IB Tucan/Quetzal Trip Report

Well, here is my report from our four nights in Playa. Please feel free to ask any questions. Sorry it's sooo long!

July 12 - July 16, 2005

Flights - American Airlines LAX > Dallas > Cancun, return Belize > Dallas > LAX

The flights were all pretty uneventful and routine. We took the red eye from LAX to Dallas and then had to spend about five hours or so in Dallas waiting for our connection to Cancun, which ended up being delayed about an hour or so. The layover in Dallas was brutal since we were so tired and their chairs are in no way designed for sleeping. The flights back were fine and all were on time. American does not offer any food or snacks except pretzels on these flights, so be sure to grab a bite to eat before you go or on the layover.



Best Day Tours – transportation from Cancun to Playa del Carmen

Although there is a cheap bus from the airport to Playa del Carmen, we wanted to meet my husband’s parents at the Cancun airport and ride to the resort in Playa with them. I knew they would be more comfortable in a pre-arranged van. Best Day Tours was on top of everything and had good communication with us by e-mail before our trip. They even let his parents know that our flight was delayed and offered to take them to the resort rather than waiting for us if they wanted. They chose to have a beer and wait for us outside the airport. We ended up having the van to ourselves, which was nice, since we hadn’t seen each other in a few weeks and had lots to talk about! The ride down to the Iberostar Tucan took about 45 minutes and the driver was very polite and professional. They also had a representative meet my father-in-law in the lobby after we checked in to arrange the time for their return transfer. The man was very helpful and gave him a lot of safety tips and information about the area. They also arrange tours if you want.



Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal Resort - http://www.iberostar.com/

We spent four nights at this resort to attend the wedding of my husband’s cousin and his new bride. We had originally reserved a room on the Tucan side, but they ended up booking everyone in the wedding group on the Quetzal side. I was a little concerned at first, but quickly realized that both sides are exactly the same. My in-laws had reserved an ocean view Junior Suite and we were given a room about two buildings away from them near the pool. Many of the others from the wedding group were staying in or near our building too. I really enjoyed the location of our building (#22) because it was really close to the pool, beach, and snack buffets. It’s a bit of a walk to the main restaurants, lobby area, and disco, but it’s real easy if you take the outside sidewalks rather than the jungle path. The jungle path is nice for viewing all the pretty birds and interesting animals, but it can be a little rough if you aren’t in the right shows!

We aren’t normally big on the all-inclusive thing, but this place does about as good of a job as they can. The drinks are plentiful and in decent sized cups. They will give you call brand liquor if you ask for it. The beer selection was pretty limited. I think it was just Dos XX. The breakfast buffet was the best food of the day; those omelets can’t be beet! The dinner buffet was pretty good as far as buffets go, although I’m not a big fan of them in general. We ate at the Italian restaurant for the rehearsal dinner and the steakhouse for the wedding reception. I can’t say I was blown away by either one; however, we were given limited menu choices since we were part of a group. Maybe other items from the menu would have been better. To be fair, my husband loved his steak at the steak house. We also had dinner at the Mexican restaurant on our last night. It was really good and the margaritas were tasty. The appetizer, salad, and desert bars at all the restaurants are quite good too.

The rooms are pretty basic hotel rooms, but clean, comfortable, and well air-conditioned. We didn’t go on our deck much because of the heat and mosquitoes. Screen doors would have been a bonus. They keep a mini-bar in your room stocked with complementary beer, water, and sodas, which is a nice touch. I just wish it had some liquor too! The pool area is huge and lovely, although the water a bit too warm, almost like bath water. The swim up bar was a better temperature, but too shallow and rather crowded. The beach is absolutely beautiful, almost picture perfect. The water is an unbelievable color blue, the perfect temperature, and calm enough to swim in comfortably. It drops off pretty quick after you step in, so you don’t have to go out far to swim at all. I think that could be the result of erosion from Hurricane Ivan last year. I hear all the beaches in the area are much smaller than they were before the hurricane.

The wedding was one of the most beautiful weddings we’ve ever witnessed. The resort did a great job of making sure everything went smoothly for them. This was a great place to spend a few days celebrating the wedding with family. My only complaint, if any, is that they only allow one guaranteed restaurant reservation for a four-night stay and they counted the rehearsal dinner as that one reservation. We were still able to get one more reservation through luck on the waiting list, but they don’t tell you if you’re in or not until 6:00 the day of your reservation, which sort of leaves you hanging if you want to make any plans for that day/night. Their towel policy is also a bit strict. They issue a "towel card" to each person. You have to turn in the card to receive a towel and then you get it back when you return the towel. You are charged $10 per card that is not turned back in at checkout. Sure enough, someone stole one of our towels off of a lounge chair! It had only been there for ten minutes. We had to fill out an "official" report at the front desk in order to get a new towel card without paying the ten bucks. It was pretty funny reading some of the other reports on the chart, describing "how, where, and when" their towel disappeared.

Overall, I found the IB Tucan/Quetzal to be a really good value for the money, as far as All-Inclusive resorts are concerned. I’d especially recommend it for groups and weddings. This is a place where you can really relax and not worry about anything (except maybe a looming hurricane). Lucky for us, we just happened to be heading down to Belize the day before Hurricane Emily was set to arrive! It’s my understanding that the resort suffered some damage but was back up and running pretty quickly.

Playa del Carmen town

We only got to visit the actual town of Playa del Carmen for a couple hours one afternoon. It cost $5 U.S. by taxi each way. We strolled around town and down 5th Ave.

and picked up a few items and souvenirs. We also needed some super strong glue to fix my husband’s hiking shoe that experienced a blow out at the airport on the way down. That was quite a task because we had no clue how to say "glue" in Spanish. We finally went into a Century 21 office and found a local gringo that understood us. He sent us to some giant super store in the San Francisco area. They had what we needed, but the walk was long and hot. I would love to spend more time in town and try the local restaurants and bars some time. We’ll have to make another trip to Playa and stay at a non-inclusive hotel next time!

[babs31]

Thanks for taking the time to post! Sounds like you had a nice vacation. We stated at the Del mar and think highly of the iberostar chain!

[TeeZet]

Thanks for the nice report!
Though you stated you're not really an A.I. fan, you really seemed to have a great time!

Originally Posted by TeeZet

Thanks for the nice report!
Though you stated you're not really an A.I. fan, you really seemed to have a great time!

You're right, we did have a great time! I'm mainly not into the A.I. thing because I tend to get sick of the food at those places really quick and I don't like buffets too much. I much prefer to book a "normal" hotel and then visit local restaurants and bars for my food and beverage. I also find that people tend to stay in the resort the whole time and never get out to learn about the actual area they are visiting or the local people. Last year, I won a trip to an A.I. in Jamaica and was really frustrated when all the tours we booked (except one) were canceled because nobody else signed up!!

That being said, I think that A.I.s are great for groups, such as a wedding, and for people who don't want to venture out much.