Shangri-La Trip Report

[Dallas91]

Please see below and you will find the Trip Report......sorry, had some technical difficulties when first posting.

[Dallas91]

Posting is below. Had some format issues between MS Word and posting into the text box.

[Dallas91]

****Mission Impossible Message****
Your Mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read and endure this trip report from a Playa Newbie. This trip report will not self destruct (though it technically could via a Playa moderator), but you may find you need a shot of Don Julio Reposado when you are done as you will never get this time of your life back

Travel Dates: Friday, May 26 – Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Lodging: Shangri-La Caribe, Playa Del Carmen

Okay, there are few notes or obscure facts I should make before you read this trip report as some of them may be applicable at some point:

1. This was my first trip to Mexico (Wonderful Trip!)

2. Though I love to eat, I am no professional food critic. The Food Network will not be calling me anytime soon to ask me to judge an episode of Iron Chef. Heck, I probably once thought that Rotel Dip (Velveeta + Rotel) was a gourmet entrée and I do still find it quite tasty.

3. I am not a small guy…about 6 foot 5 and around 250 lbs. Not overly fat (though definitely could stand to lose some weight), just a large frame. When flying, I am probably one of those people that have others say "oh man, please don’t let the big guy sit next to me" .

4. Just as I am not a food critic, Frommer’s is not exactly knocking at my door asking me to travel the world doing reviews of food/lodging/excursions.

5. Should you read that far, you will find I have personal opinions about things that I don’t expect everyone else to agree with (though you would if you lived in my "perfect world" ) so take everything with "a grain of salt".

6. Sarcasm is a necessity.

7. Mean and/or Rude people suck.

8. I found MUCHO (ha, and they say I didn’t take away anything from Mexico) beneficial information on the Playa.Info site and hope that in some small way, my trip report may help someone who is planning on staying at Shangri-La.

Okay, with those few disclaimers out of the way…..Let’s start the trip Report!

[Kevin y Pam]

Bring it dude. I'm staying there the end of the month.

[Dallas91]

Day 1 (UNO) - The Plane
Friday, May 26<SUP>th
Wake up at 6 am, just like every other day except….Today is PLAYA DAY!!!!!!! We get cleaned up, load up the car, and go to the airport (Memphis, TN – MEM). Airport parking lot in upper and ground level decks is full. It is Memorial Day weekend after all. So, we go down to the basement level and find a place to park. Feeling like we are a few miles from the nearest check-in counter, we start our trek and trudge along to the ticket counter. The waiting lines were surprisingly short.

I need to preface this next part with the fact that I purchased our plane tickets 60 days before our travel date. The Northwest airlines, aka "North Worst", website </SUP><SUP>www.nwa.com</SUP><SUP> said it could not let us choose our seats "at this time". Seemed fishy since I had not had trouble in the past. But I figured I have confirmation of two tickets and my chances of getting an emergency aisle seat were slim so, Beth (wife) and I (Adam) would be seated together somewhere in Coach. The NWA site says you can select the seats within 24 hours of your flight. Tried that with no luck (surprised? No, but no worries). So, we get to the counter and they say, "We can’t assign your seats, you will get them assigned at the gate". Huh? Never had that happen when purchasing seats 2 months in advance. Just go with it, right? Soon it will be Beaches and Beverages! +

We get to the gate with tons of time to spare. Go to the counter and the NWA rep states, "it’s a full flight and I don’t know if I can seat you together". "I’ll work on it though". Not Happy here. Irritated, but politely, I just ask him to please try. Thought it, but did not say "If we wanted separate seats, we would have selected them that way or even flown different flights". Okay, I want the trip to start off right so I go with the flow. Once we got the tickets the Rep said "This is the best I could do with two seats together". Okay, I got something like 21 A, She gets 12 D (9 rows up and other side of the plane). How is that "together"???

The plane is WAY over booked. For 30 minutes they try the old "Please make a little money and take our contingency offer. We will put you in first class, give you the next flight out, and give you $300 vouchers". Sounds intriguing, but I need more details. Next announcement is, "The next flight out is tomorrow. We will put you up for the night and give you meal vouchers". NOPE. I need to get to Playa today and since I already paid for one night plus arranged transportation, I wouldn’t gain anything. They offered it over, and over, and over, and over…..I guess they finally kicked some people off as no one wanted to wait another day to fly into Cancun.

