AventuraSpa Palace Trip Report = VERY LONG!!!!

[BobInTheChuck]

Bob & Barb's AventuraSpa Palace - Trip Report

Couple in our mid-50's. Outgoing, love meeting people from everywhere, relaxing, good food and drink. Chose the AventuraSpa primarily because of the Adults-Only. Had a less than pleasant experience at a family-oriented resort in Puerto Vallarta the previous year - said "No more kids!" Also, a number of other people's trip reports helped us decide.

Summary:

Great
Room: Excellent. Bldg. 0, 3rd flr. Good view of ocean from balcony. Rooms are not huge as jacuzzi takes up lots of room but excellent amenities. Enjoy beer out of minibar. Left $2 plus a "Mas Cerveza, Por Favor" on top of the minbar each day - minibar restocked every day. Pool, palapas and shade palms right below us.
Food: Excellent. All kinds of premium food (crab, duck, smoked salmon, beef tenderloin, shrimp, filet mignon, beef medallion, rack of lamb, etc.) every day. Only disappointment was Oriental restaurant - neither one of us cared for it.
Pools: Great for my wife (she's 4', 9") as the pools are 4' deep all around
Service: 9.5 out of 10 - Just missed a perfect 10 because the one evening when our usual server at Ventanas was off, the service was noticably less than 100%. Drink service by the pools and even the lagoon was great.

Very Good
Drinks: Very good; not watered down. Actually enjoyed the Tecate (light Mexican beer) in the minibar as well as the DOS XX
Lagoon: Absolutely perfect for someone like me learning to snorkel. Was calm and clear, and my wife thoroughly enjoyed it. Would be nice to have had a long, sandy beach for walks but we knew about the lagoon going in.
Evening Entertainment: Better staff than any Puerto Vallarta shows we saw - more talented singers and dancers. 'Casino Night' was great, 'Karaoke Night' a lot of fun.

Poor
Phone: 0 out of 10! Tin cans with string would be an improvement over the TelMex 'phone service here! Perhaps we were naïve inasmuch as we always used Ladatel cards in Puerto Vallarta and never had a problem. Believe, no matter what card we used it would have been the same - think this area just lacks the maturity of telephone systems we
experienced on the Pacific coast. The TelMex card my wife bought was a waste - our daughter could see it was us calling her at home; when she lifted receiver, the connection broke - meanwhile, all the seconds to make the connection were being deducted from the card. We finally settled for connecting from the room ($5 U.S.) and calling collect.
Suquest Rep. at AventuraSpa: Pitiful! I asked him about career opportunities as he basically did nothing; his customers did all the work. Have written Sunquest regarding this individual.

Overall:

9.5 out of 10 - can't wait to go back!

