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Freedom Paradise, Hurricane Wilma, and Mexicana Airlines

© Peggy Hoehne

I made reservations at Freedom Paradise on the Riviera Maya in Mexico. This is an all inclusive resort I wrote about last winter (see the article Getaway to Paradise - Freedom Paradise, December 14, 2004). I was going to write up my experiences and let you know what I thought were the good and the bad of visiting this place. I am no longer sure if my opinions make any difference as Tulum, where Freedom Paradise is located, was where hurricane Wilma first made landfall last week.

We arrived late afternoon on Monday, October 17. The resort was beautiful. The beach just as expected. Our reservation was wrong. We were shown to a room up a short flight of steps with a beautiful view of the ocean. The room had only one bed. I was traveling with my 21 year old son and we had specified two beds. They did move us to a different room with two beds, but now we were up a long flight of stairs quite a distance from the restaurant and lobby and only a partial ocean view.

The stairs and long distances could present problems for some larger people. However, the chairs in the dining room, the lounge chairs by the pools and beaches were all large and solidly built. The food was good, though could have become a bit boring after awhile.

After hurricane Wilma hit, I am not sure if the resort has survived. We left early Thursday morning, October 20, driving our rental cart across the Yucatan peninsula ahead of the hurricane. We ended up in Merita, a beautiful old city with many historical buildings, lovely plazas, and 200 miles away from the hurricane. We discovered there, that every restaurant we went to had large comfortable chairs. I began to wonder if that was standard for Mexican restaurants, but was unable to do enough sampling to be sure.

We finally got tickets on Mexican Airlines to Guadalajara with a connection to Chicago. This is when we discovered that Mexicana Airlines has larger seats than many American planes. Their seatbelts fit with room to spare and no need for a seatbelt extender. Even my 6' 4" son had plenty of leg room. In the future, if I fly to anywhere Mexicana has flights, I will be happy to take their airline.

This is most likely my last article. There are changes being made at Suite 101 and I don't feel I have the time to devote to maintain the schedule I would need to meet. I have enjoyed my time writing here and would be happy to hear from anyone who would like to keep in touch. You can reach me at hoehnepj@tds.net

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