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| Relaxing, All-Inclusive Style, in the Mexican Caribbean | |
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02/17/07 - Playa del Carmen, MX Living the good life, all-inclusive style, at the very pleasant yet un-Mexican Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun resort |
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For the grand finale of our "final hurrah in Mexico" Yucatan
trip, prior to our return on a more or less permanent basis to
the US, we thought it would be nice to spend a few days with no
scheduling, no logistical details, no decisions, no driving and
navigating, etc, etc - just lots of eating, drinking and
lounging. Scott had found a deal (of course) on the
internet at the highly-rated, adults-only, all-inclusive resort,
Secrets Capri, and decided to reserve us an ocean-view
room for 5 days. We arrived at the very well-maintained,
highly-groomed and vaguely tropical-looking resort via taxi
shuttle on Monday afternoon. Located south of Cancun and
just north of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's lovely Caribbean
coast, one is forced to ask oneself, "is this really Mexico?"
Although the palatial lobby, where we were met with a delightful
welcome glass of champagne upon entering, was beautiful and
grand, it (and the rest of the resort, for the most part) really
looked more like Florida than Mexico or even authentic
Caribbean. But that was ok with us. We've seen
Mexico, after all! We just want to chill! With
champagne in hand, we were ushered to a reception desk, and
after a rather unpleasant snafu with our reservation (Cheap
Tickets really fell down on this one!), we were escorted to our
room and left to raid the (included!) mini bar and order
(included!) room service. "Aaahhh, we could get used to
this," we agreed, with confident, knowing smiles. From that point on, we proceeded to do nothing for the duration of our stay but lounge around the pool and under the palapas on the beach, while the gracious and immaculately uniformed waiters served us tropical, fruity drinks, beer and food - all included! Even though the beach town of Playa de Carmen was just up the road, we never left the resort - we were having too much fun doing nothing! The beach fronting Secrets was beautiful, with white sugary sand and clean, warm, blue waters - great for long walks, which we took daily. We dined on seafood and steaks at the open-air restaurants most afternoons and evenings, but also had delicious sushi and teppanaki at the indoor Pan-Asian restaurant. Although we sampled the room service on our terrace a couple of times, the buffet restaurant was excellent for breakfast; Caroline squealed with joy and delight at the pre-peeled grapefruit sections and gorged on smoked salmon and trout, while Scott took full advantage of the omelette station and the selection of fresh squeezed juices that they do so well here in Mexico. Despite a couple of obnoxious groups vacationing during our stay (one group chowed down on chicken wings in the hot tub while another pair of 'ladies' insisted on smoking in the pool!) and the uninspired (and un-tropical!) decor in our room, we met some nice people and fully enjoyed the luxury, novelty and complete ease of our first and probably last (as we typically prefer to spend our money on more authentic, cultural and/or adventurous travel) all-inclusive experience. Now, back to San Miguel! |
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