Our October trip to the Lindo (part 2)

[Jay B]

Day 5

We were awakened at 2:30 AM for the second night in a row by the sound of furniture being moved in the room above us.  The noise lasted for over an hour.  In the morning, we mentioned this to our concierge and he said he would look into the matter.

After breakfast, we went to the beach, visited the beach bar, and entered the air gun tournament.  S did poorly and I did even worse.  The water was still rough and full of seaweed so we went to the pool for the rest of the day.  I really enjoyed standing under the waterfall at the pyramid and letting the water massage my back and neck.  We played bingo at the ice cream parlor and did not win.  And there was a new ice cream lady today who couldn’t care less if I wanted coconut ice cream.

It started raining at about 5:00 PM when we were getting ready to walk to the Maya for dinner.  It is nice that all the buildings at the Lindo are connected so you can walk all the way from the farthest building to the lobby without getting wet.  Once we got to the lobby, it stopped raining so we then walked to the Maya.  It rained a little every day we were at the Lindo but never for more than 15 minutes at a time.  After cocktails in the Maya lobby bar, we went to the El Rancho steak house.  The waiter asked us if we wanted red or white wine.  I told him that I did not really care for the house red wine so he suggested I try their cabernet, a Mexican wine from Baja California.  It was very good.  He left the bottle on the table.  This was the first time I realized that other wines were available without additional charge.  The waiter brought us a “blooming onion” – kind of like onion rings – it was too greasy to eat.  The appetizer bar had some fantastic little ribs with a sweet glaze – I could have just loaded up on those and skipped the rest of my dinner.  But I had pork chops and they were really good and juicy.  S had steak (can’t remember what kind) and it was also good.  So far, El Rancho was our second favorite restaurant, close behind La Marina.

We went to the beach again to look at the stars and then to the theater.  The show tonight was actually excellent.  It was a Mexican show with beautiful costumes and professional entertainers and dancers.  We stayed until the end.

Day 6

This morning, we decided to try the breakfast buffet at El Fogon where we normally eat lunch.  However, the variety was not nearly as good as at the Italian restaurant.  So we went back to the Italian restaurant.  This morning, we were handed a choice of champagne or mimosas as we entered the restaurant. 

As we were going to our room to get our beach stuff, the concierge stopped us and asked if we heard furniture being moved again during the night.  We said that everything was quiet for a change and asked him if he spoke to the people in the room above us.  He said that he had security “take care of the problem”.

Once we got to the beach, I was shocked.  The water was calm, clear, there was no seaweed, and you could easily see where the rocks were.  I went into the water and saw many large angel-type fish.  S went back to the buffet and got some rolls.  We started feeding fish and were soon surrounded by hundreds of the things.  When we ran out of fish food, they started biting our fingers.  We spent most of the day in the water just swimming and bobbing around, with an occasional break for beer and guacamole.  It’s a shame our other days at the beach weren’t this nice. 

Later that afternoon, we went to the ice cream parlor for bingo and S won but was tied with someone else.  S lost the tie breaker.  Ice cream choices were limited to green, pink, or orange.  We spent the next hour swimming around the pool and then went back to the room.  S started talking about the great steak and lobster she had at the sea food restaurant on our first day and said that she wished we could go back there instead of to the Italian restaurant the next day.  I went to the concierge and changed our reservations without any problem.

It was raining again when we left to go to dinner at Paraiso Beach but it stopped after 15 minutes.  We went to the Beach’s lobby bar and thought it was very nice.  It was open air and had nice comfortable couches.  And the place was full of people, unlike the Lindo and Maya lobby bars.  Dinner was at the Hashiru Japanese restaurant.  People were seated in groups of 18, each group around two large cooking surfaces.  The waiter came by with bottles of red and white wine.  I asked if they had sake and the waiter asked if I wanted it warmed – it was good.  Every two people were given a tray of sushi and sashimi which were good.  For an appetizer, we ordered tempura vegetables (dripping with grease).  The show was like you see at Benihana where the chef cuts and cooks everything in front of you.  He made fried rice, grilled vegetables, and cooked beef, chicken, shrimp, and octopus.  I had some of each and thought the octopus was the best of the bunch.  The chef then tried to flip some shrimp tails onto his had and had marginal success.  Dessert was from a dessert buffet, similar to all the others we tried.  I would give the place an “A” for fun and entertainment and a “C” for food.

After dinner, we stopped by the Lindo lobby bar for a couple of mojitos to go.  We then went to the beach for some star gazing and relaxation.  It started to rain after a while so we went back to the room.  I got sunburned from being in the water most of the day and had a hard time getting comfortable in bed.

Day 7

The weather was gloomy this morning, very overcast and drizzling.  After breakfast, we went to the beach and saw the water was full of seaweed again and very rough.  So we decided to go back to Playa del Carmen for some more shopping.  The weather was still very cloudy but the rain had stopped.  We bought some more junk and then headed back to the Lindo an hour after we arrived.  We had to stop by the crepe place at the shopping center for coconut ice cream after we arrived.  I then took a walk through the grounds of the del Mar and Beach, occasionally stopping for a tequila and coke, and wondered if we had made a mistake by staying at the Lindo – the Beach and del Mar are so much more beautiful. 

We spent the remainder of the day hanging around the pool doing nothing.  Very relaxing!  On our way back to the room, we stopped by the Funjet desk and confirmed that our transportation to the airport was leaving at 10:00 AM the next morning.  We also went to the bellman’s desk and arranged for our luggage to be picked up.

That evening, we went to the Maya lobby bar for a cocktail and then to La Marina.  We ordered the same things we did on our first night – S got beef medallions and lobster and I got grilled tuna.  This time, S got 2 lobster tails instead of one and her meal was every bit as good as it was before.  My tuna was more well done than before and not quite as good.  Assistant chef Martha came by again to talk to us and was very interested in our comparisons of the restaurants in which we ate during the week.  This restaurant was still our favorite.

We stopped by the Lindo lobby bar for mojitos to go and then went to the room to pack.  We also watched Denver beat Pittsburgh with a last second field goal.

Day 8

Breakfast today was in the Pagoda Chinese restaurant – the Italian side was closed.  The buffet was the same and sits between the two restaurants.  We then went back to the room to do some last minute packing, such as stuffing the left over Dos Equis from the frig into our suitcases.  A bellman came to get the luggage and we walked to the beach for a final goodbye.  We then went to the lobby bar to get a bloody mary or two while we waited for our van.  Our van was on time and we went nonstop to the Cancun airport, arriving two hours before our flight departed.  In the past, security people searched all checked luggage before leaving Cancun.  This time, check in was smooth and nobody was searching luggage.  We got through the check in counter and security in about 30 minutes and had the rest of the time to look around the duty free shop.  I went to the tequila tasting area and tried a few tequilas.  I decided to buy a bottle of Aha Toro Reposado.  It probably would have been a lot cheaper in Playa del Carmen.

Our flight home was again on United and we were quickly thrust back into the real world by their staff with indifferent attitudes and no service.  Our trip to paradise was over.   

[Deputy_227]

Jay B
Great review. It felt like I was there. Thanks.