Los Cabos: Timeshare and San Jose Flora Farms

I realize that I have delayed this post, simply due to the fact that I like to write about traveling in some sort of cohesive time frame, and on reaching this day I was almost lost for words. This would be the day that we booked into the owner's meeting at the Grand Mayan Hotel in San Jose del Cabo. There are redeeming features of this day in the life of a traveler in Mexico, but the morning left such a poor impression that I feel I should at least mention it again in passing without being too nasty about it (but I would really like to be).

To elaborate on my first commentary http://hooliganting.blogspot.ca/2013/11/los-cabos-2013-grand-mayan-and-san-jose.html Do NOT ever agree to sit through a timeshare presentation at this resort. Both my friend and I were required to attend, so in good faith we walked down and went to the desk. I informed them that I couldn't make any financial commitments that day, nor could my guest. The timeshare people work on commission, so we wanted to ensure that our presenter had the opportunity to make a living. The manager persuaded us that they just wanted to show us the property and make sure that we were getting the most out of our stay. Fine. We did the tour and it was lovely. Mind you, this is after maintenance refused to fix a locked door and had been to our room several times. It is after all the tours we booked through the front desk had glitches. It was after we heard about theft at the gift shop and shady practices by their accounting. So, we weren't really buying the whole glitzed shebang of a tour.

Breakfast was pleasant but nothing spectacular, and by the time that was done it was already 10:00. Then, round two of presentation, following by financial heart attack numbers, followed by sales pitches started. You are forced to say I am sorry, we can't afford this over and over again and it is very demeaning. From here, you say no and get sent to round 3, followed by round 4, followed by a last ditch attempt at round 5. At 11:10, we left to return our rental car completely worn out.

Now, I had been through this before and knew we hadn't been given a decent gift to even warrant that behaviour and I decided a long time ago that unless you are actually able to purchase something, don't even waste your time. Discounts and payments are not worth 2.5 or 3 or 4 hours of your time. I walked out with my friend and we got in the car and went for a spin before we had to return the car. During that ride, I got my friends take and realized how insulting the crew had been. So, I went and demanded an apology for treating a guest of mine badly and of course, they never issued one.

To recover, we spent some time by the pool and went to the concierge to book dinner at Flora Farms. The concierge, by the way, was delightful. The rest of the hotel staff were good to us, just the timeshare sharks were not. So, he booked us in and we went for dinner.

Now Flora Farms is a MUST do if you can swing it. The location is incredible. The staff was awesome. Live music played and blended right in. The food was organic and incredibly tasty. They have a couple of shops and homemade ice cream. There is a vegetable garden and the most amazing bathroom. This was by far worth the $20 cab ride and the $100 price tag. I would definitely say this was one of the best meals I have ever had. I am still annoyed I wasn't able to finish it. Sigh. So, to finish off this post...here are some images as my words don't do it justice.

Roast chicken

Homemade bread

Beet root and carrot gnocchi...oh...could live off these!

 

And you can even stay here

The bathroom! Seriously awesome!

Mail included.

Hawaii: Kona...Timeshares and Beach

It's been a lazy day today. We really didn't do much of anything come to think of it. Some of that is my fault and some of that would be the resort. Do you want the good news or the bad first?

Our resort has this thing called the welcome breakfast. They bribe you with free food and breakfast, while they talk about how to get around the Island and the rules of the road. They also have tour operators come and talk to you about the great deals they have to offer you as a client of the resort. However, to get the really fantastic deals, you have to get the Aloha card. To get that, you have to do the timeshare presentation. I don't care what they tell you. Do not believe them. You do get great stuff from sitting through a presentation, and some of them even make enough sense to buy. This one was 4 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will never get that vacation time back. The only saving grace was that the girls were allowed to watch movies and I had been smart enough to pack a picnic lunch that they were able to eat while they were there. Sigh.

Once released from the presentation, with the Aloha card in hand, we went straight to the beach. We found Ka'ahulua Beach today. It had salt and pepper sand, facilities, and not too many people in the afternoon sun. The best part was that in the water just by our feet were tang fish and turtles! They were swimming and munching right along the shore. We spent hours on the beach watching them until the sun finally started to set. Awesome day in the end that was followed up by a sunset stop and Walmart before hitting the pool at the resort. Yep, didn't do much today and that is just fine with me. TURTLE!

Kahaluu Beach Villas on Dwellable