The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences Playa Del Carmen: Very Average
Would rate everything about this hotel a 5 out of 10 across the board. Everything was ok, but very disappointing for the money.
Some staff excellent, lots not.
Some food excellent, lots not.
Room had issues, etc, etc
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Sharimac -
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Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: great vacation at Bahia Principe Luxury Sian Ka'an
We really have nothing but great things to say about this resort. We wish we would have had more than 8 days.
The food, staff and grounds were all great. Shout out to the entertainment staff, they were all friendly and not too pushy if you didn't want to participate.
make sure you book your ala carte reservations early, but the buffet is great too.
We can't wait to go back
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Ziggy -
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Barcelo Maya Colonial: The Barcelo#1
What an experience The Barcelo was highly recommend taking a trip there! The resort was very clean the staff was extremely friendly and the resort was up to date and impeccable! Highly recommend taking making it your next vacation destination
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Drebe -
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Dreams Puerto Morelos Resort and Spa: We love this property
We really love this property and have experienced it prior to it being the Hyatt. There is a lot to do for the kids and especially if you have little kids it’s the perfect size for them to walk everywhere. We brought our two year old and he loved being able to walk to and from the water slides, the beach, and all the amazing restaurants. We really enjoyed all the food and premium drinks along with the great service we received by a number of staff. To name a few Daniella from the preferred[... read more] lounge was incredibly knowledgeable and made excellent drinks, Yullisa the server who worked day and night was so sweet and incredibly kind! Alex, Alexandro, Eduardo and all the ladies and one gentleman from the roots cafe were all fabulous. The whole entertainment team was amazing and definitely put on awesome shows and really made it fun for everyone! Thank you! Ernesto from the pool bar made my favorite spicy drink EVER! Basically 10/10 whole resort! The enchiladas were amazing, terimissu, the pizza by the beach and I don’t even really like pizza! Lastly I’m so happy there was an amazing gym as I utilized it daily! Thank you, we will be BACK!
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Private -
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Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: Good Resort but Not "Luxury"
Hotel was comfortable able but calling it luxury is a stretch. The entire experience was good, I got what I paid for but if they keep cutting all the little things it will really start to show. Staff are excellent. Pools in jungle are nice. Beach is a disappointment. Drinks lack alcohol to the point it's unclear if they added any. Food is decent but not spectacular. Luxury is in the name but not in what's delivered.
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Private -
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Barcelo Maya Colonial: Barcelo resorts were amazing!!
The hotels, all 5 of them were clean and lovely! Staff worked so hard and almost of them were very helpful and friendly. I'd definitely recommend to anyone. So much to do . Never a dull moment. 5 STARS BARCELO 🌟
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TKDOH -
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Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Was expecting more
Our first room was filthy, i think it was a spare room. The tv, and the telephone didn't work so we had to walk to the front desk multiple times a days to see if it was getting fixed. The second night the AC completely quit so they said we had to move to another room. This room was also filthy. The drink bars and the smoothie bar only had 1 person working so expect to wait 30 mins or more to get a drink. The buffet was always busy so we stood in line to get a table for up to 45 mins each day. On[... read more]e morning we missed breakfast so I asked to get an apple for my 2 year old and they said no you have to wait until lunch. This place is huge expect to do around 20k steps. We won't be coming back to this resort. I will say that my 8 year old loved the waterslides though.
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Joe 27 -
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Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Use to be great, but even the sand has gone!
The grounds are very nice, well kept! The rooms have seen better days, cleaning was not very good. Service was slow not like it use to be, had to get your drinks most of the time yourself. Very hard to get reservations for dinner, all booked up unless you want a 9 o'clock dinner. Was told to book them online , but that would not work for a lot of people we talked to. The construction was loud and dusty, did not know it was going on before we booked. Lobby's bathroom ceiling was falling down and[... read more] water dropped on my head from the pipes! This was our forth trip and don't think we would go again.
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Private -
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Sandos Playacar Beach Resort: Sandos Plata de Carmen
We certainly enjoyed our stay. Everything is close by and the staff seem happy, hard working and organized. The food was amazing. Beautiful sand beach and within walking distance to Plata de Carmen. The rooms seem older so need updating, especially the bathrooms. The nightly shows were alright, but could be improved. Overall Mexico has gotten expensive for shopping and excursions. The airport is ridiculous for food and bottled water ( $10 US ) as it does not have stations to fill water bott[... read more]les like most airports. There is no snorkeling at this resort.
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Private -
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Sandos Playacar Beach Resort: Nice Resort...But not a 4 1/2 star...
