Occidental Costa Cancun: Nice Hotel

Stayed Dec 13 - Dec 20/2014 The Hotel was clean but a little dated in some areas. Food was good in Buffet and in the a la carte restaurants. Service was great in all areas and staff always pleasant and helpful. Grounds were kept very clean at all times. Contention 1 - Photos are deceiving to size of beach - postage stamp. Saving grace was guests did not wake early to save chairs along beach or pool as in many other resorts. You also lost the light at the beach/pool early (around 4) due to posit [... read more]ioning of hotel. Beach is the only reason I would not recommend this hotel. For business, short stays or persons only there for excursions - would be really good. Contention 2 - asked for guidance, when booking, which resort (Costa or Tucancun) would better meet my criteria (cleanliness and beach for walking) and felt letdown. Note that this is first time disappointed when booking through Trip Central. In closing made due and had a relaxing time with my daughter. Looking to book the next trip.

Grand Decameron Los Cabos: Exceeded all expectations!

We feared that the hotel might not be ready following the September hurricane but everything was perfect. Can't say enough good things about the Staff, the food, the grounds and our room. I would go back in a minute.

Riu Santa Fe: Very Poor

We visited Riu Santa Fe on 25/12/2014 and have the worst holiday. The service at check-in was terrible. The front desk staff is not friendly at all. The pictures on resort website do not show the real resort just block 7 which is the only breach front area. If you don't have a room in block 7 you are treated like a second rate citizen. The entire resort was very very crowded. The food menu at the buffets was the same every single day. The reservations for the restaurants need to be made 4 days i [... read more]n advance. There are 3 bars at the night entertainment area and on an average it took us 20 minutes to order a drink. The beds were terrible. The rooms and the towels had this weird stale smell. We almost had to wait for hours to get a spot at the pool side chairs as they were always occupied. The resort has over 900 rooms and not enough pool area or beach area or chairs. This resort is supposed to be a 5 star hotel but our experience was that of a cheap motel. All in all I would recommend to not stay at this hotel.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: Mixed feelings.

The Sian Ka'an Resort in Maya Riviera was touted as a "5 Star" resort but came up short on several occasions. The food at the daily buffet was good and diverse, the pool side buffet had fewer offerings but still did a good job. The grounds provided privacy for our room balcony and our close location to the main gathering area was appreciated. And although you had privileges at other close by resorts there were never enough lounge chairs. Our resort location made you rely on their shuttle service [... read more] to get you to and from the beach...and many a times we had to "shag" (while waving money at them) for a ride back to our resort...."too far" was always their excuse not to take us. The nightly entertainment was very good.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: Every day is an exercise in patience

Nice looking resort but try to get a dinner reservation before 9:00 pm. Every trip to the reservation desk requires an hour of your time. Lobby bar closes at 10:30 even on New Years Eve regardless of the fact it is packed and guest's are enjoying themselves. Golf is not free, $100 for cart. My wife does not play and they charged $45 just for her to ride along. Private beech requires a long shuttle ride only to find out you cannot go in water because it is full of sea weed, and I mean full. Our p [... read more]ictures of this can only do it justice, absolutely the worst beech I have ever seen in 30 years of travel. Our resort had 452 Rooms and an estimated 220 lounge chairs. The leave the towel on a chair at 6 am game was in full effect. Concerns about these issues were taken up with our Air Transat representative and WERE NOT RELAYED TO THE HOTEL....absolutely butch ! Nice rooms, but they take your money and trow you to the wolves on your own. Bring a lot of tip money (and I mean a lot) because without it no concerns get addressed.

Iberostar Selection Playa Mita: No need to leave the resort.

We stayed for one week (during one of the busiest weeks of the year) and it did not feel crowded. Food was excellent. The only challenge (which is not unique to this resort) is trying to get a chair by the pool in a desired location as some people get up early and reserve them wit a towel or book and the chairs sit unused for half the day.

