Cancun - Zoetry Trip Report - 1st Day

After breakfast we meandered over to our lounge chairs that were ready and waiting for us.  They cover the lounge chair in two towels and leave an extra to use for drying off.  Kenny prefers to be in the shade while I prefer to be in the sun so Fredrico would align the umbrella just perfectly so that we had shade and sun.  Our whole day was about nothing other than catching up and hanging out just the two of us.  

As someone we met there said...In order to come to this resort, you really have to like your spouse.  There are things to do throughout the property like the spa, cigar making, ceramics, wine tasting etc but our goal was to just relax and reconnect. 

Fredrico!

My View

I wanted to participate in the Temazcal ceremony but the times it was offered were already full when we got there.  (more on that later)   We showed up and asked if they could fit two more and sure enough the Shaman welcomed us after we signed some forms.  Kenny's along for the ride so he came too not knowing what it was.  

We started by following the Shaman over to the spa area and put all our stuff away and were instructed to only keep our shoes and swim suits on.  After some explanations, which were mostly in Spanish, we ventured into what is basically in igloo and the ceremony started.  The Temazcal is an ancient Mayan healing ceremony which purifies the mind and the spirit.  The ceremony is much like a sweat lodge if you know what that is.

Beginning of the Temazcal ceremony in the lobby area

 After sweating buckets and having our spirits healed, we decided lunch was in order.  We ate at El Chiringuito and it was really tasty.

Beautiful!

Tortilla platter with hummus, refried beans and guacamole

Queso Casserole

Seafood Pizza

Lemon and Garlic Grilled Chicken

Bailey's Ice Cream

 After lunch we did a lot more of the laying by the pool thing.  Chatting and getting to know our neighbors who I hope will be friends for life!  

View from our Balcony

Don't we look relaxed on our balcony as the sun goes down?

Kenny was finally able to relax and got in the pool and had a nice time I think.  He's more of a go go go go go type of vacationer and I'm more of put me with a good view and a good book and I'll have had a fantastic vacation.  Maybe he's coming around to my way of thinking?    At least once every 17 years!   LOL

Cancun - Zoetry Trip Report - Breakfast 1st day

A little bit about our night.  The linens are not smooth but seem to be a high thread count and very comfortable.    The bed was high off the floor and way comfy as was the pillows.  There were two big puffy ones and two flatter ones.  I slept like a baby!

Normally, I'm not a breakfast eater, unless that breakfast is huevos rancheros.   In that case, count me in!   Zeotry's Huevos rancheros was probably the one thing I was most looking forward to eating.   They did not disappoint!

Huevos Rancheros

This one is Kenny's and he didn't like it at all.  Generally speaking, several people we talked to had this and it was a resounding thumbs down.

Trio of Salsas!   (I liked to mix the green with the brownish one)

Cancun Zoetry Trip Report - First Dinner

Y'all know I'm all about the food.  We left the pool and headed to our suite to get ready for dinner.  Wow...this bathroom and the Bvlgari amenities smell so good.  (For my readers out there...yes, this is the shower gel brand that Ranger uses!)

Bvlgari amenities

This tub!   I could only overfill this if I actually tried.  (Unlike that tub at the Vdara in Las Vegas!  ooppps)

Ok, back to the food.  We were dressed and ready for dinner at La Canoe.

The shaved parmesan with olive oil and balsamic was a nice presentation.

Next we have an amuse bouche.  I ordered the fois gras (top right) which I didn't care for because it has a sweet topping.  Generally I ask before ordering fois gras if it has sweet in the dish at all, but I forgot to ask.  Middle right photo is the grilled squid (Octopus Carpaccio, Pickles of Capers Onions and Peppers.) and bottom right is the cauliflower soup.  The cauliflower soup is seriously delicious and was talked about around the pool many times.

Next we have our main dishes which were very tasty.

Duck Breast, Foie Gras Risotto, Shallot Comfit.

I can't remember the name of this but it was very good.

