RIVIERA MAYA, MEXICO

December 8, 2008

By Tim Niehaus

After recovering from the excellent AIG Travel Guard Holiday Party, Steph and I departed for Chicago around 12:00 noon on Saturday, December 8. We had a mostly uneventful drive to Chicago and found our hotel with very little trouble. The Holiday Inn Express – Chicago Midway is located in the “hotel park” area of the Midway Airport. There is also a Marriott, Courtyard Suites by Marriott, and Hampton Inn and Suites located in the same area. They all share the same parking lot. Inside the Marriott is a newly opened Starbucks and a pub/bar called Dempsey’s. There is also a TGIFriday’s located right next door to the Hampton, so it is very easily within walking distance.

We enjoyed a very tasty dinner and some awesome drinks and headed back to our hotel for the evening. Each queen-sized bed had 4 pillows, 2 hard and 2 soft. As part of an effort to maintain high levels of cleanliness in their hotels, Holiday Inn has eliminated the dreaded bedspread from their rooms. They now feature a 3-sheet system that, I thought, was warmer (and FAR cleaner) than having the bedspreads on the bed. We were able to arrange a wake up call and drifted off to sleep with thoughts of sunny beaches going through our heads.

The following morning, we awoke, showered, finished re-packing and getting ready and headed down to the desk at about 7:15 for our 9:50 AM departure from Chicago Midway. We were on the shuttle to the airport with 2 other couples and made it to the ATA counter in about 5-10 minutes. We proceeded directly to the counter and checked our bags with no problem. We were also able to obtain exit row seating for the flight down. We were told that ATA does not allow anyone to sit in the bulkhead seats unless they are physically disabled.

We proceeded through security without a problem and stopped to grab a breakfast sandwich at Potbelly Sandwiches, located right after the security checkpoint. They have a variety of sandwiches, both breakfast and lunch, and seemed to be popular with the Southwest Airlines flight crews that had already formed a line that stretched into the concourse area. We both got a sandwich and juice and headed down to the end of the concourse to wait for our flight. We people-watched for a while before they called our flight. As we were boarding, we saw that the flight was only about ¼ full and the flight attendant on board made an announcement right away that people could move to different rows if they wanted more space. Steph and I chose to share the exit row, leaving the middle seat between us open, and found this to be very comfortable.

Oprah Winfrey, who had to be driven across the active runway to her waiting private jet for an appearance with Barack Obama in South Carolina later that afternoon, delayed our taxi out to the runway. Following that delay, we took off without a hitch and reached our cruising altitude in no time. The flight attendants were extremely pleasant and provided great service, including several beverage refills and water service. We were also given the opportunity to watch a movie (Spiderman 3) and listen to various inflight radio channels using either a headset purchased from ATA using their no-cash system (meaning you can only pay for any onboard items using a debit or credit card) or by plugging your own iPod style headphones into the jack (which they don’t tell you, obviously, so they can make more money!) Steph and I chose to nap and read, as we knew we had a big afternoon ahead of us in Cancun.

Just as we landed, the lady sitting across the aisle from us leaned over and asked, “Are you two travel agents too?” It turns out that her name was Annmarie and she was on the FAM with us. As she was close to our age, we immediately bonded with her and stuck together like 3 peas in a pod for the whole trip.

We all proceeded through the Immigration station with no problems. None of us were asked any questions by the officials there. We had to wait approximately 30 minutes for our luggage and my bag was one of the very last to come off the carousel, making me VERY nervous as nearly everyone else on the flight had gotten their bags. We proceeded through Customs with no problems and headed outside past all the heckling vendors and taxi services to our Funjet Coordinator, Wendy.

All 11 of us boarded the bus bound for the El Dorado Seaside Suites, our home for the next 4 days. We were offered beverages on the bus by Armando, our Lomas Travel guide who would accompany us on all of our bus trips to the various hotels.

The drive to the EDSS was about an hour and 40 minutes with no traffic. There is one main highway that goes directly south from Cancun, through the city of Playa del Carmen toward Tulum. The hotel is located approximately 15 minutes (22 miles) north of Tulum.

We pulled into the very unimpressive-looking driveway of the EDSS and down the rocky driveway, admiring the beautiful greenery on either side of the driveway. From the moment we stepped off the bus, we knew we were in paradise. The 11 of us on the bus were greeted by no less than 11 staff members, each saying “hola!” and taking our bags or helping us off the bus or handing us cool, lavender-scented towel or handing us a glass of champagne. It was truly incredible to see so many people so honestly willing to help their guests be comfortable. We proceeded into the beautiful marble lobby and sat down in the private waiting area to receive our check-in information. We never had to touch our luggage from the time we got to the bus until it was time to check in at the airport for our return flight home. AWESOME!

