I visited the three major Tampa-area resorts (Paradise Lakes, Caliente, and Lake Como) a couple of weekends ago, but have been slow in writing this review due to the time I've been spending on Desert Shadows issues and then taxes. I'm going to concentrate in this review on the changes at the resorts since there's been a lot of discussion of such, especially with respect to the first two. If you've never been to those resorts, this posting won't make all that much sense, unfortunately.
I usually travel with 1-2 friends, stay at Paradise Lakes, arrive Wednesday evening, and depart Monday morning. If the weather cooperates, we usually stay at Paradise Lakes until Friday evening, head over to Caliente for dinner and the party, spend the whole day (including dinner and the party) on Saturday at Caliente, spend much of Sunday at Paradise Lakes, but sometimes go to Como for dinner and karaoke. That was our schedule this trip (we did go to Como).
For the most part, the changes were small. My last trip was during abnormally poor weather in the low season and this time it was abnormally good weather in the high season, so it was hard to make too much of a comparison as to how business was doing.
As far as the dances at Paradise Lakes and Caliente, I didn't see any large changes from November when I was last there and few over the year as a whole. However, I'm seeing evidence of a growing distinction between the two dances. It's hard to be sure because we were at both at different times, but it's looking like there's a much higher percentage of slow music at Paradise Lakes and more of a mix (but the majority fast) at Caliente and the dancing, atmosphere, and dress choices definitely reflect that difference. My friends and I didn't care for the DJ at Caliente. Although their taste in music is somewhat offbeat, even when they requested some fairly mainstream songs, he only had one. We also got the distinct impression he had the songs in a loop: he choose songs for about 2.5 hours and then started repeating them. We also got the distinct impression that exactly the same playlist was used both Friday and Saturday. This isn't the same guy who was there a while ago and I think might have previously worked at Paradise Lakes. (Speaking of changes, the person who performed at the piano bar at Caliente is also new.)
As to amount of nudity, I was very surprised to see there were as many as a half dozen nude people at the dance at Paradise Lakes on Wednesday, not counting my group. Many were at dinner as well. There weren't many people at that dance, but at times, nearly everybody on the dance floor was nude and I've never seen that before at Paradise Lakes. At Caliente, with maybe one exception, I didn't see anybody else nude in the restaurant or club this time, but did see a few on the Friday the last time I was there.
Overall, there didn't seem to be as many people in the restaurant and club at Caliente as I expected and am used to seeing. The weather was great and we had trouble finding chairs at the pool Saturday, but there were plenty of empty tables at both the restaurant and club that night.
The big news at Paradise Lakes was that John Forier, a resident, bought the resort back in July. The condo associations there praised him for a number of reasons, but mostly because he was going to "save their pool" (Lakeside, or "Phase I"). There was a hope that the ongoing feud between the residents and the resort would finally end. And if it did, then the need to carry around the passes (what I hate the most about the place) might also go away.
There were very favorable articles about him, but apparently, the "war" is back. I normally read the PLCA (one of the condo associations) minutes posted on a bulletin board and there are comments about legal actions between PLCA and the resort (PLR). I'd also heard the dispute had led to PLCA being thrown out of their offices and shutoffs of water and electricity. These obviously weren't the "opening shots", but when I tried to find out what were, I hear things like a dispute about shares of payments of road maintenance or a critical article. Since there's always been this sort of thing going on, it's not new, but there was some hope we'd be done with it. Unfortunately, we aren't.
For the most part, guests aren't involved in or aware of this dispute, but it does affect the "Lakeside" area, the one that John had promised to "save". One homeowner (I forget his name) had recently opened a concession there and is trying to make a viable business out of it. But there are some things that'll have to be fixed before he'll succeed. The previous owner, Joe, removed a lot of chairs from that area and there are still very few. I was there with two friends on a Thursday afternoon and we had to drag chairs from all over the place (including the beach on the lake) to have three chairs anywhere near each other. On Sunday morning, we found chairs, but when we moved to a table to eat lunch, we didn't have any after we finished eating. More chairs clearly need to be found: there weren't that many people there.
The other issue is heating the pool and hot tub. For many years, that pool would be heated to around 85. It's, by far, the best pool there for real swimming. But it hasn't been heated for a least a year. It was about 75 when we were there two weeks ago. By contrast, the "main" pool was 87 instead of the more usual 80. The Lakeside hot tub is also closed. And there's a gate which is locked some of the day (not clear exactly when). This is unfortunate because one of the reasons I stay at Paradise Lakes is so that I could walk over to that pool when I first get up and go for a swim. I can't now. The pool and hot tub need to be heated and open all the time.