Food was amazingly good and tasty and and staff was helpful and friendly
Grounds were clean and shows were good entertainment
Hotel needs upgrading to get it back to 4 star rating....it is probably a solid 3 stars as it now stands...probably a hang-over from the Pandemic closures
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Private -
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Iberostar Waves Paraiso del Mar: Amazing Location
Spent a week at Iberostar ParaÃso Del Mar. beautiful, lush jungle like location only a half hour drive from the Cancun airport. This is now a non smoking resort. This was great for us but we heard many people complain that they weren’t aware of this fact. A solid resort that is good value. Lots of work occurring around the property to make the resort even more appealing.
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JimR -
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El Dorado Seaside Palms: Not what we expected
I wasn’t going to submit a review but I was asked to submit one by Tripcentral so here it is
This is a beautiful facility
The grounds are lush and well maintained
The room was large and the bed was very comfortable
Many of the staff were very friendly and spoke good English
They went out of there way to make your stay something to remember
Unfortunately there were many issues we encountered that detracted from this beautiful location
The food was average at best the only thing large ab[... read more]out the meals was the plate
Portions were very small
Most of the meals were very bland with few spices
The crispy octopus at Arrefices was excellent and the tenderloin at Mia Casa was delicious and cooked perfectly several times the plates we received weren’t what was described on the menu
A dry crispy steak burrito that wasn’t deep fried at all
Ceviche with plain shrimp no lemon or lime marinate
A dry sweet and sour burrito that wasn’t sweet and sour at all
I was told they fired the chef because of complaints
At the seaside market
Many of the chafing dishes were empty
When asking for the fish we were given a small potion of skin and bones hardly any meat
The same thing with the pork
A small portion of skin and fat hardly any meat
The beach BBQ was decent although they were never ready for service at the 7:00 am they stated
The staff wandered in with no apparent start time and they were in no hurry to prepare for the growing line up
Gloria on the omelette station always had a nice smile and was very friendly
The other staff were unfriendly and didn’t seem to be interested in communicating with their customers.
The seagulls that swarmed the tables were ridiculous.they would dive bomb the tables taking food right off the plate in front of you
Literally 20 to 30 seagulls descended on the tables when they were vacated and the staff for the most part did nothing to alleviate the problem
Breakfast at culinaria was decent although the waiter we had was terrible we ordered espresso with hot water, he told us the machine was broken
So he brought us a cup of the house coffee the only cup we got
several tables came in after us and finished there meals and left before we were even served.
I asked to speak to the manager but the waiter ignored our request
after waiting for 20 minutes I asked him again
When the manager came over I explained our predicament she was very apologetic and I could tell she was surprised when I told her what the waiter had said about the espresso machine being broken.
Most of the time there was only 1 waitress for 500 feet of beach. The waitress did the best she could but with the volume she was expected to serve she frequently forgot who ordered what and the beer was usually not cold by the time it was delivered I found the draught beer they served
unpleasant. No corona or model anywhere on the resort
Fortunately our room was a beachfront so I was able to go back to my room for a cold can of Coors light.
Every day there was a backhoe running up and down the beach spewing desiel fumes on everyone, very unpleasant it should have been done at night when no one was there.
The lounge chairs at the beach were very uncomfortable as they had no cushions on them. We had to bring pillows from our bed everyday in order to not end up with a sore backs!
Many of the staff spoke very little English and didn’t understand what we were saying so they were unable to answer our questions. This also led to the wrong drinks being served if you received them at all
The fire show was great the performers were very talented I highly recommend seeing it if you decide to go there
The meal was very unorganized we also noticed the the second week we were there about 10 of the chafing stations had been removed so there was less variety to choose from
I talked with many people who had been to the resort several times in the past and most said that with the new management company they wouldn’t be returning
This is unfortunate as it really is a beautiful property with great potential
I was really looking forward to this trip but it was a real disappointment for us.
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Private -
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Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Nice Resort
1. Rooms were dated but nice
2.pools were clean
3. Beach was nicer at Tulum vs Akumal
4. We spent most of our trip at Tulum instead of Akumal better for our kids
5. Buffets were ok but food options were repetitive
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Private -
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Riu Tequila: Some good...some bad
The Riu parties are fun, the performances were as expected, nothing special. The entertainment always got pushed later sometimes almost 11pm so there were times when we just ended up going to bed after a few minutes of the show. There were quite a few things to do throughout the day.
I tried three times at three different bars to get a decent margarita, no such luck, they were all rimmed with table salt and had no flavour. The food at the buffets are good, service is decent but I didn't find [... read more]much of the staff overly friendly. It's nice that you can get food and drinks 24 hours a day.
The beach is okay, albeit crowded with little shade. The walk does not take too long and is shaded and there is a shuttle, but make sure to check the times posted as there are times during the day it doesn't run.
The rooms are comfortable and the mini bar is stocked every other day, although you can request more if needed. There is serve your own alcohol (bottom shelf at best) in the room.
