Riu Playacar: Fantastic place

We had a great time at this resort, excellent service from the front desk to the housekeeping people. Everyone had a smile and were quick to help with any request. Two of the best things were no reservations for ala cart and men did not have to wear long pants. The ala carts were busy but people were seated quickly and food came hot and delicious with minimal wait. The resort is very clean with plenty of staff to serve you weather it was drinks on the beach or at the bar, buffet service was  [... read more]also top notch with a great variety of food to choose from. Would definitely return to this resort!!

Barcelo Maya Riviera: Not a 5 star

Hotel and room was absolutely beautiful, food was a hit or miss. Had to make reservations for restaurants sometimes long wait as multiple people were also there, you could leave and come back but same situation. Beach was awful rocky and not just near the water sand itself is not soft but rocky need beach shoes or sandals always. Would not return as overall experience was not what I expected

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Decent resort, great people

Upon arriving via Sunwing, after being stuck in Pearson for an hour on the runway then waiting for transportation for two hours in Cancun. We were greeted by very friendly staff. We checked into our first room in building seven and immediately turned around and went to the lobby as the room smelled like a raw sewer. The front desk manager was great about switching our room and although my male travel partner and I weren’t looking to share a bed we’re happy with the room and the lack of  [... read more]essence. It is clear the hotel had been unused for the two years of covid. However, the staff was working hard to bring it back to what was visibly a great resort prior to covid. Everyone was pleasant and did their best to provide the best service they were able. The beach reviews about erosion should be more concerned with the chronic seaweed problem. From sunrise to sunset heavy equipment was trying to clear it to no avail. The smell at times could be overwhelming. The beach is a write off, however, the lagoon about ten minutes walk down the beach is beautiful. As for the food the buffets and most a la carts a very bland. The French restaurant and steak house were really good but very difficult to reserve. The service in the French restaurant was spot on thank you!!!! As for Sunwing….. poor service, lack of communication, and total disregard for their passengers. We were checked in and out of our room twice and told we were staying another night due to mechanical issues. We were then pulled from the pool by other passengers as they got a plane cancelled the night we had already accepted and gave us tow hours to leave. In the confusion and 20 flight changes I lost my entire wallet including all I’d and banking with the exception of my passport. I’ve never been so stressed returning from a vacation. Blue Bay will be a good resort again although I don’t think there is hope for the beach no matter how hard they try. All in all a vacation is what you make it. I drank well , ate ok and was able to experience all I wanted to see, including Tulum, Chichén Itzá and COCONONGO. The only thing I didn’t do was go diving, the beach really turned me off.

Barcelo Maya Tropical: Barcelo Tropical 2023

We have just returned home from 2 weeks at the Tropical. This was our second trip to Barcelo and We will def be booking again, requesting the VeraCruz builiding on the 3rd floor. Reg Room was perfect for us and again we had zero issues and zero complaints. We had 9 a la cartes and only booked 6 as honestly the many Buffet varieties around the resort and Room Service were plenty. Ask Jose Pascar (sp?) at the Tropical swim up bar for a Jose Special and then ask the young bartenders Albend [... read more]ro (sp?) and Jorge are fun to watch try and duplicate them. Some of the less experienced Bartenders and Serving Staff will be guided and trained in time, so be gracious and patient and remember you are on vacation! The pool women who serve endlessly and tirelessly are so lovely and keep you hydrated and a smile, tip and thank you go a long way. Vanessa and Guadalupe in the main buffet never let the water, coffee and beverages go empty and were genuinely kind and didnt rush the meal. The garden crews are amazing to see how they keep the grounds lush and vibrant and the beach team… wow what a job they have and do daily! We cannot say enough good about our experience as we feel we got great value for our cost!

Akumal Bay Beach and Spa Resort: Wonderful resort

Beautiful place. Amazing staff. It was our first time in Mexico and we can’t wait to go back to Akumal Bay Beach Resort. Weather wasn’t great (very windy, couldn’t snorkel every day) but it didn’t spoil our vacation.

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Amazing Vacation!!

