The Señor Turns 50 Continued...

Okay, so where were we when last left off? Ahh, yes. The Señor and I were hopping into a Tulum cab and heading to the Fairmont Mayacoba. Well, first of all let me say that the cabs of Tulum have much to be desired. Riding in a Tulum cab is much like riding in a tuna can - and a generic tuna can at that! I was very relieved when after an hour of swerving and swaying we pulled up safely and without incident to the beautiful gated entrance of the Fairmont Mayacoba. The cab driver briefly spoke with the security guard who verified The Señor and the Mrs were scheduled for arrival, the gates opened and we were suddenly driving through roads of lush and perfectly manicured jungle. The driver of our tuna can pulled in to the lobby entrance and I bailed out as if I were arriving at a life boat! We were immediately welcomed by a handsome gentleman who greeted us by name, offered us each a scented, ice cold hand towel and a fruity welcome drink from a silver tray. Oh my, it were as if we had just landed on fantasy island!

The lobby of the resort is breathtakingly beautiful. It is completely open air and is decorated in calming neutral colors and beautiful, exotic floral arrangements. We checked in and immediately settled in to the big comfy chairs for a cocktail. I was so excited when I realized the resort was also fully decked out in her Christmas attire - there were beautiful Christmas trees placed throughout the resort with this being the grandest of them all.

This tree was the view from the lovely verandah where The Señor and I enjoyed refreshing beverages such as Mojitos, the occasional Corona and even a champagne cocktail. Very chi-chi indeed!

We stayed in a Deluxe Casita. It was situated right on one of the relaxing lagoons that run through the property. We were able to sit on the patio and enjoy the beautiful fish and birds who live in the wildlife paradise that is the property.

Here are a few shots of the room. You will notice that the bathroom comes first because 1) I adore a good bathroom and 2) I loved this particular bathroom!

Notice the glass wall and the window behind the tub and shower? They look out to an absolutely fabulous enclosed atrium area. Garden lights are strategically placed in the atrium and make it an absolutely wonderful addition to the room. I don't think I let a day go by that I didn't take advantage of a soak in that tub. We also slept with the atrium lights on which gave the feeling of being outside all night long.

Here is the view to our room from the yummy bathroom! I wish I had taken pictures of the closet area. There was a hallway between in the bedroom and bathroom with large closets on each side. Yes, his and hers closets come in handy when vacationing. Ha!!!!!!

The room also had a lovely desk area in case you might need to do a little work (not!) or possibly have a Words With Friends addiction!

The patio was fabulous and looked right out to one of the golf greens. The fish swam right up to the water's edge when you stood at the rail. Apparently they were accustomed to being fed even though the resort does ask that you not feed them in order to maintain the eco-systems of the resort.

Speaking of eco-systems - there are actually five within the property - mangroves, tropical forest, lagoons, water canals and coastal dunes. The resort offers tours of the property on water taxis such as this one.

The tour takes about an hour and is a great way to see the entire property and a few of its residents (take a look!)...

Yes, not only is the resort home to beautiful water birds, fish and turtles - it is also home to the crocodile. And he, along with all the other wildlife who reside on the property live in a protected area. No alligator shoes in the future of those guys!

One thing I haven't mentioned is that the resort is huge! So huge in fact that they offer transportation via golf cart shuttles 24 hours a day. This is one of the cute little huts designated as a drop off/pick up station on the property. Of course, being Christmas, each hut had its very own Christmas tree!

Another lovely addition to the lobby bar is that all food and beverages are delivered on, you guessed it, their own silver tray! Yes, this was a first for The Señor and I and we found it quiet comical knowing where we came from and all!

The property has several pools but we didn't really spend much time at them as the weather wasn't really conducive to pool time and we spent two days on the property golf course, The El Camaleon. The El Camaleon is gorgeous and I will share some pictures of it with you the next time we get together.

These pool pictures don't do the main pool area justice as it is actually huge. There are several pool areas linked together with small water-ways. There are also lots of lounge chair areas. Some are under private pergola areas and some are out in the open. Fabulous pool area really!

The resort is home to several restaurants. The La Laguna Grill and Bar offers a wonderful breakfast buffet each morning; as well as, lunch and dinner.

We had dinner one night at Las Brisas (the properties AAA Four Diamond Restaurant) and one night at El Puerto Restaurant (their steak and seafood restaurant). We enjoyed both meals although we agreed they didn't fall in to the Hartwood or Posada Margherita categories of "something to write home about"!

Of course, we had to go in to Playa del Carmen one afternoon and visit our old "home away from home"! For this journey we requested a cab from the lovely folks at the Fairmont and from that request we found a true treasure - Alberto. Alberto might just be the greatest cab driver ever. No joke! Not only is his cab a brand-new SUV but he speaks very good English and is Johnny-on-the-spot when you call him for transportation! He dropped us off in Playa and we asked him if we could call him directly for pick up when we were ready to return to the resort. He said of course and asked how long we thought it would be because he was on his way to the gym to work out and wanted to make sure he would be available when we called. Okay, I found that funny! When we called several hours later to arrange pick-up he answered the phone by greeting The Señor by name. I found that funny too! Anyway, our rides with Alberto were calm, comfortable, clean and did not include one scary tuna-can moment. As it turns out Alberto is now our official Playa del Carmen cab driver. He delivered us safely to the airport on going-home day, we have his card and plan to contact him in the future for all our Playa del Carmen cab needs.

Here's a couple of obligatory Playa pics just to prove we were there. For those of you familiar with Playa, yes that is the Carboncita's chips and salsa platter and it was just a yummy as ever.




Stay tuned dear readers...tomorrow we golf!