Sorry this is taking me so long... I'm still in the midst of balancing happily aching muscles, going back to work, and finishing celebrating a birthday... A longer report will be coming soon, hopefully with links to pictures of the RP we'd taken!
Aisling:
The bed was very firm, but not hard... Probably the best sleep we've had in a long time. My morning ritual of waking up with a really bad lower-back ache magically disappeared after the first night's sleep... (and unfortunately returned after sleeping in my own bed at home). Beds are triple sheeted (fitted underneath you, one over you, and one between the woven blanket and the comforter. The comforter is not the down one like at the Hard Rock Hotel, but it is not a cheap one either. The pillows are feather-down and oh-so-cushy!
I have no idea why anyone would think the furniture would be cheap or tacky. Perhaps that can be chalked up to personal preference. This furniture was heavy, dark wood, and looked to be mostly hand-carved or otherwise hand-laithed. I don't think the light-colored weave in the head board and chest-of-drawers is real reed, but on closer inspection, it did not appear to be plastic either... I can guarantee you this is not cheap stuff... The bed frame is bolted to the wall and does not bang against the wall when you sit on the bed (weirdo that I am, I tested this). If you grab a top ends of it and wiggle it, it will though.
As far as whether or not "if the CMs are of Pacific Islander descent (like they have
Africans at AKL)"... That's a tough call... I didn't ask anyone where they where from... none of the girls at the front desk appeared to be of any other descent than Floridian.
The ladies that worked the concierge desk each time I visited, physically appeared to be of Asian or Pacific Island decent, but I think that could be just be coincidence... (In answer to your question, I don't know if that's something they'd done on perpose or not)
Must-have food items? Honestly, I'm the wrong person to ask. The food prices were a bit too rich for my blood and we ended up at at CityWalk, but I can tell you that the frozen drinks are REALLY tasty. I had a nacho plate at Jake's (LOVE the story line and the decor!), not as meaty as I'd expected it to be from the menu description, but included a 50% or so portion of length-wise banana chips! Great dipping sauce to go with it too, served in a wooden hand-carved bowl shaped like a pineapple. Hubby tells me that he's going to write a trip report too and he has a better memory for food details than me.
There was this one drink at Jake's... I think it was almost $20... a 32oz drink.... I think it was called the Komonyouknowyouwannadrinkme (?)... I was dying to see what one of those looked like!
Saffron:
Parking was not a problem and is $6 a day (although I'm still waiting for that charge to show up). If you don't see a spot in the lot as you wind around the first few aisles, there is another group of aisles just to the left of it which always seemed to have plenty of spaces. We never had to drive back that far to find one though. The walk to the front desk is not really that far, and you can get there in a few minutes... Soon I will post a picture of the view from our room that will give a really good idea of the distance from lot to front entrance. (Interesting story that goes with it, I'll have to tell you later).
And btw.... I found this resort to be extremely romantic!
I LOVED this Resort, and I can't say enough good things about it...
(And I'll tell you more very soon)