I’ve been to this resort 5 or 6 times and it’s safe to say i’ve never been disappointed!! Ignore any negative reviews, everything about this vacay was to die for. Only complaint was that it should have been a longer stay. Drinks are endless and the bartenders are so friendly (order the Miami Vice, Cosmopolitan, or the Riviera Maya every time). Make sure to book your reservations because the buffet is amazing but the restaurants are such a unique experience! The Teppanyaki bar was dinner an [... read more]d a show. I recommend making time for the shows, especially the magic show which had my jaw DROPPED. Also, if you’re doing an excursion (which are so much fun) such as Xplor or Xcaret, bring water shoes!! You need closed toed shoes & will definitely need them if you don’t want to ruin your sneakers (and buy them before to avoid paying $50 USD like we did). I cant wait to be back!! btw location 4/5 just because it’s so far from the airport & you have to stop at like 6 other resorts first making for a long bus ride

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Excellent Resort

We stayed at this same location in 2020 prior to covid and it was amazing! The resort food was excellent once again this year but starting to see it needs a bit of tender care in the bedrooms. Nothing really bad but some simple repairs. I definitely would go again, so that says it all!

Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya: Grand Serenis Riviera Maya = Kind of Good \ Sunwing Airlines = Trash

The resort was just okay. I experienced some very good meals in the a la carte restaurants, but as far as the buffets went, they were hit or miss. On my last at the resort I went for breakfast in front lobby buffet at 8am, and it turned out they must of decided to re-heat various food items left over from the previous day. Wow! I don’t mind bacon hot & crisp, but slightly warmed, greasy & hard? No thank you! Also, it wasn’t uncommon for the towel guy to give someone attitude if they didn†[... read more]™t happen to have cash on them to tip him when returning their towel. Wow again! Even getting maid service to supply my room with a simple bar of soap required some work. Did I miss something, or are travellers expected to bring their own soap these days? I tipped the maid every day but one, and that was only because she came quite early when had stepped out for an early breakfast, and she opted not to re-stock my fridge, and I suspect that might have intentional. One would be well advised to carry a fist full of bills on at all times when venturing through out the resort. This a beautiful resort, and the entertainment very good! The worst part of my trip to the Grand Serenis Riviera was travelling with Sunwing! I will never book with Sunwing Airlines again! When the going gets bad, they go missing! They don’t have the slightest idea what term Customer Service means!

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Best Vacation Ever!

As a nurse, on vacation, I am now burdened with the concern regarding Covid19 while traveling. The hotel had many hand sanitization stations at main points around the hotel, as well as every entrance in a dining room area. Staff were friendly and the space between us always felt safe. We were able to pick how often our room was cleaned, and upon witnessing the cleaning while walking by other rooms, the housekeeping was thorough and I saw them wipe down high touch areas (even the balcony railings [... read more]). The food was amazing, I couldn't get enough! I have nothing bad to say, except I wish I had booked a longer vacation because I didn't want to leave.

Selection Riviera Cancun: Amazing week at The Azul

Loved this property. Just the right size. Not to big but not so small that you felt crowded. Staff were all wonderful! Cheerful and accommodating. Room are a little dated and need a little TLC. However they are clean and comfortable. We did spend 1 night in one of the newly renovated rooms and it was gorgeous. White with aqua accents makes the room looks so bright and airy. We decided to upgrade to a swim up room which was amazing. Love that each room has its own set of stairs with a railing to  [... read more]get in and out of pool. The staff from the swim up bar come by about every 25 minutes to take your drink orders. They were amazing and well deserving of the tips we gave them We had no complaint with any of the food. Room service was fantastic and restaurants were varied and never to crowded. There was only one night when we waited maybe 10 minutes for a table at the Mexican restaurant but they seated us at the bar outside and we enjoyed a before dinner drink. Most restaurants don’t require reservations they operate on a first come first serve system, but as I said we never really had to wait. They few restaurants that do require reservations are super easy to book. Each building has its own concierge and you can book with them at your convenience. We highly recommend the Italian Restaurant! The main buffet Spoons has a large selection of food with different themes everyday. Food was good but could have been a little hotter. We understand that it is hard to regulate temperatures without overcooking or drying food out. They do have an area we’re you can pick out your own meat and they will cook it for you to your liking. We also appreciated that they take food allergies very seriously. They always asked if you had any allergies before seating you. We did not any of the nightly shows so I can’t comment on them. Overall we really enjoyed our stay at the Azul. If you are beach people this is probably not the place for you. Beach is small and it was full of seaweed while we were there, which is why we switched to a swim up. It could have just been a bad time for the seaweed. There was staff out there daily raking the beach but it didn’t last long. The ocean views from the restaurants and pool areas are lovely Overall we really enjoyed our week there.

Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya: Wheres The Beach

Traveled from Feb. 25 to Mar 04 Upon arrival to the Grand Sirenis we were greeted with a Backhoe and numerous dump trucks trying unsuccessfully to clear away the seaweed from the beach and water. This was nonstop all day, everyday of our vacation. We were told this has been an ongoing problem for weeks and will be for many more. We would not recommend this resort.

