Remember those Club Med ads from the '80s and '90s? We investigate what it's really like staying at one of the all-inclusive resorts. I'm perched at the edge of a narrow platform suspended 20 feet from the ground β all 10 toes teetering precariously off the edge. The only thing keeping me from a graceless fall is a harness so tight I can now honestly say I have something in common with Victorian-era women and a man whose sole mission is to coax me into jumping β not to my death, as it may sound, but by using a trapeze bar so that I can swing gaily through the air.
I grip the bar ever tighter and leap. It's terrifying. It's also something I will never forget. And as I've learned, that's a little β actually, a lot β of what Club Med is all about. Think back to the late '80s and '90s, and you might remember Club Med's TV commercials with scantily clad guests or the fact that Club Med touted nude beaches, making these resorts a favorite destination among swingers.
Club Med is a French-owned company, after all. Those are images Club Med is actively trying to change β and based on my experience at one resort and the glowing Club Med reviews you'll find online , it is succeeding in spectacular fashion. In fact, let's put those old ads aside, and talk about what it's really like to stay at a Club Med. Club Med's properties are all-inclusive β save for top-shelf liquors, high-brow wines , and off-resort excursions.
When you hear all-inclusive, you can't help but picture buffet lines and food that's languished for too long under heat lamps. Chef de cuisine Orlando Olguin told me restaurants across the brand are modernizing their offerings for a new generation. Forget the word "employees. At lunch, a GO will pull up a chair and dine with you. Introverts, beware. By late afternoon, the GO bartender will know your name β or in my case, what I can only assume is the Spanish version of my moniker, Jillia.
They'll greet you along walkways. They'll invite you to beach balloon parties. They'll dance with you as strobe lights flare and music plays.
