12th trip to RM, 1st with Eden in place. May 18-25, 2024

[SusanAndDavid]

Visiting for the 12th time. Huge RM fans largely because of the intimate atmosphere and the amazing staff. We’re mid-50’s, easy to please folks. We tip well and often and the staff has never once let us down. We’re already booked for October, but thought we’d give our update on the new digs.

We completely understand things vary week to week and our experiences might be different from yours. Here our take on what we call RM 2.0. (Again, you won’t find bigger cheerleaders for this property than us). Will try to breakdown the new space one at a time.

First impression is the new space is very bright white. Buildings, chairs, daybeds. Not much to absorb the sun / heat. It’s noticeably warmer on the Eden side vs the old space (foliage not yet mature, no blue or brown colors to absorb the rays).

One of our most favorite things to do is utilize the steam room each morning. A simple 10-15 minute session and we’re brand new to start the new sins of the day. We arrived around 3pm so after checking in we headed to the new spa to steam and relax. It’s a lovely space. Huge upgrade. A real spa. We asked to steam and we were told it’s $60 per person for an hour (just to use the steam / sauna / cold room). We did a double take and maybe misunderstood. Nope. $120 per couple for something that had been free…forever. Absolute swing and miss here by Desire. Horrible, horrible decision. Who’s paying that much for that service. You literally sit down, sweat, leave. (Maybe shower quick). A huge bummer in our eyes. Steam also didn’t have a cold shower in the room like the old room did. Also, if you use a service (massage, nails) I think you can use the spa once for free.

Went to the Hottub. Is big. Really big compared to the now closed one. Good shade options and better seating but it’s missing the intimacy of the old tub. The daybed sitch is good- nice amount and good spacing. Saw them used very frequently. Bar setup is nice. Didn’t see one body shot the entire time. Not a great setup for that (skinny bar tops).

The lobby area is lovely. A lot like Pearl. The shows there are nice and you get an ocean breeze. Plenty of bartenders and wait staff to keep the drinks flowing. The basket chandeliers scare me though. I could see a high wire act hitting one of those some time. Hope I’m wrong. The shows were all great. That’s the good. The bad is the late night food options. They had one chef and one waiter. Looks like they have one pizza oven (thought there were 2 at the old lobby bar?). Ordered a BLT out first night- wasn’t crazy busy and they took 50 minutes. Went back several other nights and had even longer waits. Not great, Bob.

Pool area is big. Way big. Didn’t have any issues getting the same bed each day. Bar set up has more seat and shade compared to old pool bar. The whiteness of the area though makes for VERY hot surfaces. The reflection of the water makes for some really crispy skin. Use that sunscreen folks. It’s noticeably 15-20 warmer on the Eden side without the trees / shading. Also noticed the pool has a shallow area with lounge chairs in the water. Noticed though they had algae on them each day so we avoided that. Also noticed dudes openly peeing in the pool. Can we not do that?

You eat lunch at Eros off the new pool. The space seemed cramped and the buffet area didn’t seem to have as many offerings. Outside seating is lovely but inside loud and cramped.

Playroom: scorching hot (temp) 3 nights. Insanely hot. Bad sweaty hot. 3 nights had AC and was great. Not a huge fan of the layout. 6 or 7 separate beds means you can’t really squeeze into a space like before. People literally lined up along the walls hornily (is that a word?) waiting for a turn. We grabbed a stool one night and put it in the middle or the floor and had fun. Couldn’t move the next day but that’s beside the point. One big open bed and some private beds would have been a better idea, IMO.

Food was off this trip. We always enjoy the food. We know it’s not 5 star but it’s always yummy. This time, we had some major stinkers. Eros for dinner simply was not good. Service was slow and the food…eh. We got 4 of the 5 apps and the hummus was the best thing. Tried the shrimp and mahi and both were meh. Hopefully that improves.
Could only get into Suki once, which was a bummer. Most nights it was 45 min+ wait. Some places aren’t open every night so it’s confusing. Had the buffet 5 nights which after 3 it’s all the same.