Sunday, March 16

 Up at 5:00 – Groan!
 Airport at 7:00
 Only 1 x “Cub Class” seat left – bought it; gave it to Barb – Row 2
 I’m back with the chaff in row 5
 Leave on time (10:00 AM)
 5.5 hours flight
 “Mystery Lasagna”
 Arrived on time
 Only 5 minutes to get through Immigration
 15 minutes to collect luggage
 Over to Customs – Barb pushed button (she’s the lucky one – 2 previous Mexican trips – both “green”) – comes up green again and we’re through
 Many jackals try to grab luggage – say they represent our tour operator – they don’t even know who our tour operator is – stay away from these vultures!
 Met up (outside) by 2 x Sunquest Reps. – show us to a van and load our luggage
 We’re first there and wait 5-10 minutes on 3 other couples (1 with 2 kids) before we head out
 2 other couples in a van going to AventuraSpa (Lorna and Ernie from Ft.McMurray and Leanne and Ian from B.C.) – 1 other couple (also from B.C.) going to Bahiah Maya
 Waited on other couples to arrive – gentleman selling Coronas out of the trunk of his car. Bought one to ‘take dust off’ – 89F and very humid
 Got going and stopped after 20 minutes
 Stopped at Bahiah Maya took 15 minutes to get up a long back road. Place surrounded by small lakes and standing water!
 Construction everywhere – (styroboard and tarps) looks like a war zone – see look on lady from BC. Here one son says “Oh God, we’re not staying here are we?” Feel sorry for them – will check place out when we get back – looks like a hell hole – only hope for them it’s better than it looks
 After they got out and the doors were closed we all talked about the difference between a work in progress and a shit hole
 Off to Playa and AventuraSpa
 ASP about 10-15 mins. South of Play del Carmen on 307 hwy
 Pulled in – awestruck!
 Heard so many stories of rude or abrasive or aloof check in people; this fellow (Tony) introduced himself, shook our hands and also gave us his business card – “Take personal responsibility – if ANYTHING wrong you call me”
 Served large glasses of champagne while checking in
 Mentioned it was a VERY dusty trip; 2 more glasses of champagne immediately followed along with concern about dusty trip
 Manuel takes our luggage out to a golf cart/truck. We follow, champagne in hand
 Gives us a mini tour. Can’t see a lot; dark now
 Brings us to our room – room 3025 (3rd floor, bldg. 0, room 25)
 Shows us minibar, etc.
 Bottle of wine, cheeses, grapes, breads all set out for us
 View off balcony is straight out into ocean – fantastic
 Beautiful double Jacuzzi – didn’t use it tonight
 Chairs and table, double hammock on balcony
 Shower is double with a seat
 Iron and ironing board
 Minibar has 6 beers, water and soda.
 Liquor dispenser has brandy, rum, scotch, tequila
 Unpack and have a couple of drinks
 Look place over
 Moving clothes in closet where iron was – knock it off and bust it!
 Go out for a short walk to find some supper
 End up in Ventanas restaurant – beautiful stained glass ceiling and pool in centre – white gothic columns all around outside – very impressive
 Get seated right away – NO reservations at ANY restaurant here
 Fabulous buffet – whole roasted turkey, excellent cheeses, lasagna, soups, desserts, etc.
 Meet another couple from North Carolina – (Todd and Sharon) - nice people, nice chat
 Waiter sneaks into our group picture!
 Go out to courtyard – nice Mexican show on – snap a few pics
 Back to room – tired
 Dump pictures from digital memory card to laptop, make notes
 Couple of rums, beers
 Get ready for Monday!
 Planning on just checking out place. Will attend Orientation Session between 4:00 – 6:00 PM on Monday.
 So far, impressed with total professionalism of place. Grounds, food, people, service, accommodations absolutely awesome
 Leave balcony door open, screen door closed. Fall asleep to sounds of ocean waves.

Monday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day)

