Great trip!!

Great hotel, friendly staff. Not overly crowded. Food was good, a là cartes.... Mexican was my favorite. Would recommend. Only complaint, no small tables to put drinks on at beach.. overall, best trip 🥰

Beautiful resort!

Beautiful resort and very spread out. Thankfully there are golf carts shuttles that drive around all day to take you around if you dont want to walk. The food was excellent at the buffet and the al a carte restaurants. The resort was very clean and lots of wildlife on the resort as well.

Nice Resort - VERY large

The grounds were well kept. Food was excellent. The resort is nice but very large with lots of vegetation with a lot of wild animals. The resort is very spread out requiring a lot of walking. There are regular shuttles if you are not able to walk. Service was good. Would not recommend if you are looking for a beautiful beach. If you enjoy pools then this resort would suit you well. The black and white bar was excellent.

Beautiful spot!

We enjoyed our stay at the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda. The first room they put us in was terrible. There was only one bed despite the fact that we booked for two beds. The room was filled with mosquitoes and smelled very moldy. We arrived late and had to stay in this room for one night until they could switch us the next day. That night the air conditioner leaked onto the floor all night and we woke up to a flooded room. It wasn't an awesome first impression. The next day we got moved to build [... read more]ing 5, and we had no more problems. Our room was good, and we were happy with the location. We genuinely enjoyed our vacation and would consider going back to this spot again. The food was great in the main buffet, and in the buffet down by the pool. Some of the a la carte restaurants weren't the best, but it didn't really matter.

Beautiful Resort

The grounds were spectacular, staff very friendly and funny! The buffet and restaurants, I would give it a 4 star. We stayed in building 5 which is very close to the beach, pools, bars and the smaller buffet. Excellent for breakfast & lunch. We had asked & paid for garden view but they gave us the forest view which they also call it the garden view... no screens on the patio door so if you get 1st floor please make sure to close the patio door. There is also a strange sewer smell once in a  [... read more]while at that area of the rooms. Satisfied with the room service. The beach at our end of the resort was disappointing, as the ocean was not too clear; rocks, Algae, seaweeds. If you walk 10 min left on the beach there is a spectacular lagoon, beautiful.... 10 min walk to the right on the beach pass the the Ocean & the Secrets resorts is also beautiful, blue clear ocean and white sand. If you prefer to sit on the beach with a hut, try to reserve your chairs by 6am as it fills up fast .. the beach is narrow ... overall we were ok with this resort.

Poo Bay

The the grounds smelled of sewage, mainly the entrance and the some of the hotel blocks. Food wasn’t great, servers were good, rooms weren’t the best, plumbing wasn’t the best, staff for the most part were friendly. Experienced Mexico travellers, we will never stay at this resort again, do not recommend

Great vacation

Food was good at the buffets. Our favorite specialty restaurants, French amazing, Steakhouse very good, Seafood, salmon was delicious. Any concerns we had were addressed promptly and without question. Pool was clean. Only used the pool by the beach once. Shuttle service came regularly. Servers were very friendly and efficient. Weather was great. Another entry (steps) at the small pool would be nice. Climbing up on the ledge can be difficult for some, including me. Would return.

Great resort ... but a few things to note

The Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda is a great resort. The beach is wonderful with lots of water activities: catamaran, kayaks, swimming (rocky bottom but just walk down the beach and you can find a sandy spot to swim). The buffets were great with lots of variety each day, the main buffet had the most variety. The a la carte restaurants were good. My favourites were the French restaurant and the Mexican restaurant. The oriental restaurant had slow service and the food only okay. We did not make it t [... read more]o the steak restaurant as we saved it for our last day and it wasn’t open that day. I was not aware that some a la carte restaurants were only open some days. The staff were friendly and helpful. Our first night was not the greatest though. We arrived at 9pm and were given a room with one king bed (I was travelling with a friend and we requested 2 beds). If that were the only mishap, it wouldn’t have been bad but our room smelled of sewerage, mold and had at least 50 mosquitos in it when we arrived. We requested a room switch and were told that we could not switch until the following day. That night the air conditioner dripped all night long and when we woke up the next morning there was a puddle of water an inch deep. Luckily we didn’t leave any bags on the floor or they would have been wet. We were switched the next day into building 5 and had no other problems for the rest of the trip. Our travel agent Dianne was wonderful. One of the Air Canada Vactions staff at the resort was rude and unhelpful when I approached however we spoke with a different representative the next day, her name is Anna, and she was absolutely wonderful.

