Grand Palladium Kantenah: The most perfect vacation

We love this resort. We came here 5 years ago and we wanted to come back- after a trip to Hawaii and another resort we decided to come back. It has so much to offer. Amazing food. Beach. Grounds. Room. I ate amazing fajitas everyday. It is quite far from the airport. 2.5 hour bus ride with stops at other resorts. The travel to and from was biggest complaint with various airport delays

Royalton Hideaway Riviera Cancun: Will not go back

Would not recommend this resort if you want to relax. The constant LOUD music was horrible. It was so loud we had to shout at each other to hear ourselves. The food was great, as was the service but the cleanliness left a lot to be desired. A very big resort with line ups for the ala carts so the only availability was for 9:30 pm and afterwards.

Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun: Happy with Royalton Splash

Lots of areas around resort for adults and children to be entertained. Clean bathrooms and lots of good food! Water park and arcade was just opening up when we arrived, excited to come back to see the resort fully complete.

Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya: An Honest Review - This Will Not Be Short But Hopefully Helpful

An Honest Review This will not be short, but I hope it will be helpful. Some things about a trip matter more to others, some don’t, take from this what you will if anything at all. I have been travelling all inclusive for about 20 years now. I have stayed at multiple 5 star resorts and many times in various parts of Mexico. My husband and I just came home from our 14 day stay at Secrets Akumal. We had a swim-up room. We are seasoned travellers and enjoy days of relaxation and peace as [... read more] well as fun loud party times. We experienced both, We had an incredible vacation. I do also have some advice/tips/suggestions etc.for the traveler and the hotel people in charge. Let’s begin: Hotel Itself: Beautiful, very clean, feels like a tropical paradise including iguanas that have their own homes on property with name signs. Hilarious. Hotel Ambiance: The sounds and smells are incredible. I felt like I walked into a massive spa like atmosphere. The instrumental music (this is around lobby areas and the quiet pool) was calming. By smells I mean aromatherapy slight scent not overpowering just enough to know that it’s a clean, well maintained resort. Swim-up room: Clean, well laid out. Love the long counter under the tv. The furniture was comfortable. NOTE: As a tip for any swim up room people - make sure that you place towels on the floor of your room because they patio portion is fine when you exit the pool. I entered the room still damp with a towel on and almost wiped out. Perhaps there should be a mat by the sliding door just in case? Con: The toilet part of the room has a frosted glass bathroom door. Not a big fan of that. TV : I know it may seem silly on vacation but sometimes you do end up in your room to chill out. They had a decent variety of channels that were in English. HBO channels, CBC, BBC, etc. It was really nice to sit in the air conditioning sometimes and just watch movies. Tablet In Room: This is to order room service, tray collection etc. It was great. Very easy to understand, we simply requested our room service, etc and it was sent. Room Service Menu: Pros: You could add details like “extra sauce” to your order which was helpful Cons: - Limited selection unless you’re in the Preferred Club. Even with a swim up suite. Annoying that you could only order certain items for certain times like milkshakes or smoothies. The food rarely arrived hot. 
Patio Con: I’m a night owl who loves to sit outside and read but the patio lights for our room we had no control over so you couldn’t do that at night after a certain time. I don’t remember the time and it’s just a small note in case that’s a big deal to some people.