Immediately after we got our check-in information, our site inspection began. We were led by Fernando, the sales manager (and our guide/host for the FAM) for the El Dorado Seaside Suites. All of the properties owned by Karisma are considered Gourmet Inclusive. What this means is that everything, excepting spa services and imported wines, is included in the price of the vacation. All of the food is gourmet, as you’ll read later on. All of the beverages are top-shelf. In fact, the martini bar at the El Dorado Royale features 35 different types of vodka for their martinis.

We were shown the various the various areas for massage both on and off the beach as well as the three pools on property, all of which feature swim-up bars. There are also 6 restaurants on property, featuring a variety of different gourmet cuisine choices including Latino fusion, Asian fusion, Mexican and a great outdoor grill. Our tour finished up by leading us to our rooms. Each of us had been given a gardenview (really, poolview) junior suite. Every suite on property features a Jacuzzi as well as 1 king bed (108 rooms) or 2 double beds (15 rooms.) There are a total of 280 rooms on this property. Each room features a marble bathroom, shower for two, work desk, full closet, safety deposit box, balcony or swim-up patio and dining room table and chairs as well as a DVD player and plasma TV.

Shortly after we put our things away in the room, we headed down to Guacamayas Bar, without a doubt the most popular bar on property. This bar features both 1- and 2-person swings around the bar for seating, as well as corner tables on each of the 4 corners of the bar. Sandwicherie, the outdoor grill is located right next to the bar. This bar is also located right next to the entertainment stage and lounge area. A different show or activity is featured in this area nightly at 9:30 PM. Our dinner was served at Klay Talay, the Asian fusion restaurant located on the 2nd floor, with the outdoor seating area overlooking the pool and the ocean. We were served amazing dishes, including sushi, spring rolls, beef or shrimp stir fry, fried rice, and fried ice cream. The coolest thing about this restaurant is that they really encourage you to eat the entire meal with chopsticks by not providing any kind of silverware. You are also asked whether you’d like red or white wine. The wine that is served property-wide is not for sale, nor is it available to be delivered to your room. It comes from an Argentinean vineyard and is specially created for the Karisma hotels.

The dinner was absolutely outstanding. I’d never eaten good sushi until that night. The sushi was served with a sesame ginger sauce and a sweet/sour type sauce, which I was not a big fan of. The main course was the shrimp or beef stir fry with snap peas, carrots, assorted other vegetables and fried rice. The dessert was absolutely HUGE. The flavor of the fried ice cream was not something I was expecting, but was very welcome after a hot day of traveling.
After dinner, we all went back down to the Guacamayas bar and had a great evening of drinks with the entertainment staff of the resort.

The next morning we had breakfast on our own, which led Steph, Annmarie, and I to the Sandwicherie where we tried the breakfast buffet. For those of you who have not been to Mexico, be prepared to experience foods that may LOOK American, but certainly do not taste the same. The bacon that was on the buffet was the best example of this. As we later found out, the bacon was not made from pork, but rather from buffalo! The fresh-squeezed orange juice and traditional Mexican coffee were amazing and available at every restaurant for breakfast.

We boarded the bus around 8:30 AM for our site inspections of the other properties operated by Karisma, including the Azul Beach Hotel, Azul Fives Hotel, and the Azul View Hotel. The Fives and View will be opening for guests in November 2008.

The Azul Beach Hotel is a small, boutique-style hotel with 97 rooms. This resort specifically caters to families and offers special baby amenities including gourmet Gerber baby food that can be placed in the minibar upon request, baby bathrobes, playpens, and baby monitors. There are also a limited number of connecting rooms available. The resort also offers special child care services and provides for “parents only” dinners twice a week by providing special child care services over the dinner time.

This hotel is also unique in the fact that it offers 5 different menus each night of the week on a 14-day rotating basis. What this means is that if a guest stays a total of two weeks at the resort, they will not see the same menu twice and that new menu items are always being added. They also feature an entire menu where every dish is based on lobster as well as a traditional children’s menu featuring hamburgers, hot dogs, and macaroni and cheese, among other items.

This resort also features a tequila bar that is literally frozen. Each night before the bar opens, the bar is frozen so no drinks set on it will get warm. This is also the only resort of Karisma’s that features a smoothie bar.

