mayaflya
17th April 2007, 10:08 AM
When we first got into our room on Friday afternoon, the A/C was running and the patio door was closed. We didn't think about that very much at the time...the whole ambience was more hotel room than seaside cabana. We had subsequently gone to bed that night without adjusting any of the settings. We soon realized that the A/C was making it cold enough that we needed more covers...which was not a problem...the bed had plenty...but after sleeping with, at most, a sheet at night all week, the blankets seemed silly. The wife asked me to turn up the temp on the A/C, which I did (The A/C had a remote control...really nice, you could adjust it from anywhere in the room). We fell asleep, but about 2am, I woke up and I was too warm. It dawned on me that the temperature outside was probably more like what we wanted...it had been all week. So I shut the A/C off and opened the patio door....I also then realized that I had been missing the sound of the surf with the A/C running. We never closed the door or turned the A/C on again after that.....We were at the far end of the building, about as close to the water as you could get...and now we had the best of both worlds....The beach outside....a comfortable bed inside! Bliss....
..........except......... I could not fall back to sleep!!!! I'd slept about four hours, but I was wide awake. The room was comfortable, the bed great, the sounds of the ocean soothing, but I was wired like a monkey on crack. Of course, the wife was blissfully asleep, and would remain that way....on vacation, she can do ten... twelve hours, easy. So after laying awake for awhile, I got up to walk around outside....at least I don't need to dress! They turn down the resort lighting at night, so the stars and night sky are almost as beautiful and intense as at Azulik. It's just a lovely place. I wandered back to reception, which was unattended, but open (the only staff visible at that time of night were the guards posted at each end of the beach). I used the computer available for guests at reception to catch up some emails.
Coffee service would start at 6am....full breakfast at 7am....so I waited til 6 and grabbed a carafe and cups and took it back to our patio.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/462924415_e58bff250b_o.jpg
The room had a coffeemaker, but I didn't want the noise/aroma to wake the wife. It was light and almost sunrise, so I sat outside with my book and coffee until the wife joined me. Sitting outside (rather than walking) made it a little cool, so bathrobes were the order of the day until about 8am, or so.
A word about robes....each room was stocked with THREE bathrobes per person. There was the expected plush Terry cloth robe with the HBR logo, there was also a logoed thick cotton pull over night shirt kind of thing, about knee length with slits up the sides, and then there was a thin satin dressing gown, again with the HBR logo. It was all very luxurious...but a little ironic for a nudist resort!
We had our breakfast poolside that morning, served by our attentive waiters, Jesus and Angel. For breakfast, you start inside at the buffet, where you can choose from a wide selection of hot and cold items, and/or have an omelete, pancakes, or french toast made to order. I had an omelet, The wife had a selection of the ala carte items (me too, I must admit). The selection of items on the buffet varied a bit from day to day, but included pastries, fresh fruit, bacon, chorizo, smoked salmon, capers, salami, etc. Very good and nicely presented. Once you've filled your plate, your waiter takes it to your table and serves juice/coffee.
After breakfast, we returned to the room, where The wife announced that she wanted to "stake out" a beach bed for the day...There really hadn't been a lack of beds the day before, but as it turned out, she wanted one closer to the "action" and not off on the end...a bit of a shock..but hey!...It's her birthday....whatever she wants
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/215/462924367_5cd1101113_o.jpg
We take our towels, books, and sunblock and occupy one of the beds about halfway between our room and the pool/bar. The low, early morning, sun angle means we can get some gentle rays on the bed before the palm roof starts to provide shade, so we enjoy easy direct tanning for an hour or so. We have a couple's massage scheduled on the beach at 11:30am....I forgot to mention that the afternoon before, spa workers "worked" the beach...giving free five minute back massages...trying to drum up business, I guess...Guess what, it worked! The wife had decided the day before that she would like the "sunrise" beach massage...Mimosas and full body massage for two...When I called, sunrise was booked, but they offered 11:30am....close enough.
