A Truly Unique Property!

Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita Riviera Maya
I am still catching up from being away at various awards trips but really wanted to post on my recent visit to Zoetry in Mexico.  This resort is truly "one of a kind" so I wanted to share my experiences with you our valued clients while they were fresh in my mind.

First of all, I stayed at the El Dorado Royale first for 3 nights for a work trip (very good stay there as well-more later) and then transferred to Zoetry.  I stayed here for 1 night which was not nearly enough and I hope to go back in the near future. This property is not for everyone but it is a true "winner" and it fit my personality (I wanted some R & R) perfectly.  I was so happy with my visit and highly recommend this resort for special occasions, for persons who want a restful vacation, etc.

Awesome view from the Zoetry Lobby.

Transfers
Zoetry is officially called Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita Riviera Maya.  It is a member of the AM Resorts family, as AM Resorts actively manages it.  This resort is located 20 minutes from the Cancun airport and you are picked up in a private transfer-a Lincoln Navigator.  It is located near Secrets Silversands, Azul Beach, and Azul Sensatori for a point of reference.  Zoetry is comparable to Royal Plantation in Jamaica in many ways (as a point of comparison), although they do have distinct differences.  This is an upscale all-inclusive resort and the pricing is not inexpensive, although there are many special inclusions involved in your experience.  Children are allowed although there are no facilities whatsoever for children and children are rare here.  The children that were here (3 of them) were articulate, quiet and you barely saw them.  They did not change the atmosphere at all and I enjoyed seeing their smiling faces.

Arrival
I was met at the front entrance by a few staff members.  There are no check-in or check-out times at Zoetry.  A manager said that this can be challenging to them at times but I think that it is a great policy to have for the guests.  I was offered a special ice tea, as each day they have a "tea of the day" and the first day it was a chamomile tea which was delicious and the second day was Black Currant.  I arrived around 10:00 am and within a few minutes of arrival, my room was ready.

The Director of Groups and Weddings at Zoetry and I -Susanne Prenzel

Suites
Zoetry is a smaller sized resort with only 90 suites.  The suites are all unique as they are filled with treasures from all over the world from the owners travels-he would buy things for his wife and bring them back with them.  I am blessed to have traveled extremely well but this is probably the nicest room that I have ever stayed in (or close to it). 

The suites do not have room numbers, they have names and my room was named Marbella and was located in the section closer to the lobby which was perfect for me.  All suites are at least 1100+ square feet and mine was on the ground floor which a plunge pool.  Yeah!  You even have a front gate to your room that you can open or shut, depending on your wishes.  There was a separate living room, a huge shower, large tub, etc.

Part of the unique living room area in my villa.

When you arrive, you are given a bottle of tequila as a gift (with fresh limes cut and ready to go), a handmade straw bag to use at the resort, and a mini fruit basket.  Housekeeping comes 3 times a day.  That may seem excessive but with a room that size, I guess that there is more to do.  LOL!  At night, they turndown your room, clean up anything that is needed and leave you the Sundial for the next day which is the list of daily activities.

My favorite perk for Zoetry is that laundry is included and each day they will basically take your laundry order and bring it back within 24 hours.  They happily did my laundry from the El Dorado time and I felt guilty (but grateful!) about that.  They brought it back that night, on hangers with my undergarments and socks wrapped in tissue paper.  Awesome!  My t-shirts were even ironed.  Imagine going home from a vacation with no laundry-wow... 

My mini-frig. was stocked with Diet Coke, a small bottle of white wine, water, Coke, Sprite, juice and beer.  There were also small mini bottles of Kahlua, rum, vodka and Jack Daniels.

My very own plunge pool!

Endless Privileges
Zoetry has an “Endless Privileges” concept (rather than all-inclusive).  Of course, food and drinks are included.  You also get a complimentary 20 minute massage.  Other great inclusions that are complimentary are a Catamaran Sunset Cruise and a daily Boat Shopping Tour.  The Catamaran Cruise was nice although I was on it with a few other couples, so I felt a little lonely on this one being by myself.  I did not do the shopping boat tour simply because I wanted to experience the resort and they said that this takes 3-4 hours-another great idea.

