We pulled up to the hotel and just stood there staring! It was incredibly beautiful…the architecture was amazing. Huge stone columns every where….Marble, hand crafted, very ornate furnishings….and that was just the lobby. We check in and the bell boy (never had on of those before) put our luggage on a trolly and took us to our room. The room is exactly like the pictures. The shower is big enough to have a party in!
(please see the pics below)
After we checked out the room we wandered out to our balcony…..oh no! We were over looking the construction of another hotel! It was around 10:30 pm and they were still working. We headed down to the front desk and requested a move…..Next morning we move to a room on the first floor that had a view of the ocean and the ferry docks! Every morning we sat out there and had our tea.
We found the Hotel and everyone in it to be the nicest and most helpful people we've ever met..If you have a problem/concern with anything, be sure to talk to someone about it..We found that making customers happy was the hotels main concern..
And the guy in the bird suit..You guessed it..He does the Bird Dance and other fun numbers..Must have been very hot though??..Although, it was winter in Mexico and we heard a number of locals commenting how this was cold for them..(29 c??)
A walk along the beach..North from our hotel area.
5th Avenue..electric delivery truck and a machine gun toting security gaurd in front of a Jewellery store
Rita gets her hair braided..Once the negotiations were done we followed the Braidy Lady down this little alley..Steve tells the Braidy Lady that he wants to be next(haha..bald guy humor??..roll eyes)..Braidy Lady cooly suggests extentions!!..hehe..
One thing we did learn..When taking pictures of someone, it's just a polite thing to do..Ask them if its OK..(that includes the machine gun toting security guy)
While Rita gets her hair beaded, Steve checks out the alley..This cute little girl was very interested in anybody(even Steve) walking by and Steve took a digi pic (with her mother's approval) and showed it to her..
So now here's Steve..Standing at the end of this alley..By himself..And he notices this Pink Club at the end of the alley beside this little steak place..
Worth a pic, but he didn't hang around too long..haha
Mexican McDonalds..We didn't go in, but apparently, you can even order beer there..And the "wall "O" booze" in a Drug/Souvenier/Smoke Shop...You can get Prozac, Viagara, Steroids, anything!!..Over the counter!!..(we need to get out more)..
Fifth Avenue runs mainly South from our Hotel location..Picture here is looking north from the Ferry to Cozumel Dock at out Hotel(on Horizon)..
Lunch on 5th..People watching..Rita "leveling" a beer..Steve posing...Rita spotted a guy and his Iguana (at least, thats what she told Steve) across the street and runs over to pet it.
Mexican Corona Factory??...Two trucks and a cement mixer!!
HaHa..Just kidding..Actually, we must say that the entire area we visited was very clean and we often commented on the neat and tidy appearance of everyone..We didn't really expect it to be different than Canada, but the only reason we noticed is because everything seemed so much cleaner in Mexico..
After supper we watched the nightly entertainment at the outdoor stage and then enjoyed the live band in the lobby bar.
It was a very relaxing and enjoyable day..
The ruins were incredible, just amazing.
The “GIFT” shops there are rather different….they consist of locals with there wares spread out on blankets up and down the walkways….Beautiful detailed work for a pittance. We then went to lunch in a beautiful outdoor restaurant (all a part of the tour), then on to another under ground Cenotes. We left the hotel at 7 am and did not get back until after 7 pm……I am very glad we did go but I do not think I will do that one again.
Just know that if you go on tours, the roads are very poor and we would suggest a tour bus might be a bit more comfortable.."Best Day" offered most of the tours suggested by our Sunwing Rep, Alex, and they are mostly in vans..
Although uncomfortable, we think you really must take a day and visit the ruins..
Without a guide we really would have missed a lot of fact type stuff
Our guide was very knowledgable and did a great job..
Unfortunately for him, he had to translate in two different languages which made things a bit longer than necessary..Everyone really perked up when we spotted a bunch of Iguanas on some rocks..Dang tourists!!
If you stand in the area of the biggest "pyramid" and clap your hands you hear echos..If you stand right in front and a certain distance away(approximately where we are standing in the 4th picture above), you hear an almost electronic type of beep sound in response to your clap..Hard to explain, but very intrigueing..
