefanoni was gracious enough to move us to a different room to get away from the painting in Bldg. 14. We did the Owner's Update today and bought an Explorer package which seems like an incredibly good deal...a one BR unit (NOT a studio) for six nights plus 210,000 Marriott points for $2770, paid off in monthly increments of $141 with no interest. The points alone are worth $1900 according to The Points Guy, so the six nights cost $880 or $146/night. Can't beat that, IMO, especially since we get to save our options and use them elsewhere...or even here, to extend our stay.
 

DannyTS

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I don't know how anyone else feels about Lagunamar but we love it here. Not only is the place beautiful and well-kept (reminds us of the way they are constantly cleaning and painting at Disney World), but the people who work here are incredibly nice. If something is missing from your room, they bring it to you ASAP. If anything is wrong, they will do what it takes to make it right. In our case, Giuseppe Stefanoni was gracious enough to move us to a different room to get away from the painting in Bldg. 14. We did the Owner's Update today and bought an Explorer package which seems like an incredibly good deal...a one BR unit (NOT a studio) for six nights plus 210,000 Marriott points for $2770, paid off in monthly increments of $141 with no interest. The points alone are worth $1900 according to The Points Guy, so the six nights cost $880 or $146/night. Can't beat that, IMO, especially since we get to save our options and use them elsewhere...or even here, to extend our stay.
@TravelTime :)
 

dioxide45

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They wouldn't let us sign up for an Owner's Update. Well they would have, but were offering no incentives because we last did an update in October. No incentive, no update!
 

maddog497

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They offered us an "update" in exchange for 40% to use on a excursion. The update has no offer to buy and is not dependent on any time limits for us to stay.

We have friends coming on Monday and they will be offered the same 40% plus 100 gift card. (visa I think).

We too were not eligible as we did an update in December in SVV.

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