TRIP REPORT by TOM BROWN
We had a fine trip to Acapulco for the week of January 27, 2011. Just a few adventures to report.
As the date for the trip approached we knew weather would be an issue.
The night before we were to go to the Hilton at Newark Airport (to stay before the early flight) we got another 16 inches of snow on top of the previous 24 inches. Reports were that virtually all flights were canceled for the day.
As of 11am the day we were to go to the Hilton we had not been plowed, but soon the plow man arrived. It was wet and difficult to plow uphill so our man elected to crash into the snow and push until he stalled. That worked for a while but then he slid into the ditch. Soon his partner (and father) showed up to pull him out. By noon the driveway was open. Also we got a report that our flight was on time for the next morning.
So we left in mid afternoon for Newark on amazingly clear roads.
The plane was on time as was the plane from Houston to Acapulco. We even arrived early, and even got an ocean view room. With some fear and trepidation we signed up for a members update tour, starting with breakfast the next morning, with the hostess promising no more that one hour after we finished breakfast. Pretty standard for a timesharing resort.
Nice Italian Buffet for our first dinner with some foods prepared to order and lots of courses to try. Also a great piano player.
Our sales rep for Saturday was a bilingual Mexican with family in California. We explained how satisfied we were. He said he only had one simple idea that he could explain quickly. Of course we had questions, which he answered successfully and we ended buying an upgrade.
Negotiating the contract then took several hours considering price and conditions were up for grabs. We thought we got a good deal, and we saved our prior arrangement for no maintenance fees when we go ourselves.
Finally we got outside on our own and the scene was one of destruction and construction.
--all the Mayan Palace buildings on the right looking from the street have been demolished, to be replaced with taller more luxurious facilities
--the original part of the pool is closed off so it is only the narrow parts of the pool on the left that are in use
--the big cauldron that drops water on unsuspecting guests that are tubing has been taken out
--there is a very large new Mayan Palace resort complete with a huge pool is located about a mile away, inland
The beach scene was pretty much unchanged with the horses, ATV taxis and udrives and of course vendors.
But there was something mysterious. A roped off area on the beach with palm trees tables and a dance floor. We asked and were told that it was a "boda" or wedding party of a wealthy family from Mexico City.
In the meantime we went off to the new restaurant at the Mayan Palace for dinner. The staff there went all out to give us a "cena romantica" or romantic dinner. They set up a table away from the restaurant by the pool with flares to give us light and lots of service, complete with Santa Alicia (Saint Alice) wine.
Then back to the Grand Mayan. The wedding guests were just arriving. They seemed to have dinner at 10pm and at 11pm we went to bed. At 12:30 am the very loud music woke us up. We observed the scene, got ear plugs from our travel kit and did get back to sleep. Almost no evidence of the party when we woke up in the morning and looked out on the beach.
The week unfolded nicely with the same palapa and neighboring people on the beach each day. One of the people was boasting what a deal he'd gotten, for his upgrade to one level more that ours and we went back to the sales department and they beat his deal.
The people on the beach were recommending a neighborhood restaurant in a very local Mexican neighborhood, so we got a reservation and employed a taxi to take us. It was a crazy scene very crowded with people, houses and shops crowded together. The owner lives over the restaurant. We had a delicious dinner at half the price of the resort.
During the taxi ride we got an earful as to how the bad publicity of the drug wars had kept people away. And that there was only a problem if you were trying to buy drugs!
Then the snow came to Texas and we got a message that our flights home were canceled. With the help of the concierge we got in touch with Continental and were booked one day later. The hotel was very cooperative, and let us stay in our room for an extra day for a nominal charge of a day's maintenance fee.
The next day we checked on the flights and they were operational. At the airport we were told that the Acapulco to Houston flight was late but they hoped that our connection in Houston would still work.
When we got to Houston we had 60 minutes when we got in line at immigration. It was the biggest crowd ever. A continental rep pulled us out of line into a shorter one. After customs we had 10 or 15 minutes and I ran ahead to hold the plane for Alice. We made the flight and so did some other people after us.
Ironically when we got home we had an email advising us that the flight was not going to wait for us and that we were booked on the 6am Sunday!
We got home at 2am. You cannot imagine all the snow and ice in Wilton...or Vermont as we found out 3 days later.