Room Service Staff: Always friendly and attentive. Housekeeping Staff: We didn’t see them often as we weren’t in the room. They were very friendly and polite when we did run into them. Con: I had to make multiple calls for them to restock the toilet paper. They didn’t until hours later and gave us one roll. Pools/Pool Area: We were primarily at the quiet pool. Pool 1. It was wonderful. The waitstaff at the pool are fantastic. Always attentive, friendly, helpful. We found there were always plenty of towels, drink options, etc. Ibraham was our pool waiter. They had a pool attendant who stopped by to give us cold scented towels and books to read, etc. I cannot say enough about their efforts. Pro: I also want to mention the cleanliness of the pool area. I’ve experienced other resorts where there can be cups, glasses left over, attracting bugs etc. They were on it when it came to clearing items away. Room Concierge: Our room Concierge was Alejandro. This man is absolutely incredible. He made our stay fantastic. He is the epitome of excellence in customer service. Always friendly, knowledgeable, patient and hardworking. I was trying to learn some Spanish while I was there so he would teach me Spanish words. He made us feel like valued guests. He is a wonderful person and excellent at his job. Speaking of the Staff…. Secrets Akumal staff by far exceeded any staff we’ve encountered on our vacations. Every staff member was welcoming, friendly, kind and patient. I would like to specifically mention some. If you are planning to vacation at this resort these people will make your days brighter. Hostess: Marysol - what a wonderful, charming fantastic person. She made us laugh and has excellent customer service. Thank you Marysol ! Ismael at the fire pit bar. Incredible attentive service. Remembers your drink order days later. Always helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. Thank you. Same bar: the female waitstaff. I can’t remember her name I wish I could. She was wonderful as well. The Animacion/ Activities Team: This team is incredibly hardworking, energetic and amazing. Shout outs: (including activities we tried) We did turtle painting with Oliver. He is hilarious. He made our class fantastic. Con: The size of the object - it’s a fridge magnet that is tiny so it’s harder to pain with even small brushes and the activity takes like 10 minutes. Darios or “D” : We took his water aerobics class and archery classes with him. He is phenomenal. He is patient when he instructs, fun and incredibly friendly. D you’re the best! Con: This class should be longer. When you have a group of people you only get to shoot so many times because of time limits. This is something that is a good con because it means the class is so fun it should continue. Diana “tiny but strong” taught us in the Spanish class. What an amazing woman. She is patient, funny and has a heart of gold. She would run into me during our staff and we would practice Spanish. A true gem. We love you Diana. Miguel: For water volleyball he was so encouraging and fun. He took time during out stay to talk about Canada ( where we’re from) and made us feel incredibly welcomed. Thank you Miguel. Renee and the female Chef ( I can’t remember her name I’m sorry) gave us the BEST guacamole class EVER ! Renee was hilarious ! He had guests including us entertained, laughing and learning. Amazing job- thank you both ! Zayel: Manager on Duty: He was amazing. I was suffering from bug bites and nothing was working so he took time to recommend ice and cooling my legs (BIG TIP FOR THAT) which made a world of difference. He went the extra mile to visit with us and see that our stay was wonderful. Any concerns or questions we had he helped us with immediately.His customer service was fantastic. Thank you Zayel ! Bug Bites: If you unlucky enough to have this happen they are not like regular mosquito bites. Scratching them makes them expand. Heat irritates them. A tip I used was icing and/or then literally sticking my legs in the pool made a HUGE difference. Here is A Tip for the Resort: The problem with the activities is that they were limited by amount of people. Many activities had a limit of 6-10 people which is disappointing. For example pool biking. I didn’t get to do it because even though I came early, I missed out because people had already signed up. This is also an issue because the activities are not only limited to how many people, they are not offered every day. The other issue is that some of the classes aren’t long enough - e.g my archery point. And Last Food/Drinks: The Market buffet was for breakfast and lunch only. It was a nice option. The desserts and sweets were exceptional. Italian - the soup was cold, food was nothing exciting. The portion sizes are humorously small. Bordeaux (French restaurant) - The food wasn’t great. Same small portions. Seaside- not a great selection Himitsu - we didn’t get a reservation in time but we didn’t try that hard. El Patio - the menu was unappealing so we left. This is a hotel that should open their buffet for dinner especially for guests who stay longer than a week. After 2 weeks, the same menu got tiresome and we started eating larger lunches at the buffet to that we didn’t have to go to the restaurants in the evening. Coco Cafe: This is a great option for daily coffee and snacks. Great service. Drinks: The service for drinks was excellent. The fruity drinks tasted like they were mixes instead of fresh fruits. Ratings are hard because they don’t individualize - Here’s mine Service - 5 stars Room - 5 stars Food/Drinks- 3 Programs - 5 (when you can go to them) Restaurant Choices - 3 Hotel Cleanliness/Ambiance - 5 Transport to the Airport - 2 At the end of our trip when they ask for a survey I gave the food better valuation because of the buffet element. Ratings can be hard when they are blanket statements.

