Travel Diaries // Hard Rock Hotel Cancun

After planning and daydreaming about our Mexico trip for months and months, our days of freedom in Cancun were, as are many good things, over all too soon. I can still remember standing at the Cancun International Airport while waiting to be picked up by our shuttle-bus; I distinctly recall breathing in the warm air and savouring the palpable excitement before we finally reached our long-anticipated destination. Sadly, white sandy beaches, azure blue waves, warm sunshine, and plentiful freshly-made food have now been replaced with the usual rain, gloom, and cold of winter-time Vancouver. Nevertheless, I am so grateful for the lovely memories that I'm sure our entire group will be remembering for a long time to come.

On the morning of our departure, we woke up at the ungodly hour of 4:50 am in order to get to the airport on time for our 8:30 am flight. Travelling with a larger group of old friends was an unfamiliar but very fun experience-- we bought breakfast, joked around, and continued discussing our proposed plans for the trip. After a safe landing from our 5-ish hour flight, we could already feel the heat from inside the plane. Sadly, that heat would not last for our entire stay...

After our shuttle bus ride in the dark, we at long last arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel Cancun. Since it was Friday night, we were greeted by friendly porters, as well as a mariachi band and a full-scale "Mexican Party" at the entrance of the hotel (this consisted of buffet food stations containing fresh guacamole, tacos, and other Mexican delicacies). As soon as we arrived in our rooms, we hurriedly unpacked and got ready for dinner. Unfortunately, we got quite a terrible room placement-- it was on the first floor and quite near to some loud music. However, since we didn't feel like paying $300 for a room upgrade, we decided to tough it out for the five nights. At least we were able to enjoy our in-suite jacuzzi just about every day! Our friends were more lucky-- they were able to procure rooms with fantastic views of the resort, pool, and beach (and were far away from the nighttime music).

For our first dinner, we would try out Ciao, the hotel's Italian Restaurant. The Hard Rock Hotel is well-known for excellent food and service, of which we were grateful recipients during our stay. The resort has six restaurants in total: Ciao (Italian), Zen (Asian Fusion), Ipanema (Brazilian), Frida (Mexican), The Market (International Cuisine), and Pizzeto (Artisanal Pizza). As well, food stations would pop up just about anywhere where there were a lot of guests-- BBQ Buffets by the beach, the pool, or in the recreational lounge area. Last but not least, the drinks were free-flowing and plentiful. My goodness, I miss all of that...



Our first full day dawned bright and early; sadly, this was to be our only full of day of clear skies and warm sunshine. Communicating via our phone group chat, we all managed to make our way to the breakfast buffet at The Market. Following that, we hurriedly reserved prime-location poolside chairs and took our first dip into the infinity pool. After enjoying some luxurious pool time, most of us headed off to even more luxurious activities-- our first spa treatments.



During my stay at the Hard Rock, I had the pleasure of enjoying two spa treatments: a facial and a body wrap. In particular, I tried the "Rejuvenating Antioxidant Facial" and the "Detoxifying Body Wrap," both of which included upper body massages from the very capable spa therapists. The Hard Rock Hotel also provides its guests with "Resort Credits," which we can use to buy excursions, off-the-main-menu food and drinks, and spa treatments (you just pay 20% of the full price). As a result of the credits, these amazing treatments were incredibly cheap!

Following our spa treatments, we returned to the pool and enjoyed participating in some of the resort  daytime activities, which were led by a group of enthusiastic (and attractive) Mexican staff. Think poolside Zumba, random guessing games, pool volleyball, beach volleyball, and foam pool parties. To top things off, a couple (newly-arrived from Hong Kong) made their surprise appearance, bringing our group number to a total of eight members.

Top // Club Monaco

Skirt + Slides // Zara

Hat // Queen Victoria Market (Melbourne, AU)

Sunglasses // Ray-Ban

At the end of our day-long pool session, I managed to convince my lovely friend to take some outfit photos as my husband was too busy having his siesta by the water. Thank you so much, Reebz!

For the first full day, my outfit consisted of several Boxing Day purchases-- namely, this amazing silk top from Club Monaco, a pom-pom hemmed skirt from Zara, and these cute (but terrible) bejewelled slides. The slides, which are certainly a style statement, unfortunately rubbed the tops of my feet and created very deep blisters (that are still healing). Needless to say, I'm not sure when I'll be brave enough to wear them again (unless I can manage them with socks?!).

Overall, we had a fantastic first day that I will remember for long days to come. If you have been to Mexico before, where did you stay and did you enjoy it?

Cheers,

The Stylish Wordsmith