New affiliate: The Explorean Kohunlich, Mexico

[annenp]

I'll start the rumor: HGVC is dissolving "the club" and you will not be able to exchange to other properties. I hope you bought the resort you like going to every year.

How about this one (more plausible rumor): If you bought resell, you only have a 6 month window vs a 9 month window for Club Reservation and a 15 day window vs 30 day for open season. Also instead of 9-12months for home you have 9-10 months.

I hope HGVC doesn't read this and get weird ideas.

Deros

How about the rumor that HGVC is building more resorts like in Maui the Carribean

 

[ricoba]

I am very excited to be going to the Explorean from 11/21-11/25 and then to the Hilton Cancun from 11/25-11/29.

I will be landing in Cancun at 9:55am on Saturday 11/21 and need to make the trek to Chetumal Airport where there is a shuttle, included, to bring us to the resort.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this journey. I've tried some research on TripAdvisor...

Does anyone recommend renting a car vs taking a bus? Any advise would be appreciated.

THANKS!

Wow, someone who is actually answering the original question! Lucky you, form the pics it looks like a lot of fun.

I see from your post its not till November, but please give a review and an update when you get back. Pictures are always appreciated as well.

Have Fun!

 

[Sunshine Wanted]

Found these pieces of advice:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mexico-82/cancun-chetumal.htm

Answer
From the Cancun airport, its best to take a taxi to the bus station in Cancun. At the bus station, there will be a bus to Chetumal. It may not be for a few hours, but I'm sure they have them. You might need to go to Playa del Carmen and switch buses there. But you can take a bus to Chetumal. And buses are rarely if ever sold out, so you can just buy your ticket there, and go look around a bit while you're waiting.

And this forum seems to give some advice as well:
http://www.belizeforum.com/belize/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=154273

 

[Socko33]

Driving

Thanks for the replies!

Do you happen to know if there is a mapquest for mexico? I can seem to get google maps to work to find driving directions to the Explorean...

I think I may go with renting a car for the 4 days...Kayak.com has them at about $60 for the entire rental.

 

[Blues]

I am very excited to be going to the Explorean from 11/21-11/25 and then to the Hilton Cancun from 11/25-11/29.

Hi Socko. My wife and I are contemplating a similar trip for our 25th wedding anniversary next Feb. If you find out anything more, I'd really appreciate it if you'd either drop me an email or follow up on this thread. Thanks!

I followed a couple of the links, and it appears that the bus from Cancun (or Playa del Carmen, recommended in the link) is not a problem. But the only busses I can find for the other direction leave Chetumal at around 4 AM Based on that, I was thinking it would be better to rent a car.

I also looked into flying into Cancun and out of Chetumal, or vice versa. But it looks like it's actually cheaper to do RT through Cancun and rent a car.

Our plans would be to do Kohunlich for about 5 days and Cancun for 7 days. Any thoughts on the best order to do these? Most flights from SFO arrive Cancun in the late afternoon, so I'm thinking Cancun first, rather than drive to Chetumal in the dark. Sound right?

How hard was it to get reservations for Explorean? Availability pretty good? I would love to get a cabana for our time there, but the web site says the property only has two of them. Also, if I want to do Cancun first, that means I have to wait until 9 months before the very last day of the trip to try for a Cabana at Explorean. Perhaps it would be better to try Explorean for the first week, and if it's not available, then switch order. Decisions, decisions.

Also, I'm kinda disappointed that in order to even make a reservation there, you have to call in and ask for a Club Partner specialist to call you back a day later. That would seem to make it pretty difficult to try out different dates. And all Mexican affiliates were taken off-line, so I'd have to call in for the Cancun reservation too.

Finally, it appears that the reviews for FAVC Cancun have some negative comments. Does anyone think it may be better to try an RCI trade for Royal Mayan?

Thanks for all the help. I'm getting excited by the idea of doing this next year.

-Bob, aka Blues

 

[Blues]

Do you happen to know if there is a mapquest for mexico? I can seem to get google maps to work to find driving directions to the Explorean...

Try entering "Kohunlich Mexico" into google maps. It comes up with a bunch of bookmarks (or whatever you call those little pointer things), including one for the Explorean.

I think I may go with renting a car for the 4 days...Kayak.com has them at about $60 for the entire rental.

I was wondering about rental cars, too. There's an issue about insurance. Search the Mexico board for posts about renting a car in Mexico. The Mexican government requires that you buy liability insurance issued by a Mexican firm, which leaves out your own auto policy. Some rental car companies include this compulsary insurance in their quotes, and some don't. I ended up spending more than I anticipated in Cabo a few years back. You should research this a little before committing to a rental car. I plan to do the same.

-Bob

 

[Socko33]

Lots to think about

Our trip will be Thanksgiving week this year, so I'll be sure to type a report when we're back.

The Hilton Rep calls back fairly quickly for reservations, and I had zero problem booking for Thanksgiving week. The Cabanas, however, the rep said are hardly EVER available to HGVC...and she's never seen them available. They are still available on the Explorean's website though...maybe we can finagle an upgrade? DOUBT IT

I dealt with Lori Becerril directly regarding the Explorean booking. Her direct #: 407-722-3677.

We are taking a midnight flight from JFK to Cancun, and will land around 9am, I think. So we plan on driving to the Explorean and doing 4 nights there before Cancun. Our logic is that we'll be on excursions, climbing, nature, etc...and after that, we'll appreciate the beach and lounging in Cancun for another 4 nights. We are also flying RT from JFK-Cancun...almost half the price of any Chetumal flights.

the FAVC Cancun was booked during the dates we needed and there was only one hotel available via RCI...the resort, i don't remember the name, did not look too promising...so I booked 4 nights at the Hilton Cancun Hotel & Spa. Since I booked it incredibly early, I pay for 1 night upfront and received 30% off the rate. It came to $108/night. Putting that on my HH Amex makes the stay worth the money for some points.

When I plugged Explorean into Google Maps before, I did see the location of the Explorean, but was not able to get turn-by-turn directions...I guess I'll have to go old fashion and use a map or see if I can get it through a relative's AAA account.

As far as renting a car...all I did was a search via Kayak.com...They're about $9/day for a car (+fees, etc). I was not aware that insurance was mandatory! I do have an Amex Gold...I wonder if that insurance policy covers foreign cars?

Any more information you get on rental cars, feel free to message me!

I'll be sure to keep this updated should anything new come to light.

My girlfriend and I are VERY excited about this trip!

 

[Blues]

Thanks for all the information!

Perhaps we'll get real lucky and get a cabana anyway. We have some flexibility on our dates -- going during our anniversary would be nice, but we can change it a bit. And Feb should be low season.

I had the same thought about doing all the nature activities first, and then kicking back. There are some red-eyes from SFO-CUN, so I could do the same as you. But I hate red-eyes. Perhaps we should take a hotel for one night in Cancun and drive the next morning.

I doubt that your AmEx will get you the liability insurance. Most US auto policies specifically exclude Mexico, and I think it has to do with the Mexican laws invalidating foreign insurance policies. But I'm no expert in these matters, so you should certainly investigate for yourself.

Again, thanks for taking the time to respond. Have a blast!

-Bob

 

[Socko33]

Car Rental

Some quick digging:

http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/...ar-in-mexico-better-have-a-high-credit-limit/

http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-spot1-2008jun01

And, I just called AmEx...

AmEx will cover $50,000 in collision, but they don't cover liability...so if other people in the other car are hurt, then it is NOT covered...