Club Med – not the most luxurious vacation (until very recently), but the best vacation nonetheless. No-nonsense but very friendly staff, international atmosphere, beautiful surroundings, and – last but not least – the best cuisine you can find when vacationing in all-inclusive resorts.  “Bonjour, Monsieur / Madame” at the bar …  that one brings memories of a humiliating experience when I failed the Club’s etiquette. One cannot just walk to the bar and order a drink.  That’s not the “French” way, and not civilized behavior at all.  No matter who is behind the bar at the moment, whether a tattooed teenager from the sports team, a girl from the reception, or an experienced barman, the “bonjour” followed by some friendly talk is mandatory and expected by all, and only then one asks for a drink.

And what about that “until very recently”?  With the advent of 5-star luxury sections of a few Club Med villages – like El Riad in Marrakech, some resorts became very luxurious indeed.  Though overall the standards declined, especially in food and wine.  People used to say that one went to Club Med “pour atmosphere et nouriture”, because otherwise there were many resorts offering better accommodation, and equally nice surrounding.  “Atmosphere” is still there, but “nouriture”? – well, depends, some places still maintain the Club Med standard, albeit differently.  No more French “grenoulles”, exquisite seafood, or some exotic cuisine delicacies, but in most places still pretty decent choice.

Club Med Cancun, Mexico

    

My very first Club Med.  That was a long time ago, over a quarter of a century.  And what do I remember most from that first encounter?  Topless pretty girls walking along the road leading to the reception area just when our bus was approaching that “maison d’accueil”. And a line of GOs – those “gentils organizateurs” – clapping their hands to the rhythm of some riotous music, and – as soon as we got off the bus – greeting us with a hot refreshing towel and a cocktail.  Then a quick check-in, a thick envelope with all necessary information and the keys for each new guest prepared in advance, and one of the GOs was taking us to our quarters, our luggage having been delivered there within minutes.

In those years Club Med resorts were still rather “spartan” in terms of accommodation, but with superior, incomparable food:  French, Italian, Mexican, International days, French bakery on the premises, imported French cheeses, good wine, etc., the “all-inclusive” concept as they invented it – and equally incomparable atmosphere: games, beach-sports, evening shows, bar entertainment, you name it.  But time is relentless, so those who used to go to “spartan” Club Med resorts in the 1970s and 1980s had aged and become more affluent, sometimes very affluent, and demanded more comfort.  And so the Club has changed, its resorts becoming more “posh”, the “adults-only” clubs changing into “family” clubs. The affluent ones liked to bring their adult children, but also their grand-children, to enjoy the same places, and – at the same time – re-invent their youth.

Club Med Ixtapa, Mexico

Of four Club Med resorts on the Pacific Coast of Mexico (Huatulco, Ixtapa, Playa Blanca, and Sonora Bay) I managed to visit the first two.  I missed Playa Blanca (close to Puerto Vallarta), as well as Sonora Bay (Baja California Sur), because they closed them, together with a few other villages in the Americas, to streamline finances and save money.

I’ve been to Ixtapa three times – O.K., maybe twice, the third time staying at the adjacent Melia resort, and walking every day to the Club Med beach.  That was a funny experience – the beaches in Mexico are, theoretically, public, and so I could legally park myself on the Club Med Beach within 50 meters (or 50 feet?) of the shoreline.  Speaking Spanish quite well, I chatted with the guards, enjoyed the beach, took a plunge in the warm water, but then I fancied to visit the Club Med boutique in the village.  Well – that was illegal, and so I was chased by my friendly guard straight into the boutique.  Not much happened, I managed to  talk my way out, but at least I realized that they did guard the perimeter quite closely.  The Melia had much better accommodation – a large comfortable room with all the amenities – the resort boasted 5 restaurants, the same number of swimming pools (none of which was really for swimmers – I need a deep cool swimming pool of 25 meters in length and with separate lanes), but – boy – what a collection of rude, boasting, primitive American tourists, eating their hamburgers and pizzas, and gobbling margaritas in and by the pool.  You would never find such a clientele at any Club Med resort.  And so I commuted to the Club Med beach to soak the Club Med atmosphere, and to stay away from my opulent, comfortable, and so uninspiring resort.  At least it was a real beach – pleasant, uncrowded, long, and sandy, with that dark gold Pacific coast sand, quite unlike the white beaches of the Caribbean coast.

