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Jan 2012 - ABR - more Feb 16 - 1/31/2012 10:25:20 PM
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barata
Posts: 4138
Joined: 4/11/2006
From: a few degrees north of Akumal
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Ahhh Akumal! Jan 7 - 21st, perfect time of year for us to get away, missed the -25c temps at home!
Due to changes to Sunwing’s flight schedule, we had a leisurely morning in Calgary and slept well the night before. Usually we toss and turn, afraid we’ll miss the 3:30 a.m. wake up call for our 7 a.m. flight. This time we didn’t have to be at the airport till 11 for a 2 p.m. takeoff. Landed around 8 but by the time everyone got their luggage and found the appropriate van it was after 9:30 when we left Cancun Airport. Luckily we only had 2 stops to make before ABR. It was 11 when we pulled in and had the “welcome juice” and found we had got our favourite room, # 401 as per our request.
Timmy & Clemente were waiting for us in the bar, which was deserted by then. A quick tequila shooter and off to our room. The thoughtful ABR staff had left sandwiches and fruit for us, along with a bottle of champagne on ice! Not sure if it’s because we’ve been there 6 times, or because I told them we would be celebrating our anniversary while we were there. Really nice touch and one of the things that sets ABR apart from the mega resorts.
We sat on the balcony for a while breathing in the warm Caribbean air before calling it a night. Fell asleep quickly with the sounds of the surf to lull us into unconsciousness.
The room.
What can I say about the standard rooms at ABR? They are not for the faint of heart. I know I wouldn’t stay in a room like that north of Mexico. But we CHOSE that room even though we paid our tour company for a superior room.
We have no problem with the tiny flat screen TV – it was never turned on. The king bed was more comfortable than the one we had in building 5 in October, though it was a foot shorter. There were about 5 hangers in the closet and only one shelf and a tiny safe. There are a couple of bedside tables with a drawer and small cupboard below, also an armoire type unit that the TV sits on, with a couple of shelves to hold our various flotsam and jetsam. It also has a double door cabinet beneath. Other than that not a lot of storage. For some reason the flooring in our bathroom was redone with blocks of wood. Wasn’t fussy about that, it made the toilet a couple of inches closer to the floor and it couldn’t be cleaned like the tile floors in the room. The tiles on the floor in the rest of the room had been painted (??) and were flaking, but it was washed frequently by the maids. They did a great job keeping the place spic and span though they missed a cobweb in the corner for the whole 2 weeks. They more than made up for that with inventive towel art on an almost daily basis. And if you came to my house you might find a cobweb or two lurking in places I haven’t noticed so who am I to throw stones?
Water pressure was great, hot water never ran out, drains drained. We only had one issue when the water seemed to have been turned off to the toilets. A call to the front desk and a maintenance guy was there in about a minute and a half. With a plunger. Note to self - need to improve our Spanish. He disappeared and water was restored in minutes.
Our home under the sun, the good
The bad:
Still waiting for underwater photos from the drowned Olympus. Stay tuned!
< Message edited by barata -- 2/16/2012 8:05:42 PM >
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barata, PI and catering service inc
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RE: Jan 2012 - 6th trip to ABR - why go anywhere else?? - 2/1/2012 7:40:57 AM
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DungSR
Posts: 14975
Joined: 8/22/2007
From: Fort Worth, TX
Status: offline
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Great room selection.
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RE: Jan 2012 - 6th trip to ABR - why go anywhere else?? - 2/1/2012 1:59:00 PM
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SchnauzerDog
Posts: 6356
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Good job so far Barata,
Sorry about your camera. I hope the tarantula pic turned out. :)
Always good to add a shock factor to your report.
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RE: Jan 2012 - 6th trip to ABR - why go anywhere else?? - 2/2/2012 3:52:47 AM
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ChrisandCindy
Posts: 4697
Joined: 12/24/2005
Status: online
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I like room 401, convenient for unloading the cameras and changing the batteries if you are going to make the moonrise your beach HQ. Cindy prefers the bigger rooms in the newer bldgs.