 Woke at 5:55
 Reset alarm for Barb for 8:00
 Cranked up coffee (nice having coffee maker in room), shower & shave
 6:20 – Birds perch on balcony and squawk so loud, Barb now awake
 Called downstairs:
 More hangers
 Couple more pillows (they're quite thin)
 Couple more ashtrays
 Left PEZ candies, scented candle, statuette and 20 pesos for maid (recommend leaving tips for maid on pillow - less chance of misunderstanding when money left on dresser or table)
 Left note (“Mas Cervesas” (more beer)) plus $2 on minibar
 Filled out Maintenance Card (broken iron) and left it on outside of door
 Walked over to Mundaca for breakfast
 Excellent pineapple, watermelon
 Served OJ and coffee
 We both opted for scrambled eggs and bacon
 Walked over to North Lobby - seemed like a long walk - VERY humid
 Changed a 50 peso note into 10 x 5 perso coins for tips
 Barb bought 4 minutes of long distance for 50 pesos!
 09:00 - Had our first Pina Colada of the day
 Checked out areas by waterfalls - need some chemicals in there to diminish smell - was rather like sewage.
 Not much in the way of shade palapas or trees over on the Spa side - could picture broiling in the afternoon.
 Went to see about our free tours. Had decided before we arrived that we'd just go for 1 tour as we were only there for a week.
 “Sofia” tried to get us to reserve a “tour of the AventuraSpa facilities” – we said leave it alone for now - we knew this was just a pitch to get us together with Sales people for timeshare or (they call it) "Membership Program"
 Opted for Chichen Itza tour for Friday – “Sofia” said her printer was down and we’d have to return for the receipts – (Yeah, sure)
 Walked back and changed into swim suits - our clothes were soaked by now.
 There's an air-conditioned shuttle bus that goes back & forth every 5-15 minutes - make sure you use it!
 Got a palapa right by our room - lots of palapas and shady areas for the taking. Always lots of spots; never got up early to "save" anything.
 Pool water great – 4’ deep – can go for hundreds of yards at this depth – perfect for Barb
 4 other couples, about our age or older, showed up in St. Patrick’s Day garb
 Also had a CD player with CD’s of Irish music
 Laughed at irony of sitting out under beautiful Mexican sun and fantastic surroundings of Mexican resort in the Mayan Riviera, listening to “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and “Clancy Lowered The Boom”!
 Went down to lagoon – can see plenty of fish – all colours and shapes – swim right up to your feet. If you have bread, you can feed them
 Ordered mucho Pina Coladas from pool service waitress – tip big first round; looked after all afternoon. Even passed others to get our drinks to us right away.
 Lorna & Ernie (Ft. McMurray) came by and had their snorkel equipment
 Followed them to lagoon to watch them try their first real snorkel
 Bob swam in lagoon. Almost impossible to sink in salt water – float like a cork!
 Had some Philly Steak sandwiches and fries for lunch from swim up bar
 Back to room for siesta
 Beautiful towel/flower arrangement left on corner of Jacuzzi! Took a couple of photos
 Hangers, ashtrays here as well as a new iron
 6 fresh beers in minibar
 Laid down and set an alarm for an hour
 About 1 min. before alarm, maid knocked on door with another 6 hangers!
 Dressed for supper (long pants and sports shirt for me, light dress for Barb)
 Dumped about 60 photos to laptop and cleared card
 Have to go to South Lobby for between 4:00-6:00 for Orientation
 Met with Abraham of Sunquest services – showed us where to check for return flight times and pickup times - that was it (more on this character later!)
 Walked over to Mundaca for supper
 Full moon tonight – grabbed a couple of photos
 Sat outside on patio overlooking the beach lagoon (must sit outside if you want smoking – love it) – BEAUTIFUL breeze
 Both had Shrimp Cocktails, Barb had beef tenderloin, I had Filet Mignon – great
 Little cat ("gato") joined us for supper - snuck up from beach and stayed outside on the edge of the huge palapa - didn't come up near table - kept sneaking him slivers of Filet
 Cat stayed right by our table ‘til waiter took plates away – then moved on to next table and they kept feeding him
 Waiter tried to act like he disliked the cat hanging around his customers. Barb didn’t finish all her beef tenderloin – we caught the waiter sneaking the cat the last piece of her beef! All had a great laugh!
 Animacion staff girl (in clown outfit and roller blades!) came over to ask us to attend show at 9:00 in Courtyard
 Had the Black Cherry Pie for dessert – marvelous – not a jelly filling. Fresh, whole black cherries and a cookie crumble on top – excellent. Both had coffee
 Mundaca has great food!
 Back to room – relax for a few minutes
 Over to South Lobby Gift Shop – Barb buying back rub – looking over liquors at gift shop – Have a bottle of Kahlua for $13 (in the shape of a Mayan Statue). Will wait ‘til we go into Playa and try a couple of liquor stores there – otherwise we’ll wait ‘til we get back to airport (Duty Free)
 Had a very large cigar humidor – a fellow was also rolling cigars by hand when we were there
 Went into South Lobby Courtyard for show “Ideal Couple” – 4 couples doing various challenges – lots of fun and laughs
 Ian and Leanne (Fort St. John, B.C.) who were in the van with us from airport, came and joined us.
 Had fun watching show
 Had another couple drinks after the show, as a local small group started playing/singing. Went back to room
 Bed turned down – flowers and mint (heart shaped) chocolates on pillows
 Cranked up Jacuzzi and added some bubble bath (Tip: We only added a quarter of the little container - was more than enough - bubbles from whole container would likely overflow the jacuzzi)
 Uncorked wine and into tub – marvelous! Both felt like dishrags when we got out – so relaxing and easing of muscle aches
 Barb tired – turns in – has quite a burn on back, shoulders – I was lucky; just a little on neck and shoulders (used SPF45)
 Set alarm for 5:45 (trying to photo sunrise)
 Uploading rest of photos, videos
 Doing up today’s notes – enjoying rest of wine!
 Life is GOOD!
 Tomorrow I’ll go over and get our tickets for Chichen Itza
 Otherwise, plan for the day is major slack-assing

