Where we’ve been
Mexico
Let me start by saying, we (the Royal
we) don’t do “all-Inclusive”. It goes
against my control-freak nature to be
in a hotel that, which, because you
have already paid for all your food and
drink, you feel obliged to stay in and
don’t have the freedom of choice. Our
last few holidays have been fly-drives
in California and Canada but after
a long year we decided ten days of
relaxation was what we needed and
took up our friends’ offer to join them on
their adults-only, all-inclusive holiday in
Mexico! This was to be our first time in
Mexico although our travel companions
had stayed at the Secrets Silversands
resort two years prior. They loved
their time at this special resort, which
is south of Cancun on a previous trip
and so we booked the same one after
their glowing reviews of the excellent
service, incredible food and the “Secrets”
experience that began on arrival…
After a lengthy ten hour flight, made
slightly easier by a cabin upgrade (yes
they do still happen), and a lengthy delay
at the Mexican customs desk, we were
ready to board our transfer and enjoy the
decadence of an all-inclusive holiday! On
arrival, we were greeted with a glass of
Prosecco and shown to our rooms. The
sun had set but the air was still much
62
warmer than the zero degrees we had
flown away from and the rooms were
very spacious, clean and “American”
in terms of the giant bathroom and
well-stocked minibar. But after our long
day, even the chilled “all-you-can-drink”
Coronas in our room could not coax us
away from the King-size bed…
With our body-clocks still on UK time,
we rose early, and headed to try out the
gym. Before you all panic and condone
exercising on our pure-relaxation holiday,
this did become a rarity after the first
couple of days and was lessened further
by the discovery of the all-you-caneat freshly baked pretzels. Breakfast
was the next order of the day and
boy did this hotel do breakfast. There
were six different stations, traditional
cooked breakfast items, eggs, Mexican
savouries, sushi and cold meats, fruits
& yoghurt and smoothie makers. I stood
in the hall wide-eyed with my early
morning Mimosa, and started wondering
what would become my first culinary
adventure of the holiday. I had done a
full 30 minutes on the treadmill after all…
The first few days were leisurely,
exploring the surroundings, taking part in
the occasional game of beach volleyball
and filling up on delicious food and the