We have to admit that after seeing all the poverty on our trip to Chichen Itza and seeing how people live in other parts of the world, we felt very fortunate to be from Canada..And it made "haggling for bargains" a little less of a thrill from then on..
And the thing that amazed us the most is how even though their standard of living was not quite the same as ours, the people of the Yukatan Pininsula are always smiling, happy and cheerful...
We came away having a lot of respect for Mexico and it's people..
We took a bus up the road to Kuklakan Plaza to have lunch. Then wandered around Cancun….It was a mess still, apparently only 50% there is repaired after Hurricane Wilma (and RITA!!). Hotels with no balconies or windows, walls completely gone, big holes in the walls that are there…Huge piles of glass and rubble…Most of the beach is gone, 2 to 3 feet wide in some places, nothing in others…Big huge beautiful hotels look sort of OK from the front, but head around back to the ocean side and it looks like a bomb went off…..so very sad.
The area we were in was the South end of Cancun between the Lagoon(where Steve Seadoo'd) and the Ocean..We didn't get very far up..Cancun is so much bigger than we thought..So we don't really know about the hotels closer to the top, but where we were, it seemed like a ghost town..
We went back to the hotel and went for a long walk on the beach. On the way back Steve practically peed himself…He started nattering on about something, but real quietly…Took Rita a bit to figure out what was up…………….A topless sunbather…..The look on his face was hilarious! So a Wave Runner and some beautiful scenery made his day.(sorry guys..no pics..sometimes we just have to be a little discreet..We're Canadians, aren't we?..haha)
The Gran Porto Real has two very nice semi-formal restaurants..You are free to use them as you want, but you must dress up and make a reservation..We had a pretty busy schedule, but we did manage to book at the Mexican Cousine called Maria's...This is all still included in your all inclusive package..There was a note on the menu that items with *** marked beside them were subject to an additional charge, but we never actually saw any such items..The food and presentation were awesome..Nothing but great things to say..
On a few evenings local craftsman were allowed to put out a few tables around the hotel pool and sell their wares..The guy seen here was amazing..He'd carve the most amazing designs out of Pesos..Pesos are mostly two colors with an inner circle area and outer rim..He would carve shapes/scenes out of the inner circle(dolphins etc.) and the results were very nicely done..
Every night we were delighted by the very talented shows that were provided on the outdoor hotel stage..This is just an example of one the nights..Make sure you are around in the evening..And dress warm..Its a blustery 16c out there..hehe.
After the outdoor stage show you can move indoors to watch a different band playing most nights..
One of Rita's favorite perches..The Swinging Bar
The Michael Jackson Band made an appearance on Friday night on the main stage..These guys were great..Close up, the lead actually looked pretty close to M.J., and from a distance, you would have sworn it was him..The entire troup had all the right moves, but the kid in the white glove definitely stole the show..Very spectacular and just one of the many great shows put on by The Gran Porto Real
And we spotted this little Gecko(Rita did, actually) on a tree right outside our room/off the balcony..
Spent the final day of a wonderful vacation lieing/sitting/playing around the beach..And drinking..And eating....We had met a couple from Winnipeg, Manitoba who went Parasailing today and thought that maybe that was them in picture 6..Turns out they never really came our direction when they went up, but we thought this was a good picture anyways..
THe Swinging Bar..Great bartender there..Great place to sit if you want someone who knows his drinks and knows how to work a table by keeping everyone amused..(assuming you get him)
Long shot along the beach/ocean side
Main pool bar..There are washrooms underneath that bar..Be careful which stall you decide to sit in..Those little holes near the bottom look right into one of the stalls
The hallway leading to our room..And a great example of perspective..(for you artsy types)
A great view from our balcony..Morning tea and a nice breeze coming off the ocean combined with the rising morning sun..Couldn't ask for a better set-up..
Another great view from the 3rd floor balcony near the swim up bar area..Never really used the swim up bar..Being on the north side of the building it was shaded most of the day and pretty cool..Add to that, the fact that you are sitting on a stool..Barely in the water, but wet, getting a cool breeze off the ocean and drinking ice cold beverages..BBRR!!...
