• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Good Press: Special Features, Freelance Projects, and Long-Term Clients
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after – transforming my first home
      • before + after, our current home
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

A Gran Bahia Caribbean Getaway

August 15, 2011

Hola!

We’re back, tanned, and all relaxed after a whirlwind birthday-week trip to Mexico to celebrate Pete’s 40th! Neither of us had been to the Caribbean coast before, and Riviera Maya, the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula seemed like a good fit for a 4-day/3-night woo-hoo-hoo kind of getaway. At least, if you liked hot, sand, and sun, which Pete does.

Big clouds and the blue water of the Caribbean Sea.

Did I mention that this was a surprise birthday trip too (following the surprise birthday party)?

Pete knew we were going out of town for a few days… I did have to request that he took time away from the 9-5, you know, but he knew nothing about the itinerary or final destination and futhermore, he opted not to know any of those details until we made it out of Rochester and were sitting at our gate in our connecting flight city of Charlotte, NC. The guy really likes a good surprise, come to find. Lucky for him, because I’ve had all kinds of secrets lately. This was just the big one.

On a related but unrelated note, I’m also happy to report to you coffee addicts, that there are easily 5 Starbucks within walking distance of any gate in the popular travel hub of Charlotte. And good free internet access. Let’s hope other airports follow this as a trend.

Back to the vacation stuff. Our all-inclusive home for those nights was at the Gran Bahia Principe resort, about 30 minutes south of Playa del Carmen, and didn’t consist of just one resort, but 3-in-one. Meaning it was enormous. And when I say enormous, I mean… all synonyms for huge. Gargantuan. Ginormous. Whoa.

Gran Bahia Principe Resort, Riviera Maya, Mexico

And if you thought it was summer in the good ol’ USA, you haven’t felt anything. The sand, tiles, and grass were blazing hot – nearly unwalkable, and even though we jumped into every pool that landed in our path, we still left us with burned soles. Hot feet aside, without knowing beforehand how these all-inclusive places work, I can tell you after the fact that it was love from first private entry gate to last breakfast coffee con leche and with every pina colada in between.

Pools, palapas, and thatched roofs everywhere you turned at the Gran Bahia Principe.

I scored an amazing deal by placing the order for our trip a few months ago via cheapcaribbean.com. Despite being completely skeptical after reading lots and lots of iffy, poor, and seemingly phony reviews, I wouldn’t give it anything less than a 2-thumbs-up experience. I’m serious, they didn’t even credit me to say that (although, hint, cough, hint). There were no cracks in their travel itinerary, and the resort was fabulous, although I’m not a whiner when it comes to beautiful weather and sparkly blue water.

Pete and I lounged in chairs on this pier our first day. People watching and the caribbean sea at it's finest.

The guest rooms throughout the resort were constructed as open-air villas, and that was refreshing when in the back of my head I was expecting a traditional hotel setup. Each villa was modern and well-maintained, although the colorful paint and hard-to-destroy tiled floors may have made for a good facade, what do I know. I was especially digging the vertically installed rectangular tiles in the bathroom. That single glass panel acted as a shower door and was static in place, which was cool and minimalistic except when you turned on the water, you had to lean far inside. And get showered just a bit. But what did I care? I was in Mexico, baby.

Note the vertical orientation of the rectangular tiles. And see how the only door is a static glass panel? I liked it, except turning on the water without getting blasted was tricky.

Hints of original mexican heritage and design were scattered everywhere; I especially loved the backsplash that extended all around the bathroom.

Pretty mexican tiles and countertop.

Our villa suite was accompanied by impressive facilities and plentiful food. I somehow also worked my way into a premium package that gave us two din-dins at our choice of 4-course restaurants on-site fo’ free, in addition to all of the other inclusive buffets, drinks, and activities that we were offered. Fabulousity. I think you’re going to find that I’m not crafty enough to articulate more synonyms for AMAZING, so get used to it.

Free dinners and buffets meant we ate really well, and we took it upon ourselves to try all kinds of new foods, although as excited as we were about sampling authentic mexican fish, apple yogurt, cactus, and palm hearts, we wondered if the non-USA foreigners were equally as excited about the very American cheeseburgers, baby carrots, and chicken wings that the resort kept stocked for the (presumably) non-adventurous travelers.

Am I a total cheeseball to keep reinforcing how awesome all-inclusive is compared to every other vacation we’ve respectively been on?

We did a whole lot of sitting around the beach and exploring the resort by foot. It was humid as could be, which explains the whole sexy wet dog look you might notice in photos of us as you browse through.

Accidental sunburns led to seaside naps, and there were no clocks anywhere and even our phones were turned off the whole time. This means that we never had an accurate sense of time for 3 whole days, which was kind of cool (even the clock in our room was wrong, somehow).

