Hola Amigos!

We���re back from the Gala Beach Resort in Playacar (Tues. !0/5- Sun 10/10)!! Typically towards the hind end of a vacation, I am ready to go home and get back to my ���real life���. Not THIS vacation! Leaving was one of the most painful things that I have ever had to do! =) !! We had SUCH an amazing time��� and are already planning ���Round 2��� for the Spring!

Why did we choose Gala? Main reason: we were traveling with our 2 little boys (2 and 5). There are not many Kids Clubs that extend their services to children under the age of 4. Hence, our choices were a bit limited. We had been to Cancun before (Moon Palace), but wanted a resort that was child friendly. A resort where our boys could also enjoy the vacation, and we would not be plagued with worry or parental guilt. A travel agent suggested this resort to us, as he had just returned from a vacation there with his 2-year-old. I was a bit skeptical as there were definitely mixed reviews on trip advisory. In addition, the web site and other advertising were quite limited and a bit ���cheapo looking���. Call me a sucker for advertising, but when I see an undetailed and untelling website these days��� it makes me EXTREMELY nervous. After a LOT of research (and with our fingers crossed)��� we decided to ���go for it���. It was one of the BEST decisions that we have ever made. I will try to cover everything:

PLAYACAR: Playacar is a little gated community right outside of Playa Del Carmen. It is absolutely lovely! The pretty stone streets are lined with palm trees, resorts, a shopping market, and private homes. Apparently a LOT of Americans and Europeans purchase homes in Playacar. According to our taxi Driver, the homes lining Playacar are multi million dollar homes. It reminded me of almost a Mexican Beverly Hills. Very clean, quaint, and manicured. Definitely sheltered from the culture of ���real Mexico���. Few vendors, no one hanging out on the street, no haggling, no real danger. You are literally gated into an adorable community and sheltered from all of that. In that I had been to and enjoyed ���real Mexico��� several times, including Mexico City, Cuerna Vaca, and Acapulco��� it was a nice change. You enjoy the beauty, without the culture shock. Particularly traveling with my children��� PERFECT!! We always felt safe. No one trying to sell my husband pipes and pot to go with it. No vendors were following us. A definite perfect choice if with children. The Playacar market is a pleasant bike ride away from Gala. Gala provides free bikes with kid���s seats��� even my 5-year-old fit. A nice, SAFE ride down the street. WARNING: the market is MUCH more expensive than your average Mexican market. GOOD NEWS: the vendors are MUCH less pushy! Not a place to do all of your hard-core shopping, but nice place to pick up nick nacks and go to the ATM and Pay Phone. Best part, nice place to enjoy time with your kids without safety concerns.

GALA: Gala is a charming open-air resort nestled on beautifully landscaped grounds. If you are expecting a GRAND, over-sized resort��� DO NOT BOOK GALA! Gala is smaller than most of the other resorts, and is far more quaint! It was EXACTLY what we wanted! Gala is small enough that you can get to everything quickly, you do not worry about losing your family, and you get to know a lot of people. Everything, other than the Hacienda section, is centrally located around the pool. If I woke up early and wandered out��� my hubby could usually find me in less than 10 minutes. The facility is clean and has a great vibe. Complaints about the lobby blow my mind?! Yes, no koi ponds or monkeys swinging from an interior rainforest��� but the lobby is lovely. It is like a HUGE open-air tiki hut. The ceiling/architecture is absolutely breathtaking! Grounds are beautiful. Courtyard is charming. The boys loved the large Iguanas that wander the more wooded part of the property. Great open layout, everything is accessible and visible��� couldn���t ask for better?!