 Another perk of the "endless privileges" concept at the resort is that phone calls around the world are complimentary.  It was awesome to call Mike and the kids without worrying about room charges, etc.  When I checked out, of course these calls (probably 5 of them-lol!) magically were not on my bill. 

Service
The resort was at about 90% capacity, but did not feel full.  I did hear a few guests complain that the service was slow but I did not find that to be the case at all.  I felt that it was relaxing and attentive.

I spent a few hours lounging at the pool on an amazing bed of sorts.  I had a fabulous vegetable calzone (a little spicy which made it interesting!) from the beach grill.  Pool service was efficient, although I thought the beach service at Royal Plantation was better.  The staff was very professional and I think a few more days with them would have been excellent as I think they would have show more of their personalities.  I tipped from time to time and they always seemed surprised and appreciative-it was not expected at all. 

Check out the waiter bringing guests drinks in the pool!

Atmosphere

The overall resort atmosphere was friendly, yet reserved (not suffy).  I was pleased that although everyone that I saw at dinner was dressed quite pleasantly, the style of dress was more casual than I expected.  After weeks of dressing up for evening functions, this was a welcome relief.  J

As for the guests, at first I was not sure since everyone seemed to keep to themselves but as my day went on, I really met some nice couples.  It's just a different atmosphere than many of us are used to as it is more quiet, etc.  The one couple (an older couple from New York) was very concerned that I was eating dinner myself and insisted that I join them at their table.  I replied that I did not want to ruin their romantic dinner (it was the last night of their vacation) and that I enjoyed the quiet time but was very touched by their kindness.  They checked with me after dinner again and also chatted with me the next morning-really nice couple.

Unique artwork around the resort.

Bars

The library turns into a bar at night and there were some nice groups of friends sitting around enjoying each others' company when I looked in there.  There is also a beach bar that guests tend to go to after dinner.

Zoetry Lobby.

Food & Restaurants

After the catamaran tour, I ate at their oceanfront grill which is called El Chiringuito (the smells from this area were amazing!) and grabbed a hamburger (top quality of course!) since I wanted to sample the various resort restaurants.

I was looking forward to spending time on my huge patio (which had two different sections to it), until it started raining.  So, I went to La Canoa earlier than I expected which is their 4 Diamond Restaurant.  Dinner reservations are not required at dinner.  This restaurant certainly lived up to its reputation.  Service was friendly and efficient.  The hostess (I think her name was Vivienne) wanted to show me the wine cellar (wow!) and the water bar-both additional add-ons (of course house wine and regular bottled water is included).

She brought me a small stool to put my purse on, as she said that she did not want my "beautiful purse" to be touching the ground.  Very thoughtful and another special example of how this resort is different than the rest (I kind of chuckled by this as I could care less if my purse is on the ground or not-lol!).  She also asked if I wanted something to read since I was by myself and brought me a pile of magazines which were actually quite interesting.  Without looking at my notes, I had salad, some type of oriental soup and filet mignon for my entree.  The menu was 4 pages long and included many types of seafood, etc.  There is something for everyone at this restaurant and they will also make you almost anything that you request as well.  I like my meat well-done, and they did this perfectly for me.  For dessert, I had triple chocolate cake (OMG!).

Dining at La Canoa is a supreme experience.

Room Service

I ordered the triple chocolate cake (I had at La Canoa) through room service which is available 24 hours a day.  It arrived in about 10 minutes after I ordered it.  My goal was to eat my amazing cake on my patio but it continued to rain.  I checked e-mails (of course internet is included) quickly and then relaxed in my living room.

