🏝️ The resort tour from hell with a side of bacon
You get what you pay for
This is a real experience I had in 2024.
I saw the deal on Facebook – $199 for a 5 day 4 night trip at a new all-inclusive 5* resort in Cancun selling apartments. Sounds like an amazing deal, right?
It went downhill from there.
The total amount I actually paid for the hotel was about $900, including reservation, booking, and hotel fees and taxes. No longer amazing, but still a good deal, maybe.
The marketing company couldn’t book me at the resort. They had a list of hotels they could offer. The 4.5* hotel in the marketing ad wasn’t available. That’s probably a good thing as their reviews were atrocious. The only hotel that got passable reviews was a small 3* resort. Plus it was a half hour away from the property where the tour would be given.
At this point I had already paid a significant deposit. So I took that hotel. At least it was all-inclusive with good food, unlimited drinks, and two pools, we were on the beach, and extra bonus, it was next to a clothing-optional resort.
The day of the tour was a marathon.
A greeter met us at our hotel with a taxi. We drove to the 5* resort.
We waited at check-in.
The highlight was a 5* breakfast with the sales rep that featured a bacon tower. A freaking tower.
There was the tour of a few apartments, all gorgeous and new.
Then over to another building and the open sales room. Thankfully they served drinks. The obligatory bell was rung occasionally for completed sales.
There was the sales video, meeting with the sales rep, then with his manager, and then the VP, with waits between them all.
I considered and declined all their deals. I was taken to the transportation booker in a different building. He gave me the 4th sales pitch for a minideal to return next year.
Finally we taxied back to our hotel.
This war of attrition took 6 hours from the time my wife and I were ready at our hotel to when we returned.
Yeah, it pretty much wasted the day and stole a part of our souls.
You have to ask yourself - Is all that worth it to save a few hundred dollars?