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http://www.usatoday.com/travel/vacations/destinations/2003/2003-07-11-vacation-large.htm
TANKAH, Mexico — As a savvy traveler, Sandy Polley meticulously researches her vacation spots. She prefers the beach, likes to splurge on upscale resorts and enjoys indulging in spa treatments. Before booking a hotel, she peruses the Internet for photos and critiques from fellow travelers.
Then she conducts her own reconnaissance.
Is the swimming pool equipped with plaster steps or an aluminum ladder? Are the beach chaise lounges made of sturdy wood or flimsy plastic? Are the facilities in a compact area or so spread out that they require lots of walking?
"I always scout out what hotels are appropriate for people my size," says the 33-year-old Web designer from Bloomington, Ill., who is attractive, articulate and large.
So when she heard about Freedom Paradise, a new hotel that bills itself as the world's first "size-friendly" resort, she packed the bikini she had never before worn in public and headed to a secluded, sun-kissed bay 75 miles south of Cancun. Her reasoning was straightforward.
"I expect to be treated with respect, and a place like this might be a catalyst for change. They have family resorts, gay resorts, couples resorts. Why not one for us?"
Why not, indeed?
"It was so obvious," Freedom Paradise's creator, Julio Rincon, says of the concept. As the manager of a Cancun hotel for the past five years, Rincon had only to open his eyes for inspiration. "The average-size person doesn't exist anymore," he declares.
In fact, two-thirds of American adults are overweight. And 27% of those are considered obese, defined as having a body-mass index (which incorporates height and weight) of 30 and above. Worldwide, an estimated 300 million people are obese.
Health care professionals might see cause for alarm in those statistics. But Rincon and his partner, Jurriaan Klink, see opportunity.
They've coined a slogan: "Live Large — Live Free." And a message: "Don't wait until you lose weight. Enjoy your life today." They've leased two adjoining hotels about 4 miles north of the Mayan ruins at Tulum, adapted the facilities for the plus-size vacationer, and opened in June. The straight-backed chairs in the dining areas are armless; some are twice the standard size. Guest-rooms have walk-in showers. Many doorways are wider than 37 inches. A handful of suites have 47-inch entryways and seats in the showers. On the beach, sturdy sun beds are built for two — or just one. The lobby gift shop carries golf shirts and shorts up to size 5X. (Los Gorditos y los Grandotes son Nuestros Consentidos! read the labels. Loosely translated: "We Spoil the Fat and the Obese!") Benches at the beachfront bar have tree-trunk legs.
Breakfast and lunch buffets at the all-inclusive, all-you-can-eat resort include all the food groups, and then some. Typical midday fare includes beef, fish, pasta, rice, soup, salad, bread and desserts. Other dining areas serve seafood and Italian and Mexican dishes.
If you go ...
The "size-friendly" Freedom
Paradise resort is about 1 hours south of the Cancun airport in an area dubbed Mexico's Mayan
Riviera. Introductory rates good through Dec. 20 start at $150
per person, double occupancy, and include all meals, domestic drinks and activities. Information: 011-52-998-887-1101; www.freedomparadise.com.
The 112 guestrooms are comfortable but basic, with queen- or king-size beds and roomy patios or balconies. Amenities in both buildings are similar, though the exterior designs are distinctive. On one side of the resort, beachfront rooms are in two-story Mexican colonial-style buildings whose custard-, cotton-candy- and blueberry-stucco exteriors look as if they had been iced. Other buildings sport similar hues, with Caribbean-style palm-thatched roofs and rooms that overlook gardens. The grounds are lush with hibiscus and coconut palms; the new proprietors have added two swimming pools to the existing two.
Freedom Paradise may be the first vacation spot of its kind, but merchandisers such as clothing and furniture designers increasingly are catering to a plus-size world.
"It's really nice to see when manufacturers realize fat folks' money is just as green as other people's," says Frances White of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. "It's about time people acknowledged that there's no such thing as one size fits all."
But Rincon stresses that size acceptance goes beyond physical accommodations. He's recruiting plus-size employees. And he hired a psychologist to give the staff sensitivity training.
"This is a place where you can go and nobody will point" if you have another helping, Klink says.
They prefer the term "size-friendly" because the resort is meant to cater to friends and families of the plus-sized.
So obvious was his idea, Rincon says, that he kept mum about it during its three-year development for fear a competitor would beat him to the punch. He tells his story over bowls of velvety chile con queso and warm tortillas in Cielito Lindo, one of the hotel's five dining areas. With his compact physique (the 51-year-old is a competitive swimmer), it wasn't personal experience that brought him to this proposition. The same goes for the Dutch-born Klink, 28, who is Lance Armstrong-lean and has resorted to supplementing his diet with protein shakes to beef up.