The next property we visited was the Azul View hotel, located just down the highway/beach from the Azul Beach. This is one of two resorts owned by Karisma that will open in November 2007. It will be comprised of 5 buildings, including an adults-only building as well as a VIP building. The rest of the buildings will allow children of all ages, as the resort is geared to the multi-generational family. Once completed, there will be a special teen lounge equipped with high-speed internet access and the latest game systems (think Xbox, Wii, etc.) and a disco designed based on what past teenage guests have said they’d like to see in a disco. There will also be childcare services much like those at Azul Beach as well as a large number of connecting rooms that can be guaranteed so families can plan large gatherings at the resort. There will be several pools and Jacuzzis available throughout the property and every room will either be oceanview or oceanfront.

The next stop on our site inspections was the El Dorado Maroma, A Beachfront Resort. This resort recently opened and was absolutely beautiful. This particular resort only has 72 rooms and is considered a boutique hotel. It is generally very quiet and would be ideal for your clients who are looking for the most relaxing experience possible. There are several room categories available at this resort, including exclusive second-floor Infinity Pool suites. These rooms have their own Infinity pools and overlook the ocean, something that is exclusive to the El Dorado Maroma.

This particular resort is also one of two that has an on-site wedding chapel. Catholic weddings in Mexico may not be performed on the beach, therefore a chapel is needed. There are only 4 chapels on-site at resorts in Riviera Maya and two of them are on Karisma resorts. The other chapel is at the El Dorado Royale. This resort is also where same-sex unions take place, as it is smaller and more secluded/romantic.

We ate a very special lunch at this resort as well. Our lunch took place in the main area between the Italian and Japanese restaurants, generally reserved for cocktails. Our appetizer was tuna carpaccio, a thinly shaved raw tuna with pesto sauce. I am not a huge fan of raw fish/meat, but having already eaten sushi the previous night, I figured I would give it a try. I am GLAD I did! It was very delicious and not at all fishy tasting. The texture was similar to that of a thinly sliced tomato and the pesto sauce really made it a pleasant dish to eat. The soup that followed was absolutely amazing. It was a creamed spinach soup topped with truffle foam. Yes, truffle foam. The soup was served in espresso cups and meant to be sipped, not eaten with a spoon. The smell of it really threw me at first, but the taste was incredible. The main dish that followed was either an herb-dusted salmon steak or rack of lamb. I chose the lamb. It was tender, cooked perfectly and the flavor was outstanding. The final touch to the meal was the dessert: a cheesecake plate. This was not your average, everyday cheesecake, however. It was a mix of cheesecake foam, cheesecake custard, chocolate shavings, chocolate foam and a hand-designed chocolate triangle that read “Thank you” on one side. The entire meal was complemented by freshly baked rolls and plain and chili pepper butters as well as the house wine and water.

After our delicious and VERY filling meal, we bid adieu to our host Nanda (Her favorite saying was “And he is Dutch like me!” – because many of the hotel employees at El Dorado Maroma are from Holland) and headed over to the Azul Fives hotel, which will also be completed and open in November of 2008. This hotel will be unlike any other in the Cancun/Riviera Maya area as it will allow for four different types of meal plans as well as three options for accommodations, allowing the guests to pick which type of plan they’d like, even allowing for multiple plans in the same room! The four types of meal plans will be all-inclusive, modified American plan, bed & breakfast, and the European plan. Guests can also pick and choose whether or not they want to use the same plan for their entire stay. The accommodations will be a 1-bedroom suite, 2-bedroom suite, or the 3-bedroom rooftop suites, which include the use of a rooftop patio and barbecue area. This resort will also be unique in the fact that it will have an on-site grocery store where guests can pre-order groceries and have them waiting in the room for their arrival. We toured a mock two-bedroom suite, which was absolutely beautiful. The resort will have one large pool that connects to all of the buildings.

Following our tour of the suite, we again boarded the bus back to EDSS where we finally had some free time to enjoy the sun and surf. A group of us enjoyed the swim-up bar and lay on beach lounge chairs for the afternoon until it was time for dinner at Vida, the Latino fusion restaurant.

At dinner, we met up with the United Vacations FAM group and got a chance to mingle and socialize. Steph and I found out that we had MANY Travel Guard salespeople in both groups, many of them praising our “astonishing” customer service!

This dinner started off the right way: with a drink! We were all given apple martinis when we sat down and some of us chose to order one or two more of them because they were so good! Each was floated with a thinly sliced apple, a nice touch! We were also given pomegranate margaritas, which would have been much better without the salt on the rim, though it is tradition in Mexico, regardless of the flavor of the margarita.

