There's something extremely rewarding about putting together honeymoon plans for clients.
Perfect honeymoons and holidays aren't created by an online robot. Thankfully, I am a fully functioning human being who will happily talk through your likes and dislikes and help design a special trip.
That's exactly what Laura and Jake did. They wanted a classic combination of the adventure and buzz of a city followed by some all-inclusive R&R action in the Caribbean. They were also very clear on what they didn't want, which is equally important for me to understand.
The lovely couple very kindly sent through some feedback about their experience...
After the stress of organising the wedding, I am not sure where we would have ended up on our honeymoon if we hadn't had Jo.
She managed to take any element of anxiety away, always being accessible, recommending then accommodating exactly what we wanted and taking care of it all.
It was our first time to both New York and Mexico and although we did have plenty of other distractions, we couldn't contain our excitement upon receiving the leather wallet containing some nicely printed travel documents.
Our ten-day treat began in New York City, staying at the relatively new and perfectly located Cassa Times Square Hotel, only a short stroll to Times Square itself.
We were looking forward to some busy days in New York sight-seeing and shopping before some serious unwinding in Mexico.
Busy was an understatement - it was pretty much non-stop! We copied what most people seemed to be doing in grabbing a yellow cab to and from the hotel and using the tourist type bus along with the subway.
We used our City Pass well, taking in all the main attractions on our list – Empire State Building, Rockerfeller Centre, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, High Line, Chelsea Markets and even got to the theatre to see Aladdin as well as squeezing in a boat trip around the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. We had a fantastic time.
With so much to fit into three days, we ate a lot on the go and somehow, oblivious to how hot it was, managed to get ourselves sunburnt too.
Unsurprisingly, as we headed to Mexico, we were more than ready to slow down, relax and indulge a little.
Jo had arranged transfers from Cancun Airport to our hotel in Riviera Maya which looked so nice upon arriving that at first, we didn't realise it was actually ours.
We were staying at the luxurious adults-only Secrets Silversands, which fronted directly onto the beach and Jo’s fabulous recommendation of a swim-up room made it just that extra bit special - we loved it.
The hotel was exactly what we were after - completely conducive to some great days relaxing with the option of activities if we felt lively enough. We did stretch ourselves to a bit of speed boating and some pleasant snorkelling in the mangroves.
Seven restaurants offering a broad range of different cuisines on an all-inclusive basis meant we were able to enjoy dining out in different areas and try lots of different foods throughout our stay.
The weather was lovely, humid at times, but the occasional strong winds and storms helped clear the air and provided us a brilliant memory on one occasion of dashing to the hot tub with several other guests to watch the thunder and lightning during a torrential downpour.
On reflection we could have done a little more in Mexico but did enjoy just relaxing and felt inspired to return on a subsequent trip where we stayed in another fabulous Secrets resort.
Jo is a great travel expert and her suggested combination of the dual trip with its contrasting experiences was a great way to spend our honeymoon and give us a flavour of both places, something we have in turn recommended to friends along with Jo’s details.
Laura & Jake