Marival Emotions Resort and Suites Riviera Nayarit: Decent resort

We were here a couple of years ago, and overall the service has deteriorated. Some staff are still great, but many seem indifferent. The pizza grill and bar are a great feature. We had Gold status for the week, but they did a very poor job at explaining all of the features of the program so it felt like a bit of a waste. The towel hut almost everyday did not have enough large towels available. The checkout process was log and arduous - they did not have enough staff working the front desk.

Crown Paradise Club Cancun: Great family trip

Had a wonderful family trip, Everything was great. Food, service, beaches were beautiful. My kids always had something to do! Was very happy.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Iberostar Selection Playa Mita: Very good resort for families

Property is clean and well maintained; food is good; kids area is excellent; beach is wonderful; only complaint - dinner reservations at the restaurants are difficult - hard to get and yet the restaurants are empty (very curious??). They need big theme nights for dinners that are open to all - and more outdoor dining would be good. Overall - excellent.

Barcelo Maya Tropical: Barcelo Maya Mexico - Mayan Rivera - Amazing!

My wife, daughter and I stayed at the Palace portion of this resort from Dec 20-30 2014. We had a junior suite room near the back section of the building closest to the Palace Main area. It was fine for us 3 adults, although the beds were a bit hard. Otherwise, it was very comfortable and everything worked great (TV, AC, fridge, etc.). Very nice to have a stocked fridge with water and pop and snacks which was free to take from! The resort is awesome. There is no lack of things to do or if you ju [... read more]st want to rest, you can do just that. I found my favourite spot by the Adults only Pool with it's own bar. The beach is great although we had some windy days where seaweed washed up. However the staff clean it up. All the buffets and a-la-cartes we ate at were great, with our favourite a-la-carte being the Caribe (Seafood). We had one small event where we had Japanese (the Tokyo a-la-carte) and my daughter got a bit sick that night from the Sushi. The cooked food was fine (cooked on an open cooking table where you sit around it and watch the Chef show), however we think it was the Sushi appetizer that may have upset her. One day of immodium and pepto-bizmo and she was fine. The facilities are very clean and always well kept. The shuttle tram that runs across the properties is great as it is a nice 15-20 minute walk from the Palace lobby to the Beach property. Very handy sometimes to use the free tram service. We loved snorkeling off the pier as many fish swimming around and even saw a sting ray! The staff is exceptional. From the maintenance to the cleaners to the cooks and restaurant staff - they are all incredible. They work extremely hard to make sure you are happy and have a great stay. We tipped wait staff every meal, as well as bar staff, room cleaning lady and others. They really appreciate it and work very hard. As I said, the food is great all around where the only problem we had was near the end, we were getting tired of buffets and eating too much! Had to start to cut down on the portions! We saw only one show and it was well done. We loved having the Church on site (at the Mexican Shopping area) as we went to Mass (Catholic) twice, including Christmas Day. A new mall has opened up on site with a few stores. It even has mini-golf, 10-pin bowling and a disco! Was very nice to be able to walk around there a bit to look around. Prices from the stores and numerous vendors on the grounds are a bit high, but you can find deals depending on what you are looking for. We booked 3 excursions via Mariana at the Barcelo Tour office as we wanted full peace-of-mind in the tour operators and that they are experienced and backed by Barcelo insurance and customer service. This may have cost us a bit more than going thru our Air Canada rep (we flew AC Vacations), but we were extremely happy with the results. We did a 1-day Coba/Mayan Village/Cenote trip, a 1/2-Day Tulum trip and a 1/2-day Rio Secreto trip. All are highly recommended. The Coba trip was fantastic with our guide being very knowledgable. It was the longest drive with about an hour an an half to get to our first destination from the hotel. The others were shorter drives. However, the Tulum 1/2-day was a bit short, that once you have some free time, you only have about an hour to roam or go back to the bus area/stores to look around. Considering it takes about 15-20 minutes to walk back from the Tulum site, this took away from our free time and made the Tulum trip feel quicker. However, our Guide was excellent. For the Rio Secreto, had an absolutely unbelievable experience that was fantastic. What an adventure and they have it very well organized and run. The only downside is the 20 minute very bumpy ride from the initial entry point to the Rio Secreto main area as the roads are quite rocky and uneven. We would strongly recommend this tour as it is quite remarkable. Our guide was fantastic as well. For all our tours we chose the private bus option (groups of no more than 12), rather than the larger groups (40-50). It cost a bit more but was well worth the more individual experience. To sum it up, we had a fantastic experience at this resort and would 100% go back again. Actually, this was my wife and I second time to the Barcelo Maya as we went there in Sept 2001 when the resort only had the Beach and Caribe properties (was much smaller). One note of caution - as soon as we walked out of the Mexican customs after arriving, we were greeted by a women dressed professionally holding a clipboard with a sign that had a few hotel names on it, including ours. We stopped to talk with her thinking she was a rep with the Hotel and was going to show us where to go to catch our transport to the hotel, etc. Well, after 10 minutes of listening to her explain the hotel and showing us a map of the area, she went into a sales pitch for the Xcarat resort where for $75 USD you could visit for a day. We said no and she was very polite and did not try to push it. So not a bad experience, but just a waste of 10 minutes as once we walked outside, we saw an Air Canada Vacations rep who had our shuttle waiting for us to go to the hotel. So if you travel here, just walk right past these people in the terminal and go outside to find your travel rep (Air Canada, Sunwing, etc.). Thanks very much to all the staff at the Barcelo Maya for an incredible stay and we will be back again.