Tuesday, March 18

 Me up at 5:50
 Coffee, shower and shave
 Took several shots of sun coming up
 Considering trying snorkeling today
 8:00 – Barb up
 We’re into our 2nd pot of coffee
 Dress and out for breakfast at Mundaca
 Mundaca: Great eggs this morning, also some fruit but no pineapple available – it’s OK we still love them!
 They want $44 for snorkel and mask at Dive Shop
 Back to room
 Barb changes for pool – I stay dressed to go over to North Lobby to go after our Chichen Itza tickets
 Caught shuttle to North Lobby – air conditioned bus – didn’t have to wait
 Told, at 1st kiosk that “printer is down”. Walked around – found 5 other ‘Guest Services’ kiosks with working printers – parked myself at one
 When ‘Guest Services Manager’ walked by I raised my voice just slightly to say “We were promised tickets to Chichen Itza and everywhere I go your staff is telling me the printers are down- yet I see other tickets being printed” People sitting at next desk became interested – Manager printed off my tickets in 30 seconds – a good morning’s work!
 Walked over to North Lobby Gift Shop – they had a snorkel and mask for $23 – bought it
 Shuttle back to South Lobby – again, no waiting
 Back to room, changed into bathing suit – down to pool to meet up with Barb
 Mucho Pina Colodas
 “Tricia” from Alabama comes by and sees snorkel – “Oh are you going snorkeling?” I said “Yes, but never tried it before” She said “My husband and I will meet you down by the lagoon”
 Meanwhile Lorna and Ernie from Ft. McMurray came by and said “Oh great you got some snorkel stuff – let’s go”
 Ernie went along with me and showed me where the best schools were (just at the front of the rock outcroppings) – unbelievable! Fish would literally come up to the tips of your fingers to see if you’d feed them. Saw beautiful little yellow fish with black stripes. Saw a fish that was almost translucent – swam under me and was followed by a school of 30-40! Great! Love this.
 Got disoriented and started swimming direction of ocean breakwall – suddenly realized water was getting colder, couldn’t see rocks, couldn’t see bottom – popped my head up and was 20’ from breakwall – not where I wanted to be – was 200 yards away from the rocks – turned around – no problem
 Went back up by pool – mucho Pina Coladas
 Closed my eyes for a moment – Barb tells me I was snoring – didn’t believe her
 Went back down to lagoon and in to snorkel again – great
 Barb waded in a little deeper and was surrounded by fish – loved it
 By now we’re soaked and tired – gather stuff and back to room for siesta
 Beautiful swan towel layout on bed with flower petals – of course I did a photo – even more flowers today than yesterday
 Uploaded photos and videos for today
 Laid down at 4:00 – set alarm for 5:00
 Alarm goes off; hell with it; we sleep ‘til 5:45
 Get up and dressed for supper – going to Ventanas again tonight – dress shorts and nice sports shirt OK
 Walked over to Ventanas – waiter remembered our drink orders from Sunday (is this a good sign? Not sure)
 Found smoked salmon – heaven!
 Also had an ordered of friend shrimp and a bit of Caesar salad
 Went back up and had large order of fried shrimp and a 1 ½ lb. BBQ’d t-bone – excellent!
 Took shuttle over to North Lobby to look in gift shops
 Had a drink at the Courtyard in the North Lobby – piano player doing a great job while 4 budgies spazzed off behind him!
 Shuttle back to South Lobby for Latin Show
 Place was just about full
 Invited to sit with Sue and Terry Hammill from Indiana – great couple. Second year at ASP and will continue to return
 Show was excellent – great dancers and great music – took lots of photos and videos
 When show finished, Mexican group started up just outside the Courtyard again - what the heck; couple more drinks
 Back to room. Turn down again – chocolate mints, flowers – really nice touch
 Started uploading photos and videos.
 Tomorrow plan on relaxing then going into Playa for a while in the afternoon
 “Casino Night” starts at 8:00 PM tomorrow night
 Another great day in paradise

