Vidanta Grand Luxxe - 2019

10-18 November 2019

10 Nov, Sun – Another on-and-off rainy day. We finished packing up and met Randy and Diana at 2015 for taxi service to the airport. We were there by 2100 and got checked in. Then we noticed that we did not have TSA pre-check so we went back. The United agent scanned one of our boarding passes and we added our Trusted Traveler numbers from our Global Entry cards. Then new boarding passes were printed with Pre-check. We had priority boarding so we got to board in Zone 2 which made sure that we had a place for our carry-ons. We took off shortly after midnight.


11 Nov, Mon. We arrived at Houston sometime after 0600 and, after finding our gate, we went to an Asian shop in a small food court and shared a breakfast taco which was actually pretty good. Our flight left IAH about 0915 CST and we arrived in Cancun about 1226 (EST). United had run out of immigration papers for our flight so we had to go through a self-check-in procedure and then C.J. had to report to the immigacion agent anyway. No problem with baggage or customs and the shark pool was quite subdued. No one hassled us to sign up for their special deals. We found our Cancun Bay shuttle and it soon took just us to Vidanta. It had been raining off and on, but it was certainly warm. We got dropped off at the Central Lobby and rode a tram to The Grand Luxxe lobby; our bags were left with the bell boys to deliver later. We figured we would not be able to check in until 1700 but Enrique took us right away. Part of registration was a hold placed on our credit card for $1000 USD. Concierge Ana then signed us up for a Vidanta Update (sales presentation) on Fri at 0845. She also got my phone to work on the Vidanta Wi-Fi (but not on the local data network (I had replaced my CC sim with a Telcel chip). She gave us a black discount card which had some 2-for-1 deals and told us to ask a concierge about promo deals for Jungala and Joya. Since we had not had any lunch and it was 1430 or so, we walked down to The Burger Custom Made located at the Grande Luxxe private pool, about a nine-minute walk from the lobby. We shared a Burger Especial and an Ensalada Flor Mexicano, and I had a glass of Long Island Iced Tea. Then we walked back to the Lobby and asked the bell boys to deliver our bags. We rode over to Tower Residence Two and got moved into our room on the first floor (#1734). The bellboy showed us how everything worked. We were fading but we decided to walk over to Jade and get some stuff for breakfast – fruit plate, granola, yogurt, cheese and tostadas – and lunch. It was raining hard when we came out and we had not carried along our umbrellas, so we waited for a while until there was a break and we walked back to the Grand Mayan where we caught a tram to our building. I was falling asleep and went to bed before 2000. It was kind of warm although the AC was set for 73-75 which felt cold when we came in from the outside.

12 Nov – We slept in until almost 0900. Then we had a light breakfast. I could not find the black discount card so eventually we went over to the GL Lobby and got Ana to replace it. She described the route to Salum, a new area with lots of beachside eating places located SE of the sales office building and south of the Beach Club pool and beach (which we are now allowed to use with our GL wristbands). We walked over and explored a little by walking through the Beach Club and around Salum (means "gathering place" in the local indigenous language) where most of the shops were still closed. At a little after 1100 we went to Quinto, a restaurant with a morning (until 1200) breakfast buffet for which we had a 2-for-0ne deal starting at 1100. We enjoyed a brunch of freshly made omelet and Mexican hot chocolate, etc. Afterward we wandered around the Beach Club a bit more and talked to the concierge about how one reserved a long chair or cabana. Back at our room we changed to shorts and swim wear and then started off to see what we could arrange for Jungala and Joya tickets. Enrique at the GL Lobby was able to get us a promo deal of $110/person for the show plus drinks and appetizers, a decent discount from the list price of $132. His computer wasn’t talking to Jungala so he couldn’t do those tickets and there were no deals on them anyway (except they were $59 for Vidanta members instead $79 for general public). In order to get the tickets printed at Jade, we had to go back to our room and get our passports. When we got to Jade, we had to wait a for another client to finish, and while we were waiting we noticed that Enrique had sold us tickets for Fri the 22^nd, not this Fri! And we had signed right below where it said that there were no returns or changes permitted. Fortunately, the agent at Jade was willing to change the date anyway and gave us the same deal but on Wed at 2115 (take the 2045 shuttle) (4440MXN). Then we walked on down the path looking for a place to have a drink to celebrate getting Joya tickets for our anniversary present. We ended up at The Burger Gourmet Made again and had an appetizer bowl of ceviche and a Mono Chocolate and a Mud Slide. Then we walked down to the Grand Luxxe private beach,  and checked to see how clear the water was (not totally,