Activities

If you are looking for beach volleyball games, drinking contests, etc. this is definitely not the right resort.  Those fun activities surely have their place of course but at Zoetry, activities could include the following: Yoga on the pier, Aqua Gym in their Thalasso Pool, (their heated saltwater pool) a Cigar Experience, Tea Time and they do have a Tequila tasting in the Library once a week.  There is also music at dinner and the two gentlemen who sang and played their guitars were masterful (I actually got teary eyed listening to them sing-it was very beautiful).

Spa

I did a site inspection with the Director or Groups and Weddings and then went for my complimentary 20 minute massage, which all guests are entitled to throughout their stay.  It was good. I actually wanted to pay to upgrade it to a longer massage but they were full so I could not (I should have planned ahead-lol!).

The spa offers extensive treatments (even Botox!) that I have not seen before at many spas and is apparently a leader in the spa market.  The prices seemed high in my opinion but the spa was jam- packed with appointments so it is obviously popular.  They had a machine that would analyze your skin in great detail (this is included although the follow up recommendations would be additional) but after being in the sun for the last few weeks, I was too chicken to try it-lol!  I would like to explore the spa more on a future visit.  The sauna and steamroom were complimentary and I was encouraged to use them as well.  Included in your "endless privileges" are temazcal sessions as well, which are mini cleansing/healing rituals.  These were offered 3 times a week and I did not try one this time.  Another really unique inclusion.

Beach

Earlier in the day, I made it a point to walk the beach at the resort and dip my toes into the ocean.  Zoetry is on a decent beach and the sand is soft and clean.  The ocean floor here was smooth, which surprised me since I had heard otherwise.  By the end of the day, there was a decent amount of seaweed on the sand but they did do a good job keeping up with it.  Zoetry does not have a spectacular beach but it is sufficient and the water temperature was lovely.

Pool

Zoetry has 2 really nice sized pools including their main pool and their Thalasso Pool and that is where I spent most of my time.

Weather
The weather was HOT while I was there and one day, was up to 91 degrees which is hot for December in Mexico.  The last day that I was there, it was about 86 degrees.  Except for my time at Zoetry, it was sunny the entire time-fabulous!

Departure
The next morning, it was already time to leave.  I ate breakfast at Kaax and had the best chocolate croissants ever here as well as a delicious fruit plate-yum!  My luggage was collected within 2 minutes of my call and I was whisked off to take the transfers back to the airport, in my private Lincoln Navigator (they have at least 2 of them on property that I saw).

Recommendation
It's really hard to put into words how much I enjoyed this resort.  It's a very special, unique resort that offers so many inclusions and special features that many others do not have.  Service is professional and friendly.  The suites are beyond stunning and the attention to detail is amazing (they seemed to know very quickly what I liked and disliked).  This was the perfect way to relax after the first part of my trip and I truly wish that I could have had more time here.  The resort is just as beautiful as their brochure and their website.  I actually felt "younger" after a night here, if this makes any sense at all-the serene beauty of this resort truly allowed me to relax and enjoy it to the fullest.  

For couples looking to re-connect or celebrate something special, it would be an amazing vacation.  I met 3 sisters traveling together on a "girl’s trip" and they said that it was the perfect choice for them since they wanted to hang out and relax.  I also saw a family group who were there for a wedding and can only imagine how perfect the wedding would be. 

Zoetry means the "art of life" and this resort truly captures many wonderful things that life has to offer.  It's not an inexpensive resort at all but a very special one regardless and I highly recommend it.

I know that I am leaving things out, so when I think of things will add them in.  Please let me know if you have any specific questions, etc. as I am very happy to answer them.  Dream Makers Vacation Services works closely with this resort (and many others) to ensure the ultimate in vacation satisfaction.  For additional pictures, sample menus and questions, please contact me at AmyMc@DreamMakersVaca.com.  We look forward to planning your magical dream vacation and hope to hear from you soon!

Happy Travels,
Amy

Owner, Dream Makers Vacation Services