I tease Beth the person in seated in front of me will be one of those "reclining chair" people. We board the plane. Hey, where are the seat numbers! ? Oh yeah, Mr. Too Tall needs to squat down to see the little blue numbers next to the a/c units under the baggage hold. Okay, Beth is seated and my seat is, wait a minute, the numbers seem to go on forever and it looks like my seat may be in the back lavatory or in the kitchenette. Relax; it’s only "almost" that far . I have the window seat next to two young teenage girls who are sleeping. I kindly wake them and they let me through to my seat which I s-q-u-e-e-z-e into because , YEP, Mr. Barco-lounger is in full effect in front of me . Give him a beer and you would think he was watching a Sunday football game.

You will notice here that one of my pet peeves for air travel is the Recline feature on seats. Not that they should not have it, but that there is a certain etiquette that should be used. If the flight is really long, very early, or very late, it is needed. Or, if the person behind you is not affected by your lounge mode, then it is okay. If you must have recline mode, then choose first class. My knees literally press into the seat in front of me, right along that metal rod in the magazine pocket, when the seat is at full-upright position. If I could have reserved an emergency aisle seat, I would. NWA hosed me on that chance. 1st class was full and I am not willing to pay that $$$ much more for a 2 hour 20 minute flight. So, I know what I am getting myself into.

Fortunately seats must be put into the "full and upright position" for takeoff so Mr. Barco lounger sits up and I finally get comfortable (knees now firmly against the back of the seat in front of me). Take off. YEAH!!! Now that we are in the air, Mr. Barco tries to go back to full recline. WHAM! Presses button, pushes back but goes nowhere. WHAM! Knees absorbing the shock. WHAM! Hmmm, not working. Einstein seems to be trying to figure out why it is not working. Let’s see dear Watson, using simple deductive reasoning, you were able to fully recline when no one was behind you and now someone is behind you and you cannot recline. Something must be causing it to not work any longer. Hmmmm? Try turning around sir to see what it is, why don’t you. No, not worth the effort? Okay, then enjoy your flight. I look at it like a car’s speedometer. Yes, it reads 140 mph on the dial, but that doesn’t mean you are actually going to get to go that fast today :p . Wife next to him reclines and sees my knees against the seat but doesn’t seem to say anything. Thanks Lady, I hope this is entertaining for you . WHAM! He tries again. I think he gets about a half-inch of reclining space from compression into my knees. That was all he was going to get so he finally gave up. Should I have said something? Yes, but I did not want to cause confrontation and personally I believe he should have turned to see if there was a problem. It’s simply part of that etiquette thing and personally, I don’t think that you should make yourself comfortable by making others uncomfortable. But, he was probably just naïve and had no clue that he was being a jerk. Or, maybe he just was a jerk. Who knows, this will be the last time I ever see him right? The plane will be on the ground in Cancun soon enough.


A little of 2 hours later, we arrive @ Cancun Airport. Off plane, onto bus, over to terminal. Green light (Okay to pass through) and short line through Immigration. No extra stamp for our Passports though Very nice. Go to baggage claim. Wait 50 minutes for bags to show up. Everyone was lined up on one side of claim area, I joked with Beth that it would be funny if the other end (where we were) is where the luggage first comes out. Yeah! It is!!! The horde scrambles to our side . We get our bags and go to customs. Present custom docs and push stoplight button. Green! Off you go!
</SUP>

[Dallas91]

Day 1 (Uno) – Airport / Transport / Shangri-La Caribe


Off through airport. Ignore people behind information counter yelling "Mister, Mister" :p as I don’t need a brochure for XCaret or Xel-Ha. (Thanks Playa Forum for the heads up ) We are going to Playa NOW! Out through doors and encounter a swarm of taxi and hotel vendors. Very nice people . Many offers for taxis and help with bags, but a simple "No, Gracias" and they politely say "De Nada" and swarm the next visitor. We see the STP Caribe- Shangri-La clip board and proceed to him. He calls the van, it arrives in 3 minutes, we load the luggage and go! Private Van for us.


Our drivers name was David. Not that we would know that from anything other than the hangtag in the car because we were beginning to believe David does not actually speak. No hello, No Bienvenidos, Not even a "Shangri-La?". He simply gets in and starts driving. Pretty much dead silence for 45 minutes. We were still in full Gringo mode and had not gotten acclimated to trying to engage the locals in conversation. Especially since my wife speaks no Spanish and I haven’t had any Spanish since 7th grade (20 years ago).