Plaza Pelicanos Club: Not as advertised

Was told the resort was 4 stars and it was maybe a 3. We had to find our way around the resort ourselves as no one showed us where anything was or explained how anything worked. And the pictures posted online were definitely better than in person. As well some of the pictures that were included in online reviews were actually of a hotel next door owned by the same chain. Most of the food was buffet style and lacked variety. Overall it was a very disappointing experience for a trip that was suppo [... read more]sed to be a 4 star all inclusive.

Grand Palladium Kantenah: Great Family vacation

Just spent a week down at the beautiful Grand Palladium resot in Riviera Maya, Mexico with my wife, 2 kids, as well as the rest of our 20 member family. Highlights: Plenty of beach chairs - never had to go hunting for chairs or deal with people stealing chairs The pools! - the pools had everything for young kids (safe pools with water slides) and large pools big enough for fun for people of all ages including the great swim up bars. The size of the resort - because the resorts are all connecte [... read more]d, it means you have access to all the restaurants, different pools, sights, etc. Activity Center - the activity center is absolutely incredible. Good turf fields for soccer games, nice tennis courts, basketball courts, etc. Natural Pool - a natural pool fed by the ocean that includes fish - great for young kids learning to snorkel Drinks - We have been to a couple of resorts and the drinks were made with quality ingredients and delicious Beach - The beach had nice sand, a good amount of waves and was very secluded. It was also not populated with vendors trying to sell stuff. Daytime activities - the entertainers were great at getting the resort involved in games/fun Lowlights: Food - with 13 restuarants and a high rating I was expecting a better range and quality of food. The breakfasts were fantastic, the meat was delicious, but the side foods (veggies, rices, etc) were rarely good. Travel - with the larger size of the resort and abundance of activies, it also meant a lot of walking time from location to location. They do provide travel between locations, but travelling with 2 kids under 5 meant a lot of walking. Night-time entertainment - This is definitely a family style of resort and means the night time party life is lacking. Kid Zone - we checked out the kid zone and were really dissappointed with the lack of supervision and activites for the kids. All in all, definitely a beautiful resort that I would recommend to any family looking for a safe location to visit.

