From Feb. 21 – 27, 2016, special friend Patty Morrison and I celebrated our 70th and 69th birthdays; Patty, Feb. 24, me Feb. 26. As fellow baby boomers, we weren’t thrilled about reaching these ages.
We’d twice celebrated week long vacations at all adult, all inclusive resorts in Cancun and the Riviera Maya and enjoyed ourselves, so we decided to again treat ourselves to six days at Secret’s Maroma resort that is reported to have one of the prettiest beaches on the coast.
The purpose of this web page is to describe the all adult, all inclusive experience, and the extraordinary celebratory practices that Secret’s Maroma provides daily and with precision to fortunate couples like us.
The purpose of our trip was to kick off our next year with as enjoyable beach vacation as possible. The sweet wishes of Patty’s birthday card set the stage.
The hotel’s VIP Services execution sustained our week of romance in a small paradise that exceeded our best expectations. The Part II web page describes the hotel architecture, grounds, beach, pools and other facilities that made us so content that we did not bother to leave Maroma during our stay.
A Happy Birthday banner greeted Patty on her birthday when returning from the beach – then she opened the door. 
Pink balloons were fastened to the bed and curtains tied exquisitely. There was more.
A beautifully decorated cake plate awaited Patty too.
Two days later, it was my turn to receive this wonderful treatment. Notice the balloons are blue.
A birthday cake was waiting for me when we returned from breakfast to head to the hotel beach.
When we returned from the beach, another delicious little gem of a mini-cheese cake was waiting for us with the usual gorgeous calligraphic plate writing.
We dined that evening at Himitsu, a Japanese restaurant, and shared a Hibachi sit around table with a business IT group from St. Louis who were nice people and a lot of fun.
The grill chef was very theatrical with the cutlery and surprisingly artistic with a birthday tribute that dropped different colors of food coloring on the scalding grill and lit a small sparkler to produce the overall effect. Patty and the IT group all sang Happy Birthday to me when the chef completed his masterpiece.
My name was lost a bit in the translation but who cared; you had to love the guy, a true master. By this time, we didn’t think there was anything more that they could do for us but we were wrong again. The restaurant followed the grill treat up with a delicious scoop of ice cream flavored with a local berry, drizzled with chocolate, and adorned with assorted fruits.
Just when we were sure there were ‘no more tricks left in their bag of delights’, they pulled another one out of the hat.
Himitsu’s restaurant decorations included a large, shiny brass Buddha – Patty and I rubbed it’s belly to celebrate our good fortune for both of our birthdays, especially mine after so many salutes that day.
We shared a memorable last evening at Secret’s Maroma with a special moment.
Patty and I will treasure the week we spent at the resort and recommend couples to try this vacation experience. In the follow-up web page, “Arnie Heller Turns 70 at Secret’s Maroma, Cancun, Mexico, Part II”, I will showcase the resort’s infrastructure, food service and entertainment and activity programs and how they combine to produce favorable outcomes for guests celebrating special occasions.
I am an amateur photographer and a shot I took of a chandelier came out blurry so I fooled around, doctored it a bit, and titled it “Bliss”. I think the photo reflects the relaxed and pleasant feelings I experienced all week in such a warm and colorful environment that managing one’s alcohol consumption is perhaps the most challenging part of the trip.