apparently the sargassum fence is working okay, but not catching all the weed). By then it was just about time to meet the Joy Squad for a tour of the Joya theater and a chance to watch part of a rehearsal. It was pretty cool to see it without all the color and fantasy of the costumes and music. We managed to stay out of the rain on the tour, but we were ready with our umbrellas this time, just in case. We got back around 1730 or so and C.J. got a shower. Then we took a tram through the rain to Salum where a Full Moon Party was scheduled as well as a Pre-Hispanic Show. Unfortunately, the thunderstorm and rain caused both of them to be canceled. We decided to have a light dinner of two tacos (al pastor and asada) a bowl of guacamole and a flight of four beers. Instead of walking in the dark and rainy night, we took the tram back to our room and caught up on our journals until almost 2200 when we called it a night.


13 Nov, Wed – Up around 0800, light breakfast then a walk around the Lake looking for wildlife. On the way past Mayan Palace 2-3 we saw a herd (!) of coatis pouring out of the jungle to where someone was tossing bread or something off a third-floor balcony. Otherwise, there were the usual captive crocodrilos, dark lizards and golden iguanas (but not as many as we had seen in previous years. The flamingos were not out where the public could see them. On the way, we stopped at Jade to pick up our Joya tickets but the printer only coughed out one. We had to come back and get the other one later. We ate at the somewhat crowded (even at 1100) Café del Lago where the food choices are more extensive (including a meat-

Iguana with Café del Lago in distance

slicing station) but the crowding kept us away from the egg station. Afterward we walked over to Salum and then took the beach walk all the way to the Grand Luxxe beach and a bit beyond to “Turtle Camp” where there is protected nesting sites for sea turtles. We hadn’t brought any water with us and were ready to get back into our room to get a drink, but the door wouldn’t unlock for us. We tried calling on the house phone and then walked back to the lobby where Enrique reset our wrist bands. That didn’t do it and we had to wait five minutes more for a security person to replace the battery in our door lock. After resting for a bit, we changed and walked down to the GL pool where we snagged a cabana and hung out until around 1600. C.J. took a short swim but the wind was chilly once you got wet. We got to use one pair of our free-drink coupons to have a Miami Vice and a blended Margarita. Just as it started to sprinkle, we headed back to the hotel and got in before the real storm arrived. We did a “dinner” in by eating some of our tostadas with cheese. Our Joya show was at 2115 and we had to get over to the Pergolado at Mayan Palace lobby to catch a 2045 shuttle to the Vidanta Theater. We had no problem getting from our hotel to the shuttle transfer station, but then there was a line of people. We got on the second shuttle so it wasn’t too long of a wait. We were early at the theater area but we wandered around looking at things before getting into line. Surprisingly we were ushered into the theater at 2115 and guided to our excellent seats right behind the VIP area. Our canapes and sparkling wine were ready for us and the waiter opened our bottle. We got to watch the dinner people open their chests and book containers where their food was placed while listening to the trio (plus sometimes a trumpeter, dancer and a singer) playing an assortment of music until they disappeared into the stage. The story line for Joyá was much the same as the version we had first seen a couple of years ago with the title character trying to recover the stolen, magical book for her grandfather, but the acts were different although similar- acrobats, aerialists, jugglers and trampolinists. One different act was a group of double-dutch jump-ropers. The show started around 2200 and we did not get out much before 0015. Then there was a really long line and a 30-min wait to get on a tram back to the pergolado and then a short wait to catch a ride to our hotel.  The weather continued stormy with some big displays of thunder and lightning during the rest of the night.


