Well I guess now that mom and I have been to Mexico two years in a row, it would be appropriate to draw some comparisons. What I liked, what I didn’t like, etc. Observations.
I’m going to write parts of this as if you have never been to Mexico before, as well as, tips I think are worth noting.
Last year we stayed at a place called Barcelo, in Ixtapa and this year we stayed at Royal Decameron, in Puerto Vallarta. Both I believe are chain franchises. Barcelo is a ‘hotel’ and Royal Decameron is a ‘resort’.
I’ve been to Mexico a number of times however, last year was my first time staying at an all-inclusive that wasn’t a ‘resort’. When you book these things pay attention to how the name is worded. I’m sure your travel agent will tell you, but based on time constraints and seeing as I work out of town and that mom booked both of our trips, I was only able to judge where we were staying based on the name. Last year after mom booked us in, and I read Barcelo Hotel, and instantly commented as to how I’ve never been to an all-inclusive that was worded as a hotel and not a resort. In her experience with all-inclusives, she had never been to a resort, they always been hotels, and seeing as she had been to this particular Barceló before she said, “yeah man, it’s a hotel.” Weird. I was apprehensive, but it actually turned out pretty good, better than a resort, IMO.
First things first, if this is your first time booking an all-inclusive it is imperative that you know once you touch down in Mexico, NOT TO TALK TO ANYONE in the airport. After you are through customs, first you’ll notice the heat will hit you like a tidal wave but more importantly there will be 100,000 people will be yelling at you inside the airport after your long trip, to suck you in. Where are you staying? Insisting on talking you. Honestly, it can be overwhelming. Do not be fooled. Do not listen or trust these people. They will charge you for transport and are only interested in selling you subsequent ‘services’ like timeshares and shit you don’t want. Continue walking outside and find someone holding, usually your airline, sign. Sunwing, AirTransat, etc. Find that guy, say you booking name, and he will direct you to a coach style bus that will take you directly to your resort, free of charge. This is what they mean when they say “hotel, flight, AND TRANSFERS” when you book and all-inclusive. Don’t get sucked into the tourist trap as soon as you land. Trust the process. Walk through all the clowns in the airport and find your shuttle/transport outside.
Resorts are far bigger than a hotel. There will almost always, be multiple ‘dorms’ or sleeping quarters, not everyone will be located in the same building. This subsequently results in more pools, restaurants, and bars. More walking too, unless you are lucky af to get a room close to the beach, then be prepared to walk. I guess this would be an appropriate time to mention, much to my surprise, I had actually been to Decameron Resort in Puerto Vallarta about eight years ago with an ex-girlfriend for a wedding. I now think because we were a part of the wedding, we were given a room that looked out over the ocean and was very close to ‘everything’. Due to excessive drinking and our location I only ‘discovered’ parts of the resort during the last couple days of my first stay. This time however with mom, we were in the back forty. Not that this was a bad thing, but because we were so far away we got to become familiar with more of the resort. These resorts are usually fucking huge, take the time to become familiar with all there is to offer early in your stay so you can utilize, or at least have an idea if you want to utilize all of the amenities.
With that being said when you show up, you will be told that the following day you have a meeting with so and so from the company that you booked you package with. This is not a scam and they, for the most part, aren’t trying to sell you anything. GO TO THIS MEETING. It will usually be at 10am at a general location, ie) the discotec, and there will be everyone who showed up on your flight at this meeting. The representative is going to tell you all about the resort, nightly entertainment, booking a- la-cartes, the city you are in, activities that are popular in the area, etc. This is a tremendous way to gather general information from someone you can trust. I for one, am not that interested in activities outside of the resort, they’ll give you a booklet anyways, that you can leaf through at your leisure. I usually don’t stay for that part, but DO NOT FORGET to go to this meeting. I have forgotten in years past and have deeply regretted it. Try not to get overwhelmed with the excitement of your vacation and all the ‘free drinks’ your first night, and when they tell you on the transport to the resort about the meeting, set your alarm on your phone right then, you’ll be thankful you did.
I don’t want to come across as a pretentious fuck, but because I have some ‘backpacking’ experience, and maybe because I work away from my home, I have zero interest in doing anything outside of the resort. I want to do nothing. Read my book, walk on the beach, have my food made for me so I can eat whenever I want, etc. With that being said if you don’t travel much or have never been backpacking I would highly suggest leaving the resort or hotel. You’ve come this far, you may as well spend a day or two seeing the local town, because what you are going to see in your resort is going to be fairly ‘western’ and not a good representation of all that the country you are in has to offer. From the aforementioned meeting and booklet you get on the first day, you can get an idea of what ‘activities’ you might be into. I would also recommend befriending people in the resort and seeing if they have done any of the activities or gone into town. This is the best way to gather valid, honest, and resent information about good restaurants, fun activities and things that are going on in and around the town you are located. I get the feeling that a lot of these resort towns in Mexico recognized that a lot of their business is generated from tourism, so taking a taxi is no big deal. They usually have a fixed rate to go to different places near your resort, so they aren’t going to fuck you, and there is no reason to haggle – which is nice. He, or she, might even have some good advice about the local services. If you have some time, and are a little bit more adventurous, I would recommend taking the local transportation. These developing countries have very good public transportation. They are extremely fun, and unbelievably cheap. You’ll think you got to your destination for free! Plus, it is a true and honest look into the local way of life. And yes, they are safe, put your big girl panties on and try it. Only if you have the time though, it won’t be much much longer but it will be longer than if you took the bus.