Barcelo Maya Tropical: Fantastic experience

We travelled to the resort the last two weeks of February and first few days of March 2023. We stayed at the Tropical, in the Veracruz building, about mid-section, top floor facing east towards the Barcelo Palace. Our room was listed as a "Superior room run of the house" and I can say it was a great room, spacious, clean, well furnished and everything worked as it should, hair-dryer, TV, A/C the works. Perfect. There are six total resorts on this stretch of beach, all operated by Barcelo and i [... read more]nter-connected by pathways which are easy to figure out and well lit at night and there are enough bars, shops and night-life to keep you entertained. The pools are situated between each resort-pair and also mirror each other so you can choose which you want to hang out at, however if you want a good lounger you will need to rise earlier to claim your spot. The pools are well maintained and clean. The beach has loungers to spare so show up anytime and you're bound to find something suitable. The beach itself was a bit of a disappointment but we soon adapted and still had a great time. It's primarily a coral beach so the sand is peppered with small objects, remnants of coral that jab your bare feet. Bring water shoes if you have them or purchase them at the beach store behind the pool or if you're careful bare feel will do too. Also the depth of the beach isn't what we are used to, it's a very short distance from the palms to the water and there's a bit of a drop down to the water's edge so if you have mobility issues that could be an issue. And there're rocks too just under the surface that will require some dodging. When approaching the water look for the dark spots and just walk in between them that's where the sandy bottom is and you'll be fine. The buffets were good, ample food and well prepared, well staffed by pleasant, helpful and happy people just want you want. The a la carte restaurants were all amazing, best food I've had on vacation that I can remember, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Make sure you take a pair of slacks and collared shirt for these as no shorts or t-shirts are allowed, though if I were the establishment I'd relax the rule allowing nice bermuda-style shorts as well. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would come back to this resort in a heartbeat. Have fun!

El Dorado Maroma: Adorable El Dorado

The restaurant staff were all very friendly and great at making sure all was perfect. The food was amazing, we stayed at many good resorts but this was a notch above. One exception, Celina (Mio restaurant) was quite inflexible the day of our arrival and another night despite having a reservation. The concierges checked in with us often but failed to deliver on their promise to act on our requests. Beach was amazing, with sand powdery white, just incredible and one could walk indefinitely on  [... read more]either end. They worked daily on managing the seaweeds but nature often won. It was still great to swim though you had to walk in a long way to get to deeper water. The spa and gym were very nice. Painting (with Felipe) and cooking classes were so much fun. One note of caution on excursion: we booked a few excursions to Tulum and Cenote and snorkelling, with Lomas travel, their own on-site agency. We were quoted a cost in USD. Upon checking out, they converted back to pesos and ended up charging up 20$ then the quoted USD price even if we paid in cash. The Lomas agent would not accept cash upon booking.

Platinum Yucatan Princess: Wonderful trip

We had a great holiday,good people,food ,room ,service,and grounds.would recommend to everyone.the beaches are usually really good but it was an early seaweed year.there was a great assortment of restaurants

Ocean Coral and Turquesa: Could’ve been better

Everything was quite mediocre compared to the other 4 start resorts I’ve been to. Wouldn’t go back and wouldn’t be at the top of my list to recommend to someone else. For the price, it wasn’t worth it.

Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Great Family Place

We spent a wonderful week at this family oriented resort. There was lots to do for everyone. We enjoyed the facilities. We swam in the cenotes, spent time by the pool, had fun at the waterpark, walked on the beach, went to the all the shows, went for a walk to checkout the ruins, hung out at the sports bar and played pool and ping pong. It was amazing to see all the wildlife roaming around the resort. Checked out all the a la carte restaurants and got into all of them. The staff were very kind  [... read more]and helpful. Food was good. Rooms were comfortable and clean. Thanks for the suggesting we check this place out.

Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun: Great for kids - okay for adults

Great fun things to do for the kids - awesome waterslides, laser tag, bowling and nightly shows but they did not enforce the no holding of lounge chairs so it was very challenging to find a seat by the pool and the beach was horrendous with seaweed (not the hotels fault but the seaweed came early). The rooms were great but doors paper thin so you could hear all the hallway noise loudly in the rooms. The restaurants (except for the Smoke) were absolutely amazing and the bars were mainly stocked w [... read more]ith mid-top shelf booze. The Sunwing bus didnt pick us up from the airport for nearly TWO HOURS and the check-in was a nightmare between the guy taking 45 mins to set up our rooms and wrist bands to him totally not assigning one of the rooms at all and our luggage getting misplaced. Beware there are extra fees once you arrive - daily resort fees per person are extra.

