Ocean Riviera Paradise: Wonderful Resort

A beautifully kept and sprawling family/adults only resort. This resort incorporates everything one requires to have a great stay. The rooms are spacious and clean. The staff pleasant and accommodating. Our hope is return again.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Clean & Great Food

Thoroughly enjoyed our relaxing week. The resort was well laid out with pool options for everyone's wishes.The rooms were up to date, clean, daily stocked fridge and had the most comfortable mattress. The food was very good and with several restaurant options in addition to the buffet, with only one a la carte that required a booking, the Japanese teppanyaki due to 'show' times. The only shortfall was the arrival package that should have had a full colour facility map (received a black & white c [... read more]opy that was so reproduced that it was unclear) and towel cards. Even when we discovered the need for towel cards at the pool, we had to trek back to the front desk only to wait for the towel hut to bring some up to the front desk for distribution. All in all, I would definitely entertain a re-visit to this resort!!

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great relaxing holiday!

The beach at the Barcelo Maya Grand complex is HUGE! We never had a problem finding a lounge in either the sun or the shade. There are some hidden rocky areas entering/exiting the ocean so use caution and watch where you’re walking. Alcohol isn’t available in the morning so it was disappointing to miss out on mimosas and coffee with Bailey’s at breakfast. We found that the Colonial/Tropical buffet was better than Caribe buffet for breakfast. There was always something to satisfy  [... read more]for lunch at Mariachi or Captain Morgan beach/pool buffets. We ate dinner at 5 of the a la carte restaurants (Mexico Lindo, Santa Fe, La Trattoria, Kyoto, Mare Nostrum). Our favourite was Santa Fe (steakhouse/meat) – the beef tenderloin was DELICIOUS! Our least favourite was La Trattoria (Italian) – the same disappointing, paper-thin crust pizza served at the buffet. We also really enjoyed the wings, ribs, jalapeno poppers and mozzarella sticks at Strikers. Service at the restaurants was prompt. Drink service at the bars was sometimes slow when only one bartender was working. Theatre shows were OK – we only attended two (Michael Jackson & Magic/Circus) as the theme of the other shows didn’t appeal to us. Something this complex lacks is LIVE entertainment. There are two piano bars (Colonial and Beach) where a pianist played two sets at night (7:30-8:15pm and 11:15pm-midnight) – we saw posters for 3 different pianists during our one week stay. Aside from that, there was very little going on in the evening – no singers or instrumentalists in the lobbies, no mariachi band at the Mexican a la carte, etc. The “live DJ show” at the mall wasted a stage that would have better suited a full band. For being such a large resort, we found it was surprisingly compact and easily walkable from Beach to Tropical (we have no mobility issues and enjoy the exercise). I would recommend this resort.

Barcelo Maya Palace: Quality is slipping

Rooms, grounds, general upkeep, pool areas, impeccable! Room fridge restocking was hit and miss, checked in Sunday, fridge not done until Tuesday. Then missed on Friday and Saturday. After checking in, went to guest services to book a la carte meals. The first booking we could get before 9:30 was Thursday, then Friday. As this was our second visit we were not interested in any of the a la cartes at the other resorts. So, we were relegated to eating all other meals at the buffet.  [... read more] Hot food should be hot, cold food cold. The only hot food was if you got it directly off the grill. Most was room temperature. The staff everywhere were excellent. Well, the front desk staff had their moments. Ask a question and you could get as many answers as was behind the counter. Beach is hard. Snorkeling is fair, silt gets stirred up. Many people drift up from other resorts, and take up space at the Palace. Lots of walking! Used the coffee the first day. Never replaced! Had to drink it black. No sugar or (ick) whitener.

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Amazing!

This was my third trip to this resort. We love the staff. They made us feel very welcomed and safe. Grounds are so clean. Food was great. Water sports fun. Waitresses and bartenders were fantastic. Our room was always well stocked. Room service was fast and delicious and the concierge/butlers were great. The infinity pool is beautiful but freezing cold (probably my only complaint). I will return!

