cun’s only fine-dining restaurant on the
beach. Guests sit in private cabanas (the
same ones beachgoers rent by day), which
are swathed in white sheets and filled with
low lighting and are attended to by a private waiter. The cabana is priced at $125
for the evening, without dinner. Guests can
linger in the cabana or lounge on beach
chairs set up on the sand behind it, for as
long as they like.
The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun is the only
property in the brand that has a culinary
center by Viking, where a professional
American chef, Rory Dunaway, hosts cooking classes that include a four-course dinner and wine pairing.
The class offers guests the best of both
worlds: They can use their hands and help
if they choose or just sit back, observe, sip
wine and enjoy the outcome.
One participant likened the experience
to being on a cooking show. Rates range
from $95 to $158 per person.
The class is so popular that 90% of repeat guests take the class again when they
come back.
“For the sophisticated
and demanding traveler,
you have to offer more
than a beach vacation,”
said Sergio Serra, the
hotel’s director of sales
and marketing. “It’s dif-
ficult to come up with
things for Ritz-Carlton
travelers.”
Being a Ritz-Carlton
is clearly a draw: A sig-
nificant portion of the
hotel’s guests are loyal
followers of the brand,
and several said that
they chose the prop-
erty not because they
wanted to go to Cancun
but because they looked
for a Ritz-Carlton in a
warm location.
“If a client is loyal to Ritz-Carltons, then
they are going to stay there regardless of if
it is [European plan] or all-inclusive,” said
Debbie Bellamy, a Cancun specialist and
owner of Travel Visions in Wilmington,
Del. “Ritz’s clientele are going for luxury,
high standards of hospitality and the Ritz-
Carlton Rewards.”
Bellamy said that the majority of her cli-
ents want all-inclusives “to make it easier to
budget for couples and families.”
But if they do, she advises them to leave
the hotel.
“Cancun offers world-famous restau-
rants, nightlife, shopping, archaeology and
more. Why just stay at the camp?” Bellamy
said. “People think Cancun and all-inclu-
sives go hand in hand, but they don’t. [E.P.]
is another option.”
While not all-inclusive, many Ritz-
Carlton guests take advantage of the semi-
inclusive package the hotel offers to Club
Level guests.
These guests, of whom I was one, stay on
the eighth and ninth floors of the property.
The high-season lead-in rates are $399 for
an oceanview room and $639 for a Club
Level room. Club Level guests have their
own concierge and check-in.
We are equally committed to rewarding the industry’s finest agents, so we have created the prestigious Master Agent Program.
It rewards exceptional professionals with our lowest travel agent rates, extra incentives and exclusive promotions.
WWW.TRAVELWEEKLY.COM
APRIL
2, 2012