Weird you have to make reservations for any place starting at Noon at Eros, which is also when lunch starts. So you’ve got this queue of folks lining up. If you’re there for lunch you’re stuck behind reservation seekers. Seems logical to take the reservation set up elsewhere and just do lunch seating.

Service: ask any long time staff at RM and they all say the same. ‘things are different’. You’ve added X number of rooms but no additional staff. You 100% cannot fault the workers. They continue to KILL it every day. But they’re stretched thin. Management needs to get this fixed soon. We noticed a huge drop compared to what we’re used to and the staff begged us to say so in comments saying ‘use big bold letters when doing so’.

A few FYI’s in closing.
Old lobby bar is now a coffee bar. But no alcohol. Would make sense to have Baileys and espresso martini fixings there so if you want one of those it could take some extra steps / work by the staff. Yes they’re available (sometimes) at other bars but this is a small detail and high could make it more enjoyable for us and easier on the staff.

The old pool couldn’t be nicer. It’s cooler than the new pool, quieter (if that’s your thing) and lots of PDA going on. There were 8 of opening enjoying each other several days in a row and not a word was said. And truly, 20 degrees cooler. Lots of great memories here.

Urinals in the jacuzzi bath are high! Short guys might need a step stool or definitely have to urinate ‘up’. Lol not sure who installed those but I bet he’s 6’5.

The entire staff remains undefeated. They’re amazing.
In spite of the negatives (they’re not negatives, just suggestions to make a great place even better) we had the best trip ever. Can’t wait to go back.

The ‘old’ part of the resort is like a ghost town. Didn’t see any villa action. The lobby bar at night is kinda sad sitting dark. I hope they can devote some staff so we can keep the more intimate nature of RM.

The depth signs on the pool steps are VERY slippery, allegedly. If anyone saw a naked 50 something almost go ass over tin cup one day, I’m sorry you had to see that. I’m sure it was grace in motion. But I kicked the landing and hoped no one saw it.

See y’all in October

[brunos23]

Thanks for the trip update. We are returning to RM in August (our 2nd trip) and have been curious how the addition has affected things. Our favorite part before was the old playroom, especially when it was hopping in there, we really enjoyed the beds being together- watching others and others watching us.
Question- is the old playroom not open then anymore? Hope that isn't the case. Was the new playroom really active every night? Is there only the 6 or so separate beds, nothing else? No beds together? No handcuffs on walls like old one?

[ninaandfrank]

If I understand the review there is some outside seating at the Eros restaurant. If that is correct can you sit there and eat naked or do you still have to be dressed like inside the buffet?

[SusanAndDavid]

Thanks for the trip update. We are returning to RM in August (our 2nd trip) and have been curious how the addition has affected things. Our favorite part before was the old playroom, especially when it was hopping in there, we really enjoyed the beds being together- watching others and others watching us.
Question- is the old playroom not open then anymore? Hope that isn't the case. Was the new playroom really active every night? Is there only the 6 or so separate beds, nothing else? No beds together? No handcuffs on walls like old one?

Correct, the old lobby, jacuzzi and playroom are closed. Was very strange seeing the lobby 'dark'.

There were no beds together- all separate. There is a sex chair too. We went in and played each night and at some point during our play, the place was full and overflowing every time. It's clear when you are done, it's time to vacate and make room for the next folks. I can't answer the handcuff on the wall question- wasn't looking and can't recall if I noticed them. It's still a fun place, but like everything else, it's just different with room for improvement.

[SusanAndDavid]

If I understand the review there is some outside seating at the Eros restaurant. If that is correct can you sit there and eat naked or do you still have to be dressed like inside the buffet?

There's ample seating outside- sat out there once. I saw some topless folks eating outside, but can't say if I saw anyone completely naked (have to imagine if you're outside it's ok). We did eat at the pool bar once, nakedly, without issue.