Barcelo Maya Palace: Great place (some issues)

So we were returning for our second visit and were absolutely floored that the resort group (Barcelo) does not recognize returning guests as loyal unless booked via their own system. Shameful way to operate. More or less threatened to not lose our towel cards or get “fined”$25 USD but the funny thing is they don’t use the cards and the staff collect towels right off loungers starting at 2:30 pm daily. Told we couldn’t have a king bed unless we wanted to “be out by the road” due to re [... read more]novations, when in fact there were no renovations underway as proven to us by an on-site customer service person stationed in the hallways of the room blocks. Buffet food in trays was usually cold. My brother an experienced chef showed me why. They place dry food in trays on hot bricks with no overhead heat and upon questioning they are allowed to leave food on the buffet for two hours before changing. The staff beyond the front desk are amazing, the beach is great, the bars are superior. We arrived Sunday and at 1 pm we attempted to make a la carte reservations and could only get seats for 3 on Thursday and Friday unless we wanted to eat at 9pm or later. Being two diabetics we need to eat at regular hours so we were not pleased with this. Given the fact the resort was very lightly booked it should not have been an issue. However we learned that the AO (Riviera) folks seem to get priority bookings at the Palace. The fridge (minor) was not stocked at all upon check in and took two days and 50 pesos to get that taken care of. Turn down service happened once in 6 nights so maybe we weren’t supposed to get it at all. Oh well I know how to turn down a comforter. Cleaning was spot on, rooms was always very clean. TV if required is limited but again that’s not why we go south. Sunwing rep chastised us heavily for not taking in the speech, and threatened us with not getting a ride to the airport because we checked in Tuesday versus Monday, then she wasn’t even there on Saturday when she told us to come back and confirm our private transfer. Her replacement got angry because we did not have our booking number and told us to go get it because they can’t “simply look you up” in their system. Great system Sunwing has, if in fact that was true. Then he told us what time and we called ourselves to confirm and got a later time so we believe he did it intentionally. To summarize, I would return to the Palace but expect Barcelo group to treat returning customers better.

Barcelo Maya Riviera: Staff so friendly

We thought the food and ambiance was amazing in the restaurants and staff kept everything so clean. Loved the king size bed and jacuzzi tub on balcony. Would definitely consider going again. It was environmentally friendly where one switch would turn off all the lights to save energy

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Awesome resort

5 star hotel all the way. Staff is the best. So many and so nice. Could not have asked for a better holiday. I would go again in a heartbeat. Loved it from booking with tripcentral.ca and Cindy to our host Sylvan at air Transat at the resort. Everything was good.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Superb Resort!

The Ocean Riveria Paradise resort was great! super clean, lots of fun stuff to do and so many different restaurants we were never bored. The beach is beautiful and bars were a plenty. I would recommend this resort to anyone who likes sun, fun and palm trees!

Barcelo Maya Palace: Super séjour au Barcelo Palace

Nous y étions du 11 au 18 janvier dernier, moi, mon conjoint et notre garçon de 3 ans. Notre séjour fut plus qu'agréable: tout est propre, excellente nourriture au Buffet, l'aménagement paysager impeccable, beaucoup d'espace sur la plage, même si il faut faire attention aux roches à l'entrée de l'eau. Je recommanderais sans hésiter cet établissement. Les employés sont tous très aimables. Toutefois, le seul bémol est que nous n'avons pas eu la chambre que nous avions demandée lor [... read more]s de la réservation. Ceci est mon 10 ieme voyage dans les Caraïbes et c'est la première fois qu''un hôtel ne peut respecter notre demande ( nous voulions une chambre avec lit King et avons eu deux lits doubles) Je crois que cela est dû au fait que l’hôtel était en forte demande et très achalandé lors de notre séjour. Pour cette raison, je vais certainement considérer aller sur au autre site de Barcelo, soit le Barcelo Colonial ou Tropical,aussi beaux et merveilleux mais qui semblait plus tranquille.

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great week in Mexico

First off, I usually never would visit the same resort twice. But this place made me want to go back again next year. Rooms were clean, Food was really good, but could be served at a warmer temperature. Would be my only complaint on food. The wait staff were top notch. Resort grounds were beautiful, Beach was always kept super clean. One of the best trips we have had.

Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya: Excellent Resort

Everything about this resort was excellent from the moment we arrived in the breathtaking lobby. The room, grounds and restaurants were all beautiful and the food was very good. It had a pool for people who wanted a lot of activity as well as a pool for those who wanted a more peaceful experience. The beach was also very nice, although it could get a bit busy as the day went on since it is a public beach. What really stood out was the service of those who worked there. Every employee we encount [... read more]ered were so friendly and helpful and went above and beyond to make your experience a pleasant one. While this resort was a bit further from the airport (hour and half), it was absolutely worth it and we wouldn’t hesitate to book again!

Dreams Riviera Cancun: One of the best I have been at.