We also wanted to snorkel again, and so we decided to do that before the massage, so that we could ease any muscle strains from that activity . Snorkeling was next door at EDSS, so this would involve putting something on. At some point, I gotta tell you what the biggest downside of HBR is....might as well get it over with. Again, it feels somewhat petty to criticize....we had an awesome time....but the water side of the beach at HBR sucked.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/213/462956960_cab6f2a031_o.jpg
They had done a heroic effort of bringing in sand and clearing rocks to make the water wadeable, and it was, but to hold the sand, they had placed these large sand filled bags (they call them "whales") out about 40 to 50 feet. The waves would break over these whales, but they blocked any ability to get further out than knee deep. No swimming. They weren't pretty either. We had heard that the beach was better at EDSS, so that's where we would head.
To be continued… (but I need to scan some photos..so be patient)
..........except......... I could not fall back to sleep!!!! I'd slept about four hours, but I was wide awake. The room was comfortable, the bed great, the sounds of the ocean soothing, but I was wired like a monkey on crack. Of course, the wife was blissfully asleep, and would remain that way....on vacation, she can do ten... twelve hours, easy. So after laying awake for awhile, I got up to walk around outside....at least I don't need to dress! They turn down the resort lighting at night, so the stars and night sky are almost as beautiful and intense as at Azulik. It's just a lovely place. I wandered back to reception, which was unattended, but open (the only staff visible at that time of night were the guards posted at each end of the beach). I used the computer available for guests at reception to catch up some emails.
Coffee service would start at 6am....full breakfast at 7am....so I waited til 6 and grabbed a carafe and cups and took it back to our patio.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/462924415_e58bff250b_o.jpg
The room had a coffeemaker, but I didn't want the noise/aroma to wake the wife. It was light and almost sunrise, so I sat outside with my book and coffee until the wife joined me. Sitting outside (rather than walking) made it a little cool, so bathrobes were the order of the day until about 8am, or so.
A word about robes....each room was stocked with THREE bathrobes per person. There was the expected plush Terry cloth robe with the HBR logo, there was also a logoed thick cotton pull over night shirt kind of thing, about knee length with slits up the sides, and then there was a thin satin dressing gown, again with the HBR logo. It was all very luxurious...but a little ironic for a nudist resort!
We had our breakfast poolside that morning, served by our attentive waiters, Jesus and Angel. For breakfast, you start inside at the buffet, where you can choose from a wide selection of hot and cold items, and/or have an omelete, pancakes, or french toast made to order. I had an omelet, The wife had a selection of the ala carte items (me too, I must admit). The selection of items on the buffet varied a bit from day to day, but included pastries, fresh fruit, bacon, chorizo, smoked salmon, capers, salami, etc. Very good and nicely presented. Once you've filled your plate, your waiter takes it to your table and serves juice/coffee.
After breakfast, we returned to the room, where The wife announced that she wanted to "stake out" a beach bed for the day...There really hadn't been a lack of beds the day before, but as it turned out, she wanted one closer to the "action" and not off on the end...a bit of a shock..but hey!...It's her birthday....whatever she wants
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/215/462924367_5cd1101113_o.jpg
We take our towels, books, and sunblock and occupy one of the beds about halfway between our room and the pool/bar. The low, early morning, sun angle means we can get some gentle rays on the bed before the palm roof starts to provide shade, so we enjoy easy direct tanning for an hour or so. We have a couple's massage scheduled on the beach at 11:30am....I forgot to mention that the afternoon before, spa workers "worked" the beach...giving free five minute back massages...trying to drum up business, I guess...Guess what, it worked! The wife had decided the day before that she would like the "sunrise" beach massage...Mimosas and full body massage for two...When I called, sunrise was booked, but they offered 11:30am....close enough.
We also wanted to snorkel again, and so we decided to do that before the massage, so that we could ease any muscle strains from that activity . Snorkeling was next door at EDSS, so this would involve putting something on. At some point, I gotta tell you what the biggest downside of HBR is....might as well get it over with. Again, it feels somewhat petty to criticize....we had an awesome time....but the water side of the beach at HBR sucked.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/213/462956960_cab6f2a031_o.jpg
They had done a heroic effort of bringing in sand and clearing rocks to make the water wadeable, and it was, but to hold the sand, they had placed these large sand filled bags (they call them "whales") out about 40 to 50 feet. The waves would break over these whales, but they blocked any ability to get further out than knee deep. No swimming. They weren't pretty either. We had heard that the beach was better at EDSS, so that's where we would head.
To be continued… (but I need to scan some photos..so be patient)