Barcelo Maya Riviera: Nice vacation at Barcelo Maya Riviera Resort

Beautiful,clean,modern,huge buffet,polite and very hard working servers. The negative: dinner reservations very limited and took an hour to book when restaurant only half full!?! ,distance from airport, very late entertainment and no entertainment showed up on New Years! Resort had many young couples, Spanish speaking European tourists which games at bar were geared to. Snorkelling on site but better at Palace. Need to do own research of amenities at other 5 Barcelo.

Grand Palladium Kantenah: Some Major Problems

We had requested a room beside our son and daughter -in-law so we could baby sit our 7 month old grand child while they attended a wedding at the resort.Not only were we not side by side,we were located in a separate building some distance away. it took most of our first full day at the resort to get the situation rectified. There also was not a crib as requested for the baby in her room and initially this was not going to be fixed until the next day.It required repeated requests and threats to  [... read more]obtain one late on the first night. Housekeeping was adequate, although the inclusion of hand towels was hit & miss, and face cloths only showed up once. Staff were very friendly and wait staff were attentive. We did not observe any COVID protocols in place

Grand Palladium Kantenah: Very disappointed. This is certainly not a 5 star resort.

Rooms are no better than a Holiday Inn. Small shower in a tub making it difficult for my wife to climb into. We had requested a wheelchair to help get from A to B for my wife. They would not accommodate so we had to rent one. We wanted to have my son who lives in Playa to come and join us for an a la carte supper. No problem to pay for a day pass for him to enter the resort, $110US, but he could not go to the a la crate restaurant unless we got him a room. Food was subpar, often cold, and beca [... read more]use it is a large resort, with a lot of people, the platters were not replenished quickly. We have been to Playa 7 times previously, 2 times at the same resort. All of them were a superior value. I guess it did not start off well as our flight was delayed 4 hours leaving Halifax.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: Just like we remembered.

Sitting by the pool having an americano. Reflecting on our first week here. Slept in a bit and missed yoga. Was a bit tired after golfing that beautiful course. We just store our clubs there and stroll over whenever we play. I have been reading all the posts for a few months now and just wanted to add my two cents worth. It’s perfect for us. I can’t think anything but positive to say about this place. Food is off the charts, staff are amazing, property and facilities are so well kept [... read more]. Never needed to save a chair, wait in line, if we can’t find what we needed someone will walk up to us and ask if we needed anything and help us. Vibe is friendly and relaxed at one pool and fun and games at the other so take your pick. Our room is spectacular. And from the rooftop you can see where the sea meets the sky. Not waves but that thin blue line. The Saturday Lobster in the buffet is just like it was last time. The lamb at Alux and Salmon at Maiko are the best meals I have had. There is one difference from last time, which doesn’t bother us, which is the change in drink offerings. There is an up charge for some premium brands, Grey Goose and Belvedere Vodka for example. We prefer Tanquerey which is available. I attached a photo of the premiums. Honestly you can have a different experience than others anywhere and if your easy going happy go lucky kind of people that appreciate the special attention to detail and good things in life you will love it here. Only things I would suggest is fill the sanitizers you have and add more. We all want Covid to be over and still protecting us from coughs and colds while enjoying our vacation is still important. Didn’t see and safety measures in place anywhere.

