Мексиканский вояж Mexican voyage

Dear friends, I would like to start with the most important thing, if you are already going to Mexico, try not to get on Transaero flights, fly Aeroflot or other companies, I will explain why below. Well, now about the main thing, we rested with my wife in January, on the advice of friends we decided to relax not in Cancun itself, but on the Riviera Maya, in the town of Playa del Carmen, which we do not regret a bit. The IBEROSTAR QUETZAL hotel impressed with its landscape design, artificial waterfalls, ponds, pink flamingos and of course the real jungle in the heart of the hotel. We must pay tribute to the staff, the territory of the hotel is well-groomed, it is a real paradise, especially for those who rest with children. What can not be said about the rooms and the kitchen of the hotel, of course, the rooms do not reach the declared 5 stars, they are three-story bungalows, the rooms are small, they are cleaned daily.
It is advisable to leave the maid 2 dollars or its equivalent 25-30 pesos, then your minibar will be replenished daily, and the room will be cleaned more carefully. Be careful with safes, they do not always open when you enter a cipher, so if this happens to you, do not be alarmed, contact the staff. The kitchen, yes, a big disappointment awaited us here, the food is not only monotonous, but also not tasty, again, the hotel’s cuisine does not reach 5 stars, a maximum of 3 stars, which caused a very big surprise, how picky I am in food, and then , already on the fifth day of stay at the hotel, some dishes were disgusting, so I had to be content mainly with pasta and sausages and this is in Mexico !! ! Mexican cuisine was presented very pale, limited to 2-3 salads, spicy and burning to the extreme, and corn tortillas that Mexicans eat instead of bread.
But what is most interesting, talking with our compatriots from other hotels, it turned out that in their hotels the cuisines do not shine with variety and gastronomic delights, so the Dominican Republic was often recalled, Mexican chefs are oh so far from them. I was struck by another feature of the hotel, the territory of the hotel is actually divided into two halves, one is the Iberostar Quezal hotel, and the other Iberostar Tucan, vacationers of both hotels, can safely use the restaurants and bars of Quezal and Tucan, but why do you need to actually divide one hotel in half and give another name remains a mystery to me. The hotel has 4 restaurants, in the lobby bar you can use the Internet, of course for an additional fee.

The hotel staff communicates in Spanish, English, Italian, French and even German, in addition to naturally Russian, although, as we were told, due to the increasing flow of tourists from Russia, they are intensively learning the language, although this is not particularly felt yet. What else surprised me, the hotel is not the cheapest, I would even say not mediocre, but the hotel was full of compatriots, some rested with their families and children, and even with grandparents, apparently life in our country is really getting better, because the flight from Moscow to Cancun is quite expensive, especially when you fly business class, and just in economy. I really liked the town of Playa del Carmen, especially the part where the hotels, golf courses, the 5th Avenue shopping street, the street for tourists are located. Excursions, I strongly advise everyone, especially those who go on vacation with children, to visit the Xcaret park.
Do not buy excursions from a tour operator, the fact is that our tourists are brought to the park on a certain day, on Thursday, an organized excursion, but if it rains that day, then you may not see much, because in rainy weather most shows are not held, so you need to go to the park in sunny weather and take a tour for two days, there is a special offer,
in a day you will not physically have time to explore the entire park, but you need to see a lot there, everything is very interesting, you will not regret the money spent. From the hotel to the park can be reached by taxi, one way 12-13 dollars. The beach strip is very wide, but the Caribbean Sea itself was also a little upset, due to the fact that there was almost always a wave, the water was muddy, out of 12 days of our vacation, only the only day at sea was calm.
Also, 500 meters from the hotel there is a gorgeous wild beach, where there are no ruminant Americans and snobby Germans and ever-screaming Spanish families, the beach goes into the sea in a cozy bay, nearby there are rocks near which pelicans and cormorants hunt, iguanas bask in the sun, a small paradise, who is not afraid to break away from drinks, beer and cocktails, I advise everyone to sunbathe and swim there, full
illusion of paradise.

To sum up, dear friends, who are interested in a purely beach holiday, do not leave the pool, Mexico is not the best option, there are better beaches and cheaper hotels, in particular Cuba, the Dominican Republic, but if you want to see the country, feel its flavor and you are not limited in terms of funds, then Mexico is what you need, the richest culture of the Mayan Indians, their ancient cities and pyramids, so they were very satisfied with the rest, even some features of the cuisine at the hotel did not spoil it, if you are going on vacation with children, then I advise you to choose Iberostar , because we are not going to eat, but for gourmets, there are restaurants, of which there are 4 in the hotel. The only problem that my wife and I could not overcome is the time difference, and it is 10 hours with Moscow.
Well, now about Transaero, very old planes, battered Boeings, the flight lasts about 12 hours and all the time of the flight so dry air is supplied to the cabin, as a result of which thirst and dryness in the throat begin, apparently the air conditioners cannot cope with the load and therefore flying is very exhausting.
Flight attendants are very mediocre in their duties, if you don’t call, I won’t say anything about food. In comparison with the aircraft and the service of Aeroflot, the Transs lose a lot, so draw your conclusions, gentlemen, have a good rest.