Wednesday, March 19

 Up at 7:30
 Barb up at 8:30
 Dress and go to Mundaca for breakfast
 Another couple and us took turns sneaking pieces of bread to the neighbouring birds
 Swiped a breakfast roll (to feed fish in lagoon later)
 Cab into Playa del Carmen ($12 U.S.)
 Walked about 4 miles each way along 5th Avenue
 Bought 2 x large Kalhua (with Mayan god – shaped bottles) for $16 U.S. – AventuraSpa wanted $13 for 1!
 Bought other souvenirs and an underwater camera
 Getting very hot
 Cab back to AventuraSpa – stopped in the bar for a couple drinks
 Back to room – changed into bathing suits
 Down to lagoon
 Into water with snorkel gear and bread and camera
 Fish going nuts, release just a little almost in front of my face – about 30 fish all thrashing in front of me for the bread – snapping pictures like mad - used up 27 exposures in minutes
 Will pick up another underwater camera yet before we go home
 Walk up to pool area – into pool – like lukewarm soup!
 Walked all the way over to the swim up bar for drinks then walked back.
 Up to room for short siesta and then change for supper
 Left bathing suits, etc. on balcony
 Got up and dressed. Uploaded today’s photos and videos
 Getting ready for supper – probably Ventanas
 “Casino night” starts at 8:00 then a Mexican show at 10:00
 Ventanas – walk in and 7 waiters are lined up and give us a round of applause as we enter – what a hoot – hand shakes all ‘round
 Waiters still remember our drink orders – oh, oh!
 No smoked salmon tonight but a large prime rib roast out to help yourself to
 Had a stuff tomato, a stuffed zucchini and a bit of prime rib
 Went back and got a beef medallion BBQ’d as well as seafood grill (calamari, oysters, clams and shrimps) all fried up on the grill – very good
 Barb had fish, chicken, beef, rice and vegetables
 Barb went back and got a piece of carmalised cheesecake – we shared it over coffee
 08:00 – went to Casino Night – everyone given play money. They had craps, roulette, bingo, blackjack
 I lost all my money ultimately – went back and they gave me a bit more
 Barb was playing bingo
 Sat and played a couple of games – gave winnings to Barb
 They had an auction later (hats, tequila, champagne, water bottles, visors, Frisbees, etc.) – lots of laughs and lots of fun – ended at 10:00
 Back to room
 Tomorrow’s plan is major slack-assing
 Will get another underwater camera or 2 tomorrow
 Will swipe several rolls from breakfast to feed fish

Thursday, March 20

 Slept a little later
 Left a note and $3 for more beers and Diet Pepsi
 Dressed and went for breakfast to Mundaca
 Great breakfasts – no pineapple chunks though
 Went to gift shop and got another underwater camera
 Back to room – change into bathing suits and down to palapa by the pool
 Met up with Lorna and Ernie – they enjoyed their snorkel trip yesterday
 Made arrangements to meet them at South Lobby and go over to Oriental restaurant for supper together
 Read, snoozed, drank – nice day
 Went and got cheeseburgers, nachos at Swim Up bar snack bar
 Down to lagoon
 In snorkeling – saw about 4 more different types of fish
 Slight knuckle cut on coral rock – could have been worse – if I hadn’t got my hand up I’d have hit it with my head
 Fed lots of rolls to fish – others coming along wanted some of the bread to feed fish
 Met Randy and his new wife; he was impressed with our 36 years marriage
 Back to room - $3 gone but no beers, pop!
 “Bunny” towel figure on bed
 Called Housekeeping at 4:30 – they said they’d be here in 10 mins.
 Set alarm for 6:00 and turned in
 5:30 – Housekeeping woke us with a large bucketful of pops, beers, water - could barely get it all in 'frig (had to leave a couple bottles of water on dresser to ensure room for all beers - priorities!)
 Back to sleep for another ½ hour
 Dumped photos up to laptop
 Filled out card to hang on door before bedtime to have coffee, sweet rolls, fruit sent to room for 6:30-7:00
 7:00 – left to meet Lorna/Ernie for supper
 Probably just come back and have a drink with them at the show (starts at 9:30)
 Don’t think we’ll stay up too late – will have to get our stuff ready for Chichen Itza on Friday morning
 7:05 – Over to South Lobby; met up with Lorna/Ernie
 Over to Mo Mo No Han oriental restaurant in North Lobby
 Greeted by Hostess who poured us each a "Blue Lagoon" drink to sip on way to table
 Nice ambience
 Spring rolls were great – rest of the food was not that impressive
 Back to South Lobby in time for Mayan Show
 Had a quick drink and back to room; Barb called home
 Uploaded photo of the 4 of us
 Getting ready to get up early for Chichen Itza