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RE: Jan 2012 - 6th trip to ABR - why go anywhere else?? - 2/2/2012 11:21:17 PM
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moonbeam3
Posts: 136
Joined: 7/23/2007
From: Ross, Ohio
Status: offline
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To the 'owners' of the bldg 4 rooms. Do those first 3 rooms - 401, 2, 3 - all have King beds? I love the location of those rooms.
This time (April) I need 2 beds. Been there 3 times, always in a room by myself, and I think I've always had a King bed. Seems like all the people I brought always had a King bed too. So makes me wonder - are there lots of rooms with 2 double beds, or not? hmmm
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RE: Jan 2012 - 6th trip to ABR - why go anywhere else?? - 2/2/2012 11:47:09 PM
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Gem
Posts: 2331
Joined: 2/20/2005
From: ~~Coal Valley, Illinois~~
Status: offline
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loving this...been going to ABR for 9 years now...always building 6 as our booking agent only does superior rooms.
This year, we fought and won...still paying for superior but finally got a standard room...best standard room? help me my friends...301, 401? Any and all suggestions will be mucho appreciated!
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RE: Jan 2012 - 6th trip to ABR - added some verbage Feb 3 - 2/3/2012 8:47:38 PM
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barata
Posts: 4138
Joined: 4/11/2006
From: a few degrees north of Akumal
Status: offline
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While we wait for John to edit his photos:
The fun part uno
We were still recovering from cold’s we’d been given for Christmas so were feeling pretty low key. Mornings always started with coffee on the balcony around sunrise for me, a bit later for John.
I take a kettle, coffee and drip filters. I’d pick up milk and ice before bed and store them in my handy dandy LG cooler. Occasionally those ubiquitous little ants that populate the Caribbean would find their way into the cooler and try to drink the milk. John got me a “moat” that worked to keep them out.
So after an hour or 2 of kindle reading and coffee drinking we’d head over to see Wilbert for yet another coffee and head to breakfast. We spent a lot of time on the balcony reading. Who needs to go to the beach when you’re this close to the sand and sea – and the snack bar? We had our own bathroom, the i-pod with some tiny speakers, and were close to the bed when the need for a siesta came upon us.
The animacion team was mostly responsible for the “entertainment” – the same contests between guests for title of Mr/Miss Akumal, 2 shows in the theatre plus a karaoke night. I had enough liquid courage to sing a tune one night.
ABR brought in a couple of bands so 2 night/week there was live music. One group did cover tunes, pretty danceable stuff after a few drinks, and the other was Caribbean music with some Marley and Santana tunes that got us up off those hard wooden chairs. The most popular entertainment one night was provided by a hot young female guest who appeared to be a bit ticked off with her boyfriend. Her revenge was to dance to the Caribbean band solo on the dance floor. She caught everyone’s attention when she started flicking her short skirt around to reveal her bare and well coifed uh um ahem SHEESH this is a family forum so I’ll just leave it to your imagination! She was coaxed off the floor by Shyan, one of the animacion team, to a chorus of boos from the guys in attendance.
We always meet the nicest people at ABR and this time was no exception. We were fortunate to meet a great bunch of folks from Oregon who added immensely to our vacation. We told them of John’s Occupy Akumal (1% of snorkellers do 99% of the snorkelling) initiative – or lack of initiative - and Lori thought we needed t-shirts as any good movement does. She cracked me up with her slogan “Octopi Akumal” We spent a lot time in the “comfy” seats in the lobby discussing our visions for world peace, government reformation and religious unity. In reality we played a few hands of Nasty Eights and drank a lot.
< Message edited by barata -- 2/3/2012 11:00:20 PM >
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Printable Version
That's my room
Plus the earlier you get up + later you stay up + the more you drink = comfortable bed.