Shoediva's liquid/liquor adventure at the IB* Grand

[shoediva]

Background info – this will be our eighth trip to Playa. We are going to celebrate our 29th anniversary. This will be our second trip to the Iberostar Grand.

45 days to go – It snowed here today. Although not as much as they predicted. Ready for some Mexican sun, sand and relaxation.

41 days to go – I love my job, but my staff is making me crazy. It was in the 60’s today. Better than snow, but still not Playa.

21 days to go, BIG snow storm predicted. But they are hedging, 3-10 inches expected. Geez, 10 is more than 3 times 3. WTH?

20 days to go. Snow was kind of a bust. Enough to make it miserable and messy, but I never saw anywhere close to 10”.

18 days to go – I feel soooo tired from all the grey, gloomy weather. Think I’ll go check the boards for a trip report. That’ll cheer me up.

WHEN IS IT GOING TO STOP SNOWING! IT’S APRIL FOR GOD’S SAKE! ENOUGH!



April 30, Day 1 – It’s here! Today’s the day. We are so excited. And ready. We get up and say good-bye to our 15 year old, who will be looked after by his two older sibs while we are gone. We hop in the car and the day is one of Colorado’s best. Sunny, warm. But I am not fooled. I know more “weather” (as it is euphemistically called) is coming in tomorrow. But I don’t care, because I won’t be here – lalalalala.

Zung is a Frontier Summit member, so we get to go in the special, shorter line. The lady (and I use that term loosely in this case) who takes our bags lifts mine and comments on how heavy it is and weighs it again. I get in right under the wire are 50#. She wants to know what is in there. When I say 6 pairs of shoes she says to Zung, “She’ll just pick the most comfortable pair and wear them the whole time, won’t she?” What planet is this woman from? Not Venus, that’s for sure. And she sure doesn’t know me.



We go through security. We get “puffed” and the airport guy warns me to hold down my skirt or have a “Marilyn Monroe moment.”

We have loads of time so we get some breakfast. Zung takes my leftovers for a snack on the plane. Before we know it, we are boarding, and after a short delay, taking off. It’s a smooth flight and then we are landing. Immigration (I don’t think the agent looked directly at us once) was quick and we had a brief wait for our bags, then through Customs. Damn! Got the red light. I guess we were about due. The inspection was pretty cursory. Then we went to get our ride, which was a private transfer through Apple. We usually use Cancun Valet, but our TA threw private transfers into our package. It was not as quick as Cancun Valet is and I got a little antsy, but we were finally on the road and pulling into the Iberostar Paraiso entrance. Then into the Grand entrance.



We got out and were taken into the lobby where Paolo checked us in and informed us we were being upgraded from a standard room to an ocean view. We were given welcome drinks (I had champagne naturally and for some strange reason Zung took the non-alcoholic fruity drink – he says it was good) . I exchanged some US for pesos so we’d have plenty to tip with and then the bellman took us to our room.

The view had a nice amount of ocean to it.





There was a welcome letter. Shortly after we arrived our butler showed up. It was Eduardo, whom I remembered from last year. He asked if we wanted him to unpack for us and we declined. Frankly, I didn’t want him handling my sexy lingerie – I’d never be able to look him in the face again.

We asked for the pillows of our choice, I told him we’d already made dinner reservations by email and he said he’d check on that. He showed us the mini-bar and I asked for a full bottle of Havana Club. He frowned and said usually they only have full bottles of the liquors that are in the mini bottles. I gave him my best pleading look and he said he could ask room service to bring us some and then ask them to leave the bottle. Shortly after room service showed up with a full, unopened bottle of Havana Club. I was a happy camper. They also brought an almost full bottle of Barcari, which we never touched. I mean. Why drink Bacardi when you have Havana? I can get Bacardi at home.





Zung took a shower and I tried to call the kids. Couldn’t get through. The next morning I finally figured out I was short a 0. I was dialing 01 and then the number, and I needed to be dialing 001.