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

We had a great relaxing time staying in the all inclusive two bedroom suite at the Fives Beach hotel. First the quality and variety of food was spectacular there are prices on everything but almost everything is included with the all inclusive package. Second the staff are friendly and helpful. Third the rooms were large modern clean with plenty of storage space. Room service although a little slow was excellent for the quality of food. There is a 4 dollar charge with each delivery. The negati [... read more]ves include an expensive on site coffee shop difficulty in finding free available beach and pool chairs by late morning no hot water for showers and a very limited beach swimming area.

Grand Palladium Kantenah: Did not meet our expectations.

We were supposed to be at Kantenah but got moved to colonial without notice. It was a huge day long battle getting a crib for my baby to sleep in. Resort was way too big for little kids to walk around all day. They had trolleys to get around but many times the staff refused to take my kids in the trolleys because it was for “adults only”. Buffets had so much selection and lots of fresh food. However buffet staff weren’t great, we never got beverages brought to our table. The kids club was [... read more] good. We loved all the live music at the resort. There was a massive pool and great water slides for the kids. Beach was disappointing as it had garbage all along the shore line with drug dealers approaching us daily on the beach. The ocean was very rocky, bring water shoes. The zoo animals were completely unnecessary as there was plenty of wildlife to see. We found it very sad to see crocodiles and flamingos pent up.

Grand Palladium Kantenah: lovely resort

we enjoyed our stay at the Grand Palladium, however we were supposed to stay in the Kentanah section and our group was scattered between Colonial and Kentanah...my spouse and I were far from our family with small children ( who could have used our help). We also had issues with securing a baby bed/play pen for which we had reserved many months prior...we were told that it was on a first come basis...The first night was harried needless to say as everyone was very tired and baby would not settle  [... read more]in an adult bed...finally at midnight she went to sleep...only to be woken up at 630 am with a phone call...to say that a crib would come at 9am...(why such an early call)..the crib finally arrived at 10:30 am!

Grand Palladium Kantenah: Grand Palladium Kantenah, Mezico

We recently travelled to the above resort for our sons wedding. We were required to be in Toronto to fly Sunwing at 3:00am for a 6:25am flight . We were advised just before the flight that no plane was available with Sunwing and they instead rented a plane from Portugal with Portuguese flight staff. 6 hours later we took off in the most uncomfortable plane we had ever been on. We were served water and two Oreo cookies for a four hour flight. We did get a $20 lunch voucher from Sunwing in Toronto [... read more] but our only choice was Tim Hortons or Subway. We landed in Mexico and we’re put on a bus for a one and a half hour drive to the resort. Upon arrival at the resort we discovered we had not been assigned a room (there were 40 plus members who travelled for the wedding!) we were given a room on the third floor (we are both seniors but we’re up for 36 hours and decided we had no energy left to go back to checkin to change our room) For the first two days of our stay we had NO room service. Also on the second day we lost all hydro and air conditioning in our unit. I called three times only to be told some one would come. Several hours later my husband called and told them they had 15 min to get someone there to repair the issue and restore hydro. Sure enough someone showed up and replaced an overheated breaker! In order to get our room cleaned on the third day I waited for a housekeeper in another unit and using a translator asked to have the room cleaned which they did. For the remaining g four days we had our room cleaned. Our mini fridge was filled sporadically. We had to hunt down the fellow to get bottled water. The resort itself is huge and absolutely beautiful! The weather all week was 30 degrees. Restaurants were ok at best and we tended to stick to the Buffets for variety. My husband was extremely I’ll with fever cough etc. when we returned home we both tested positive for COVID. There was absolutely no distancing and no hand disinfectant available through out the resort. My husband and I took shuttles everywhere and felt the layout was more geared to younger people and not for seniors or anyone with mobility issues.

