Pesach Program Discussion Master Thread

[Dan]

Hey @Dan,
maybe take down this page?
https://www.dansdeals.com/advertisement/last-50-rooms-36-hour-blowout-pesach-sale/
The only thing true about it is the blowout part...

You're afraid someone will signup now?

[AsherO]

Hey @Dan,
maybe take down this page?
https://www.dansdeals.com/advertisement/last-50-rooms-36-hour-blowout-pesach-sale/
The only thing true about it is the blowout part...

Update: Deader than dead

[Joel]

Update: Deader than dead

Or an update with instructions how to retrieve your money

[Something Fishy]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/passoverprogramreviews/permalink/1952455481766062/?mibextid=Nif5oz

Putting everything else aside, the (alleged) kashrus issues continue to blow my mind.

[Euclid]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/passoverprogramreviews/permalink/1952455481766062/?mibextid=Nif5oz

Putting everything else aside, the (alleged) kashrus issues continue to blow my mind.

Private group. Can you share the details?

[Something Fishy]

Private group. Can you share the details?

The discussion is hundreds of comments long. Just join the group, it takes 5 seconds.

[Euclid]

it takes 5 seconds

Sent a request to join an hour ago...

[Something Fishy]

Sent a request to join an hour ago...

Guess they're flooded lol

[Dan]

This is my completely honest review of VIP Tours in Playa Del Carmen.  I am not one of the many influencers that attended the program (each of whom only had positive things to say - shockingly) so I will be brutally honest about what they did right and the many things they did wrong.  Let's begin with the what was done right:

1. The resort was magnificent.  It was a massive hotel with many pools.  The rooms were large suites with plenty of space and the grounds were gorgeous with an abundance of pools to enjoy in addition to the beach.

2. Each room came with a fridge that was stocked daily with kosher for Pesach drinks that the guests could enjoy for free.

3. BBQ by the pool was a great alternative to the restaurants but no variety, same thing every day. Drink service by the pool was also good and there was a room service menu (which I never utilized but heard was decent).

4. The night entertainment was very good - Modi, Lior Suchard, Ishay Ribo (more details on that later).  This is clearly where money was spent.
 
5. They provided a shuttle service to and from the airport so we did not need to arrange transportation.

6. I did not personally have kids at the day camp but I heard it was amazing and the counselors were great.

7. Weather was stunning.  Could not have been better.

Now on to the things they got wrong (be prepared for a long read):

1. The program was originally supposed to be capped between 1200-1300 ppl.  This is the number that was told to many people (in writing) including myself.  I even spoke with VIP ahead of time to express my concern at how large of a program it would be at that size and was told I would never have to wait in line for food and I would always be able to have chairs at the pool (lies). The owner decided to take double that amount (and did not tell any of us he was doing so) so we had 2,400 people there. Needless to say my family woke at 6:00 am every morning to save chairs by the pool as they were all taken by 6:30 am.

2. VIP had barely any staff or managers around to handle any issues that arose (and you can imagine with a program that large, there were many).  They had maybe two people to speak with and you had to search for them on the grounds and then wait in a line to complain.  These poor guys were hung out to dry by VIP as the owners were in hiding the first days of yuntif and only came out to see people on chol hamoed.  They did not greet us or ask us if we needed anything and definitely did not make sure we were comfortable. Their lack of concern for their guests was astounding.

3. The food was not good.  Yes you read that correctly. They served the exact same meal over and over again with no variety whatsoever.  I mean, they literally served the same food (not just the same menu).  By the last shabbos, they served the same meat at all three meals and it was spoiled.  At the first seder we had no shmura matza and none of the items we requested on the table (we had to hunt people down to get matza and marror and the basics which delayed our seder by at least an hour).  The owners did not even check on the people who paid an additional $5,000 for a private room.  The portions were tiny and everything we asked for we needed to make multiple requests. We had filled out forms ahead of time with our "requests" that were nowhere to be found. 