ROOM: we stayed in 1441 overlooking the pool and ocean. If you can score one of these rooms��� no need for the ���royal club upgrade��� ���Partial ocean view��� request got us a FABULOUS view from our balcony!!!! That being said, the room is the BIGGEST DRAWBACK of the Gala experience. Don���t get me wrong���very clean, but a bit ���tired���. The lighting is horrible. No oversized Jacuzzi like Moon Palace. Nothing luxurious. Equivalent to a clean Holiday Inn room in the states. Nothing to write home about. The tiles get very slippery when wet, and you only get one little mat. Hint: if you do not leave your towels on the floor��� the maid will not take them. We hung ours in the closet. That being said, they restock your supply anyway. We kept a few extra towels handy for when we came back from the beach and didn���t want to slip on the floor. The beds didn���t bother us��� we thought that they were comfy. The worst part of the room��� NO CLOCK. DO yourself a favor and bring a travel alarm clock from home. Yes, you���re on vacation��� but please��� even to make it to 3:00 bingo by the pool��� you need to know the time. =). Also, the showers have vents into the hallways��� vents that cannot be closed. Hence, whatever goes on in the bathroom��� EVERYONE can hear. Make a point to keep the bathroom door shut when in your room, or your business will be EVERYONE���S. And, though I didn���t see the inside of the haciendas��� thankful that we didn���t book them. Those people are so out of the loop with the rest of the resort. If traveling with 4 people or less��� book a standard room!!!! The location alone is worth it. 2 seconds from everything, and a view of all of the action! The rooms at Gala were not the greatest��� but in no way will deter us from returning. We were rarely in our room anyhow.

POOL: fabulous! We loved it��� kids loved it. A small adult-only pool is available, if you want to nap or you want peace and quiet. Though we loved the fun around the main pool!!! Kids playing, water sports, reggae cranking, pottery painting, guacamole cooking lessons, contests��� it was a blast. Though we rarely participated in most of the antics��� it made pool time FAR more fun and entertaining! Loved it!!! MISS IT!!!! Real sense of community at the pool! Kids play together, people mingle��� a lot of family fun!! Resort was only 80% occupied when we went. There was always a chair in a great spot waiting for us!

BEACH: GORGEOUS!!! White sand, turquoise water. Much more chilled back than the pool! Again, it wasn���t crowded so always a chair, palapa, or hammock! Best feature of Gala is the seclusion. We walked down the beachfront to the other resorts��� way chaotic and crowded. Gala is the opposite, especially in that it is the last on the strip��� one side of the resort is untouched and undeveloped. Great place to wander, explore, and spend time alone! Compared to the other resorts on the Playacar strip��� Gala���s beach prevails by FAR!!

FOOD: You know, buffet all-inclusive. It was fine. Really a matter of taste. Most of the items with milk or cheese turned my family off, as the taste is very different. They use goat���s milk as opposed to cow���s, so the taste is not what we are used to. The fruit is amazing, as are the juices. We usually hit the buffet. Room service is there if tired and wanting to hang out in the room. Limited menu but who the heck stays in their room to eat every day?! I suggest the lasagna, BLT, and/or dessert tray from room service. Only went to one of the 2 formal restaurants: Mexican restaurant. We preferred the buffet. My husband ordered the mahi mahi, which was swimming in a smelly cream sauce. I ordered shrimp, which was great other than the fact it was swimming in this sweet, syrupy sauce. I would have preferred to enjoy the seafood WITHOUT all of the sauce. Again, a matter of taste. Joy of all-inclusive��� don���t like it��� get something else! We usually hit the beachfront restaurant for lunch���a lot of salad stuff and American fare. It was good. You will always be able to find something that you will like. As for my favorite��� the guacamole is the BEST that I have ever had!!!!!! Probably gained a good 5 pounds from excessive guacamole consumption?! Ha ha. TO die for. Also��� the desserts are delicious! AND THE BEST NEWS OF ALL: other than a one day minor episode with my 5 year old��� no one got sick?!

DRINKS: A plenty! Try the sangria from the bartender at the pool bar! Yum��� Delicious! I agree with other reviews��� if your drink is weak��� ask for a shot to add to it. Frozen drinks were a bit weak. Mixed drinks tended to be strong. Corona is a good bet and the bartenders LOVE those of us who braved shots of tequila =)! Check out the drink menu at La Bambola for fun drink ideas!