Walks on the beach were accompanied by curious iguanas and hand-sized crabs.

Mexican crabby. Pre-attack.

Sometimes both showed up at the same time, when you’re innocently zoomed in on a transparent crab, and scare you half to death while they stare each other down in an “I’M GOING TO EAT ALL OF YOU… and then maybe run up that human’s leg” frenzy.

Scared mexican crabby (and photographer), approached by mexican iguana.

And so the circle of life continues.

Very scared mexican crabby (and photographer). Mid-attack with a mexican iguana.

Actually, the crab got away by the tip of it’s pokey eyeball. Circle of life broken by frantic shrieks of a girl horrified about what she was about to see happen. That girl may or may not have been yours truly.

We made use of the unlimited miles on the rental car by two car trips during our stay too, one of which was to Playa del Carmen about 30 miles north on the sea beside the island of Cozumel.

Pete, and the beach at Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

The sand was much softer than that at our resort’s beach – less coral, I guess. Dare I compare the two as powdered sugar to Home Depot sandbox sand? It was possibly softer than any other beach I’ve traveled to, and that includes my previous favorite cashmere-sanded beach of Sanibel Island. Plus, Playa del Carmen was lined with fishing boats anchored into the earth, which made for pretty pictures.

Playa del Carmen beach boats.

 

Playa del Carmen. Looks like a storm rolling in, but it dispersed before reaching land.

We scoured and bartered our way through the touristy shops and came home with some fun treasures like these children’s bobble head toys:

Miniature bobble heads bought in Playa del Carmen. Dinosaur, turtle, and bull with rider.

We also bought ceramic hot pepper decor as a gift for mom and dad, the dog sitters, and serious hot pepper fanatics, and a new christmas ornament for this year’s tree.

Chili pepper decor, and a new ornament for the christmas tree.

I bought a few textiles too, which was exactly what I had planned to buy if nothing else. I’ll share those items with you once they’ve found a home. They’re still in the store baggies in my suitcase, which I’ll get around to emptying one of these weeks.

The shops and restaurants in Playa del Carmen were beautiful and as full of color as the photos already shown would suggest; we took assorted photos of the local merchandise, hostels, restaurants, bars, and street decor while we wandered and shopped, so be sure to enlarge to view full-size for full effect. You might even feel like you’re there.

  • Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
  • Beautiful sinks for sale in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
  • Restaurant in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
  • We had major adoration for the ornate mexican tile.
  • Me, and a fantastic die cut plastic chair in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It was actually outside of a Ben & Jerry's so I'm not sure how authentic it is to the region.
  • Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
  • Dia de los muertos shops lined the streets in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
  • Feral cat, sparkly woman wearing a cool non-DOC-approved helmet, and me.
  • Small park in Playa del Carmen. Pretty flags everywhere.
  • Dia de los muertos shops lined the streets in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
  • Anything ivy-covered is fine by me. The painted pink window trim put me over the edge.
  • Colorful mexican textiles.
  • Heading down to the beach at Playa del Carmen.
  • Restaurant in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We liked the colorful tablecloths.
  • Dia de los muertos shops lined the streets in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

When it came right down to it, we spent much of the time driving around noticing two things: All of the friendly folks sporting M16s…

Big guns. Everywhere.

…and the multitude of vehicle makes and models that we had never seen before. We saw some ordinary Nissan Sentra’s and variations of the Volkswagon Passat, but also plenty of unusually named models, starting with our own Dodge Attitude.

Pete and our Dodge Attitude.

Of course, most of the car photos taken involved Pete making an “I have an attitude” face. Because, why not?

Pete and our Dodge Attitude. He also thought the Renault Trafic Passenger was the most badass of all of the passenger vans. And yes, just one “f”. That’s no typo. Possibly a cool fit for Kate + 8, which I do still watch on occasion, sue me.

Pete likes the Renault Trafic Passenger.

Nighttime at the resort was pretty too; it cooled off just enough for us to stop profusely sweating and only minimally sweat, and once most of the families were in for the night, we had nice opportunities to take photos like this, of the pool not so splashy at night with our great (but low-light) Canon G12 manual settings.

Poolside at night at the Gran Bahia Principe.

It was possibly the most work-free and travel-drama-free vacation I’ve ever taken. We even adjusted to the whole having-no-phone-access pretty quickly, forgetting even 24-hours later that we could iPhone-connect to the world of internets or dare to look at our missed calls without extravagant charges or taking it off airplane mode.

I’ve heard plenty of fantastic stories of people’s trips to Cancun and Tulum, but has anyone else been to this resort, or another resort on the 307 highway? If yay, do share.

 

Share

Beach  / Casual Celebrations

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

13 Comments


Irene
August 15, 2011 at 8:50 am
Reply

Looks amazing! I guess great minds think alike because I have already booked a week-long trip to Cancun for Gary (the hubs) 40th birthday in December. Now I’m looking forward to it even more – particularly the shopping part.