14 Nov, Thu – We slept in so late that we didn’t feel like we needed to eat even a light snack before we went to brunch at Quinto. We walked down through the Salum beach bar area and through the Beach Club. Then we took a short cut across the porch of the Vida Sales building. We checked in Jade with the Joyá agent about whether there was a place to view the Jungala complex. He agreed with other concierges that there was no way to preview it. We dropped in at the Spatium gym and spa to see what was free – all the workout machines, the sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi as well as the aroma shower. Back at the room we threw our umbrellas and drinks in my backpack and headed off to walk to the Grand Luxxe Jungle hotel buildings which run along the north edge of Jungala. We were able to follow a covered boardwalk with views through a chainlink fence of the Rio Lento/ Lazy River. At the end of the hotel structures we took the elevator to the top/3^rd floor and got some views of people climbing flights of stairs to reach the entrance to some really steep-drop water slides. It was raining lightly so maybe that was why there did not seem like there were many people in Jungala. We retraced our steps and at the far SE end of Jungala we found a gate for staff to enter and exit the water park. Apparently the main entrance is in the opposite corner. It was close to 1500 so we walked past the Mayan Palace lobby to the Green Break snack bar. We had a Black Card freebie of guacamole if we bought a meal so we ordered a couple of drinks (Margarita and Green Dragon) and a Cuban Torta with fries and slaw. There were lots of different birds to watch on the empty and rainy golf course. Later the waiter came back and offered us a 2-for-1 Happy Hour special on drinks so we got two Margaritas. We staggered back to the condo stopping to check out the little alligators in a pond overflowing with golf course runoff. We ran out of boardwalks to follow and had to walk a short distance of road between the GL Jungle lobby and our GL Tower 2.


15 Nov, Fri – Up at 0730 to give us time to walk to our sales presentation at a new building near La Sombrita at Salum. We met with Esteban Trejo (esteban.trejo@kwmexico.mx) and ate breakfast at Quinto again, but this time at an upstairs

table. E took us to the building in Salum behind the “amor” sign and we went over the benefits of the ownership we had. Then he showed us what the next level would be. It was some crazy value like 1.2 million dollars, but then it would give us real ownership that could be sold after two years. We thanked him and were ready to leave when another rep joined us to explain that we had an active offer from two years ago on our file. Supposedly he wanted us to just decline the pending offer and go away since we had told E that we were not buying anything more. However, E took us to a model unit for the Grand Luxxe Royal Suite 1 Bedroom and explained that we could take advantage of the active offer by paying just the tax and closing costs for the $543,000 unit. (16 % of 543K was way too much, of course) He subtracted retail value of our ownership (227K) and paid us $6000 per week for each of two weeks for ten years (120K) to bring the cost of the unit down to $196,000. The tax was 16% of that, or about $31,360 (including the IVA tax of 4890) and the closing cost was $4073. That sounded doable and we were excited by the idea that after two years we could sell the unit for $543K or more depending on demand. Meanwhile we would have E rent out two of our weeks for $6000 each. If

everything works as expected, we should earn enough to pay for this purchase in three years. We used the Citi Visa to pay the down payment of $8864. That leaves a balance of $26,591 to be financed. [A long-term loan with Barclay or CapitolOne would allow small monthly payments while we received cash from the rental of our GL weeks.] We also turned over to Esteban the ten Ambassador certificates which are worth $100 each. We refused an offer to buy the Premium theme park package ($5000) but signed up for another Summerfest deal to visit Riv. Maya next November at Grand Bliss for $600 (Visa). Early on we learned a lot about how to use SFX and got our Diamond level renewed for two years. Our Platinum level with Vida Lifestyle was also renewed. At the very end after getting checked by Jean-Michel Bargoin (mscancun@vidavacations.com) we received a gift box with a Vidanta hat and a box of bath-soap flowers. It was close to 1730 by the time we were walking back to our GL unit. We changed clothes and then went to dinner at Frida’s (the evening version of Balché, the pool snack bar). We each had a Margarita made right at our table C.J.’s was maracuya and made with mezcal; I had a guava Margarita (and later a Dos Equis). C.J ordered a garlic shrimp dish and I had the Conchita Pibl. A trio of Mexican musicians with guitars and a harp entertained us until we left around 2000. Back at the hotel, I looked for an email from Esteban but there was none. I tried sending him an email but the address on his business card did not work and I received an error message 

16 Nov, Sat – There was a message from Esteban this morning that he sent at 2313 last night. He wants photos that we have taken to help in renting our weeks. We left for breakfast sometime after 1000 and stopped at the lobby to see if we could confirm that Ana had got us set up with a ride to the airport on Monday. She wasn’t in and another rep told us that we would have to see the concierge to get a voucher. We decided to wait and see Ana later. Just before we reached the Quinto, we ran into Esteban and told him we hadn’t been able to contact him because there was a typo in his email address. He asked us if we could meet with him at Salum between three and four. At the restaurant we got a seat outdoors where the air was not too hot, at least in the shade. A sunny day for a change! After eating we set off to walk north along the beach. The Vidanta beach crew were working on installing more sargassum fencing. We walked up to the GL pool