SHOWS: Cheesy, hokey, and very entertaining to say the least. Fun activity for the kids��� you will be amused. We went every night��� wouldn���t have missed it. Cheesy yes, but very fun. Some were better than others. Beware of the Gladiator ���show���, which is more like a bad Mexican variety show. I got stuck in a soda chugging contest?! Could have done without that, though my boys thought that it was funny!! My suggestion, sit in the back for that particular show! Hopefully you won���t be roped in =)!

KIDS CLUB: Best part of the trip for us!!! My boys loved it there. Particularly my 5-year-old begged to go and cried when we came to get him!! The staff is fabulous. Kept the kids busy and entertained. Bless them, taught my 5 year old to swim with his head under the water��� something that we have tried and tried and been unsuccessful in doing?! Facility is nice with a big playground, 2 kiddy pools, Nice big open-air tiki hut with toys and coloring. The staff quickly learned the boys��� names. I never felt nervous or uncomfortable��� my boys were thrilled to be there. The older spent more time there than we had originally thought. He literally BEGGED to go! As for our 2 year old, we only sent him in 1-2 hour increments, as it wiped him out OUT!! This Kids Club is the best. ���Mama, we want to eat dinner at the Kids Club��� PLEASE!!!!���. Ok??? It was nice as the boys enjoyed themselves and it afforded us more alone time. More than we had originally anticipated. My boys made a LOT of friends, and were devastated to leave!!! Also, resort has an ���arcade��� ��� room with playstation/ x-box. Good break every once in a while for the older kids

STAFF: great. Extremely friendly and attentive! Chief complaint: massage people are o��� plenty and annoying. ���Lady, you like a massage today?��� Over and over, daily. My advice, be firm and say quickly��� not interested. If you say with affirmation ���Thank you for the offer but I am not interested���.��� they leave quickly! That is my only staff complaint. Animacion staff was very sweet and work ridiculously hard. If you want to participate��� always something to do or watch. If not interested��� they will leave you alone for the most part.

TRIPS: We only took 1 day trip. It was through Safari on a sailboat to Isla Mujeres. It was a super long day, which was hard on the kids (13 hours)��� but they loved it. The staff was amazing and saved us the seats behind the captain���s chair to ensure the kids were in the shade. It was fun!! My husband LOVED the coral snorkeling there. The kids were able to get in the ocean with a huge toothless shark (PETA would have a fit). Isla Mujeres beach is COVERED in conch shells and coral. Neat to collect shell ���souvenirs��� there. The boat ride was beautiful!!! Long day, but an interesting excursion! Once is enough, we would do something different next time, but it was well worth it for $130 US. The kiddos were free. We were all exhausted at the end, but we had fun!

CONTACTING OUTSIDE WORLD: Cell phone was useless. Calling cards and room calls were OUTRAGEOUS! Suggest to your family that you communicate via email or Instant message! Business center charges only $2.50 US for 15 minutes on the Internet! A fraction of the cost of 1 minute on the phone and a heck of a lot easier!!! If you must call, ride a bike to the Playacar market! Cheaper! Even better��� have your family call you!!!

TIPS: Don���t have to��� but we did. If you get great service��� it deserves reward. We brought a HUGE bundle of $5 and $1 bills, and went through them all.

BOTTOM LINE: We had an amazing time! The pros of the Gala FAR outweigh the cons. If you want an awesome FAMILY VACATION��� this is the resort for you. Honeymooners and those seeking more ���adult fun��� beware! This is a family-focused experience. We met wonderful people, the resort and surroundings were beautiful, and it was the much-needed break that our family needed. In spring��� Gala��� HERE WE COME AGAIN!!! I have never missed a place as much as I am missing Gala right now! =).