Pool areas are clean, I stayed away from the party pool
as not many people leave that pool during the day even while drinking and it can be very loud. I heard the disco can be busy but watch your drink!…I know of two people being slipped something in their drinks!
It takes over an hour to get to the hotel from the airport.
I would return here if I got a good deal.
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VacationLady22 -
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Ocean Maya Royale: Great low key resort
This was a great resort. The activities team made sure there was always something to do, but there was also a very chill vibe if that's how you wanted to spend your time. Great food and nice staff. Also a good location - not too far from the airport or Playa del Carmen. Not a flashy place, but clean and comfortable rooms.
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Pash -
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Riu Playacar: Great resort and atmosphere
We stayed for a week. Facilities are good, beach is beautiful, service above expectations, food is great, entertainment was above expectations ( we are in our 40 and we danced almost every night).
The option of using other Riu hotels around added a lot.
The only 2 items I would upgrade are the fitness center/Gym - equipment is very limited and outdated. Secondly, more shade option on the beach â›±ï¸ would be an asset.
Overall, we definitely want to come back.
Cheers
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Private -
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Wyndham Alltra Playa del Carmen: Adult Only Resort ???
18th time at this resort, ( Gran Porto Real - Panama Jacks )
The staff is amazing, the food up & down, no beach anymore.
Junior suits are spacious & lovely.
Nice size pool, hot jacuzzi, very nice sushi bar & small pool.
Two minute walk to 5th ave, shops & restaurants etc.
The outside pool bar 11am - 7pm !!! Adult Only Resort ?
The lobby bar at 11am - 11pm !!! Adult Only Resort ?
Having to be crammed into the “ inside & often noisy “ lobby bar every night a huge problem for us & not r[... read more]eturning friends (30-40)
Most people we heard from & talked too want to be outside where you can feel the ocean breeze & mingle. Inside the few tables & chairs are separating everyone.
We are always treated & looked after incredibly well. Gracias.
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Adeel B -
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Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa: One of the worst vacation!!!
Aircanada flight delays. Had us waiting in plane while they fix their "safety" issue.
Resort was mediocre. Worse customer service ever. Everyone was just looking for tips. Could not find baby milk from 11pm to 6am, had to call room service took 1.5 hours to bring, called front desk they were useless. Half of people dont speak english. Food was nothing special, 3 out of 10. Kids got bored after the first 2 days. Will not recommend this to anyone. Embrassing that this is a Marriott brand
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SJJohnson -
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Selection Riviera Cancun: Lies, lies, lies not a 5 star….if you want the worst customer service experience with a rep go to this hotel!!
This hotel is not a 5 star or a 4 star and that saddens me because I feel like the photos are all lies. We just went November 24-27th for a getaway. First off the photos look beautiful but when you get there, there’s broken swimming pool tiles, broken pathways, the smell is gross I mean it’s just gross. We were so excited to arrive but our first night I called asking for an extra blanket it took 3 calls and almost 2 hours later. One of the swimming bars ran out of ice 2 hours after it opened[... read more] making warm drinks at the bar. The beach if you want to call it that is not swimmable at all there’s no beach it’s all seaweed and the water is so dark and cloudy we didn’t want to swim in something we couldn’t see. Definitely not what the pictures showed us!!! They give you a card for beach towels and tell you if you lose the towels you will have to pay $30 usd per towel. Our neighbour watched a worker pick ours up on our chair while we were swimming and leave with them I had to call 2 times explaining and thank god our neighbours seen the worker do that or we would have had to pay $60usd. When towels arrived they were bath towels and I had to re explain fighting for the right ones. Now the best part you get this little note and they say they want to give you a gift for being there they offer massages or private dinners or a two for one on the catamaran. They say in exchange you come for a 90 minute presentation about what they offer and see if you want to before a member. We were only there for 2 more days so they allowed us to go on the catamaran first and the next day come for the presentation. We arrived the following day and I was very upfront with them explaining we were here for the presentation, one of us may have to leave at some point we have a 22 month old with us and cannot predict a baby but she may be ok we don’t know. I explained we were here to listen but we have zero interest in becoming a member we have a wedding coming up and that takes priority. Berniece the rep immediately was like you’re wasting our time and I don’t think this is a good fit you agreed to be here and we want to sell you on the experience. We said “ that was fine we will do the tour but in the end it’s not going to happen for us†she basically walked off talking about us to 2 other colleagues came back and said “ ya we aren’t going to do this you can go the rep who gave you the coupon is going to pay for this this is a waste of time and you work at Toyota so this isn’t a good fit†throwing a fit because we didn’t want a timeshare deal like we came to get away not be hounded we agreed to be there and they didn’t like that we had our foot down. First off clearly she doesn’t know what someone makes at Toyota and I work for the Canadian Government so in a heartbeat we could have bought a membership that was so rude of her to say that without any knowledge of our income!! So if you are looking for poor management who throw tantrums when you don’t want to become a member then by all means go to this hotel! It left a huge sour taste in our mouth and we will never return there ever and word of mouth is powerful and we will tell everyone to stay away after how BERNIECE treated us!!!