4. The restaurant idea that they promoted was poor in concept as well as implementation. Firstly, they did not disclose to most guests that you needed to make a reservation for every meal (with the exception of the first two days and Friday night). Most of the guests assumed there was a main ballroom with an assigned table for all the yuntif/shabbos meals and that they can experience restaurants during chol hamoed. Nope - you needed to eat at a restaurant or one of the buffet places for yuntif meals as well.  This required each guest to make reservations at the different places they wanted to try.  Of course the app crashed within minutes as it was overloaded with people and then when they fixed it several weeks later, everything was taken within minutes.  So people had to eat meals super early (before shul) or super late (10:00 and on) or in the same place multiple times in order just to have a meal! Not to mention waiting in the reservation line at the hotel for hours and hours just to see what was available.  I have never had to worry about any shabbos or yuntif meals at a program before but if we didn't wait in line then we didn't eat. It was miserable, stressful and anxiety-provoking.  Not the best way to enjoy vacation. Most people want to take a shower, get dressed and go to the ballroom. This also had the additional effect of not seeing people or meeting new ones as every family was in a different location at a different time so we would run into people we knew on day 5 that we hadn't seen even once! There was nothing positive about this experience and a better way to do it would have been to rotate families throughout the holiday in all the different places so everyone had a  taste of everything.  We ended up with 3 reservations at the same awful place  because we couldn't get anything else and we didn't get to experience all the options.  Also, please note, not everyone wants to eat Mexican  or Asian fusion food for yuntif. Most people I know wanted a traditional (albeit delicious yuntif meal). The restaurants also ran out of food quickly and we learned not to trust their menus - Prime beef was brisket, sea bass was tilapia and if they listed dessert it was just words as none of them actually had any (except for the one time we were served 3 APPLE SLICES for 11 people - yes, you read that correctly and I have pictures to prove it.

5. There were 2 kitniyot restaurants that somehow (possibly because no one spoke English and there was no real mashgiach watching over anything) had some of their food served to the Ashkenazim and that was also a major cause of concern.  One had to really look the other way on this program if you didn't want to cry at all the kitchen mistakes and mess-ups.

6. They ran out of food early and did not replenish and they also did not have basics like tuna fish (only made an appearance on the last shabbos), feta cheese, variety of yogurts, granola, etc.  Their nespresso bar ran out of flavors on day 2.

7. When you did manage to find an owner, they were defensive, angry and unapologetic.  They did not care at all to make us happy or feel welcome.  They never fixed a mistake, righted a wrong and were rude throughout.

8. The staff at the hotel worked so hard and tried their best but there was a tremendous language barrier and unless you spoke Spanish you didn't have a chance of getting what you wanted/needed. VIP did not bring along or provide English speaking managers to help run the program or manage the staff and that was a major problem for most of the guests.
9. The hotel has an adults only building which for Pesach allowed families to stay in - when the hotel opened again for the public on Friday, those people had to pack up and move to the other side of the hotel for 2 nights!!! People were fuming, rightly so, as that information wasn't told to the guests (at least the ones I spoke with) ahead of time.

10. Ishay Ribo - he's amazing - love him. Not the best idea to have him perform motzei yuntif when people are trying to eat chometz, pack their luggage and had to leave by 11:30 for the charter flight home!! Also, since they took so many people, the line to get into the shows was long and miserable.  The consensus was had they capped the program at 1,300 like they promised, the whole program would have been more enjoyable.

11. Tea room - if you can even call it that was horrible with no variety. It had nuts, fruit and chocolate truffles (there was not one chocolate bar to be found in the entire hotel).  It was gross, boring and unimaginative.  It is still shocking how a company that ran one of the best pesach programs for so many years could do so poorly in the food department on this one.
So to summarize, we would never attend their program again. If this program runs again, many of the kinks would likely be worked out but the feeling of neglect and lack of caring for their guest’s enjoyment, especially at the prices they charged will not soon be forgotten.

Fyre Festival: Pesach edition

[momo]

This might be the wrong place, as apparently this thread is only the thread to poop on Pesach programs, but we spent yom tov, with the Werner brothers and kmr, and could not be more impressed! Truly a program well done, from food, to kashrus, to venue. I've gone to a few other programs before, and after this pesach, i doubt i would try a different program, if i wanted to go away for yom tov. Maybe a European program, if i wanted to explore a new destination.

[Dan]

Fyre Festival: Pesach edition

This might be the wrong place, as apparently this thread is only the thread to poop on Pesach programs,

About that...

[momo]

 

[Dan]

Fyre Festival: Pesach edition

So many comments, but here's a few:

[Dan]

Responses from Elan:

[Something Fishy]

With 50 people I needed a full time mashgiach just to watch the single omelette station, because matter how many times we told the staff not to turn on the flame themselves they still tried to turn on the flame themselves.

With 2400 people,

[mmgfarb]

With 50 people I needed a full time mashgiach just to watch the single omelette station, because matter how many times we told the staff not to turn on the flame themselves they still tried to turn on the flame themselves.

With 2400 people,

If you're ever looking for more mashgichim.... 😝

[JMHO]

If you're ever looking for more mashgichim.... 😝

Sign up 50 people and I'm sure @Something Fishy will make you an honorary Mashgiach

[Euclid]

Guess they're flooded lol

just got in

[mochjas]

just got in

There goes 12 hours of your life 

[Euclid]

There goes 12 hours of your life 

Bringing out the worst in me, jealousy/schaudenfraude