Club Med Huatulco, Mexico

Alas, this one, like a few others in Mexico (Playa Blanca, Sonora Bay), and like Club Med Varadero in Cuba, does not exist any more.  The resort are still there, but flying different banners.

In its heydays one of the largest – if not the largest – until Club Med Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, was expanded – clubs on this continent. Located along sprawling foothills, touching the Pacific on one side, and going steeply up towards the mountains, it sported beautiful architecture, and equally beautiful view of the Bay of Huatulco from most of its quarters.  Two massive water towers dominated its skyline – a bare necessity in Mexico, even in much less forbidding terrain.  The Pacific coast’s beaches do not, generally, match those on the Caribbean side of Mexico, but the bay itself was gorgeous, surrounded by high mountain ranges, and the Club had – in those years – one of the best sports swimming pools, that is – for swimming, not splashing, with cool water, and swimming lanes.

            

Club Med Varadero, Cuba

Club Med Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Club Med Buccaneer’s Creek, Martinique

Commentary to the photos:

1. Infinity pool at Club Med Buccaneer’s Creek, Martinique.

Club Med Caravelle, Guadeloupe

Club Med 2 (cruise ship)

   

The main attraction – apart from just being “Club Med” – was her small size.  The sails did not impress so much, as they were computer-driven and not looking very natural, and most of the ship’s “sailing” was, anyways, with engines on.  Since then I’ve been on a much more “sail-worthy” sailing ship, one of the Star Clippers.  Club Med 2 could accommodate about 350 passengers, still a bit too many for me – I could never go on a trip on one of those floating cities for two to four thousand passengers. Once – I don’t remember in which port, probably Barbados – we moored alongside one such floating city, and our Club Med ship looked like a slightly oversized lifeboat from that monster.

   

Breakfast, morning exercises, trips to whichever island we were sailing by, lunch – all were fine, but the afternoon, evening, and night activities centered around the Saint-Tropez bar, a trendy, bluish watering hole with a piano bar, some good jazz, and a late-night disco (not that I remember that one).  It has changed since those days when I greeted the year 2000 on the Club Med 2‘s deck (and in that very bar) while the ship was moored in St. Martin’s harbour.  The latest brochure shows a bar with a different name, some uninspiring colors and – no doubt – different atmosphere.

Club Med Da Balaia, Portugal

 

   

Club Med Kamarina, Sicily, Italy

       

European clubs have one great advantage over those in the Caribbeans (or even in Mexico – though for different reasons).  They are not just beach, sun, and turquoise waters.  Actually, you cannot find much turquoise water in the Mediterranean, except on Greek islands, but there is, in exchange, an abundance of places to visit.  Less than an hour’s drive from Club Med Kamarina are the two picturesque old Sicilian towns Ragusa and Modica.

Commentary to the photos:

1. Club Med Kamarina Village was built like an old Italian village – one-story stone structures, stone alleys, lots of greenery and colorful flowers.

2. The rooms were large, comfortable, and offered a tranquil and beautiful view.

3. Ragusa-Ibla, or the lower (and older) part of Ragusa, with its breathtakingly beautiful old streets and churches …

4. … and a lot of walking up and down the steep narrow streets.  A typical Italian hill-town in Sicily.  Here, Ragusa Alta, or the upper town, as seen from Ragusa – Ibla.

Club Med Gregolimano, Greece

  

          

Ah – but first I had to get there, and that wasn’t easy at all. I skipped the pricey offer of the Club’s transfers, deciding to rent a car at the Athens airport and drive to the Club myself. Gregolimano is a tiny village on the island of Evvoia, along the eastern coast of continental Greece, reachable by ferry from the port of Arkitsa, and then half-an-hour drive on the island. The port of Arkitsa, at least on the map, looked relatively easy to reach in 2 – 2.5 hours – that is, if you knew the route and the right exits. Well, I had my GPS, so I was safe, wasn’t I ? – or so I thought, because when the seductive female voice instructed me: ” take the next exit”, I was already 100 meters past that exit, taking the second one and, for the next half hour navigating seedy streets of Athenian suburbs, until I finally got back on the main road. The bloody GPS was so inaccurate (new sections of the motorway existing in reality, but not in GPS, and vice-a-versa) or so slow – and I wasn’t driving that fast, merely 110-120 kms/hr – that in my exasperation I decided to turn it off and continue by ‘my nose’ and whatever road signs I could find.