Grand Sunset Princess: Lovely Resort

Travelled to Grand Sunset Princess the week of December 4 – 11, 2022. Our party had six people, two couples and two singles. Age ranges from 28 to 53. There was my boyfriend and I, we’ve stayed at this resort before, my sister and her boyfriend, our friend Mike and my sister’s son in the third room. Overall, I would highly recommend this resort to anyone, the grounds are lovely, there is a lot to see and do, lots of pools, lots of restaurants, ample wildlife to see. I will return again as  [... read more]soon as I can find a carrier that is NOT Sunwing. Our Sunwing flight to Mexico was delayed 3 hours. The plane was available, they just had no staff to fly the plane. It’s frustrating to see your plane sitting there for hours when you know you should be in the swimming pool already. Unfortunately, Air Canada has a monopoly on Pearson and won’t allow Sunwing to use Terminal 3. So, if you ever see on your boarding pass gate B26, that means you go to B26, cram into a tight shuttle bus, it ambles across the tarmac, down a tunnel under the runways, comes up in no man’s land and you end up at the Sunwing terminal. There really isn’t anything to do in that terminal, one sandwich shop but that’s about it. I’m fairly certain it was on that cramped shuttle bus, that I contracted a cold which developed on day two of the trip after which point, I spent the remainder of the week in bed sleeping. Since our flight was delayed, we ended up landing at the Cancun airport later than expected which worked out in our favour as there was no line up to check in when we arrived at the hotel. We got there in the evening and check in for our three rooms was very quick. We ended up in rooms 3006, 3005 and 3003. I guess someone had checked into 3004 before we got there. All the rooms were lovely, we had upgraded to have swim out rooms. We booked about six months in advance as we really wanted a swim out room. They give you direct access to the pool, a nice quiet area that runs past all the swim out rooms and is also connected to the main pool so you can swim over to the swim up bar if you wish. My sister was in 3005, there was some damage on the floor where previous guests had dragged the furniture around. So, I guess cosmetic updates to some rooms would be in order. The rooms were comfortable, I enjoyed the bed and the pillows. I thought the TV was a little small. I know, it’s paradise and who cares about tv (except I was sick almost the whole week so the tv was my only entertainment). Our shower set up, also in my sister’s room, was a little problematic, the seal around the shower door doesn’t really keep the water in so the entire bathroom floor would end up wet. I can see some room for improvement there, it would mean we’d use less towels to mop up the mess. The mini fridge in the room was stocked well, lots of water, soft drinks, and beers. And once a day someone would stop by and knock to see if we wanted anything extra for the fridge. My sister’s boyfriend locked himself out of the safe and had to have maintenance come open it for him, they were fast and friendly. I also had room service one night in the room, prices were reasonable. Another area for improvement might be the wifi. It seemed to work only sometimes in our rooms. My friend seemed to think there was a limit to how much internet you could use. Again, it’s paradise who needs to surf the net, but my point is, the resort wants you to book all the a la carts on their app, you need wifi for that. The Layout: Is great. Everything is relatively flat so it’s good for people with bad knees like me. Yes, there are three storeys to the resort but there are elevators, one behind each lobby and at the opposite end closest to the beach end of the property. The resort is really like two resorts side by side. You’ve got the Grand Riviera Princess and the Grand Sunset Princess. They run parallel to each other. So if ever you think the lobby looks a little off from what you remember, you might be in the lobby of the