The bar there also purports to serve food and they have a menu that's similar to the main restaurant. In fact, they get the food from there. But since they're a competitor, that restaurant will obviously give them lowest priority. And indeed when the three of us ordered lunch (pretty simple stuff), the food took nearly 1.5 hours to arrive. And they only take cash. There also seems to be the idea of having "entertainment" there which is somewhat odd since I'd think that what people were trying to "save" was the disinctive (calm and rustic) environment there, but if it was made a duplicate of the main area, how is it being saved? (On the Sunday when we were there, loud music was blaring from a radio.) This is clearly a "work in progress" and time will tell what comes of it. There's also talk of building a boardwalk between that area and Como, though see below.
The changes at Caliente are much smaller. There continues to be gradual construction of new houses, with less empty lots now than back in November (the house that had the fire is very visible, by the way, and was seriously damaged). The management is also being very conservative in not limiting the hours of facilities such as bars to only when they are the most needed. It's not at the level of affecting customer service, but is a change, though I view the cost-consciousnes as positive.
Perhaps the only major change there is that the "Under the Sun" tent-style store that's been in the pool area since they opened isn't there anymore. A little history: part of the original plan for Caliente was a "galleria" where those tents are now (you can see a reference to it on the sign pointing to the porta-potties near the outdoor bar). "Under the Sun" was to be the "anchor tenant". It never got built, so they were in the tents on weekends. Sometime in the last few months, they were replaced with stuff from the Caliente Boutique, but it's not nearly as interesting stuff as "Under the Sun" had. This is not new to them: they used to be the resident boutique at Pardise Lakes until Fred threw them out to open his own!
Suprisingly, the biggest changes were at Lake Como Resort. I don't go there quite as often as the other two (I'm mostly there when I have friends who want to be in the 5K race or do karaoke), but there are clearly major changes underway. From a physical point of view, they've taken down most or all of the orange grove in the last year or so and have added a very large area for more mobile homes.
Another major change relates to admission policy. Traditionally, a lot of people who live at Paradise Lakes would come there for a meal, some for breakfast, others for lunch, and others for dinner. They seem to be moving away from that in a significant way. Many naturist resorts have the policy that you must become a member after three visits (including Paradise Lakes), but nearly always it's either good enough to be an AANR or TNS member or it doesn't apply to people who aren't local. But, starting a few months ago, you must be a member of Lake Como Resort itself to enter after three visits there.
To me, that's odd. If I'm an AANR member living in NYC and I go to Seattle once a year or so to visit family, I expect the local naturist resort to admit me even on the fourth time without spending the money for a yearly membership for one visit. That's what I expect from my AANR card. Luckily, at Como, there's a "nightlife membership" for $99 a year, which also gives you free admission after 4 PM, so it's not that much of a cost issue, but when I applied for membership, I was told that I had to return for an "interview" on at 1 PM on Saturday they designate. I don't mind really talking to people, and understand the reason for it, but expecting an occaisional visitor from out of town to have that sort of schedule is unrealistic. Also, I'm used to just showing my AANR card to enter a resort. However, they also wanted photo ID. Since I don't normally carry my passport around (I don't drive), especially when wearing just a towel, we had to go back to Paradise Lakes to get it.
I was also very bothered by their restaurant. It's basically "family style" or what we in NYC would call a "diner". Some friends who are there are find with the food but many, especially those who live in NYC, refuse to eat there. I've also found the service slow at times and I also understand that management and staffing there has changed a few times in recent years. But this visit there was a serious problem. I have very specific food needs and I'm used to having a restaurant tell me they can't make what I eat, though they've always accomodated me before. However, when people can't accomodate me, I expect the server to tell me that when taking the order. But this time, she took my order and didn't say anything. Despite their being pretty empty, it took around 30 minutes for the food to come and it wasn't what I ordered! Only then was I told that they no longer made what I needed. Had I known it earlier, we could have eaten elsewhere. But now we've waited for the food, my friends have food in front of them, I don't drive and I have nothing to eat. Not a great situation and one that shouldn't have happened.
Folks who live at Paradise Lakes are saying they don't go to eat at Como as much (or at all) and have had problems with groups they've had that have been alternating meetings among Paradise Lakes, Caliente, and Como for years. Although it may well work best for them, the transition from "one of the three resorts" into a more conservative and traditional admission policy at Como is a surprise. When a friend who lives in the area first told me about it, my initial response was "everybody says that; I doubt anything changed". I was wrong: there has been a very significant change in this area. For people who are going to stay there, it has no negative effect, but for those who live in the area or people like me who visit for the "three resort experience", it's a loss.
I'll be down there twice more this spring and will report if there is anything significant that I notice on those trips (I'm not sure if I'll be visiting Como on those trips).