I sat on the balcony and gazed at the ocean, so happy to be here at last.

By the time Zung got showered and dressed it was time for dinner. But first (!) - there was the ceremonial removal of the watch. I start every vacation this way.



The restaurants were mere steps from our door. We went to the Japanese that first night. We both had lobster and a bottle of red wine. The lobster was a little dry, but everything else was very yummy. Last year lobster was unavailable because it was during the lobster baby season. So I was happy to see we hadn’t missed it again this year.

I decided then and there to make a record of all the things we drank.



After dinner we were tired from our travel day. We went back to our room. We were disappointed to not have gotten turn down service but had some Havana rum, straight and smooth. Yuuuummmmm. That made it all good.

We wanted to get a good night’s sleep so we’d have plenty of energy to lay on the beach tomorrow.

[Streckman]

Very nice!! Waiting for more pics of Iberostar. Best resort around...hands down!! I'm getting ready to leave as well, but heading to Sint Maarten on the red eye Saturday morning!!! How bout this weather were having out here huh, near 90 today!!

[Nick and Nora Charles]

Very nice--------More please.


Nick and Nora Charles

[Dan-0]

Great start! I enjoyed what you've got so far. ¡Más, por favor!

[PlayaWithMe2]

Keep it coming! I love your dress!

[shoediva]

Originally Posted by Streckman

Very nice!! Waiting for more pics of Iberostar. Best resort around...hands down!! I'm getting ready to leave as well, but heading to Sint Maarten on the red eye Saturday morning!!! How bout this weather were having out here huh, near 90 today!!

Here you go!
The weather has been great, but not looking so good today
Where is SM and how long a flight from Denver?

[shoediva]

Not all my pics uploaded and I found a couple important ones from last night.

[shoediva]

May 1, Day 2 – I woke up in the middle of the night. I frequently do my first night in a strange bed. I would have taken an Ambien last night to prevent this, but in view of the amount of alcohol I consumed, that did not seem like a good idea :drunkfall

We woke up pretty early. The drapes completely block out any outside light, so Zung peeked out and reported it was sunny. We got dressed and headed to Bella Vista for breakfast.

The Grand has three options for breakfast, Bella Vista, which is the buffet restaurant in the main building, just two flights down the stairs for us, Las Brisa, the building right off the beach, and room service. We were seated and the waiter came over and asked if we wanted coffee. Zung said yes and I asked for hot tea. The waiter plopped down a carafe and walked away. We had no idea it had coffee in it and when he came back and saw that Zung had not poured it himself the waiter poured it. I have to say I was surprised the waiter didn’t pour it. This was in contrast to last year when they brought you a cup of coffee and if you asked for a second cup, they brought you more coffee in a clean cup.

Zung got what he always gets, an omelet and fruit and fresh donut. Sorry guys, no pictures of food with the exception of some desserts. But lots of pictures of delicious drinks.



I had fruit (was disappointed there was no mango because last year it was sooo yum). I had a scrambled egg and fruit and a croissant.

Breakfast was done and the next task was to make dinner reservations. We went to the concierge. On our way we saw Eduardo, our butler, who asked how things were and was there anything we needed. I said no, he got me my Havana rum, so I was good. We made dinner ressies for Venecia, the Italian. I was hoping our amazing waiter, Karim, from last year would be there. Had no problem getting the time we wanted for any of our dinner reservations.

Then we greased up with sunscreen and headed out to the beach. We parked ourselves on the south side of building #70, which is the Ocean Front building that is next to the Maya. The advantage is the water is more swimmable than what is in front of building #71. It wasn’t long before a waiter was out to get our first drink order.



I sat there, looking at the ocean, listening to the ocean, smelling the ocean, feeling the ocean breeze on my body. I was in heaven. I think I probably had a big, silly grin on my face. I was so happy to be there.