Grand Luxxe pool

area and tried to find a comfortable place to sit and take advantage of the happy hour prices on drinks. But there were no long chairs that were not taken. We settled on sitting in the lounge area between the pool and the beach Since no waiters showed up, we went back to the restaurant and ordered there, and Jonathan brought our Hurricanes out. After watching people playing Bingo for a while, we decided to continue up the beach. The water looked clearer in front of other resorts we passed and we could see the buildings of Cancun in the distance. Since it wasn’t yet 1500, we stopped at Brio to get the two-for-one deal on smoothies; the mango-maracuya drinks were excellent. Finishing our drinks as we walked, we made our way to Salum. Esteban was in a meeting and could not meet with us and sent a message to come back at 1700. We walked back to our suite by taking the long way around the lake where we saw several big, old iguanas, a croc, and the flamingo herd. After passing through the Mayan Palace lobby, we walked the road until we got a ride to the GL lobby. There we caught Ana who gave us a credit of 600 MXN to pay for the $15USD pp airport shuttle. Then Enrique got us on the schedule and gave us a ticket for the shuttle (Leaves 0930 from the Lobby Central; be 10 min early; have bellboys pick up luggage NLT 0900) We walked back to Salum and caught Esteban just a few minutes before 1700. We had a good talk about the Ambassador certificates, which weeks he would try to rent for us (Privilege weeks first since they have no blackout dates) and using SFX and Vida Lifestyle. Around 1800 we wandered through Salum looking for a place to eat. Since all of the open-air eateries have the same menu you can sit in the Robatayaki place and get food from the Tablas and Tapas place. We sat in Alorena and had flatbread pizzetta, BBQ pork rib and sweet-and-sour Brussel sprouts, beer and wine. It was pretty chilly in short-sleeve shirts but at least we had our fleece vests. We walked home along the lighted boardwalks and were back before 1930.

17 Nov, Sun – I had a restless night with concerns about paying for the Vidanta upgrade. We got up kind of late, went to breakfast at Quinto again. Afterward we watched the tractor and sargassum weed scooper clean up the beach after men

Sargassum beach cleaner

pulled in a couple of big netfuls of seaweed. We spent the afternoon at the GL pool mostly reading although C.J. did jump into the water (with her glasses and hearing aids!). I waded a little bit. We had a Happy Hour Miami Vice and later C.J. used a free drink ticket to get a glass of red wine. After 1630 we went back to the hotel and scheduled the luggage pickup at 0830 with the  concierge. Around 1830 we started over to the Quinto for dinner. We had rib eye fillet with pureed sweet potatoes and carrots, fresh bread and sparkling wine; everything was excellent . We couldn’t pass up the banana-peanut butter-fruit bread pudding that Ivan, our waiter recommended. Since it was our anniversary dinner, we did not have to pay for the dessert. We walked back to the hotel in the relative cool night air. At the concierge desk we paid our bill with the Citi Visa; it was more than we thought it would be at just about $400. We left tips for the day and night maids in the provided envelopes.


18 Nov, Mon – up at 0700, bellboys picked up our bags at 0830  and we left for the GL lobby where we caught a shuttle to the Lobby Central. There was a bit of a wait but at 0915 we were loading  into an unmarked Cancun Bay van for the trip to the airport. No one else was on the same shuttle, kind of a waste of gas. Check-in at CUN went smoothly and we had a longish wait until our flight boarded. While waiting, I remembered that the handle on my rollaboard would no

longer retract without opening it up and releasing a catch manually. I bought a roll  of adhesive tape at a drugstore and taped the catch mechanism so it wouldn’t pop out, a fix I found on YouTube. In Houston we used the new Global Entry kiosks which now just take a photo of you and issue a receipt; you no longer need to scan your passport or fingerprints. After picking up our checked bag and turning it back in, we shared a salad with grilled chicken at a small food court just before boarding. The flight to Seattle was twice as long as the CUN-IAH leg but we arrived a bit earlier than the 1941 ETA. I had put my Consumer Cellular SIM back into my phone and had confirmed our arrival with Randy and Diana. Randy was out of town but Diana met us on the upper/departures level. Meanwhile, I had checked recent emails and gotten a real shock – our KIA had been declared unrepairable and USAA had “totaled” it! It looked like we would receive an additional $6400. It was not a happy homecoming to say the least. We got home to a cold house and had a little supper before going to bed.