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       Posted by OURFUNACCOUNT Posted July 22, 2012 View Comments 17      
Caliente Tampa - Avoid at all Costs
 Ok ... here is the whole story.  It is actually still so mind boggling, we still cannot wrap our heads around it.
 
This little adventure started almost a year ago at a Trapeze party where Caliente set up a booth.  We left out info, then got several calls about their package.  $399 plus other fees for 4 days.  But a "pleasant" 45 min breakfast to talk about their club.
We got the hard pressure, and were talked in to it.
 
Time went on, and it had a 1 year expiration.  Decided to use it while we are in the area, and asked our friends to join us so we could hang out.  They put us both in a 2 BR condo since we both did the offer, and an offer of a $100 Food and Beverage Credit.
Caliente has about $850 bucks from us at this point for the 4 of us for the 4 nights. 
 
We make the drive to the resort, and kind of chuckled.  Of course, looks nothing like the literature or online.  Very much a naked nursing/retirement home with a full fleet of golf carts.  Even more disturbing is the playground that you need to pass to get to the clubhouse. 
 
We decide to make the best of it, and actually the pool was very nice, but always felt on edge on what was appropriate or not.  There is a war between the lifestyle crowd and the entrenched nudists.  We picked up on several conversations with the older crowd on "those people, the perverts, the young people on X", etc.
 
Staff was very nice, but you could tell understaffed and overworked.  We hung out at the pool, drinks, lunches, had dinner on premise one night, and were planning for the big Sat party (spent a bit of cash at Under the Sun Boutique - they are awesome people).  Or timeshare presentation was Sat morning .... now this is where it get's weird.
 
We met promptly at 9:30 (they were clear if you do not show up, they charge you the fully inflated rack rate).  We were split up between two different salesman (one for each couple).  Our guy was nice, initially no pressure, and it was under the guise of an informational discussion so we would come back to the resort more ("hey, I am not selling anything").  We listened, explained the club was a little weird, did not have a clear focus and pretty run down.  His response is they are having a hard time getting financing for rehab and upkeep, and trying to focus more on lifestyle because they spend money (the nudists don't).  They want people to come in drink/eat because all the profit margin is there.
Then the sales side kicked in ... he asked if we would be interested in buying (Buy what ?).  Simultaneously I received a text that our friends were just kicked out of the resort ... seriously.
Short summary on their side is that they were asked if they would "buy" (without knowing what "it" was), and honestly said the place was not for them and had issues with it.  They immediately said, ok, now we need you to walk over to the cashier to pay the difference for rack rate.  Caliente said that they refused the seminar, and that required full payment.  All the time they asked for them to resume the tour and were willing to participate which they refused to do.  Once they said they would not pay the difference, they were told to exit the premise immediately or the police would be called.
 
Hey ... it gets even better !
 
Once they were escorted out of the club house, I was allowed in and spoke to the slimy sales manager.  He said it is a private club, and they can make their own rules.  He admitted it was his decision to not offer the tour, but his word was final.  I literally asked him to take a deep breath, step back and see what a dick he is being.  He told me I can leave also (we finished our tour obligation so we were "legit") and get the fuck out of the resort or the police will come.
 
After we packed up and came back to check out (to see what a mess they made of the bill), they did not upcharge the room, but charged us for all 4 nights, did not provide the documented $100 Food and Beverage credit and padded it with false charges.  The Front Desk Manager did take off $100 per couple for the last night which we were kicked out for, but that was it.  We did speak to the overall manager and he tried to mitigate it by saying "well, you were really not kicked out, you can still stay".  Our bags were packed, the girls were in the car trying to find a new hotel ... and you just told us you were kidding, we can be one happy family?  WTF ?
 
Ok ..... has ANYTHING remotely happened to anyone else ?  We are still in shock on a place like this can run a business.
 
AND !  We got a text afterwards from a couple we meet earlier in the week that they were kicked out also.  Told to leave immediately when they were in the pool !  (they of course did not buy the timeshare).
 
I think this place has some SEVERE financial problems and are on a cash grab before they close down.  The "white sand beach" is a disgusting pond with police tape on it (literally).
 
PLEASE do not give this place one dime.  Let them go under, and hopefully new owners can come in and make it a place that lives up to its potential. 
 
by BLOWNBULBS on July 23, 2012
Whatever you might think about the resort itself or its personnel if you aren't fucking at Caliente on a weekend it's only because you aren't trying.  We've never gone when there hasn't been willing and attractive swingers. 
by SEXYJENNI on July 23, 2012
I have been to Caliente on 2 different occasions. For me....besides the pool and maybe the "dance club", there is nothing there that interest me. As far as swinging goes...if you are a swinger...don't bother. The possibilities & atmosphere is basically non existent...MAJOR bore & waste of money. I also didn't bother with the time share crap.
by OURFUNACCOUNT on July 23, 2012
Thanks for the comments everyone.

Just do not understand how they expect to run a business.  Aside from the abuse and disrespect we had endured, the "smart guy side of my brain" is thinking, how stupid could they be ?