We read and drank and I baked in the sun while Zung stayed in the shade of the palapa.



There are tons of palapas on the beach, While there was chair saving, it really wasn’t necessary. The pool has cabanas and those appeared to be claimed early on. We never parked ourselves by the pool. There was just too much activity that intruded on my zen vacation state.

At noon I pulled myself out of the sun. Shortly thereafter we went to Las Brisa for lunch. It is right near the main pool and the activity area. There always seemed to be something going on in the pool or activity center. I couldn’t figure out why all those people were exercising or dancing or doing all those active things. It wore me out just watching them.

At lunch I ordered my first Havana rum and coke, requesting “mas fuertes” (I’m sure the waiters got a chuckle out of my command of the Spanish language). Zung got a Corona.







I got the Kobe burger and Zung got the lobster. The lobster ended up being only a few bites, so he went to the buffet and got more food.

This man can eat like you wouldn’t believe. And his 60 year old body is better than most of the men half his age. It infuriates me. But I wasn’t worrying about calories this week. Where’s the dessert?!

Back to the beach.



More drinks




More reading and just enjoying this beautiful place.




I went back into the sun at 3pm. Around 4 we packed up and headed to the spa pool. Last year we had not checked this out at all other than to walk through. BIG mistake. This pool is amazing. There are all these giant faucets that pour and pulse water out. There are hot tubs and there is an area in the pool that is mostly enclosed. You push a button and tiny bubbles slowly come up from the bottom, then it bubbles up like a volcano. It’s a good thing my bathing suit was on securely.





When we were totally jello, we headed back to our room. We made rum and cokes and got ready for dinner. We walked to Venecia, which is by the lobby, so it involved a bit of a walk. We gave the hostess our reservation receipt and I asked if Karim still worked there. He does, but he was working at the Surf and Turf tonight. She assured me we would get just as excellent a waiter and seated us at one of Jorge’s tables. Jorge was very professional and provided us with excellent service. But, he wasn’t Karim. He was so serious. Karim was fun, and I hoped we would see him at some point during our trip.

For appies I had the salmon carpaccio and Zung had the calamari (or “squidies” as he calls them). We ordered the shrimp and lobster risotto to share, and both ordered the sea bass. This year after the appies they brought the rest all together instead of the risotto as a separate course. The risotto was probably the very best thing we ate the entire trip. It was so good. The sea bass was good, but not quite as good as last year. I had the tiramisu for dessert and Zung had the Pears in Grappa. Both were very tasty.

[shoediva]

After such a grueling day the only thing we had energy for was to go back to the room for after dinner drinks and then to sleep.



Tomorrow would be another busy day of laying in the sun and stuffing our faces. Can’t wait!

[Beth&Scott]

Love the removal of the watch! How appropriate! We just got back a week ago...my trip report is due. Love your report!

[shoediva]

Wellll, get to it!!

[shoediva]

May 2, Day 3 – Last night we filled out the “deliver breakfast to us tomorrow morning” card. We woke up about two minutes before they knocked on our door. It was a feast! American eggs – fried with cheese on top (the cheese here doesn’t melt, it’s kind of weird) with sauce, bacon, waffles (they brought two plates of waffles), an omelet for Zung, two plates of fresh fruit, orange juice, mango juice (this will become important later), pastries/breads, coffee and tea.



We stuffed ourselves, greased up, went to the concierge to make dinner ressies for the next three nights and headed out to heaven, errr, I mean the beach.



Today we parked ourselves on the north side of Biulding #70. The chairs on this side are fancier, padded and wicker with pillows. Don’t ask me why they have nicer chairs in this quarter of the beach, but they do. But, truth be told, they are really not that much better than the regular beach loungers that are kind of a mesh material and sooooo much better than the tortureloungers that are everywhere else. They may be different colors, but they are made to torture and that’s it. Even the Royal Hideaway has these beach loungers.