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Private -
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Catalonia Yucatan: A wonderful vacation
Hi everyone,
Just got back last night. Here is my review of the resort:
We stayed for 7 days on the Yucatan side, no privilege upgrade, just the basic package. With this said, I think this hotel is excellent value for money.
The room was older and outdated, but it had a new smart TV and it was very clean. I wish we had brought a Fire stick or Roku to stream shows, because all the channels were in Spanish and I couldn't find the English subtitles. Not the end of the world. The beds were comfor[... read more]table but the pillows were a bit strange and lumpy. That being said, we found the room very comfortable and big points for the HVAC (air conditioner) being very fresh and working well. I am normally very sensitive to any kind of mold in air con units and this one was really clean. Our room was cleaned daily and water was always restocked.
We mostly frequented the buffets (El Mercado, La Brisa) and booked the Mexican restaurant one night. The Mexican restaurant was great. I had a salad, which was incredible, and the chicken mole enchiladas (very good though a tad sweet). Overall, both my 7 year old and I really liked the food at the buffet. I enjoyed the fresh fruit, fresh salads, Mexican foods and spicy salsas. I put them on everything. Special shout out to the omelet lady, who has omelet-making down to a fine art! We also frequented the creperie (delicious) and the hotdog stand (usually hotdogs aren't my thing but the all-dressed was good!). The decor in the buffets and restaurants is updated and pretty chic!
Temper your expectations around the beach. Its not a typical long stretch of white sand with turquoise water. The beach small and rocky in parts, so bring water shoes. Also bring your snorkel and mask because the water is very calm thanks to the berm separating it from the open water, and there are lots of fish to see! We didn't spend a ton of time at the beach because my son doesn't like the salt water. For having small kids, I think this beach is actually really ideal because there aren't huge waves or rips to worry about (plus the fish are cool). It was nearly impossible to get a beach chair due to people "reserving" them for the day then not bothering to use them for hours on end. Very frustrating and inconsiderate. This happened at the pool too. Guest services tried to address the issue with little success.
We spent a lot of time at the main pool on the Yucatan side. We liked it because it was relatively quiet and there were 2 round shallow sections within the pool for kids to play in. It was nice being in a smaller resort because kids could meet and play together while parents chatted. It was so easy to run back to my room to use the washroom or to grab a forgotten item. There were a lot of umbrellas for shade as well (if you managed to snag a chair)! Wifi worked very well throughout the resort.
The grounds of the hotel were beautifully landscaped, with palm trees, coconuts, flowering bushes and lots of animals (birds, iguanas, and "Mayan hamsters"). I also noticed that the staff made a good effort to keep the grounds very clean, including the pool. My favourite part of the day was getting up at 6:30, grabbing a coffee from the pool bar, and watching the sun rise over the ocean. Spectacular!
The service at the resort was fantastic. From the bellhops who greeted us, to the easy check-in, to the maid service, bartenders and servers - everyone really went out of their way to give good service. I really appreciated how friendly and professional the staff were. I hope this is a sign that management is treating them well. I think that it's important to tip generously and would encourage others to do the same as the staff work very hard.
We didn't check out the kids club but saw them on the beach doing activities, which looked nice. We didn't catch much of the entertainment, but we did go to the sports bar to play air hockey and pool (both were free). We watched the Moana show, which was AMAZING! My only comment is that some of the kids programming (including the Moana show), started at 9:30 pm which was way past our bedtime (and why we didn't see much of the entertainment).
Another cool thing about this resort is that it's easy to leave and go walk around Puerto Aventuras. Its nice seeing people walking around and kids riding their bikes. It felt safe. The marina area is quite lovely, with some shops and waterfront restaurants. You can swim with dolphins and manatees, or just watch them from the promenade or restaurants while you eat. We also took a private tour and saw the Tulum ruins, swam in a cenote and swam with sea turtles in Akumal. This part of Mexico has so much to offer, so make sure you get out and explore! I think it would be easy to rent a car and tour yourself around if you're comfortable driving on highways.
What else can I say? We had a wonderful vacation.
This is not a luxury resort, but I'd say it's a solid 4 star, with loads of character, good vibes and great service to round it out. Thank you to everyone who helped make our stay a very positive and memorable one. I feel relaxed and happy after our wonderful trip!