other resort. They look like mirror images of each other. The great part about this resort is that you’ve got options on how you want to get around. If you like the scenery, walk in the centre of the two resorts, the paths are lovely and landscaped, lots of critters to see and beautiful plants. If it’s raining and you don’t want to get wet, you can walk through the ground floor of the resort, and it’s completely covered as it winds its way past all the hotel rooms. And if you are lazy like me or under the weather, you can catch the trolly. It runs 24 hours a day. You can catch it behind the lobby, ground floor behind the shops. That’s the main trolly stop, it runs back and forth from the lobby down to the beach area. You can also walk on this path as well and flag down the trolly whenever it goes past, they ask which room you’re in and they stop close to your part of the building. If you are checking in or checking out, you can also request a smaller cart to bring you and your luggage to your room or back to the lobby, just arrange it with the lobby. Restaurants: There are two main buffets, they are right beside each other, one is orange, one is green. They serve the same thing as each other so it doesn’t matter which one you go to. They are on the Riviera side. Most of the a la carts are all above the two buffets, so it’s convenient having all everything together. Also in this same area is the spa, gym and disco. And a sports bar with pool tables and great burgers. For breakfasts if you don’t want to trek all the way to the front of the resort for the main buffet, each of the two resorts also has another buffet that is open for breakfast, it is close to the pools and beach. These little buffets also are a la carts in the evenings. Booking a la carts, they want you to use the Princess app too book. Here is my beef with that, it will only let you book for the room you are in. IE, I was room 3006 and I wanted to book for all 6 of us that were in our party, the app would only let me book for 2 because that was how many people were registered to my room. If you want to book for a bigger group or for multiple rooms, you’ll still have to go up to the lobby to the concierge table and book with them in person. There is room for improvement for the resort to upgrade the app so you can book for larger parties. I can’t speak for the actual food at the a la carts because I never visited any because I was sick. I just made it to the buffets a few times, it was okay. I’ve had better but I’ve had a lot worse too. The resort offers a shuttle that goes into playa del carmen a few times a day. It’s cheaper than taking a taxi. I recommend taking the shuttle to Playa and then taking a taxi back to the resort when you’ve had enough shopping. Our friend Mike ended up with lots of bug bites. Not sure what kind or where from. I think he was the only person in our group that went to the beach so that might be the issue. Don’t forget to pack your bug spray in case. The other five of us never got bitten by anything all week. Perhaps Mike is just the tastiest. Of course, he was also the one that ended up pooped on as well, not sure if it was a monkey in a tree or a bird. Do keep in mind that there is a lot of wildlife around so keep your food locked up tight. I saw the coati’s grab people’s bags and run, I’m sure the monkeys are the same. The cats and iguanas aren’t quite as bold. The trip from the resort back to the Cancun airport was painful, there is construction going on and it’s very slow going. Our return flight home was also delayed by 3 hours and even after we landed at Pearson and went through the crowded shuttle thing all over again, the baggage carousel wasn’t working so that was another hour. I was sick and tired and vowed to never again travel with Sunwing. As for the resort, I definitely need a do over on my vacation and am already dreaming and planning on when I’ll return. It’s a lovely resort.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Perfect weather, great food and service