1)  We followed (or attempted) all the required rules, but still was kicked out.  Which is grounds for reversal on our credit cards (loss of income).
2)  All couples were affluent, intelligent, and attractive.  The group you would like to see walking around the grounds.
3)  Saturday was the big party night where we would go, spend more money the whole day and night and bring in more revenue for them.
4)  The whole "kick out" happened right in the lobby with other guests checking in, hearing his tirade.  How could that look to someone just arriving.
5)  Our little "community" is kind of tight and operate in these social network worlds.  We talk, we provide reccomendations.

So ... they created a risk of losing the income they received (over a grand), lost the opportunity for getting more money on the big party night, and will likely lose much more business due to word of mouth.

Funny thing is even if we did not by the timeshare (or what ever they were selling - don't know because they would not share it with us), there was a possibility we could have returned at rack rate.  We are one of those "bring your own party" type of people.  If we were in the area, we might have stopped be on the weekends for a few nights.  No way in hell now.

If you decide to take the risk and go ... get EVERYTHING you sign with a copy.  As I remember now, we had to sign several forms at checkin, but no copies were provided to us.  That should have been our first red flag.

Maybe this was a one time occurence and the Sales Manager lost his mind ?  Who knows ... but best of luck to all on whatever your choice is ;-)
by BLOWNBULBS on July 23, 2012
Nothing of that magnitude has ever happened to us but we've never submitted ourselves to the tour.  We figured it would be, at best, a pressure scenario.  We did, however, enjoy a bar tab of $400 once for a stint at the club that could not have lasted longer than an hour.  Now, we like to drink.  Don't get us wrong.  But even at our thirstiest we can't make a $400 dent at any bar off an hour's worth of cocktails between the two of us.  We could have disputed and perhaps ought to have but anyone can predict what the front desk will say when you protest that you didn't drink as much as they say you did.  Now we just smuggle our own drinks in. 
by RNR4FUNPA on July 23, 2012
 We used to think used-car salesman was the sleaziest job you can ever have until we sat through a so-called "resort orientation for new-comers" which was really nothing more than a timeshare pitch ....    Can you get any worse than a timeshare salesman? 
by LAUGHINGLOVERS on July 22, 2012
Thank you to the OP and additional posters.  We'd been thinking about Caliente, as we're always on the look out for LS Friendly nudists resorts stateside.  We are very careful to avoid any place that is family friendly or is still hanging on to their family friendly past.  It did seem strange to us we could go to Desire Pearl cheaper (especially considering the all inclusive nature), but we kept looking at the Caliente advertisements.  They may lack in all the area you say, but they seem pretty good at promoting themselves.   Until we start hearing about some change it is off our list.  We're not aware of Paradise at all and are beginning our research. 

We've noticed other 'family friendly' nudist resorts actually soliciting donations from the public, promoting their granola, naturalist views as being the only clean nudism.  Bah, let them all close, they're no good to us anyway.   
by HOTNNAST2 on July 22, 2012
Yeah you got caught up in their "vacation club" promo. Personally I think you would have to be deranged to pony out that kind of money for what you get. But that is probably how they are getting their cash to keep the resort afloat. We have been going to both Paradise and Caliente for years. Our take. Paradise is much cozier. Caliente is really spread out. Paradise is reasonably priced and Caliente is overpriced. Caliente is clearly the nicer resort since it is newer and bigger with a flashier pool area. But the lodging at Paradise is just as nice as Caliente and better in some instances depending on where you stay. It's definitely cheaper. As Swingers the real problem is that Caliente has not.been able to capture the electric atmosphere Paradise had in it's heyday. They are trying. They gave up calling themselves a nudist resort and promote themselves as a swinger resort. But at their prices they are having a tough time drawing crowds. I found the comment the Caliente manager made to you about making their money off of food and beverage somewhat interesting. If that's the case why charge so much for grounds fees and rooms? Price at Paradise rates and you would fill the place up. I lived in Caliente for a year and it is unbelievable how empty and dead the place is except for holiday and swinger sponsored weekends. I mentioned to their marketing manager once why not lower the rooms and ground fees and fill the place up? At some point everyone will figure out that Paradise is a better deal and the crowd will flow back that direction.
by WESTSIDESTORY on July 22, 2012
I'm glad I read this, we were also considering going but had a gut feeling that it was a dump.  No wonder when I called for info, two to three different sales people kept blowing up my phone trying to get us to go there. (as if they were desperate) I was like, really??, I told you I was just asking for prices.  They almost called every day for a week.  I was at the point of telling them to stop calling, I was not intrested, but wasnt sure.  Now with your experience I can eliminate the possibility I had in my mind.  Thank you.
by TALLYCOUPLE on July 22, 2012
Wow!!  Glad I read this. We were planning of going down next weekend.  Not now.  We won't give our hard earned money to the likes of them.  Now where else can we go?  Paradise Lakes?
by FUN4LIFE1 on July 22, 2012
 Everything they have said is True and More..

The "Upgraded Units" Casaita is a Trailer Park...

Terrible and Embarrassing Experience... DO NOT GO TO CALIENTE unless you want to deal with an  unethical operation that will Throw you out for NO REASON...
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