We seriously looked at the Valetin Riviera Maya for this trip because it was sooo much cheaper. But two big factors that brought us back to the Grand were the Valentin has no Havana rum (or it’s limited, so I hear) and they have the tortureloungers.

So, we found comfy chairs, and parked our butts for the day. We enjoyed the always beautiful scenery. It’s the same every day and it amazes me every day with how gorgeous it is. I love the sound too. I saw some people with ipods plugged in their ears and I wanted to pull them out and say, “But, you’re missing half the experience!” That kind of behavior is generally frowned upon, so I restrained myself.

Zung went for a run today. If I could figure out how to run without spilling my drink, I might join him. That’s a lie. I haven’t run in 30 years. And one of my “Don’ts on vacation is exercising. He enjoys running on the beach though and bought these fancy beach running shoes.



Our beach waiter came by and I asked for a mango colada. Last year I was told “No mango!” Which made me sad, because I love mango coladas. But see, I had that mango juice this morning, so I could think of no good reason they couldn’t make a mango colada. He asked if I had gotten it on the beach or at the pool bar and I said neither, but I’d had mango juice for breakfast. He went to ask and came back and told me they would make it with a fresh mango, “That will be better than using juice.” Works for me. It was yummy.

When we got hungry, we went for lunch. Our waiter asked if we wanted fajitas or quesadillas. These are not on the menu, but they will make them for you. Zung ordered shrimp fajitas and loooved them. I had originally declined because they had a leg of lamb at the buffet and I’d gotten a piece, and the piece she gave me was HUGE! It was also terrible, dry and tough. So I asked our wonderful waiter for some chicken and cheese quesadillas. They were very good. I wish I could remember this waiters name, because he was so friendly. After Zung cleaned his plate our waiter said, “You liked them, yes? Now you know.”

We went back to the beach for more reading and relaxing and drinking. If they ever make drinking on the beach an Olympic event, I’m in.:curling:

After awhile I suggested we get my pool float and head to the tranquility pool.



We did that for about an hour and then we went back to our room to get ready for dinner. When we left our room I put the “Please Make Up Room” sign on the door, because we hadn’t gotten Turn-Down service the first two nights and I hoped this would ensure we got it tonight.

Tonight we ate at Toni’s Surf and Turf.



We had a nice Cabernet with dinner.



We were seated on the lower level, by the window, which gave us great ocean views. Our waiter was Domingo. We both got the surf and turf. I ordered my turf medium rare, but it ended up being pretty rare. We both got the tomato salad, which was just sliced tomatoes with a couple slices of onion on top. One plate had this luscious, juicy, red tomato, the other had this pathetic, half green, dry tomato. We got quite a chuckle out of that, and just shared the good one. I wasn’t too hungry tonight, so the food may have been better than I remember. For dessert I ordered the famous (for it’s name) “Bacon From Heaven.” It’s actually a heavy flan. Zung got the Apple custard, and we actually took pictures!





We went to the Lobby Bar tonight and Zung had his first Mojito of the trip.



I had a Mexicano shooter and I tried a Blue Hawaii.






It was pretty, but not that exciting taste-wise. Not bad, just not wonderful.
And maybe it wasn't even tonight that I drank it. It's hard keeping all these drinks straight you know.:drunkfall

When we returned to our room we found that not only had we received Turn-Down service, but there was a chilled bottle of champagne in honor of our anniversary. We were pretty toasted by this point, so decided to save it for tomorrow.:drunks:

We were enjoying our trip immensely. Doing a whole lot of nothing is exactly what we needed. And tomorrow would be another busy day of it. I didn’t know yet, but I was to meet the man of my dreams.

[Jillian]

Great report! Ahhh, I wish I could be laying on that beach right about now

[Sharon]

You guys are adorable! Great trip report!! Keep it coming!!

[Beth&Scott]

Happy Anniversary! Ahhhh...that water looks relaxing! Drinks, sun and the water....sounds awesome! Finally got some of my report up!