With all of that being said, if you do decide to head into town, I would recommend cutting your wristband. I consider this to be a ‘pro-tip’. When you first check into your hotel/resort the front desk person will put a plastic wrist-band on your wrist. You have to wear this for the duration of your stay and it is to indicate that you belong there, and can eat and drink there, etc. Everything is ‘free’ after all and they can’t have randoms coming up off the beach, helping themselves to free food and drink. As I stated earlier, these towns recognize that a great portion of their revenue comes for tourists, so they will be safe; however, there is are downfall, North-Americans stick out like a sore thumb and you will be hounded to buy shit. When you head outside of your resort and into town to explore, that wrist band on your wrist will be a DEAD GIVAWAY, and you will be hounded more so than a North-American who say has rented an Air B&B and won’t be wearing a wristband. I suggest cutting or breaking it off in your cab on the way to town, put it in your pocket, and once you return to the resort, simply tell front desk that it broke. This will save you a little bit of a headache in my opinion and you’ll be able to explore and enjoy your time in town a little bit more.
Another pro-tip, GET UP EARLY!! and ‘reserve’ the lawn chairs that you want to sit on later in the day. I don’t give a fuck if you’re hungover, haven’t been to bed yet, whatever, DO THIS!! Everyday! You can always go back to bed for a couple hours, go get breakfast, what-have-you. They are going to tell you that this isn’t allowed but everyone does it. If you do not do this by, imma say 8:30am, you will be looking like a lou-dogg and kicking yourself because all the good spots on the beach and by the pool will be taken. Most people lay hotel towels over the chairs they want or lay books or sunscreen down; things you can afford to lose. Nothing worse than paying all that money, and traveling all that way to have a less than ideal spot for relaxing all day. The small sacrifice of, setting an alarm if you have to, and getting up early to make sure you have the spot you want for the rest of the day is very minor. I don’t give a fuck how hungover you are.
As far as the differences between Ixtapa and Puerto Vallarta, this is where some of my observations.
-The lawn chairs in Ixtapa were better. Some lawn chairs at these resorts are a tan or blue cloth and some are white plastic. The lawn chairs in Ixtapa were tan cloth, this allows for your fat ass to sink into them a little better. The white ones are fairly hard and uncomfortable. Many people in Puerto Vallarta were buying air-matrasses at the hotel corner store to put on the hard-white chairs. Our asses got used to it, so we never bought any but it was noticeable; especially one the first couple of days.
-I like walking on the beach and do so almost every day while I’m on vacation. Again, the bay, and subsequently the beach, I thought was better in Ixtapa. The bay seemed to be significantly smaller and shallower, which allows for are harder packed beach. I found myself having to time my walks with the tide in Puerto Vallarta. If I did not walk the beach as the tide was going out in, my feet would sink a little too far into the sand for my liking. I walk so that I can think, but I found that when my feet were sinking into the sand my mind was focusing on walking more than I wanted, and subsequently I would get frustrated and not think. I’ve read that there have been studies on this, so I know you might think I’m crazy, but there is an element to truth to my craziness. Also, because the bay in shallower in Ixtapa the beach is a little flatter and not on such an angle; makes for easier walking. And finally, I found that there were more clusters of pebbles in Puerto Vallarta than in Ixtapa. This to me is minor, and if you stay at your hotel beach you won’t see this. Hotel beaches are pure sand.
-I found the hotel staff to be quite a bit friendlier in Ixtapa and opposed to Puerto Vallarta. I think this was in relation to hotel vs. resort. In a hotel, it seems a little bit more intimate, where a resort is quite a bit larger and therefore more people. This is in no way the fault of the staff. In a resort, I’m sure the training is slightly different when it comes to dealing with the public. The resort seemed to have quite a bit more North-Americans, and truthful, we can be arrogant picks. I’m sure they are told to talk to us a little bit less and quite frankly, simply dealing with that amount of people day in a day out, it would get exhausting. I worked in the service industry for a number of years and it could even get on my nerves from time to time. But as someone who knows a little bit of Spanish, I like to practice whenever I can, and look forward to sharpen my skills when I head down south, but I felt like there were fewer staff willing to engage me in conversation in Puerto Vallarta.
-Mom liked the food better in Puerto Vallarta. Like a fool, I/we, missed the meeting they give on the first day of your trip in Ixtapa, and therefore missed how to book the a-la-cartes. Clearly we could have asked, but for some reason we never did. I get up early every day and so in Puerto Vallarta a couple of times I would wait in the a-la-carte line in the morning to book us in, so we had a number of order-off-a-menu type dinners. Now I’m not sure if she liked the food better simply because of that, I think she really liked the buffets they had too. Whereas I was indifferent; Ixtapa was good, Puerto Vallarta was good, I’ll eat anything.
-As stated earlier, a resort is going to be bigger, and we were placed in a fairly far away building from the beach and dining areas. I didn’t mind this but I think mom didn’t like this. Minor but it is something to note.
I think those are most of the things I found significantly different between the two places. I preferred Ixtapa and Barceló hotel better, whereas mom preferred Puerto Vallarta and the resort style better. It completely comes down to personal preference, whatever floats your boat, but you won’t know until you try.This is just a foot-note, and I’m not sure if this is a pro-tip, or pet-peeve or what but, in my opinion, you should try and learn the local language. I’m not saying full sentences but at least basic phrases, like hola (hi), Como estas (how are you), gracias (thank you), etc. I think we should at least try when we visit other countries, and I find that the locals appreciate the effort; they deal with a lot of ignorant clowns throughout the day. Plus, you’ll look like less of a tool if you try and they can see you’re putting in the effort; at least in my experience anyways.
through these eyes 