The duo spent the past two years tapping into the plus-size community both in the USA and abroad to ascertain the needs and concerns of the full-figured vacationer. "We know where the bigger people are, where they live, what cities, what countries," Klink says.
And drawing them to the hotel won't be difficult, they say.
Advocates for the plus-sized agree. Says Allen Steadham of the International Size Acceptance Association: "You're always going to have large people. So if you have a place that says, 'We want to accommodate you,' that's a luxury. It doesn't have to be seen as encouraging unhealthiness. People are the size they are. They need some place to accommodate them."
At present, the resort is in a pre-grand-opening phase and light on customers. But it has garnered tons of publicity. Interviewers from Brazil to Germany have called, triggering a flood of inquiries and kudos from potential plus-size guests.
There was the mother who has resisted taking her 7-year-old daughter to the beach, despite the girl's pleadings. The couple who five months after their wedding had yet to settle on a comfortable place to honeymoon. And the woman who said her father's weight had always rendered vacations impractical.
Christian Gassler, visiting with his wife and daughter from their home in Cancun, has made multiple visits. Not that the 286-pounder necessarily uses every plus-size amenity provided here. He serves himself pancakes from the breakfast buffet and wanders over to a table, choosing a regular chair instead of a heftier model.
"I'm fat. I accept it," he says. "But all my life I've had to sit in small chairs. I've grown to like them."
Sandy Polley learned about Freedom Paradise on Jay Leno's show when the comedian cracked a joke about it.
"S.O.B.," she muttered and pressed the TV remote. Then she made reservations. For her, coming out on the beach in a bikini is akin to a closeted gay man making his sexual orientation known, she says.
"I need to learn to accept myself, and what better place to do it than a place that accepts me?"
The resort is a tad rustic for her tastes, but the concept is on target, Polley says, sipping a piña colada under a soaring open-air palapa before dinner.
In fact, a number of kinks are still to be worked out. A front-desk employee had trouble processing a U.S.-issued credit card. Bath towels aren't ample enough to cover full-figured guests. Those staying in rooms near the central bar/restaurant might find the driving bass beat of disco favorites keeping them awake. New guests are greeted with bath towels twisted into swans and littered with fresh hibiscus flowers on their beds. Even without the ants brought in with the blooms, it's a silly flourish, given the simple accommodations.
But in a size-ist world, these criticisms are perhaps mere trifles. Rincon says he's striking deals with international tour operators who will sell the resort as an all-inclusive package. If Freedom Paradise takes off, he plans to expand the concept.
It is, after all, a big, big world.
TANKAH, Mexico — As a savvy traveler, Sandy Polley meticulously researches her vacation spots. She prefers the beach, likes to splurge on upscale resorts and enjoys indulging in spa treatments. Before booking a hotel, she peruses the Internet for photos and critiques from fellow travelers.
Then she conducts her own reconnaissance.
Is the swimming pool equipped with plaster steps or an aluminum ladder? Are the beach chaise lounges made of sturdy wood or flimsy plastic? Are the facilities in a compact area or so spread out that they require lots of walking?
"I always scout out what hotels are appropriate for people my size," says the 33-year-old Web designer from Bloomington, Ill., who is attractive, articulate and large.
So when she heard about Freedom Paradise, a new hotel that bills itself as the world's first "size-friendly" resort, she packed the bikini she had never before worn in public and headed to a secluded, sun-kissed bay 75 miles south of Cancun. Her reasoning was straightforward.
"I expect to be treated with respect, and a place like this might be a catalyst for change. They have family resorts, gay resorts, couples resorts. Why not one for us?"
Why not, indeed?
"It was so obvious," Freedom Paradise's creator, Julio Rincon, says of the concept. As the manager of a Cancun hotel for the past five years, Rincon had only to open his eyes for inspiration. "The average-size person doesn't exist anymore," he declares.
In fact, two-thirds of American adults are overweight. And 27% of those are considered obese, defined as having a body-mass index (which incorporates height and weight) of 30 and above. Worldwide, an estimated 300 million people are obese.
Health care professionals might see cause for alarm in those statistics. But Rincon and his partner, Jurriaan Klink, see opportunity.
They've coined a slogan: "Live Large — Live Free." And a message: "Don't wait until you lose weight. Enjoy your life today." They've leased two adjoining hotels about 4 miles north of the Mayan ruins at Tulum, adapted the facilities for the plus-size vacationer, and opened in June. The straight-backed chairs in the dining areas are armless; some are twice the standard size. Guest-rooms have walk-in showers. Many doorways are wider than 37 inches. A handful of suites have 47-inch entryways and seats in the showers. On the beach, sturdy sun beds are built for two — or just one. The lobby gift shop carries golf shirts and shorts up to size 5X. (Los Gorditos y los Grandotes son Nuestros Consentidos! read the labels. Loosely translated: "We Spoil the Fat and the Obese!") Benches at the beachfront bar have tree-trunk legs.