Loved the size not to big. Everything close. Very clean and great staff. A great variety of food at buffet with great service. Being close to the airport is one of the reasons we chose it. The fact that the children were not allowed in the hot tub was disappointing. It was a cool week and every time they went a staff member would ask them to leave. These kids were raised with a hot tub at home so with adult supervision the hotel should allow children access to it.

Ventus at Marina El Cid Spa and Beach Resort: A notch above the rest!

This place can only be experienced and no words can give it any justification. Simply irresistible. Our second time there, and we will be back many more over the next 30 years! The hotel is spotless, and people are continuously cleaning, meticulously. Fresh paint is being applied over top of what already seemed to be freshly painted. The restaurants offer up some of the best food in the Caribbean, of note, the red tuna sashimi in the Mediterranean restaurant, the clam chowder in the Itali [... read more]an restaurant, and the beef medallions in the French restaurant. The infinity pool is heated and overlooks the Caribbean Sea. The staff work so hard to ensure your stay is second to none. Can't say enough really!!!!

Catalonia Riviera Maya: Pretty grounds

The facade of the resort was ok, however it caters to the "privileged guests" Everywhere you went from the ala carte diners to the beach, the privileged were treated better. On the beach and in the pool area there were signs clearly posted that patrons were not to reserve chairs. That's a joke. Every chair is held by 10am, and many are left without one. Wonder why there are more guests than chairs? Our room was only cleaned 2x. Were there for 5 nights. We left out our tablet to charge..appare [... read more]ntly that was the reason. The toilet seat was only held on by 1 bolt. Never fixed. Overspray from painting evident and black hand prints were just left...no effort to clean it. I guess because we are not "privileged "

Hotel Xcaret Mexico: Fabulous Resort

This resort is absolutely stunning. ALL the staff at Hotel Xcaret are absolutely amazing going above and beyond to ensure you have an enjoyable and memorable stay. My husband is able to walk only short distances so we took a wheelchair to help him get about the resort. There were areas we didn't think we could access but when we asked the concierge employees they were very helpful. My husband wanted to go up to see the chapel but there were alot of hills and it was a distance from the main b [... read more]uilding. We asked the concierge manager about an alternate way there and although there wasn't one, he had one of the bellboys accompany us pushing the wheelchair up the hills and up some of the walkway to the chapel. (elevator took us most of the way up). We had booked Las Cuevos for my birthday dinner before arriving so were unaware that it was located on the beach again with no way to access by wheelchair. One of the security guards pushed him in the chair to a location where there was a flight of stairs he could descend. Throughout our stay staff was always assisting with meeting his need with the wheelchair. One of the waiters told us there was a way down to the lagoon beach area via one of the casas and then a tunnel. He asked one of the concierge near the infinity pool to show us how to get there. This was incredibly important to my husband as it was partly because of the rivers that we booked this resort. Overall it is a great resort and as stated earlier the staff are fantastic.

Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Great Family Resort

The hotel is a bit out dated but all in all it was great for families. The resort was clean and lots of things for the kids too do. Great options at the Buffets but the food could be a lot warmer was cold by the time you got back to the table. The transportation to and from the resort was luxurious Staff was not the friendliness as I have seen before except the pool area the staff there was amazing. Lots of fun activities for the kids. The main pool could be bigger

Catalonia Riviera Maya: Great location in Puerto Aventuras

The resort is located in an area that feels safe. The swimming pools, swim up bar and grounds are very nicely maintained. But the actual hotel could use some upgrades and the buffet restaurants are sub standard to every 'all inclusive' we have enjoyed for the past 15 years. The buffet food was the same almost every day and although there were stations of food they were limited. And the restaurants to book were not available until too late each day when travelling with kids. Making a reser [... read more]vation for the Riviera Maya did not provide rooms in that hotel but next door at the sister hotel and were low end rooms and bathrooms and beds & bedding. We left the hotel several times to eat outside of the hotel.

Ocean Coral Riviera Cancun: clean hotel, food good not exceptional

Staff - very friendly One day there was construction in morning and it disturbed our sleep. This went on for a few hours Bell servers very accommodating - Carlos provided exceptional service did not go on any excursions but did visit Playa delCarmen for a few hours. the food was better outside of the hotel

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: An excellent resort

The food was outstanding and service was always great. The format of the resort was nicely laid out. Plenty of room by the pools and a nice beach area close to the bars, bathrooms and restaurant. There was great entertainment every night.