Fiesta Americana Condesa
Cancun
3/22/11 to 3/29/11
Day 1
3/22/11 Tuesday
The alarm was set for 3 am. Leaving for vacation makes that a little easier to take. Josh gave us a ride to the Dayton airport. We flew Delta to Detroit for a connection to Cancun. Since we booked last minute our travel agent had to get a little creative with the connections.. We left late from Dayton because our flight attendant overslept but still got into Detroit a few minutes early. The flight was only about 36 minutes. The layover in Detroit was 3 ½ hours but technology helped pass the time- between the laptop and kindle we were able to occupy the time.
The flight to Cancun took about 3 hours. We landed about noon and zipped through customs and immigration -the advantages of traveling to Cancun on a weekday vs. weekend. Our bags were already there. They made the earlier flight. Our Delta shuttle van was outside and we arrived at the resort about 1pm. We were disappointed our room was not ready. Check in was 3pm but in the past at all the other resorts we have gone to the room was always ready. No big deal, we went to a buffet lunch and then got acquainted with the lobby bar.
We had some ‘Delta vacation dollars’ we could use for some various perks. We did opt for a room upgrade. We ended up on the beach with a 2 room suite with a Jacuzzi on the balcony. Our room was still not actually ready at 3pm so we sat on the balcony and enjoyed the view while housekeeping finished getting it ready. The room has free Wi-Fi and I had the lap top on the internet in minutes. The room safe was also large enough to store the laptop in when we were not in the room.
Technology has made it a smaller world. I fired off a message to Jason asking him to water the house plants. The weather on day one- about 80 degrees, sunny and breezy. We were tired from a long day and ordered room service for dinner. The room had a table and chairs and they sat it up just like it was in one of the resort restaurants- complete with centerpiece.
Tired, we called it a night at 10:30 pm (12:30 am in Ohio).
Day 2
3/23/11 Wednesday
I woke up at 6:15 local. My body clock seldom changes even on vacation. I felt like I had slept in. I checked out the coffee maker in the rom. Thanks to the upgrade we did not get a coffee maker, we got an espresso maker. Yuck. We never used it. It was a 5 minute round trip morning walk for a couple of cups of coffee. After our coffee on the balcony we went to the buffet near our building the Moon Tower. The breakfast buffet was fine. Resort average, no complaints. They had cook-to-order omelets and most anything you could think to have. The fresh fruit was really good. Patti had strawberry juice. We were there at 8:30 am, what I would call ‘breakfast prime time’. There were plenty of tables, great service and no waiting even for the omelet I ordered.
We went to a Palapa near the beach and read and watched the waves. Most of the beach was red flagged for heavy surf. I walked out about thigh high deep. There were yellow flagged areas bordering the resort you could swim/wade in the ocean at. We tried a couple of the ‘Miami Vice’ tropical drinks we had heard about. They were cold and frozen, but way to sweet for either one of us.
We then went to the upper pool. It was a little cool at first but you would quickly get used to it. Patti and I stopped by the Lobby bar. Bartender Manu took good care of us. I had some blue Agave tequila. Several actually, and put a hurting on some Canadian club and coke. I was 0 and 4 with bar games against Manu. We were tipping and the drinks kept getting stronger. We meet Tammy and Will from Pittsburg and they became our vacation buddies.
Back to the room for a nap. Afterwards we did some reading on the balcony. We had dinner at the main buffet. The selection is ok, but they could use a few more choices. The food quality was good.
The resort is one of the older ones but is still in good shape. It is very nicely landscaped. There is a lush tropical atrium in each tower that is 7 stories tall with creeks running through them.
Day 3
3/24/11 Thursday
I forced myself to stay in bed till 6:15. Got up and relaxed on the balcony reading and watching the ocean. Strenuous, I know. Even at 6:15 I am up to late to catch a sunrise over the ocean. But I’m sure not going to set an alarm to get up any earlier.
We had room service for breakfast. The ham and cheese omelets were very good. I think room service food quality is actually a notch up from the buffet. We went down to the palapas and sat under the shade for a while. Before noon though, we were hot and moved to the upper pool. The pool is a little cool getting in but we got adjusted quickly. We found out the upper pool is slightly heated. The key word there being ‘slightly’.
Usually by now we would have been best friends with the swim up bar staff. But the water in the lower pool was colder and we had very good pool side waiter service. (we never did use the swim up bar). We had a couple of chairs under some palms and with the shade and breeze it was much cooler than the beach. A sunny day, warm and humid about 84 degrees. Even with sun screen we were getting plenty of sun.
We went to the Tex-Mex beach buffet for lunch. It was ok, again could have used a few more choices. Not a big complaint just an observation. Back to the room for the afternoon nap/read on the balcony routine.
We went to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. For the appetizer Patti had taqitos and I had a crab quesadilla. My salad course was shaped chilled cream corn topped with bacon. It was very good. My entrée was shredded BBQ duck with onions and cilantro with tortillas, also good.
A late movie on HBO then lights out.
Day 4
3/25/11 Friday
Our 34th Anniversary! After the buffet we went to our beach spot. The waves had calmed some so I went out into the ocean for a bit. The waves were still strong. The water temp was about the same as the pool, maybe slightly warmer. Got a couple of cheese burgers from a carry out window near the beach. They were very good.
For our anniversary dinner we had decided to go to the Italian restaurant on the resort. The ‘Rosato’ had a 90 minute wait. We used the wait time wisely and had a few drinks with Tammy and Will at the lobby bar. Patti also met a lady from the Cleveland area who worked for the gas company. Patti did a little networking for Heather.