Friday, March 21 – Spring Equinox

 Up at 6:00 for Chichen Itza
 Shower, dress
 7:00 – Breakfast delivered to door:
 Large pot of coffee
 Sweet rolls. Toast & jam
 2 fruit plates (watermelon, cantelope, pineapple chunks)
 2 large orange juice
 Load up some water, etc.
 Head over to South Lobby and get on tour bus
 “Delio”is our tour guide and “Martine” our driver
 Pick up some more people from North Lobby and we’re on the way
 2 hours later we stop for 40 mins. In Vallalodil
 Barb gets a few souvenirs and I get a blanket for my office wall
 Up to Chichen Itza 20 mins.later
 Get our tickets for admission as well as tickets for our buffet lunch
 Walk for a couple of hours – spectacular!
 Back to MayaLand Hotel for buffet lunch – so-so
 Back into park – heat must be well up into the 90’s – excrutiating
 CANNOT CLIMB ANY STRUCTURE NOW – forbidden!
 One jerk runs ¾ way up main temple – crowd cheers – “federales” arrest him and take him away – crowd boos
 March 21 is Spring Equinox – must be 75,000+ people in front of main temple (apparently there were abt. 85,000 her last year)
 “Delio” does a great job as a guide
 5:00 PM – everyone piles back on bus – exhausted
 7:30 – back to hotel
 7:40 in room and change for supper
 Ventanas again – food fabulous (smoked salmon, duck, crab) but our usual server not on tonight – it shows; keep having to stop a server to get a drink
 Over to Courtyard for Karoake night (and a couple more Pina Coladas) – 3 or 4 excellent singers
 Back to room by 10:00
 Tired tonight; missed our usual daily siesta
 Upload photos, videos
 Saturday’s plan is plenty of pool and lagoon time

Saturday, March 22, 2003

 Up at 6:00, Barb up at 8:00
 Dress and out for breakfast
 Over to Mundaca – really enjoy this place – great view sitting outside, great breeze
 Waiter even asked where we were yesterday – talked to him about trip to Chichen Itza and Equinox celebration
 Swiped some dinner rolls for fishes
 Over to Lobby
 Grabbed shuttle to North Lobby for some shopping
 Walked out to entrance to get some photos
 Bought a Mayan clock and Barb bought a ring
 Back to South Lobby, got some photos of Courtyard from 2nd floor
 Back to room and into bathing suits
 Down to pool – found a spot
 Met up with Ernie and Lorna
 Barb met up with Ian and Leanne – the way they read the Sunquest book, we’re leaving at 07:50 tomorrow morning – very upsetting!
 Lorna and Ernie going for lunch will meet us at Lagoon
 Saw a couple of beautiful birds – black cap but mainly orange body – a small crow size; also one that was the same size and marking but lemon yellow – took a couple pics from a long distance – will have to see if they turn out.
 Down to lagoon
 Got 4 loungers together
 Went swimming and feeding fish
 Put on mask snorkel and went feeding fish – one (abt. 1 foot long) came right up to me and lunged at bread – sliced my finger –felt the pain and knew I’d been cut
 As I’m swimming toward shore, can see the blood coming out of my finger
 Little bugger got me just like a razor! At least it’s a small, nice clean cut. Lesson learned!!!!
 Up to South Lobby to try and find “Abraham” from Sunquest tours – good bloody luck! Was supposed to be there at 4:00 – 6:00
 By 4:30 there’s 6 of us sitting there
 Hopped the shuttle over to North Lobby, used Internet service and confirmed flight times on AirTransat
 Meanwhile one of the other 6 got on a phone over to the North Lobby and found out pickup time was 2:05 PM Sunday
 We all stood and figured out the logistics (when to get Bellboy, when to get to North Lobby, etc.) ourselves
 Went for a drink
 Who walks in but “Abraham” – now after 5:00 PM
 Walk over and he confirms all we’ve said and planned – thank him for doing absolutely nothing and inquire about career opportunities at Sunquest!
 Back to room and start doing SOME packing
 Meeting Ernie and Lorna for supper at La Hacienda at 7:00
 Barb and Lorna have exchanged email addresses.
 Got dressed for supper (long pants, etc.) for La Hacienda
 Met up with Ernie and Lorna
 Very nice meal
 “Special coffee” presentation after supper – lots of flames, etc.
 Over to Courtyard for International Show – very good
 Back to room by 10:30
 Finish almost all packing
 Plan to have breakfast Sunday, a little pool time then change to be out of here by 12:00-01:00 PM for checkout as pickup for airport is 2:05 PM
 Flight is 5:40 PM
 Into Edmonton at 10:55
 Really regretting leaving – one of the best Mexican holidays so far