Happy Happy

Cancun Zoetry Trip Report - Lunch and arrival day

After leaving the suite today we meandered to the sushi bar which has a view of the pool and the Caribbean!    

At the sushi bar...I caught him mid chew.  ha

Kenny and I had different opinions on the sushi lunch.  He enjoyed it more than me.  I was so tired after getting up at 3am that I don't think anything would have been overly great at that point in my day.  It wasn't bad...just not the usual type things I would eat.

Beach to the left and pool straight ahead.   I'm going to like it here...can I move in?

After lunch, we grabbed a double pool chair and I waded into the pool to grab a spot that I had been eyeing on the webcam.

I actually fell asleep in the pool

Great view from my perch

After a nap in the pool we had a snack on our lounge chairs.  At this point I was a little worried about Kenny because he has trouble just relaxing and doing nothing.

Chatted and just had nice conversation.  The pool was quiet and everyone was polite and the pool service was quite attentive.

Time to get showered and ready for dinner at La Canoe.

Adults Only??? Sign me up!

Kenny and I travel quite a bit but most of it is for his job, my job or we are with the kids...sometimes all that together!   So when I realized that it had been years (YEARS!) since we went away on a vacation without the kids and having nothing to with either of our jobs...I started the search.

Having never been to Mexico, I thought we'd try it out and we ended up at Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita Riviera Maya.   Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita Riviera Maya is a boutique resort that is not adults only, but adults orientated which means that kids are allowed but there are no kids activities and they are charged the same as adults.  The hotel only has 90 suites which is perfect for the quiet intimate resort we were looking for.

Away we go!

Arrived at CUN about 20 minutes early but it took us about 45 minutes to get through customs.  Grabbed our bags and found our private transport and we were off.

Here is the gate you go through when entering the property.  

We arrived and were greeted warmly.  Reception is to the left.  Our room was ready when we arrived so we were walked down to our suite and shown around.  Nice personal touch and just what we were looking for.

Some photos of our suite.

Looking towards the front door from the balcony, bedroom on left

Looking into the bedroom

Balcony

Can't you just picture yourself here?   Well, I'm off to see what else the resort has to offer.  If it lives up to the welcome and our suite, I think we'll have a fabulous time.

Ahhhhh....Paris...How we love thee.

When we were planning to go from Barcelona to London, we decided to do it by train.  In order to get to London we needed to change train stations in Paris.  This little fact led us from having an extended layover for lunch, to lunch and dinner, to spending the night to spending two nights.   LOL  Trying to find an apartment to rent for only two nights wasn't easy.  

We wanted to stay in the Marais and this little gem of an apartment was perfect.   There are four of us so I think staying here for a week might would have been tight, but not unreasonable and for two nights it was great.  Michael the owner is awesome to work with.  He's readily available and has great communication and will even phone you to answer questions.  

The apartment is so efficient and we absolutely loved it!

A close up of the kitchen.  

Bathroom.    The little shelf is so handy to have right there.  Towels are fluffy and the shower had great water pressure.  The only suggestion I'd give for this is to have wash cloths, but I think that might be more of an American amenity?   I don't know.














View of the master bedroom.

  View from the front door.  To the right is the bathroom and you can see the master bedroom behind the glass wall.  

View of the living room and great little courtyard.

Came to Spain to find Monet

We have arrived at our apartment.  Oddly enough it is called "Monet"...born in France, died in France and was the French impressionist we all love, yet we came to Barcelona to find him...or his namesake apartment anyway.   Here we have the living room.  

The Kitchen:

The view going upstairs:

Loft Master Bed:  (look at that ceiling!)

Upstairs Bath:

Check out this ceiling!:

Kids Room:

Very cool newspaper walls

I think Claude's namesake apartment and I will get along nicely.  

Booze and cookies

Sitting in the lounge and having a beverage and an oreo before before our flight.

One of these things

One of the Elliotts didn't get fast tracked... I'm always curious how this is decided.  

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