Valentin Imperial Maya Resort

Do you have a special place that you think about on tough days? That you dream about being at?
I do now and it's here:

Kyle and I just returned from a FANTASTIC vacation in Cancun, Mexico.  We take a yearly vacation around our anniversary.  We went to Cancun on our honeymoon and have continued the very relaxing tradition. Cancun is a great destination for us.  It's only a 90-minute direct flight from Orlando.

This year we stayed at the Valentin Imperial Maya all-inclusive resort.  According to the Valentin Imperial Maya website:
Hotel Valentin Imperial Maya is the new definition of paradise. Our 5 star Adults-Only (18+) All-Inclusive Resort is located a short 25 minutes from Cancun International Airport in the Riviera Maya.

If you read other blogs the resort may look familiar to you.  Courtney, from Sweet Tooth Sweet Life, traveled there in February.  We were looking for a new resort to try and seeing what a great time she had helped seal the deal.

Kyle and I both agree that this was our BEST trip to Mexico yet.  The room, food, entertainment, and pool were nothing short of spectacular.  

The weather, which you can't control, was the most amazing part of the trip.  We didn't see one drop of rain, which is a miracle during hurricane season.  Our 2010 trip was cloudy and soggy thanks to a Caribbean-bound Hurricane Matthew.

Checking in.

Kyle & I stayed in an Oceanfront Jr. Emerald suite with a balcony, jacuzzi, and amazing shower...that I took zero pics of. Blogger fail.  The shower had a normal shower head AND a rain shower head that came down from the ceiling.  When I make millions of dollars from sharing my life via my blog that's the first thing I'm buying.

Kyle jokes with me often, because we stay at resorts on the beach and I only want to go to the pool. With a pool like this, could you blame me?

I was worried at first, because several reviews and people who had been here told me that the pool fills up early and you need to "reserve" your chairs.  After rushing down the first morning, I quickly saw that our resort was pretty quiet.  We never had trouble finding a prime pool location!

The pool was about the length of 3 football fields.  It has 2 waterfalls, 2 swim-up bars, and a volleyball net.  The pool is separated by a bridge into a quiet side and a louder side with music and games.  

We always opted to lay down at the "quiet" end, but we would float over for a drink or to get our jam on to some good Pitbull tunes.

On the first morning we were pretty early to the pool and I noticed several floats in the water.  I immediately snagged it and floated around all day. Every morning I would then grab a free float and spend my morning.  One day I couldn't find a float, so Kyle said he would get one from the Activities Center.  While he was gone, a "empty" float came by and I hopped on.  When Kyle came back he told me that you had to buy the floats and they blew them up for you.  Oh...so I've been stealing people's floats for 5 days.  I'm THAT girl. :)

My "stolen" float.

I'm going to break up the vacation recaps into several posts to give you all the tropical details.  Kyle also created 2 new Cancun inspired workouts, the first of which I will post this afternoon.

What do you prefer: beach or pool? Why?

Love and "it's a pleasure",
Carissa & Kyle