Sunday, March 23, 2003

 Groan! Last day
 Up and finish off packing
 Over to Mundaca for breakfast
 Back and change into bathing suits; out to pool
 Actually very little sun today and extremely humid - lots of boiling clouds
 Just read our books by the pool and hid a final dip
 Changed to travel
 Called for bellboy - arrived in 10 minutes
 Golf cart ride back to North Lobby for checkout
 Owed $25 for phone calls
 Got a chit to identify us as staying on for the day
 Lunch at El Greko - tempura shrimp, ribs
 Wait in lobby for 2:00 pickup; couple of drinks
 Pick up right on time
 Back to airport - sky looking really grim
 Through check-in - nailed $75 for overweight
 Through security; didn't even ask me to take my laptop out of my knapsack, let alone fire it up
 Raining now - watch faces of new arrivals; they look pretty grim
 Plane on time and away we go
 Spent time on return flight, planning for the NEXT trip to the AventuraSpa!
 Landed in Edmonton 20 mins. early

[nickye]

Thank you Bob....Just what i needed to hear...we are off to aventura spa palace on tuesday. This gives me a GREAT idea what to expect. Thank you
nic

[sunnybrook31]

Wow, that made my morning! Now I am so excited about my trip to Aventura Spa Resort that I literally have goosebumps on my arms. I don't guess I have any more unanswered questions. What a wonderful, wonderful report. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

We're going June 27. I don't know how I'm going to stand the waiting during the next 2 months.

Wow, That was an incredible report and now I can't wait to get on that plane. Only 20 Hours to go.

Quick question! My boyfriend who up until last night didn't want anything to do with the planning the trip ( he's another "just tell me how much and when to pay!") has now decided he has some questions. He was warned by a friend not to use the mini bar in the room as that is one thing that you do get charged for. I assured him that for the money we spent that shouldn't be a problem, but he is insisting that I post the question. So in the interest of harmony a day before we go on vacation together, can you tell me if you got charged for use of the mini bar a Adventura Spa Palace?

Much appreciated!

Assure him that you do not get charged for using the minibar. Heading to ASP for second time in one week - have agreat time and post a trip report

[BobInTheChuck]

No, there's no charge for the minibar or the liquor dispenser on the wall of most rooms.

Only thing to keep in mind is the minibar is not generally re-stocked EVERY day (most times, every second or even 3rd day - doesn't seem to be any consistency).

I left a couple of dollars and a small note - "Mas cervesas, Por Favor" (more beers, if you please) on top of the minibar after I emptied the beers (daily) and had a re-stocked mini-bar every day.

You'll find, at the ASP, there's very few "add ons". I can think of some of the Spa treatments and use of their Internet facility as a couple, but not many more services that cost - this is really an all-inclusive.

[therapy_guy]

Jeannie & I are headed to ASP in a couple of weeks . . . 13 May!!! Can't wait. Thanx for the tip about the mini-bar restocking . . . a note and a couple of bux well spent i'm sure!