The first course of the meal was, of course, the salad. This time it was delivered in a lettuce bowl. The salad consisted of romaine lettuce, chopped pecans, and a light vinaigrette dressing. It was the perfect way to start this huge meal! We were then served a cream of Swiss chard soup, which was again outstanding. Between this course and the main entrée, we were given a sorbet to cleanse the palate with. The main course tonight was either a poppy seed-crusted tenderloin or Mahi-Mahi. I chose the tenderloin and ordered it cooked medium well. It came out absolutely perfect, with just a hint of pink. The flavor of the meat was excellent. I heard many compliments about the Mahi-Mahi as well. Both dishes were served with garlic mashed potatoes (made with fresh garlic, you could tell by the taste) and a vegetable medley with the steak and a fantastic wild rice risotto with the fish. Wendy, our guide, and I also ordered a side of the risotto to split, simply because we wanted to try it. This was one of the most outstanding things about the resort. If you see something on the menu that you like, but don’t want the entire entrée that it comes with, that’s great! They’ll make a side of it just so you can enjoy exactly what you want to eat, when you want to eat it. The piece de resistance of the dinner was the cherry cordial custard served in a martini glass for dessert. It was a large serving of vanilla custard secretly hiding a liquor-soaked cherry like its buried treasure! What a delicious finish to a great day.

Shortly after dinner, we headed to Guacamayas Bar again, for more drinking, dancing and fun with Fernando and the entertainment staff.

The next day started bright and early with a bus ride to the largest of the Karisma hotels, the El Dorado Royale. This resort features 639 suites in 10 different categories. The resort is divided into two main types, the Casitas and the Main section. The Casitas are recently opened and are beautifully decorated. The rooms at this resort are very similar to those at the El Dorado Seaside Suites, except more of them feature oceanfront views and have swim-up access. Several of the Casita suites also feature infinity pools, including those on the second floor. This hotel also features a restaurant called Fuentes, which is a culinary theatre where guests can watch their food being prepared on one of four large screens hanging from the ceiling throughout the restaurant.

The El Dorado Royale is the other resort in the Karisma family that features a wedding chapel. Again, if someone wants to get married in a Catholic ceremony, they absolutely must do it indoors and follow very specific procedures set forth by the Mexican government.

After our tour of the resort, we took a 3-hour course on the Karisma resorts, the Gourmet-Inclusive standard, as well as an extensive presentation by the Karisma wedding coordinator.

We returned to the EDSS in just enough time to hit the beach for some much-needed sun. We were thankful for the beach butler service that was constantly refilling our drinks and keeping us hydrated. Before too long, we were approached by a member of the EDSS Spa staff who asked us if we were ready for our couples massage. Neither of us had paid for a massage and were pretty surprised, but definitely enjoyed the on-beach massage. After soaking up some more sun and grabbing a mid-afternoon snack at the outdoor café by the bar, we got ready for dinner and met the rest of our party at the Guacamayas Bar and were led down the beach to one of the wedding gazebos that had been decorated for us in the style that a wedding at El Dorado Seaside would be. There were several tables set up for us and each of us had our own Gourmet Inclusive chef’s hat and apron on our chair. As you can probably guess, we cooked our own meal that night right there on the beach. This included everything from preparing our own drinks (I am one heck of a bartender!) to beverages to salads to entrees, which included grilled chicken, steaks, lobster tails, ribs and pork chops. This dinner was absolutely amazing. After the dinner, we headed back to Guacamayas for one last hurrah with the staff.

The next morning, Steph and I awoke very early (think JUST as the sun was rising) and hit the beach to pick up as much sun as we could. I ended up participating in an hour-long on-the-beach yoga class, which I would highly recommend if you are at all into yoga. It was an experience like none other. After the yoga class, we headed back to our rooms, sadly packed our bags and left them for the concierge to take to the lobby for our departure back to the United States. Before we left, however, we decided to have one last gourmet lunch at Vida. The food was again amazing and definitely filling.

As we were checking out of the hotel, we were bid farewell by the manager of the resort as well as the food and beverage director for all of the El Dorado resorts, who we had met the night before.

The ride back to the airport was uneventful as all of the agents exchanged business cards and got some last-minute information from the Lomas Travel Company as well as Karisma. We arrived at the Cancun International Airport in plenty of time to make our departing flight and spent some time in the enormous duty-free shop at the airport, where each of us picked up some souvenirs of our trip. As we took off into the beautiful sunset of the Yucatan Peninsula, we fondly remembered our awesome trip to the El Dorado Seaside Suites.

Thanks to Marathon Travel and AIG Travel Guard for the opportunity to take this awesome FAM trip!!

Tim Niehaus