The Italian dinner was outstanding. It seems like the best Italian restaurants we have been to have been in Mexico. Maybe we could get outstanding Mexican in Italy. When I went to check us in at the Italian restaurant there was a guy throwing a fit over complying with the dress code. Yeah the dress code was harsh- you had to wear pants and a shirt with a collar. He was wearing a t-shirt. He was throwing a fit because he was from Italy, “I’m Italian. This is an Italian restaurant. The dress code does not apply to me.” Really?
I had eggplant parmesan for an appetizer and Patti had layered tomatoes and cheese. We shared a pasta lasagna course for two that rocked. For entrées Patti had beef tips in sauce over a potato type cake. I had bacon wrapped grilled shrimp . Our taste buds were doing back flips. The desert was a sampler plate of various treats including crème brulee. Since it was our anniversary that also brought out a small chocolate cake with a misspelled ‘Happy Aniversary’ iced on it. A thoughtful gesture.
Day 5
3/26/11 Saturday
I slept in till 7:15! Oh no, I am sleeping away the vacation! I was a little late to reserve a palaypa so I reserved a shady spot at the upper pool. A new routine, lasting rest of the vacation. We had breakfast at the main buffet, food quality was better than beachside.
Went to the pool and visited with Tammy and Will. It was their last day. The pool had warmed up a bit. We enjoyed walking around with a drink in our hand. For lunch I tried the little seaside seafood place ‘La Cervicheria’. I had read prior to coming that they had good fish tacos and they were excellent. They also had a very good made to order shrimp cocktail with a chunk of avocado garnish. Patti had chicken strips and quesadilla from the take out window.
Vacations being hard work, we continued the tradition of the afternoon siesta. After the nap I was updating my journal when a felt a rain drop. It was followed by 3 more. I looked up- a rogue cloud. That was the extent of the afternoon shower.
Service at the resort has been outstanding. We heard from a bartender that with tips they make about 22 dollars a day for an 11 hour day- Two dollars an hour. He said it was good money. The only service at the resort maybe lacking is housekeeping. It was inconsistent. Some days they did not come, other days no water. You could call and get water sent up. No major complaint, again just an observation. Service at the pool, bar and restaurant were very good.
My star ratings- 1 being bad, 5 being outstanding
Overall: 4
Value: 5
Landscaping: 5
Pool: 3.5
Beach: 3.5
Room service: 4
Buffets: 3.5
Mexican restaurant: 3
Italian restaurant: 5
Seafood restaurant: 5
Coffee bar: 4
Front desk: 3 (were not entirely truthful on the cost of an upgrade)
Housekeeping: 3
Day 6
3/27/11 Sunday
We had a little excitement this morning. We were in the living room and both heard dripping. I went into the bedroom and saw a small puddle by the door. I looked up and saw that water was dripping from an air conditioning panel. I called the front desk:
Dan: Yes, this is Mister XXXX in 410. We have a water leak.
Desk: No problem sir. Would you like 1 bottle or 2?
Dan: No bottles. Water is leaking… we need maintenance.
Desk: Oh, please do not be afraid we will fix it.
They finally got the message.. To funny. It took two trips but they were responsive and got it taken care of.
Today was a rerun of yesterday- buffet, pool, buffet, nap. That night we sat in the lobby bar for a drink and listened to the entertainment staff host music trivia. We got an ice cream cone from the coffee bar and headed back to the room.
Day 7
3/28/11 Monday
The last full day. We had a leisurely morning in the room, coffee on the balcony. We went to the main buffet for breakfast. Then to the upper pool. (our most recent routine). It seemed every day the upper pool was a degree or two warmer. Slightly cool still, but it only took a minute to get used to it.
Read, relaxed, had a few drinks. Back to the room around 1 pm. We took an afternoon siesta. I went down and reconfirmed our flights and pick up times for tomorrow- no changes. We ended up skipping lunch and used the Jacuzzi one last time on the balcony.
We were mostly packed before dinner. We went to the main buffet again. This time they also had an Asian buffet since they had just started remodeling the Asian restaurant. After dinner we went to the coffee shop in the lobby for coffee and ice cream.
Spent a few minutes in the gift shop, not a great selection or prices but we did get some coasters. Every night there is entertainment in the theater but we usually did not go. This night was a Michael Jackson tribute. It was about 45 minutes long and was not bad. We then headed back to the room to finish up packing.
Day 8
3/29/11 Tuesday
Trip home
Had a wake up call for 6 am and we were in the lobby in the lobby by 6:40 to check out. Carlos had told us an aprox. cost for our upgrade. He was off by about 160 dollars. We did not figure that out till we got home. Our shuttle was on time at 7am. Check in at the airport went smoothly. We had breakfast at the airport and Patti bought a few birthday presents for some coworkers in the gift shops.
It was a 2 hour flight to Atlanta we had a 2 hour layover. Most of that was taken up by immigration and customs. Very slow this trip. I think the must have had about 6 international flights land about the same time. By the time we got to the gate for the Delta flight we only had to wait 20 minutes to board.
A 1 hour flight and landed in Dayton at about 6pm. Josh and Ashley met us in front of package claim. Got home and got mostly unpacked. We had Taco Bell for dinner. Hey, we didn’t have tacos the entire time we were in Mexico.
It was 86 degrees the day we left Cancun, we had snow flurries the day after getting home. A good time and good value.