Beautiful

Its a lovely resort it was second visit..was there about 7 years ago....I love the walking ..and the food was excellent especially at the beach lunch buffet ...we however could rarely find a place to sit at the pool or on the beach but what ever I'm away from the canadian cold so I will sit on the ground I'm so happy to be on vacation....staff were great and always friendly ...all in all very happy 😊

Excellent Resort for the 2nd Time!

Extremely clean resort. Staff, waiters, bartenders, all awesome people. They took care of your needs promptly. Easy check-in upon early arrival and room was ready and clean which was a bonus. Food once again was fantastic at all the Al a carte restaurants. Beach was much better this year as previous year due to the seaweed but only mother nature can fix that! Only negative is that there could be more beach and pool chairs available.

Nice resort!

Rooms nice. Food was really good including both buffets. Lighting could've been better in the restaurant's... they were too dark in the evenings. Beach was constantly full of seaweed but hanging out at the pool was fine.

Wonderful vacation spot!

The hotel was amazing! The pools are great and all of the restaurants and buffets are fantastic. The only complaint is that there is hardly any beach, and the ocean swimming is not great because it's all sharp rocks and murky water (at least during our stay). Lot's of fun activities so it's fun for everyone!

Beautiful Resort, Mediocre Service

I had my doubts when I booked this vacation. Friends chose the resort based on previous visits. 975 rooms makes for a large and busy resort. My first impression was not one of delight. The lobby is unimpressive and very hot. We were not greeted as we normally are at a 4-5 star resort with a refreshing beverage. We stood in a long and slow line. We arrived well after check-in time of 3PM and yet our room was not ready. The hotel staff did not take our request of 2 rooms being close together. We [... read more] had to request a change. We were placed in the furthest building from the beach. A 15 minute walk away. The grounds were beautiful and well maintained, but on certain days when they watered, the stench was nauseating. When we finally had access to our room, the safe did not work and we had to call to have it repaired. We needed to stay and wait in our room for it to be repaired. Our patio door handle was in pieces on the floor. When we showed it to the repairman he told us to call the front desk. We decide to leave it broken as we didn’t want to waste time waiting around again. The food started off good , but progressively got worse over the course of the week. Breakfast was good. Lunch was decent. Dinner had some questionable meat. The a la cartes had the worst service. You needed to make a reservation the day before. If you didn’t make it before an early breakfast, you were eating at 9PM. We tried the Italian restaurant with a 9 o’clock seating. When we arrived, they weren’t prepared and searched the restaurant to put tables together to seat 7 of us. When we finally sat down, we were greeted with a sour face. No welcome or how do you do. Nothing. He brought us water and literally threw it into my husband’s glass from a distance. Soaking the tablecloth. Took quite a while to take our order. Food was okay. Not worth the wait. My teenage children ordered the pizza which was clearly from a box and the exact same as what they found at the snack bar. The 24 hour snack bar was not always open. We ate at the Mexican a la carte one night. Managed to get a 7:30 reservation. Our server continually mixed up our orders. My brother asked for a Coca Cola and was not brought one until the end of the meal, after repeatedly asking politely. When he finally brought it, he gave it to my husband. We had some really good laughs at the inept service, but it’s not what you expect from a 4-5 star resort. When my husband asked for hot sauce, our server just laughed and walked away. When he came back around my husband asked again and was told the red stuff is the hot sauce to which he replied”no, that’s salsa”. And then he just left again. Bar service was okay as long as you went up to the bar. Poolside service was very slow. Even with a 20USD tip ahead of time. The swing bar down by the beach was definitely the best bar. My teenagers had very poor service and were mostly ignored. They had self serve non-alcoholic drink stands, but didn’t always have cups available. The rooms were kept fairly clean. We always had fresh towels. However, my nephew had been sick in the bathroom. The smell of vomit persisted and was not cleaned off of the toilet. The beach was beautiful. The scenery, breathtaking. Pools were clean. There was a large group of friends and family. 50% ended up quite sick. Vomiting more so than diarrhea which would have been more typical. Many children succumbed to the illness. So we can’t blame it on alcohol in the heat and sun. There were never any chairs available around the pool. You could find chairs on the beach at the far right side. We had a pleasant time, but I would not book at this resort again. If you decide to go, request a building close to the beach. Either building 1 through 5. They have carts to take you to and from the beach area, but it’s hit and miss. When one does drive by, it’s too crowded and doesn’t stop anyway. So to sum it up, the resort is too big, with too many people and the service is not great. This resort is more of a 2-3 star.