Overall, given the busy holiday season, we had a lovely escape with only a few hiccups along the way. Our flight was delayed and after the hour and half shuttle from the airport, we did not check in until 7:30 pm on New Year's eve- which was a bit chaotic. Although the rooms were quite spacious our daughters' room was situated in another building, not as close to ours as we had hoped and we wanted to move. Our room was on the fourth floor and had a special rooftop jacuzzi that they tried to co [... read more]nvince was "special", but it was locked and we had no access. Our room also had recently been fumigated --smelled awful- and had a dead cockroach on the floor. There was no hot water either.-when we looked under the sink there was some mold. Our minibar was empty- not even water- Saturday, Sunday and Monday. After 3 requests to change rooms (Karime was a "star" concierge) made it happen late Monday night and that night were moved to be 4 rooms away from our daughters (in El Beso) This room seemed less dated and in better condition with consistent hot water and a full minifridge with many bottles of water! Our daughter's room had a broken thermostat- it was quite cold in there but the balcony was nice. Twice our girls put out "do not disturb" and the maids came in anyways to clean before they could tidy their affairs and they were not happy about that. POOL-The adult only pool where we were at was great- not too loud as the other family areas pools ( it is a big resort- over 900 rooms and 4 or 5 large pool areas!) were very busy and full of activities. Great bar service, towel service and helpful staff were nearby. Our rooms looked out over this area and by 3 pm their swim up bar and activities became quite loud, which was not ideal if you wanted a nap. There were many lounges and no rush to put towels out. Also this area had many umbrellas for shade and a decent bathroom nearby. Some days staff would come by with a toucan or an iguana but you would have to pay to have photos with them. BEACH-We love to walk the beach but there really is not much beach to walk--the photo is misleading as the beach has eroded away considerably to reveal many rocks (several stubbed toes later) and the water was rough and dark and not baby blue at all with rough seaweed, not sand at the bottom in many areas. We did not parasail or use the spa but they were options we were asked each day if we wanted to... The ocean, while we were there, was way too rough for paddle boarding or any other water sports.(red and yellow flags each day) FOOD-We would have our breakfasts at the Blue Moon- Rudy was the BEST server and the breakfasts were always so great!... lunches at the buffet were great too. We were not allowed to book any a la carte as we did not pay for the "privilege" upgrade which meant we had to show up and just hope for an open table or stand in line for a buzzer and continue to wait. This was frustrating as it was a high season and the resort was very full. Some of our favourites aside from the Blue moon- Mikes coffee, great place to have a morning or mid afternoon java, Route 66 had good wings, the Creperie was also a tasty stop. Pezvalas, the west indies restaurant was also a pleasant surprise. Our daughter is vegetarian and there were few a la carte options, however they are very diligent about asking about food allergies and if still hungry she could always find great food at the buffet. SITE- We would also go to the piano bar in the lobby for a beverage or two after dinner or find a seat just outside in the courtyard. There was often live music, a dj dance floor or karaoke the couple of nights we hung out there as there were many seating areas. I believe that one night the theatre was open with a Michael Jackson tribute. FYI- There are many wild animals that have become really comfortable with people beside the 3 local cats: the coati,(sort of a cross between a cat and a raccoon-and the monkeys in particular. These monkeys were being fed by kids (it clearly says do not feed the wild animals) and a mom was bit in the arm by a monkey when we were there. Although they are entertaining, they clearly can be aggressive. There is a pedestrian path along the road where these animals hang out in a sort of "sanctuary" and many golf carts to take you from the beach to the lobby as it would be a long way for some. OFF-SITE-It was 40 $ (there and back) for a taxi to Playa del Carmen and we did leave the resort to check it out and stroll down 5th avenue. Be forewarned, the vendors see your bracelet and sort of bug you as you go which was a bit annoying...but we were happy to see the downtown and some artisans alongside the standard stores (like in the mall back home) We considered a trip snorkelling at Isla Mujeres but had done it once before so declined ( 129$ US per person)