Advice: Though we did not use any of Playa.Info’s services, if you opt not to take the ADO bus and want smaller or private transportation, I suggest using their transfer as the driver will speak English and can give you a nice greeting and information. We paid $100 for round trip transfer and I think the quote for 2 people via Playa.Info was like $120 round trip.


Arrive Shangri-La. David finally spoke (surprise ) when he said Gracias for the payment. That was the only word we got from him. Greeted by Angie at the front desk and she is very nice . Raphael the manager was there briefly and he too is nice. Get room key, 2 beach towels (don’t lose as they are $20 USD a piece if lost) and bell hop takes us to room.


Room description , likes/dislikes, and photos should be coming up shortly.....
</SUP>

[Dallas91]

Trying photobucket site now to see if I can figure out the picture thing. Thanks.

[Dallas91]

Day 1 (Uno)
Palapa Style Room (44B – upstairs, Caribe, Superior Garden View) is very nice and is tucked away from the main walkways. King sized bed, lots of open space in room, 2 WONDERFUL hammocks on the front balcony, good sized closet, beautiful bathroom with plenty of tile work. A/C in room above bed. Fans above bed and above balcony.
Towel Decoration on bed when we arrive is in the shape of some medallion.
Hopefully here are few pics from the room:
Towels:


The Bathroom: (Kind of get scared when there is a heart on the toilet. Is this their way of saying "You are going to Love the Toilet during your stay")





Great Patio/Balcony with a nice view:


Beth Lounging in the Hammock:

[mlsbkp]

Really enjoying your trip report - keep it coming.

[cjgans]

great report! Can't wait to hear what you thought about Shangri La! Also, very interested in hearing what you thought about the Superior Garden View rooms....thinking about those for our next stay. We stayed Ocean View first time around, but wanted something not quite as expensive next time around. Can't wait to hear more!

[Buns]

I am so, so so very excited to read more!

[Montego]

Good report. Can't wait to read the rest

[wadinNthaWATER]

Great trip report! Can't wait to hear more about my trip!

[Dallas91]

Regarding our Room at the Shangri-La:


Here are a few likes/dislikes about the room:
Likes:
1) King Size Bed (My feet barely hang off a US Queen sized matress, so I love the King)
2) The Hammocks on the Porch. They are REALLY comfortable, easy to get into, very colorful, and easily consolidate to one side of the porch if you want more room on the deck.

Reading the Complete Unabridged Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy here (though it kind of looks like I'm reading a bible)

3) The furniture is simple but nice, pretty dark wood.
4) Large shower and bathroom area.
5) Privacy of room (location)
6) The A/C unit worked well as did the fans. The fan over the hammocks were enough to keep bugs away.
7) The tile work in the bathrooms was cool
8) Daily Towel Animals on the bed (the simple things never cease to amaze me ) The Elephants were my favorite.

The Peacocks:

The Stingray/Serpent/Duck?:

The Swans:

9) Attention to Detail Such as decorating the tissue on the roll and the box


Dislikes:
1) Bathroom was like a sauna. Air could not make it in there from the bedroom (where the A/C was) and during most of the day, it was very hot and humid. Of course you could say it is a "gratis" to get the sauna feel as people actually pay to go to a steam room.
2) The bed linens, or "sheets of sandpaper" as they should be called. I need to remember to write this on the comment card. The sheets were rough and Very scratchy (very low thread count). It would be very uncomfortable if you have any sunburn. However, the pillows and pillow cases were very comfortable (better thread count and fairly fluffy pillows).
3) Lack of a dresser. The beachfront rooms have them, but ours did not. Two shelves in the closet for clothes, plenty of hangers, but we basically had to live out of our bags. The main room was very large and had plenty of room for more furniture.
4) Poor Lighting. The A/C and Main Lamp for the room are back behind the bed. Great if you are laying on the bed, but the rest of the room is Dark at night. Really wish there was a central lamp on the fan or at least one or two more lamps in the room. If you wanted to read at night, you either sit on the table outside beneath the door light, or you lay in bed. Note: The room was plenty bright during the day as there were ample windows.

[Dallas91]

CJGANS,

We really appreciated YOUR report on the Shangri-La before we left. Gave us a good idea of what to expect.

Much more info to come. I didn't realize it would take so long to think and type this out. The info we found was so useful, I want to make sure we provide good info for others planning a trip there.