Vacay(a) in the Mexican Riviera

As some of you have surmised from some recent social media posts, Chris and I spent last week on the Riviera Maya at the amazing UNICO 20º87º Hotel Riviera Maya. We were there with with our VACAYA family for their inaugural resort experience.

We had one of the best trips we have ever had. First, the staff at UNICO 20º87º understand how to look after their guests without being too invasive/annoying, while still anticipating your needs. The food was amazing. I don’t think we had a bad meal and we ate Mexican food, Italian food, Japanese food, pizza… to name a few. I think I experienced the best fried rice I’ve ever had at the hibachi grill, and don’t even get me started on the Chocolate or Coconut ice cream in the UNICO 20º87º restaurant. Everything was presented beautifully, and with a smiling face.

Our room was fantastic with a swim-up pool on our patio, which we were able to use 24 hours. It was a great place to hang out with our friends Nick, Greg (who were next door), Roy & John, and new friends made in the swim up pool. Our Local Host, Agustin helped us enjoy some local craft cocktails in our room (delivered each afternoon), and it was so beautiful to fall asleep to the sound of the ocean wave crashing on the beach and wake up to the sun greeting our day.

We over-indulged ourselves with spa treatments, as these were included (yes, you read that right) in our rate. Chris was able to quadruple the total number of massages he has had in his life during our week. Yep, I forced him to endure a Volcanic Hot Stone massage, a deep tissue massage and a relaxing one – just to balance everything out. The hydro-therapy session prior to each massage included steam rooms, saunas, hot tubs, cold plunge tubs and an ice room. We also got a much overdue pedicure (also included), and our face makeup for the Dia de los Muertos. The staff were all fantastic at what they did.

The Vacayan staff continued to prove that each of them is working towards creating a new travel experience for the LGBT+ community that surpasses anything else out there. We were on the first cruise with Vacaya in August, and shared some thoughts at that time, and they listened. It was almost impossible to list any fault with the way that this week was delivered by the Vacayans (weather related issues aren’t included). So thank you to Randle Roper-Olson, Vacaya Eric, Tracy Terrill, John Finen, & Patrick Gunn for leading the team that has established VACAYA as the leader in LGBT+ travel.

Finally, thank you to our amazing Resort Director, Danny Lee Cabrera who excelled at making this experience everything and more. The VACAYA team knocked it out of the park with their choice for Danny. He is everything that you would hope for a cruise/resort director: fun, welcoming, open, engaging and looks phenomenal in drag! I don’t think I ever walked by Danny where he didn’t acknowledge me or Chris, or where we were in a restaurant where he didn’t swing by to each table to check on the guests, or hosting the parties, or introducing the featured guests. It seemed like he was everywhere, with a smile on his face. Not sure he slept.

VACAYA has put out their “it’s a wrap” video (below) which does a great job of sharing a small part of our amazing week (and you will get to meet Danny through the video). We loved it so much, that we booked it again for next year. We are already counting down the days to return to our new favorite luxury resort in Mexico. Hoping that some of our friends might join us 🙂

Interested in joining us next year (October 4-10, 2020) for a repeat of this amazing experience at UNICO 20º87º? Let me know, and I may be able to get you a discount!