Once a year our family plans a week long trip away. For the past few years we have been traveling to Mexico.. The Iberostar Paraiso Maya., our home away from home. This year, we decided to break out of the box and do some America sightseeing with our two daughters ages 12 and 17. We spent two days in the Grand Canyon where we had a room where our expectations weren't high and then two nights in Sedona where our expectations were higher. To appease my daughters' love of comfort , I chose the Arizona Grand for the last 3 nights where my expectations were the highest and based on what we were used to in Mexico.
The room was lovely; a one queen bed suite on Mountainside. The queen was extremely comfortable. The fold out couch..not so much. The terrace outside had no furniture.. so forget about hanging out there. Cleanliness was fine but when we ran out of toilet paper.... have you EVER run out of toilet paper in a premier resort?.... we were unable to get the housekeeping staff on the phone and resorted to buying our own..... have you EVER bought your own toilet paper on vacation? I hid what was left the next morning so that we might get a new roll and not suffer the same problem the next night with four people in the room. If you think that is crazy.. we had the bar of bath soap worn down to nothing by the end of the four days.with no replacement in sight.
When you stay on Mountainside which is APTLY named, you have no need of the gym if you are walking back and forth from the waterpark. Let's talk about the waterpark next!
This hotel was chosen due to the waterpark. It seemed similar to the Iberostar and there it did not disappoint. Lovely pools, plenty of floats, amazing slides, plenty of towels, etc. However, we had been told by numerous employees that we could just show up by 10 am and have chaises. We have had experiences where you have to go down to the pools by 7 to reserve seats. By the time we got there.. there were NO SEATS and were told to get comfortable on the grass. Yes, it was busy season, but it seems you do indeed have to line up by 9 am for the 10 am opening in order to secure seats at the pools. Would it have really hurt one of the personnel to answer truthfully instead of saying there would be no problem. I did not pay these prices to sit on grass... grass that isn't even FLAT enough to lie on. After much searching, my older daughter and I did CARRY chaises from one side of the park to the other to cobble together a group for our family in the sun without shade. We weren't as naive the next day and were on line by 9 (and no.. we weren't first on line).
You aren't allowed to bring drinks or food in to the area and even had our bags searched..NO I am not kidding. Lunch for us was almost $30 for four small milkshakes and one order of fries. The salads looked very good.. but almost $10 each. The waitresses are attentive. The personnel are extremely nice. The concierge is a doll. The resort is beautiful.. Let's talk about our experience with Rustler's Rooste.. the BBQ restaurant...
We decided to avail ourselves of at least one of the hotel's restaurants. We chose Rustler's Rooste. It is at the top of a very steep hill. We wanted to take a drive after dinner, so instead of taking the hotel motor cart, we took our rental car up the hill. Once there, there is self and valet parking. My husband doesn't like to valet the car and we looked for parking. The valet portion of the parking lot is located on the same level as the restaurant. There are some other spots but with all taken, we were forced to the second level at the bottom of a very steep hill. We ended up driving back UP the hill and used the valet. Yes, to you and me this may be trivial.. but NOT to my husband. Funny thing was we were following another car that did the same exact thing.
My husband would like all you car freaks out there to also know that the resort uses well water in it's sprinkler system and by the morning your car will be covered in large stains from the sprinklers. Be careful where you park if you are freaky about your car.
As for the restaurant... we made 7:30 reservations, showed up 10 mins early and were given a buzzer like at some chain restaurant... REALLY? are you kidding me?
Half an hour later, after listening to a great country band and seeing everyone else get seated, we asked the maitre d' when we might expect to be seated. "Oh we are just clearing some tables" and then ..nothing.. We asked again.. "oh.. I'll seat you right now," Really? are you kidding me again? Once seated, the waitress was pleasant and the food was ok. Just ok.
One more thing.. you are charged $30 extra a day for the water park, the newspaper each day (we saw it ONE day) and a few incidentals. This hotel is a RESORT.. The reason for going is the waterpark... Shouldn't this be included?
OK.. so you decde you are still going.. make sure your room is closer to the pool. Bring an extra roll and your own soap. Bring your own refillable water bottles to the pool.
Also.. we highly recommend Joe's Crab Shack two blocks down on Baseline. There is a Rainforest Cafe in the mall that just thrilled my daughter.
No we won't be returning to this resort. We did have a good time at a beautiful place but somehow we felt truly cheated by the cost.
If you would like a similar va-cay with gorgeous rooms and all food, drinks, and pools included... consider Iberostar in Riviera Maya. Yea.. you have to get up early to get pool seats but at least you get some bang for your buck.!
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