June 10th 2018
I’m currently staying at the Hyatt Ziva Cancun resort in Punta Cancun.
I’ve only been here 5 hours and I’m already ready to write a post about how fabulous this resort is!! (And no I’m not getting paid to say that)
I’m actually here for work, for what Travel agents call a ‘FAM trip’ or a ‘Famil’
Basically we head off to these wonderful cities somewhere around the world and experience the destination so we can then sell it to our clients. This might mean we experience a certain hotel chain (eg Playa Resorts), tour (eg, Top deck or Contiki) or a cruise.
If you’re picked for a FAM, it’s an awesome way to test out a product before you sell it – not to mention you only pay a a couple of hundred dollars or nothing at all to experience an awesome short vacation.
Since moving to Canada, I’ve seen how much of a market there is for travel to Central America and I really struggle to sell Cancun or anywhere in Mexico because I’ve never been before! Coming from NZ, it’s not really a popular destination as it’s so far away for us to travel to.
However, Canadians love an all-inclusive resort!
If you’re reading this from New Zealand you may ask yourself, what is an all inclusive??It’s basically a package (usually to Mexico or the Caribbean) where your flights, transfers, accommodation, all your food & drinks, nightly entertainment and activities are included in one set price.
You can buy these all-inclusive packages online or through a travel agent (such as myself)
Most resorts in Mexico are ‘all inclusive’. Depending on where you stay, you can experience the best all-you -can-eat food and drink all the while relaxing in the pool or at the beach.
I have been absolutely spoilt and have started off my FAM at the Hyatt Ziva Cancun which is a 5-star all-inclusive luxury resort situated on the beautiful white sanded beach of Cancun. The resort has beautiful spacious rooms, 17 restaurants, lounges and bars and 3 infinity pools overlooking the ocean. *heaven*
Let me take you back from the beginning of my exciting day….
This morning I woke up to the bright early time of 5am. I had a flight to catch at 8:30am so I had to be at the airport 2 hours beforehand.
After quickly repacking my stuff into a bigger suitcase (I had originally just packed a carry-on bag the night before) my lovely boyfriend Nathan got out of bed to drop me off at the airport. Thank God we only live 9 minutes away because we were basically there when I realised I forgot my passport!
After quickly driving back home and finding it in a cupboard somewhere, Nathan took me back to the airport and waved me goodbye.
I met some of the other girls from the FAM trip and we all got breakfast at the fast food chain A&W. (Just some healthy stuff like pancakes, toast and eggs haha)
After our semi-satisfying breakfast we went to the convenience store at the airport and grabbed some snacks for the flight before sitting down in the sun and watching the planes take off. Vancouver airport is very quiet on a Sunday may I add! There was literally no one around but the people waiting to go to Cancun.
Our Westjet flight was delayed due to some technical difficulties but we were soon on-board and taking off at around 9:30am.
I’d never flown Westjet before but I’m so happy I did because I thought they were great! The flight attendants were funny, the pilot stood at the front of the plane before we started flying to introduce himself and they even played some Mexican music when we landed in Cancun. Not to mention the legroom was great!
You can pay for Economy plus if you like (where you get extra leg room and neighbour free guarantee) but I was sitting in the row behind economy Plus and I thought I had so much leg room already! Not to mention I lucked out and had no one sitting next to me the whole flight.
The flight from Vancouver to Cancun took around 6 hours. They don’t provide food on-board but you can purchase it if you wish or pre-order it before your flight.
The also don’t have seat-back entertainment but you can bring your own tablet or smartphone and download the Westjet App.
Here you can connect to in-flight wi-fi and watch TV shows or movies on the app which is really easy to use.
Once I arrived into Cancun, the baggage collection was really easy. As it’s not Cancun’s peak season, the airport there was pretty quiet too. I was advised that as soon as I left the terminal there would be lots of companies holding their signs up trying to get me to stay at their resort or to catch a taxi with them so I was prepped beforehand to just ignore them and find the transfer company that had already been organised.
When I found them, everything was seamless. We used Best Day Travel for their transfer service and they were great!
I got a cold towel as soon as I met them, along with a cold bottle of water. They loaded my suitcase into the van and even attached my neck pillow to it so I wouldn’t lose it (it’s the little things I appreciate)
The ride took about 25 minutes to Hyatt Ziva Cancun from the airport. We passed many of the resorts I usually sell through work but the Hyatt was definitely one of the better ones!
As soon as I walked in to the resort, It was so beautiful. There’s these gorgeous steps leading down to the infinity pools and you can see out to the ocean from whatever room you’re in. We got a welcome drink on arrival and the bellboy took my bag to my room which was helpful.
I then had a quick 15 minutes to get ready before I had to meet everyone else downstairs for our A La carte dinner. I made such a mess in the bathroom with my stuff scattered everywhere but I made sure to take some pictures beforehand to show how nice everything was!
There was a special set menu for us at dinner time. I’m like the fussiest eater ever (hate seafood with a passion) so I wasn’t overly fussed with the menu. Thankfully, the staff and cook were so nice about it they made me my own chicken dish with vegetables
After dinner we were free to do as we liked. Some of the group went off to the bar to have some drinks whereas me and a few of the other girls went to Pastels, the dessert parlour.
This was my heaven! Hyatt Ziva has a parlour open until midnight every night serving everything from donuts, cakes and candy floss to ice-cream and gummy lollies!
After sampling a few treats, it was off to bed!
I know, call me crazy but I was sooo tired. It was hot and I’d been traveling all day, all I wanted to do was to go to bed and enjoy my clean comfy room.
Remember how I said I left the bathroom in such a mess before dinner?
Well when I got back to my room, I noticed that the housekeeping had tided everything up for me before laying chocolates next to my bed and turning down the duvet.
It’s honestly the little things like that, that I appreciate when it comes to staying at hotels and resorts. Sometimes you don’t remember what the room looked like, however you do remember how they may have left a little note in your room to enjoy your stay or maybe the staff went out of their way to make sure you had a wonderful time. Customer service is a massive thing for me!
By this stage, it was around 11pm when I video called my boyfriend back in Canada to brag about how much of a great time I was having already 😉
It was then that I remembered that the resort had 24 hour room service….
Now, you might know from reading my blogs that I don’t really splash out on hotels all the time. Most of my travel has been staying in hostels and maybe the odd air b’n’b to save some money so to know that I could deliver food to my room and it wouldn’t cost me a thing was an absolute treat!
This is one of the fattiest things I’ve probably done in my life, I wasn’t really that hungry but I ordered room service just because I could.
I looked on the menu and decided on some guacamole and chips, potato tacos and a strawberry cheesecake.
I felt like a queen!
I had a bite out of everything, washed it down with a beverage from the mini bar and then headed off to sleep.
My first day in Cancun wasn’t too bad at all!
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Part 2 coming soon!
ThePassportPrincess 