Barcelo Maya Tropical: Not a 5 star hotel but solid choice

I feel it would be unfair to be too negative about this hotel given the outstanding work done by the staff. The staff work so hard to keep it spotlessly clean and looking its best. The grounds are meticulously maintained, the pools are probably the cleanest I've seen at any resort (particularly given the number of guests using them) and the staff are attentive and eager to please. The food is meh at best. The buffets provide a huge variety of options and they work hard at it, but nothing taste [... read more]s good enough to finish, let alone go back for seconds. The a la carte restaurants are definitely better, but good luck getting a reservation during high season. We rushed straight to guest services when we checked in and could only get reservations for 3 of our 7 nights and only at 8:30pm or later! Needless to say, we never wanted to set foot at that buffet again. Overall we enjoyed our stay, but what disappointed us most was the extra charge for almost everything, which should not be the case at an all-inclusive. For example, charging for mini-golf after 5pm?? They have a huge TV with video games...for rent!! What is the cost to the hotel? Same goes with the water park, bowling, surfing activity, room service. I've never seen anything like that and we have stayed at numerous all-inclusives.

Platinum Yucatan Princess: Average vacation and experience.

The location of the hotel is fine. Not too far from Playa. The hotel provides a cheap transfer to Playa, with no need to take an expensive taxi. This is the only plus to this hotel. The beach is awful. The sand part of the beach is short and narrow. The sea is warm, but no chance you can swim there. The sea bottom is shallow and very rocky. If you don't have swimming slippers, you can't get into deep water to swim. So disappointing! The hotel is hiding this information (of course). Room service  [... read more]is satisfactory. If you leave small tips, you will get the best possible cleaning. Service in restaurants... It doesn't matter if you give tips or not, you will not get any good service. The food variety is similar every day. The cooks in specialized restaurants have no idea what Italian food means or Asian. To be honest, the asking price is way too high for this resort. I won't go back. I know exactly that I can get a much better experience somewhere else in Riviera Maya.

Ocean Maya Royale: Great food, pool, and staff!

I chose this resort partly because of the numerous reviews by folks saying they had been multiple times. After a week at the Ocean Maya Royale, I can see why! It felt like a solid four star resort - we stayed in one of the villas and had a small balcony. Rooms were clean and modern. Food was great, especially at El Charro near the pool. Loved the cafe as well and the French restaurant was surprisingly good. The crowd was a bit older (mostly couples in their 40s/50s) so the vibe was very mellow [... read more]. Staff were very friendly and respectful. The beach isn't great but you can walk down the beach to a fresh water lagoon that's worth taking a look at. The perfect getaway to relax and restore.

Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa: Lots of Pools

Overall a nice resort, but I wouldn't go back. It has lots of pools scattered throughout, and very big with a nice boardwalk with gorgeous hammocks. Rooms are spacious too. They don't have a good restaurant system, entertainment is lacking for the size of the resort, and good luck finding anything to eat after 10 pm, unless you order the very limited options from room service. Most mornings it was hit and miss getting coffee poured at the buffet, but buffet food was good.

Dreams Natura Resort and Spa: Very pleasant resort close to the airport

We stayed at Dreams Riviera at the end of Dec '22 and we liked the place. The double junior suite was clean and comfortable with the spacious balcony facing the ocean and the central courtyard. The courtyard was green, nicely lay-outed and perfectly maintained, the beach was spacious and seaweed was under control. We ate breakfasts and lunches at the big buffet, on the pleasant, sea-facing patio. The food was plentiful and mostly good (we loved the fresh breads). Can't comment on the room se [... read more]rvice because we much preferred the restaurants, especially the Bordeaux (the steak!), The Asian and the Italian places were also good. Less so the Mexican (too big servings) and the best located Grill but that's our opinion. Unlike some of the comments, we didn't notice any smell from decomposing swamp plants, there were zero mosquitoes, the service was helpful and friendly. Mind you, if you want to venture outside, this is not the place for you as it is cut off from the road by the vast swamps extending to the Hwy 307 and the access to this and the neighboring resort is surprisingly bad, along the narrow, busy road used by workers, delivery tracks and tour buses with cars parked along the way. On the other hand the proximity to the airport is a bonus considering the monstrous traffic jams around Cancun. Overall we would recommend it as a family place for 4-7 days visits.

Barcelo Maya Tropical: Very Good Resort

Stayed at the Junior Suite Ocean Front Premium level for one week, Dec 24 - 31, 2022. Almost everything deserves excellent marks: resorts grounds, hotel room, restaurants, buffets, amenities, tennis courts etc. Probably just the beach is a bit rocky for your bare feet in the water. Though I have one complain but it goes to the transportation company BD Expirience or WestJet since it's the vacation provider. I had a round trip private transfer between the resort and Cancun airport. My WestJet re [... read more]turn flight was delayed for about 1 hour and BD Experience refused to move the pickup time which was already scheduled more than 5 hours before the flight. Way too earlier in my opinion. I called to BD Experience at 8am, two hours before the pickup. They said it's too late to change the time. But how could I call them earlier if WestJet announced the delay during the night at 3am? Also I would expect that BD Experience would know about the delay and rescheduled the pickup time by themselves accordingly since they knew about my flight. As the result the driver picked me up at 10am as scheduled, I was at the airport at 11am and the flight departed at 4:45pm (original time 3:25pm). I spent almost 6 hours at the airport. So the private transfer was just waste of money on the way back.