[jahppycple]

We enjoyed our time May 11-18 at RM. Over 30 trips since 2008.
We really enjoyed the new playroom. Much more pleasant. Plenty of space. Just ask to share a bed if no space. Amazing how many are pleased to share. The cleanup shower is a nice touch. The big failure is only 3 toilets for the whole disco/playroom. Fortunately the hot tub bathrooms are not far away.
The larger pool was warm and still allowed for plenty of intermingling. They are still figuring out the restaurant thing.
Overall nice improvements.

[brunos23]

Thanks for the updates on the playroom. Couple more questions about it:
1. How big are the beds? You mention they can be shared, are they the larger beds that can easily accommodate 4-5 people or are they the smaller ones that only easily fit one couple?
2. Is the room dark/mood lighting which we prefer? Are there tvs with porn on? When we went to Grand Miches, the beds were too spread out, it was way to bright in there, and the tvs were blaring porn....while we didn't mind porn playing, the volume of the tvs and the room being so bright took away from the experience,
3. When you say the beds are spread out, can you still reach and touch the bed next to you? We liked the idea of being within arms reach if for example my girlfriend wanting to touch the girl next to her or even if no playing happened just being nice and close for the energy and experience of being close to another couple as they watch us and us them. Even if some beds were spread out, we are tempted to ask the resort to have some connected, whether they take our suggestion is another thing!

[SusanAndDavid]

Thanks for the updates on the playroom. Couple more questions about it:
1. How big are the beds? You mention they can be shared, are they the larger beds that can easily accommodate 4-5 people or are they the smaller ones that only easily fit one couple?
2. Is the room dark/mood lighting which we prefer? Are there tvs with porn on? When we went to Grand Miches, the beds were too spread out, it was way to bright in there, and the tvs were blaring porn....while we didn't mind porn playing, the volume of the tvs and the room being so bright took away from the experience,
3. When you say the beds are spread out, can you still reach and touch the bed next to you? We liked the idea of being within arms reach if for example my girlfriend wanting to touch the girl next to her or even if no playing happened just being nice and close for the energy and experience of being close to another couple as they watch us and us them. Even if some beds were spread out, we are tempted to ask the resort to have some connected, whether they take our suggestion is another thing!

1. We had four (including us) on our bed a few nights and was plenty comfortable. Could have fit 2 more pretty easily. Lots of pillows too.

2. The lighting was good. One time we went in and it was bright, but thankfully someone turned down the wattage. There were 2 or 3 TV's but they weren't on except for one night. Didn't really notice how loud it was- was plenty loud in the playroom from activities. When the door to the disco opens, it gets loud from the music, but doesn't last long. The bathroom is right off the playroom, so the door opens frequently for those going in there.

3. You can't reach the beds next to you (not without getting up). As someone mentioned, you could invite others to share the bed if there is room, but obviously you would want to be clear of intent / rules before rushing into anything.

[Kenny121213]

Just returned from our 2nd RM trip, May 26-29. We really like the new section. Bright (very Caribbean), and inviting. New lobby is beautiful, the new melange is much better than the old one, service was great, and as mentioned many times in posts, a little tipping goes a long way. Having a covered melange should keep the rain from causing a change of venue for the nightly shows (which we have seen). We spent our afternoons at the quiet end of the resort, we actually prefer that over the party end. Shows were great, most people were in theme (more ore less). The new disco and play room are much better than the old one in our opinion. We liked the old disco and play room, but in comparison to the new ones, the old disco and play room are kinda sad and dingy. Bathroom in the disco could have used more stalls, there are only 3, one of which is urinal only. Could also use service a bit more often as the bathroom ran out of hand towels regularly. Glad to say both disco and playroom had ac when we were there, a welcome relief from the heat of the melange, even with the breeze. Similar experience with the late nigh “kitchen” at the melange, thou not quite as slow. Both nights we got food there, there were about 6 orders in front of ours, it took about 25 minutes for our order to be up. There is one cook, they cook each order, one at a time, in order of when placed.

All that said, we booked our next trip for September and can’t wait to return. The new section will likely keep us going more time than without the addition.