Beautiful Resort

The sprawling resort grounds are meticulously maintained. Staff are friendly and go out of their way to be helpful. The food at the buffet was good and plentiful and the a la carte restaurants were top notch. The only negative was the beach. It was rocky and full of seaweed. We didn't swim in the ocean once. We spent plenty of time at the resort's numerous pools.

Overall good resort.

The resort was well kept and the staff was friendly. We found that the resort size was just far to big for them to be able to offer a fantastic customer experience. Food was great in the beginning of the week, started to quickly go down hill as the days went on. Again they are trying to cater to the masses. The beach was lovely, lots of seaweed but the entire coast line is covered. Helpful tip a lovely lagoon is about a 10 minutes walk up the beach from the resort, worth the walk. Store prices w [... read more]ere far to inflated for what was offered. They had some local artisans from playa del Carmen host a night market one evening which was nice. The staff did a great job but I imagine they are flat out all day and just exhausted. Pools were large and clean. Our room was a bit of a walk to the beach about 15 minutes, so we had to attempt to pack for the day. Overall good experience, would not rank high on our must return list of resorts though.

Love the Mexicans!!

The hotel and grounds are lovely, if excessively spread out. We really enjoyed the personnelle and found them helpful, well-trained and pleasant at all times. The food was copious, although very ordinary, with the exception of the French restaurant. We did have a problem with our first room but the hotel sorted it out quickly. This is a good resort for young families.

Awesome resort with a very luscious grounds.

Resort is very spacious and very well maintained, always see ground keepers working away. Room was clean and had all the essentials including an in room coffee maker, every day had clean towels and fridge replenished. Bonus was they had cold water available to fill your own bottles at all beverage stations (bars & restaurants). Buffets were busy but never had to wait more then a few moments to get seated or food/drinks. Afternoon by the pool always had entertainment, I would suggest going early [... read more] as chairs are hard to come by especially if looking for more than one.

3 star hotel at best

Very disappointed . Rooms are old and worn as are other parts of the resort. Stayed one night and changed hotels. Food was ok, drinks terrible, beach is not nice. Definitely not four stars. Staff were nice, There is a membership tour..those units are closer to the beach and looked nicer but require investment.

Very nice place to visit

The food was quite good, the service was great, the staff were excellent. They made every attempt to accommodate for our needs as a young family. The pool and beach were beautiful. All in all a great resort to visit and an amazing experience to have!

No bech in this hotel...

I would not recommend it to anyone. Room, food was good. Service was excellent . Pool,to many people, as I indicated not for retired people. We would not go beck there, because wee could not swim in the Ocean.