Great All Inclusive Vacation

[Pern453]

We stayed with three other couples at the Lindo last week.

It's a beautiful resort. Everything is landscaped and there are close places to get meals, snacks, or drinks everywhere. Each evening we ate at the themed restaurants. Make reservations the day you arrive. We only had two choices our first day--the rest were full. Well what they called full, since it was off season they must've cut back on staff and reservations. All the restaurants were about 30% full.

We tried the Seafood in the Maya, the Japanese in the Beach, the Gourmet at the Lindo, the International at the Lindo, and the Steak at the Maya. Our least favorite was the International. It's also used as the lunch and breakfast buffet near the pool, so it was hard to overcome the ambiance. Our favorite was the Gourmet. Yummy! The Japanese was hibachi style and was very similar to restaurants in our area.

The bar in the Mayan pyramid at the Maya was cool. Inside the ceiling is very high and it looks like a giant snake is coming down the center of it. Try it out. At most of the bars they give you popcorn around dinner time. It's a nice snack.

We were in building 52, room 5247. Our patio doors faced the beach resort. It was quiet most of the time. Occasionally the trams that pick up guests and shuttle them around could be heard, but they were easy to get used to. Each building is three stories high. It would be convenient to be on the first floor as our friends were. However, I think it may have been quieter up a floor.

Most days we went to the beach and sat in the lounges. We tried many of the different drinks. The beach is beautiful. The sand was awesome, the lounges comfortable, and there were umbrellas available if desired. It wasn't very crowded either. The chairs were about half full.

We tried the swim up bar one day. That's fun, too. The water in the pool was kind of cool. The weather had highs in the lower 80's, but the wind was strong while we were there. We did get used to it though. Even the hot tub was cold! Some of us tried the lazy river. It's kind of out of the way. We had brought our own rafts, but it wouldn't have been necessary. There were many available.

We went to the spa one day. We each got back massages. They were similar to what we'd do at home. You're supposed to bring your swimsuit to enjoy the salt water pool, hot tubs, sauna, etc. afterwards. After the massage they give you water or a vegetable juice drink. Then, you can go into the water areas. The salt water pool looked refreshing, but cool. We didn't try it. The hot tubs were neat. They were at three different temperatures. There was a decongestion chamber that had super humid air. The sauna was like an oven!! It burned my feet and even the seats were roasting. I've been in saunas before, but never anything like that. My friend's husband compared the rows of seats to oven racks. There were also different showers you could try.

The Star Friends were everywhere. They are employees that make sure the guests are happy and tell them about the shows and run the activities. They are a constant presence. They are very upbeat and energetic.

We were there for Halloween. They made a haunted house tunnel between the gazebo and the Galaxy disco in the shopping center area. It was pretty neat for just the one night. They also did a show in the disco--thriller, timewarp from Rocky Horror Picture Show, and others. We went to one show the Grammies. It had moments that were funny and entertaining. Overall we'd give it a 6-7. Every other night there were people outside the theater selling Mexican goods. Make sure to barter them down.

We went on an ATV excursion through Apple Vacations near Playa del Carmen. It was very organized and safe. We swam in a cenote. Bring aquasocks, swimsuits, sunglasses, backpack, cameras in a ziplock bag if you do that one. Fun to do. We tried to book an excursion with ziplines through Funjet, but they called late the day before we were supposed to go and said they didn't have room for us. They left us high and dry. Wouldn't recommend Funjet!

We went snorkeling once. We went with the dive shop on the beach--it's next to the beach by the Del Mar. A guy came around and asked if we'd be interested. We wondered about the rough waves near our beach. The swimming flag was red on our entire trip. He said that they take us out in the boat a ways and that it's kind of protected so the water would be "smooth as glass". NOT! My friend who's not a great swimmer almost drowned her husband crawling up on him when water went down her snorkel. We were all wearing vests, but it didn't help the waves that came up over the top of us into the snorkels. Not an enjoyable experience. I'm sure on calmer days it would be great, and the price was ok. The fish were even holding on and hiding behind plants and rocks.

We went to the shopping area once. It was worth visiting, but we didn't buy much. We went to Cozumel one day. We took a taxi--they wait right outside the resort. The hotel has a stand that will book you a group van for much more money. The taxi is $40 for four people one way. We took the ferry to Cozumel. That was about $28/person round trip. We didn't plan on staying very long, so we probably would have been better off just shopping in Playa. Live and learn.

We were at the Cancun airport for quite awhile on our way back home. We ate lunch at Bubba Gump's there. If you're a sports fan, go there. We were able to watch the Packer game there. They had on a few different NFL games.

Overall, we'd definitely recommend it. We didn't bring our kids this time, but it was safe, clean, and well maintained. I wouldn't have a doubt they'd love it and be fine there. We loved the different bars and restaurants. For breakfast we always went to the one nearest the Lindo lobby. Great omlettes, bacon, cereal, donuts, pastries, etc. every day. We sure miss that each morning.

[George]

Thank you for very detailed review.

George

[ckh]

NICE REVIEW! I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU. DID YOU FIND LOBSTER ON THE MENU AT ANY OF THE SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS?

[MikeOKC]

At several of the ala cartes they have dishes with lobster in them but lobster tails are rarely available except at the Grand.  Unless they have recently changed the menus.

Mike