    Emily
    August 15, 2011 at 9:26 am

    How funny, Irene! You’re both going to LOVE it. We’ve heard that we should have driven down into Tulum, which is about 20 minutes below where we were on the coast. Allegedly great food, shopping, and ancient ruins. Make sure you add it to your agenda and let us know how it is.

Katrina
August 15, 2011 at 9:40 am
Reply

This looks incredible!! Welcome back – glad you guys had a fun trip, and nice work pulling off a major surprise! Happy belated birthday Pete :)



    Pete
    August 15, 2011 at 9:45 am

    Thank you. It was s’awesome (that’s a word for more than awesome).

    Emily
    August 15, 2011 at 10:03 am

    Translate: So Awesome.

    Emily
    August 15, 2011 at 10:03 am

    Thanks Katrina!

Cait @ Hernando House
August 15, 2011 at 11:23 am
Reply

That looks amazing!

I totally get the adoration for the tiles! I’ve been wanting to add some to our front steps recently. Yet another thing that the shipping seems insane on. Sad face.



    Emily
    August 15, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    I was noticing some tiles similar to ones that were used in a recent craft project at House Bella in the shops. With the pesos to USD conversion they were only between .50-2 each at one store. Wowza!

    Cait @ Hernando House
    August 15, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    I saw her tiles too, and got really jealous. One of the tiles Sara at House Bella bought was one of the styles I picked for my steps.

    I found some online between $1.58-3. I might triple check my measurements and order some, because I saw they have free shipping right now on two of the sites I looked at.

    Emily
    August 15, 2011 at 4:28 pm

    Hot damn – free shipping and $3 tiles is a heck of a lot cheaper than going to Mexico! FTW. Hope you pull the trigger!

    Cait @ Hernando House
    August 15, 2011 at 5:28 pm

    I’m planning to! We were going to spend some of my OT money on a new living room rug (and move the current one to the dining room), but I think we’re going to take advantage of the free shipping!

Holyoke Home
August 15, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Reply

I didn’t realize – until reading this post – that jealousy could actually be painful.

I am so glad you had a wonderful time! You deserved every minute of it!



    Emily
    August 15, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    Thank you! But is the jealousy as painful as the mighty sunburn?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    merrypad

    Merrypad by Emily Fazio
    Instagram post 17902304861708711 Instagram post 17902304861708711
    Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️ Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️
    Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garl Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garlic went into the home garden: 10 rows [L>R] 6 whole Nootka Rose as an experiment, 3x8 Mennonite-grown cloves from Aman’s, and 6x8 (and, I think, total 112? notes are cryptic) “normal.”
#gardennotes #growinggarlic #garden2023 #whatisnormal #merrypadathome
    Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of mind! #garden2024 kicks off with my favorite biennial: elephant garlic! 15 cloves planted from small, to medium, to enormous. #gardennotes
    Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this i Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this is getting ooc, and I love it. 👩‍🌾🧑‍🌾

🧄 65% of the planting is in a new plot in the country. 🧄 Seeing if NR grows bigger with more sunlight. 🧄 Big @chasefarms cloves from 2021 were really productive in our home garden; can’t wait to see how they can show up next year in the new space. 🧄

Hand-turned a small bed, but big thanks to my sister, who rolled into town just in time to help me double its size (and did not complain once).
    One straggler from #garlic2021 debuted with 7 stal One straggler from #garlic2021 debuted with 7 stalks and 7 scapes, and I can’t wait to see this mammoth looks like when it’s pulled next month. #garlic2022 

Also, fierce springtime performance by parsley, chamomile, and self-seeded cilantro.
    Annual garlic notes #garden2022 ~315 cloves total Annual garlic notes #garden2022
~315 cloves total
50 in new, unfenced garden
Still need thick mulch on everything
Did a terrible job tracking varieties when I harvested, so it’s all a mix of hardneck now 😒
Added some big cloves from @chasefarms and look forward to adding some @fruition_seeds in #garden2023 when @porterfarmscsa delivers.
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. The Easy Fix For Broken IKEA Drawers 66.9k views
    • DIY sideboard rehab. 7 Steps for Restoring an Old Midcentury Sideboard Buffet 56.8k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 50k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 40.1k views
    • DIY driveway removal. How to Remove an Old Asphalt Driveway 35.1k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Flagstone Patio in One Day 32.8k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. How to Dye Pasta Different Colors (Halloween Recipe) 32.5k views
    • Fix an ikea dresser drawer. Life Support For An IKEA Dresser 29.7k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 29.5k views
    • After: Custom wooden garden fence. Designing a Durable Wooden Fence For Our Beautiful Backyard Garden 23k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • HGTV
  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad