We visited Temptation Resort in Cancun. It started at the Airport watch out for people in uniform inside the airport trying to get you to purchase activity and sight-seeing packages. They pretend to be from your resort/hotel transport (cab) company but only want to sell you overpriced vouchers for local activities.
~You can purchase these vouchers at the hotel or right outside the hotel COMPARE PRICES
Once we finally made it outside to our Best Day travel service, the van was full. There was some debate on if we were VIP travelers between the staff however it was resolved and I also called and confirmed with our travel agent (US) that we were not. 40 minutes later after dropping off all other passengers we reached our hotel
~ (Temptation is the last Resort in the hotel zone). I would have paid extra for VIP ( Car service only) had I known.
So we arrive finally at our hotel, tired but grateful we dodged a bullet at the airport! We check in at the front desk where we are told YES your room is ready but please see Caesar your concierge for more information. Caesar began by getting some harmless?? information from us like single or couple, age, reason for vacation and then it gets funny?what type of credit cards we have. He gave us a coupon for $5.00 off at the nail salon and told us he would meet us tomorrow for our First Free Breakfast???
The next morning we ordered free continental breakfast delivered to the room (This is the only thing you can get from room service as a non-member). The phone rang around 0930 it was Caesar ensuring we would meet him for breakfast. We went back to the front desk area where we were then introduced to Mike (Caesar was not there) and we were told Mike would show us around the resort. Mike escorted us to our free breakfast (the free breakfast buffet at this all inclusive resort). We had a few meat items as these are not available on the breakfast in room menu. He then encouraged us to drink...how about mimosas?? I had about 3 and my husband had about 4.
~You can order continental room service daily for breakfast. If the card is missing from your door call the front desk and ask for 1 for each day of your stay, staff will not replace daily and the bell that brings it will expect a tip. We tipped the delivery bell every morning for breakfast however you DO NOT have to tip as this is an all inclusive hotel.
During our walk around a young gentleman interrupted our conversation with Mike and told us that upgrading was the best thing he ever did. This young man also was a few years younger than me and my husband, same race, and we believe to be a US citizen. After showing us around the resort and inviting us to the VIP room for drinks (Jack Daniels) and other upper cut drinks that you will not find in ANY of the bars, Mike began to explain a Vacation package that sounded like a Time Share deal. Honestly I can?t remember all of the details he sketched some stuff on a yellow note pad and talked about 2 different packages ranging between $5, 000 and $10, 000 thousand US dollars. I literally mentally checked out of the conversation 2 times and when I left to go to the bathroom Mike also excused himself to go as well. When I came out it was as if he was waiting for me. My husband was at the table with another person claiming to be Mikes manager and an RCI representative. When my husband decided to use the bathroom mike followed him as well.
This entire scam took 4 hours of our vacation. We stated we were building our credit to purchase our vacation home. When confronted with this were told we could put down a deposit and pay the remaining balance later. We stated we had money in our safe but did not want to go through our vacation money for something we had not discussed and budgeted for; we were then told we had to make the decision that day. That same day our safe malfunctioned and we had to have someone come up to unlock the safe. The Bell person brought the keys but the safe would not unlock. He had to send maintenance who opened the safe with a screwdriver and reset the safe with new batteries. Needless to say we DID NOT use the safe after that.When I arrived home there were 3 inquires on my credit report. One from the credit bureau and 2 from American credit card companies : Bank of America and Chase on the same day we toured with Mike RCI. I have called both companies and will send them a copy of what I am typing here. Fortunately I have been accomplishing credit repair for the past 2 years and early November I noticed a fraudulent address on my credit report so I requested a Fraud alert on my credit report that requires anyone seeking to extend credit take further steps to verify my identity. I believe this is what stopped these fraudulent charges.
~If you decide to listen to this scam BE WARE say NO and check your credit report when you return home or from the App on your IPhone. I did and was prepped to make calls when I arrived in the US. (We returned today).
I dont believe these guys are associated with RCI. I did manage to walk away with a card that stated (powered by original) RCI was nowhere on the card if you goggle consumer reports RCI Temptation resorts you will finds tons of information regarding this scam. . I think perhaps RCI is a legitimate company but the people we ran into pardon me, was sent to by the resort front desk are part of a terrible scheme that I will see one day on the show American Greed.
Food TERRIBLE, I was diagnosed as diabetic the day prior to the trip, I?m not overweight and spent most of my life eating healthy at 37 I dont want hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza (they should be ashamed to call that pizza) for lunch in Cancun. I want native food. There are plenty of items to choose from on the salad bars but there was absolutely no flavor. On Christmas Eve they stepped the buffet up and added shrimp and small (Maryland) sized crabs to the grill. All food on grill is precooked then reheated. The crab was so overcooked it was mushy my husband was so disappointed. To eat at the nice restaurants you need reservations but they can only be booked between 10AM-12Noon. We arrived after 12Noon on the first day so we booked at 1030 on the second day and all the restaurants were booked except the Italian restaurant at 10:30 PM on Christmas Night. Hoping to taste something we hadn?t seen being recycled from salad bar to restaurant (they recycle the food what you see in the morning will be on the evening bar), only to find that the food we had eaten after 6pm in the non reservation required restaurant were the same items only changes were the garnishments and/or sauce.
Fridge is stocked daily with large bottle of water, coke, diet coke, and dos XX beer
Change, absolutely no one had change, not the bars, not the front desk, we finally found change at the Spa.
~take plenty of small bills
Bugs-we didnt see any our room was very well cleaned we tipped the maid on our last night stay.
Pools- Sexy, quite, sports. Our room was near the quiet pool that was nice at times it did get loud but we were able to sleep when we wanted. Sexy pool if you want to see grandma?s tatas go for it there were a few young people out but I think they had the same thoughts as me and my husband where is the younger crowd not sure if it was the time of year but I would say 60/40, 60 being older or coupled. There were all types gays, swingers, didn?t bother us, seeing the muscle bound swinger (age 50plus) with his florescent yellow thong didn?t bother me as much as it did my hubby LOL. We took it all in stride and had a good laugh. Sport pool I think I saw scuba lessons at some point.
Beach- this is supposed to be all inclusive but ?RCI or Original? whoever they want to call themselves has the middle of the beach roped off for members only. The beach at this resort is small full of seaweed. So why would they give dead center to RCI or Original? members only??? We ending up tanning by the volleyball and horseshoe court areas.
Clubs-We tried to get into Nice Shoes but were told to wait 10 minutes apparently we were overdressed and had to wait for the show to end before we could enter. Ive been to several strip clubs fully clothed and did not have to wait till the show was over to get it. When the show did end the room was completely empty.
If you happen to stay here bring plenty of spending money and get out of the resort we took a bus to the Mall of Isla and had dinner downtown food was great. Shopping at the Mall of Isla prices compare to US you can get bargains at the markets. The convenience store right next to the hotel is also part of Temptation resorts the prices are higher than if you walk across the street or take a bus to one of the markets (Bag of Chips $8 US). You will get tired of eating the same things if you stay more than 2 days
We had a great time, lots of laughs, excellent memories, only because our relationship is healthy imagine the arguments had we fallen for a $10K scheme or worse. We didnt mind spending one on one time together and neither of us are big partiers so our trip was relaxing and almost stress free.
Damage Resulting = I am still verifying nothing has happened to my finances and credit. It is possible my score can be lowered by the 3 inquiries. I have called the companies and I am drafting my letter to the 3 credit reporting agencies using all I have stated here. This occurred on 23 Dec 2010 it is now the 26th (3 days later too soon to discern results)
T&T Dover DE