Excellence Riviera Cancun: Beautiful Break

The resort could accommodate people with mobility issues. If you choose to take a family or friend who has difficulty with stairs or requires a wheel chair, this is a resort for you. Almost all venues, accept the beech are wheel chair friendly. You cannot make sand stable enough for a wheel chair, but the pools, hot tubs, and all but one restaurant had easy entry access. On the first day we had some confusion about room cleaning. I called the front desk and they put us on an early morning daily [... read more] schedule. After that, we would go to breakfast and upon our return our room was cleaned, towels changed, etc. The hotel was laid out very well making finding locations, restaurants, activity areas, etc. easy to find. We participated in air rifle shooting and archery although there were many other activities running all day and into the evening. There is a small gym; it had about eight cardio machines and a variety of dumbbells, plus major muscle group machines. I would like them to add a machine capable of allowing pull -ups and chin- ups. Every evening musicians and bands would come to entertain us.These activities occurred in the early evening and later on into the night. All shows were tasteful and entertaining. I was especially impressed with the early shows, starting around 6:30 pm, as we like to go to bed early. The staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming. We had a problem with a broken item in our room, I called the office, a repairman arrived within 15 minutes, completed the repair quickly and departed. We received a call almost immediately to enquire if the repair was completed to our satisfaction, which it was. There was a lot of seaweed on the beach, but that is the weather not the resorts fault. There were almost always enough beech towels and usually good seating, whether by the pool or at the beach. My family and I, particularly enjoyed long walks on the silky, sandy beach. We had a wonderful holiday and would seriously consider this resort again.

Platinum Yucatan Princess: A great time

Enjoyed the resort very much. They are new, but trying really hard to deliver on the whole experience. Always lots of chairs by the pool...great modern feel to the place. Would recommend. The staff were really great.

Gran Festivall: Low Expectations

I went to Gran Festival with my 5-year old son, with little expectations, which were met. Although there are a lot of activities available, most are in need of repair/maintenance, however the service/staff was very good. Two points in particular were very annoying, i) our room was too close to the disco, which music was far too loud ii) although they advertise Wi-Fi, it's virtually non-existent. I'd rate the value very low since I'd paid a 4-star price for 2-3 star resort, but the price is refl [... read more]ective of the season, (Christmas Holidays).

Riu Emerald Bay: Great resort!

Food was great! Hotel was clean! Staff was awesome! Pools were good and my son really enjoyed the kids club riuland. The shows were good every night. We stayed during New Years eve and the meal was AMAZING! I was very impressed. The biggest disappointment was the Tabasco Mexican resturant. We did. It enjoy it. We were expecting a bit better menu but that's it.

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Ok vacation, not a 5 star

The resort was ok not very welcoming or going above and beyond for people. It took 3 days to get the room fridge replaced, not all of the rooms accomodated the number of people we had and the restaurants were long waits up to 2-3 hours, the pools were so cold you could not swim in them. noone was in them.

Barcelo Puerto Vallarta: Huge rooms

We recently travelled to the barcelo puerto Vallarta. We were pleased when we saw the rooms. By far the largest rooms I've been in, which is great when travelling with children. They had their own seperate space. The rooms were also renovated and very comfortable. The resort itself is well laid out and people are very friendly. However I would say the the resort, with exemption of the rooms is starting to show it's age. The hot tubs especially are starting to look dingy. All in all I would recom [... read more]mend this hotel, we had a great time.

Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach: Nice resort but nothing special

Overall it was a nice clean resort but the communication barrier was tough. I found that some employees would go above and beyond to help out and answer questions where as others did not. The beach was nice but rocky. Pool area needs more seating.

Moon Palace Cancun: Best service ever imagined !

The Moon Palace is a great experience for all family members. The large complex gives you plenty of opportunity for dining, swim, sports and excursions. The service level surpassed our expectations. The staff are kind, humble and fun to be with. The Golf course is stunning and the spa is clean and provides a relaxing journey. A sunny stay at the Moon Palace.