I'm trying to get my trip reports done in a more timely manner now. This is about my trip to Desert Sun over the Thanksgiving weekend.
I was there the same time this year and last. This time, the weather had just turned cool, mostly in the 50's and 60's. But it was warm enough to sit in the sun since the only wind was Sunday and there were only a few hours of clouds. Last year, even though the resort was sold out and it was warmer, for some reason nobody was around the grounds. This time, they had fewer rooms sold, but lots of people were around.
There continue to be some staff changes. Since my previous report of summer trips, there have been changes to the maintenance staff. Also, Robin is now the third restaurant manager (Yoli never wanted the job, was only an acting manager and is now back to server/bartender). There are number of new servers. As reported here, at least two of them often work topless. The restaurant also has new menus and I think some changes in the kitchen staff as well. It's interesting that the front desk staff is pretty much unchanged since Desert Sun opened: there've been no changes at all in that department in quite a while.
Since I was there mid-summer, they've replaced the flooring around the restaurant and office with one that's supposedly cooler. When I was there in August, the surface was too rough to be comfortable barefoot even when cool, but I expected it to smooth out. It has, but now it hasn't been hot enough to test how well it works then! The decking around the quiet pool will be replaced, along with resurfacing that pool, sometime this month and the resort will be closed for a few days to accomplish that and some other things. They didn't take reservations for those days, so if you have a reservation, it's not for a day they'll be closed (I don't remember which days it is).
A "problem" when doing renovations is that as you improve the oldest parts, the previously "newer" parts are now "old" and need work. There've been comments here about the furniture in the condos, which were the most recently built. Replacing them is complicated since they're privately owned, but that and deciding what to do with the very aging Courtyard building are some of the next major efforts.
The only negative was a sign prohibiting people under 21 from karaoke: at least one person was disappointed she wasn't allowed to sing. August was the first and last time I saw that sign, so I assume it was just for one day, for some reason.
To follow up on a comment Carol made about men telling women what to do "at that time of the month", it's important to remember that Desert Sun's owner and President is a woman! She's the one who feels strongly about the policy requiring nudity in and around the pools and hot tubs. The people who enforce that policy are mostly the staff of the restaurant and front desk and both of those departments are run by women. I asked if this is often an issue and was told it almost never is: not only do people read the rules on check-in, but when everybody's nude, most women don't want to be the only one wearing something and it's not uncommon for them to ask front desk staff for advice on "products".
A few weeks ago there was a professional photo shoot to get pictures of the property and rooms that don't look empty. About a dozen guests agreed in advance to be photographed and got complimentary rooms, but about 30 guests there at the time also signed releases. This was a surprise to many of us, but a good sign for nudism. Even though it's likely the people in the pictures were at the younger end of the demographics, having all "real" guests in the pictures will avoid a problem many naturist resorts have had in recent years where they've had to use people in their advertising who were significantly younger than typical guests. Around 10,000 pictures were taken and should start appearing on the web site and marketing material in the next few months.
The resort will also be involved in three shoots for TV shows, one of which will be filmed during the resort closure mentioned above. My understanding is that one is for a pilot, which may not air, one is for a currently-running series, which will definitely air, and one is for the Travel Channel.
I'll be there again over the end of the year and will post a trip report if there's anything significant to add.