Still, I managed to reach the port of Arkitsa 10 – 15  minutes before the ferry’s departure, otherwise I would have to wait another 2 hours.  Anyway, I made it.  Once on the island, I found my way to the Club just before the sunset.

Decent, or even nice, accommodation, pretty views of the bay and the distant mainland Greece, but otherwise the Club lacked its charm – must have been the cuisine, and – especially for me – the mediocre wine that they served to all meals.  After a day or two I gave up on their wine altogether, despite my earlier expectations, and settled on beer for lunch, and Metaxa brandy for dinner.  What a shame – and they have such wonderful Nemea wines that I tasted in Athens.

Club Med Cefalu, Sicily

Just one hour by train from Palermo, and beautifuly located across the bay from the town of Cefalu,this is one of the most comfortable, and most interesting, clubs in their collection.

 

Club Med Ria Bintan, Indonesia

  

Across the South China Sea – from Singapore to Ria Bintan, Indonesia.  I was a bit afraid of Indonesia – traveling alone, one could easily fall victim of corrupted customs officials, no matter how innocent one was. But it was OK this time – the ferry terminal at Bintan looked like any small airport. I purchased a one-week visa for USD 10.00 and got on the Club Med’s bus that took me to the resort. First impressions: no air to breathe. Literally – just water vapor, courtesy of a thunderstorm that had just passed over the island. Dense dark clouds were still hanging over the adjacent mountains. The Club itself was stunningly beautiful – on one side a crescent-like beach with white sand, surrounded by a dense Asian jungle with just one narrow cut-out that served as a road to and from the resort.

A steep climb uphill to the Fitness Centre was all the fitness I needed on that day – I could hardly catch my breath.  The beautiful pool and the beach will have to suffice for those few days – and they were more than enough for me.  My bungalow was located at the very edge of the village – a few meters from my windows there was a wall of the impenetrable jungle.  The girl from the GO team pointed at a note on top of my TV set: “Do not leave the balcony door open. Monkeys would make it straight to your fridge, and they can become dangerous if cornered.  In that case, just let them take what they want and wait until they leave your room.”  Good advice.

At dinner time I was surprised by a large number of guests from Asia.  Even the main restaurant had separate sections with Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cuisine, which was interesting, but unknown to me from my many previous visits to Club Med.  There were just a few couples from Europe.  One positive side of this mix of nationalities was larger than usual number of small tables (for 2 or 4) in all restaurants.  Club Med has always been known for mixing their guests during lunch and dinner – large tables for 8 are the norm in most of the Club’s premises.  But Asians usually do not like sharing their meals with strangers, neither do I, and so I could easily find a separate small table for myself, which suited me well.

One final impression, and another surprise from my Asian co-guests: I happened to stay at the Club during the final days of the 2006 World Cup in Soccer.  One evening at the bar: semi-final match between Germany (the 2006 host) and Argentina.  About a hundred Asian soccer fans divided more or less equally between the two teams.  No Argentinians at all, and merely two couples from Germany drinking beer at the bar.  But what an atmosphere! It did not matter at all which team was going to win.  There were shouts and screams, cheering and despair, but  it was all about playing soccer and having a good time.

Club Med Bali, Indonesia

   

   

Club Med El Riad/La Palmeraie, Marrakech, Morocco

  
La Palmeraie could be described as just an average Club Med resort – less than that, because there is no beach, and the Club is within the city of Marrakech.  Ah – but El Riad, the 5-star section of the Club, makes it a completely different story.  Luxury at its best, and – at the same time – Club Med at its best.  El Riad is firmly separated from la Palmeraie – that is, we can go there, if we wish, and evening meals are usually taken at the main restaurant there, but they cannot visit us, our section is fenced off, with a private restaurant for breakfasts and lunches, a private 25m, cool and deep swimming pool, a nice garden, complete seclusion, and the most important, at least for me, feature – peace and quiet.

             

Having been at Club Med at least 25 times, I’ve never experienced more luxurious and comfortable surroundings that at El Riad.  My suite consisted of a nice bedroom, a very large bathroom, a small living room with a sofa, a dressing room with a desk and a set of wardrobes, a nice terrace with a table and four chairs, and a fenced-off small garden with orange trees and other shrubs – all of it for just one person. Birds were singing at dawn, frogs were singing in the evening, a local cat visited my premises from time to time.