The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences Playa Del Carmen: Amazing Vacation

We had the perfect trip to The Fives! We didn't have one bad meal - food was next level. Lots to do, friendly staff, great kids club.The vegetation and wildlife were so special throughout the resort. Room (one bedroom suite) was huge but a bit dated, but we understood that the older buildings were more central to things so we didn't mind. Resort was medium size - you could easily walk from end to end, but golf carts came regularly to take us around. Beach had lots of seagrass but staff worked ti [... read more]relessly to clean. Lots of options for pools which were a nice temperature. The plaza was also an added feature in the evenings - outdoor seating under palm trees with lanterns and lights strung. Live music every night. Already dreaming of next year - can't wait to return. You will not be disappointed here!!

Iberostar Waves Paraiso del Mar: Fun Week at Iberostar

My daughter and I spent a week at the Iberostar-Del Mar resort in February. Overall we had a relaxing, fun week. I wanted to share some positive feedback on the resort as well as some areas I think they could improve on. I also need to mention the areas I think the resort could improve on in no way that affected our enjoyment at this resort. We are visitors from another country and never expect perfection. Just being able to escape our cold winters for a brief time in beautiful Mexico was enou [... read more]gh. Positive; -The grounds, nature, and beach are all spectacular. They are so well kept and it was wonderful being able to walk through the canopy of trees and lighted pathways at night. -The wildlife was also wonderful to experience (Coatis, Iguanas, Flamingoes, birds & peacocks) -The staff was all very nice, professional, and helpful. I witnessed many times when the staff also were warm and courteous to each other. -There are lots of pools to choose from. You can find a quiet area if you don't enjoy the music and games and activities at the main pool area. -There is lots of shade at both the pool and beach. -Rooms were very clean -The resort is very eco-friendly. There are water filling stations on each floor where you can refill 2 large glass water bottles. -The whole resort is huge. My daughter and I love to walk so there were plenty of places to explore. Areas for improvement; -I would rate the food at a 6.5/10. We booked the French, Mexican, and Italian restaurants. Overall I was disappointed with the Mexican food at the whole resort. At the Mexican restaurant, I ordered chicken fajitas. They listed on the menu that they come with rice and beans but my order was simply chicken, onions, and peppers. I only saw guacamole one time at the buffet and rarely saw baked tortillas and beans. The French restaurant served french onion soup with barely a teaspoon of cheese, the pizza at the Italian restaurant was undercooked and the pasta overcooked. -The egg/omelet station at the morning buffet was always very busy. I love having eggs in the morning but on several occasions gave up waiting. The bacon is also in the same area and difficult to access due to the line. The scrambled eggs appear to be from a mix and are undercooked and runny. -You do not have the ability to adjust the temperature in the room. When we arrived the thermostat was set at 22 degrees. It was much hotter in the room. I called the front desk and they adjusted it to 18 degrees. The room did not cool down and someone came and said there was a broken piece in the system. They tried to repair it but it didn't make much of a difference. - The beach and pool chairs are reserved very early (7:00am) with people who put their towels on them to save. We ended up having to do the same in order to have a chair during the day. I'm not really sure what the hotel can do about this. -The rooms are a little dated. There was a large burn mark on the floor in our room & the shower arm was broken. -The shows at night are limited and not really entertaining. There are 2 shows that are extra. We did not go to either. -There are no elevators in the building we stayed in. We were on the top floor (3). It wasn't a problem for us but might be for others. Again, overall we had a wonderful, relaxing time at the Iberostar. -One more tip- Do not take a taxi from the airport to the resort. We were stuck in a long line at customs and realized the Sunwing bus had left. We didn't know what to do. A man who claimed he worked for Sunwing told us we had no other choice but to take a taxi. He said Sunwing would cover the cost. We agreed upon $50CAD. He said he would give me a receipt but after the transaction, said his machine was out of paper. Once at the hotel, I checked my credit card and saw a charge just under $500 CAD. I'm embarrassed I fell for this but I wanted to warn others. :(

The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences Playa Del Carmen: The Fives

Not one of my better trips no hot water the whole week payed over 3,300 to stay !!! Food average not normal Mexico service will not return .this is suppose to be five star ! No house coat no slippers …. Extra cost for ice cream !