Breakfast and lunch buffets at the all-inclusive, all-you-can-eat resort include all the food groups, and then some. Typical midday fare includes beef, fish, pasta, rice, soup, salad, bread and desserts. Other dining areas serve seafood and Italian and Mexican dishes.
If you go ...
The "size-friendly" Freedom
Paradise resort is about 1 hours south of the Cancun airport in an area dubbed Mexico's Mayan
Riviera. Introductory rates good through Dec. 20 start at $150
per person, double occupancy, and include all meals, domestic drinks and activities. Information: 011-52-998-887-1101; www.freedomparadise.com.
The 112 guestrooms are comfortable but basic, with queen- or king-size beds and roomy patios or balconies. Amenities in both buildings are similar, though the exterior designs are distinctive. On one side of the resort, beachfront rooms are in two-story Mexican colonial-style buildings whose custard-, cotton-candy- and blueberry-stucco exteriors look as if they had been iced. Other buildings sport similar hues, with Caribbean-style palm-thatched roofs and rooms that overlook gardens. The grounds are lush with hibiscus and coconut palms; the new proprietors have added two swimming pools to the existing two.
Freedom Paradise may be the first vacation spot of its kind, but merchandisers such as clothing and furniture designers increasingly are catering to a plus-size world.
"It's really nice to see when manufacturers realize fat folks' money is just as green as other people's," says Frances White of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. "It's about time people acknowledged that there's no such thing as one size fits all."
But Rincon stresses that size acceptance goes beyond physical accommodations. He's recruiting plus-size employees. And he hired a psychologist to give the staff sensitivity training.
"This is a place where you can go and nobody will point" if you have another helping, Klink says.
They prefer the term "size-friendly" because the resort is meant to cater to friends and families of the plus-sized.
So obvious was his idea, Rincon says, that he kept mum about it during its three-year development for fear a competitor would beat him to the punch. He tells his story over bowls of velvety chile con queso and warm tortillas in Cielito Lindo, one of the hotel's five dining areas. With his compact physique (the 51-year-old is a competitive swimmer), it wasn't personal experience that brought him to this proposition. The same goes for the Dutch-born Klink, 28, who is Lance Armstrong-lean and has resorted to supplementing his diet with protein shakes to beef up.
The duo spent the past two years tapping into the plus-size community both in the USA and abroad to ascertain the needs and concerns of the full-figured vacationer. "We know where the bigger people are, where they live, what cities, what countries," Klink says.
And drawing them to the hotel won't be difficult, they say.
Advocates for the plus-sized agree. Says Allen Steadham of the International Size Acceptance Association: "You're always going to have large people. So if you have a place that says, 'We want to accommodate you,' that's a luxury. It doesn't have to be seen as encouraging unhealthiness. People are the size they are. They need some place to accommodate them."
At present, the resort is in a pre-grand-opening phase and light on customers. But it has garnered tons of publicity. Interviewers from Brazil to Germany have called, triggering a flood of inquiries and kudos from potential plus-size guests.
There was the mother who has resisted taking her 7-year-old daughter to the beach, despite the girl's pleadings. The couple who five months after their wedding had yet to settle on a comfortable place to honeymoon. And the woman who said her father's weight had always rendered vacations impractical.
Christian Gassler, visiting with his wife and daughter from their home in Cancun, has made multiple visits. Not that the 286-pounder necessarily uses every plus-size amenity provided here. He serves himself pancakes from the breakfast buffet and wanders over to a table, choosing a regular chair instead of a heftier model.
"I'm fat. I accept it," he says. "But all my life I've had to sit in small chairs. I've grown to like them."
Sandy Polley learned about Freedom Paradise on Jay Leno's show when the comedian cracked a joke about it.
"S.O.B.," she muttered and pressed the TV remote. Then she made reservations. For her, coming out on the beach in a bikini is akin to a closeted gay man making his sexual orientation known, she says.
"I need to learn to accept myself, and what better place to do it than a place that accepts me?"
The resort is a tad rustic for her tastes, but the concept is on target, Polley says, sipping a piña colada under a soaring open-air palapa before dinner.
In fact, a number of kinks are still to be worked out. A front-desk employee had trouble processing a U.S.-issued credit card. Bath towels aren't ample enough to cover full-figured guests. Those staying in rooms near the central bar/restaurant might find the driving bass beat of disco favorites keeping them awake. New guests are greeted with bath towels twisted into swans and littered with fresh hibiscus flowers on their beds. Even without the ants brought in with the blooms, it's a silly flourish, given the simple accommodations.
But in a size-ist world, these criticisms are perhaps mere trifles. Rincon says he's striking deals with international tour operators who will sell the resort as an all-inclusive package. If Freedom Paradise takes off, he plans to expand the concept.
It is, after all, a big, big world.
