I spoke with
Jose Carlos as soon as we arrived in Santa Clara and he informed me that
O’Daisy was now working at the Melia and he would arrange for me to go
and see her. Jose Carlos is also stationed at the Melia with designated
hours at the Sol.
We arrived on the Monday and so it was Thursday before I was prepared to leave the beach and go to the Melia.
Jose Carlos arranged for one of the golf carts to take me over to the
Melia from the lobby at the Sol. There is a path from one resort to the
other and it is easily walked from one end of the resort. There is
always a security guard in attendance, as the Sol guests do not have
privileges at the Melia. Any Melia guest may use the facilities at the
Sol.
O’Daisy is now working at the tour desk in the lobby at the Melia. The
hours are better for her with the baby. She had a picture album to
show me and the baby is absolutely beautiful. She is the exact replica
of Jose Carlos. There is no resemblance to O’Daisy whatsoever.
O’Daisy then took me to meet Maite, who was also public relations at the
Sol, when we were there last time. Also Vivien. What a treat to see
all of them. We were standing in the lobby chatting away and we were
talking about the 1st anniversary of the Sol where I met all of the VIPs
and Maite then introduced me to a VIP at the Melia. He was the
assistant General Manager, (very good looking) He was very pleasant and
did I mention very good looking?
They offered me a tour of the resort and of one of the rooms. Very good PR. I was totally impressed with the resort; the facilities and the rooms are the best I’ve seen.
LOBBY:
very large and open, they are still adding things like 2 fishponds,
leading into the lobby. There is vegetation and the lobby is well set
out and very artistic.
ACTIVITIES:
The 6 tennis courts are nearly completed.
They will be world class. The initial intent was to share the courts at
the Sol but that was not working out and so they proceeded to build
their own. They are to the right of the lobby as you go out to the pool
area.
The pool is very large and spread out. The
lounge chairs are wood and they have the most fantastic gel filled
lounge pads. I fell in love immediately.
The entertainment center is very large and
it has walls that can be raised or lowered so that it can be an indoor
or outdoor area. The band shell is huge and so is the seating area.
They were setting up for the ceremonies to celebrate the 1st anniversary
and the official opening. Although it is still a work in progress
dignitaries were arriving for the ceremonies and it was to be declared
officially open.
There is a pool grill and a swim up bar and
next to that is the Italian Restaurant. Farther down toward the ocean
is the International restaurant (more about that later).
Closer to the ocean there is a wedding center/gazebo and on the beach several palapas.
There is a lobby bar and a piano bar off the lobby, there
was a meeting going on in the piano bar, but we looked in and it looks
very comfortable. There is a patio outside the lobby bar with wicker
chairs and tables, looked like a very relaxing place to sit outdoors and
have a drink. The piano bar has a jazz trio every night.
There is a 24-hour café, of course.
There are plans for a spa.
ROOMS: we went to look at one of the rooms
and I was very impressed. They are the nicest I have seen to date.
There is a small foyer as you enter the room with artwork on the wall.
The rooms are very large with a king size canopy bed, a couch and
comfortable chair beside a window. The sliding glass doors out to the
balcony are screened. This is a first. It is brightly decorated.
There is a desk, TV, stocked fridge CD player.
The bathroom is split. Shower and toilet in one room, the sink and
vanity in another with the closet and drawers. There is of course a
full-length mirror.
We all did the tour and then sat and had a cool drink in the lobby bar before I went back.
Maite, with the approval of the assistant General Manager, invited Derek
and I and our friends to come to the Melia for dinner one night. We
decided we would come the following week when our other friends arrived.
We chose the International restaurant. I will do a separate review of
that night.
They are building 2 new restaurants that will be open during the high season.
The staff and management have been working very hard since the
Melia opened. They have had some growing pains and made many changes
but they appear to have everything under control. It has been a very
hectic year for all of the staff, but they work together as a team and
are very proud of the work they have done and with good reason.
I decided before I left the resort that I wanted to come and stay at the Melia a.s.a.p. We are hoping for June, 2005.Our
friends Sue and Gaby decided 10 minutes after arriving and falling in
love with the Sol, that they would come back with their kids for March
break. I contacted my travel agent as soon as we got home to get
available times and as it turned out they will be going to the Melia.
The times worked well and the price was lower than the Sol.
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