Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: 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.

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Best trip yet

Luxury Bahia Principe Akumal is the best resort we have been to. The place is gorgeous and clean and staff are amazing. We didn’t have to ask for anything, they were asking us. Customer service above and beyond. And yes the food was amazing as well. 1-5 rating a 5+++ And thank you Tanya Smith for helping us with this.

Iberostar Selection Paraiso Lindo: Fantastic Family Resort

This is a fantastic family resort. Friendly staff clean facilities, amazing food. There is so much to do on the resort that everyday there is something new to discover. Definitely reccomend for any family.

Royal Hideaway Playacar: Spectacular resort and service

We loved the property, the service, the staff, the food.....all of it! It was so well maintained, staff always cleaning the property. We actually had no idea it was one of the Leading Hotels in the World, and were very pleasantly surprised. It was a perfect vacation, and we intend to come back soon! Thank you so very much.

Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa: Great for families but with caveats!

Family of 5. Teen, tween and child. Flew Sunwing, stayed for a week. I'll start with the caveats: At the airport, make sure you sit right at the front of the bus. If you're not, check-in will take a long while and you may not get the room you requested. For us it was great since we were first on the bus and first to check in. Others weren't so lucky. Caveat: Don't lose your bracelet. It contains a chip to unlock the door to your room. 100US to replace. Caveat: Like most all inclusive re [... read more]sorts, they'll ask you to join a Sunwing rep for a presentation regarding "joining" the club. First off, the tactics used to entice you to the presentation are misleading. Second, unless you're ready to throw down thousands of dollars to join a quasi "timeshare", don't waste your 90 minutes. Caveat: Reserving pool loungers. The resort claims not to allow this. Far from it! We had to "reserve" our chairs as early as 7am to beat the madness of everyone else reserving loungers. Worst part is some people would reserve loungers and show up for 10 minutes only to disappear for the rest of the day. Staff not much help here. Caveat: If you're a beach person DO NOT COME TO THIS HOTEL unless you're prepared to swim with seaweed. The Sand itself is beautiful until you approach the water. Apparently they hired a company to clean the seaweed on the beach and you can see the little tractor cleaning up everyday however it's been an ongoing issue for years now. The water is murky and brown unless you get lucky with a day without wind which is rare. Caveat: Reserving restaurants... Forget about it unless you're diamond club or from hideaway resort. If not, you need to show up at 6pm (there's usually a lineup) to get a table for any time before 8pm. Guaranteed frustrations there. That goes for all restaurants except for Zen where you can reserve but you have to show up around 230pm to wait in line until they start reserving at 3pm for either 630pm, 8pm or 930 pm. Crazy system! Caveat: The wait staff makes an average of 150 dollars a month so they depend on tips. If you don't tip, you don't get served. Simple... Btw if you like coffee, imo Mexican coffee is not that good. Stick to the cappuccino. Ok now the good stuff Restaurants! Steak House by far the best. Steaks cooked perfectly, and very flavorful. The entire menu was delicious. Italian, Indian, sports base triedand Caribbean are good. Once you get into the restaurants you'll definitely enjoy and service is great as well. Zen is Japanese Teppanyaki and is fantastic. Great food, great entertainment. A definite must. Buffet is buffet. Different varieties, good service but pretty repetitive. Pools are great. Kids pool is fantastic with a whole bunch of things for children. Activities in all pools are great as well. Grounds are very well kept and the hotel and rooms are newer and well maintained. Kids club was great for our youngest for couple hours a day. Kept him well entertained. Take lots of sunscreen please!!!!!! Sun is very hot and we've seen our share of "tomatoes". Overall, this is a good very large family hotel. You'll definitely enjoy! We've been to both Royaltons in Jamaica and Punta Cana. I would rank this in the middle of the group.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: 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.

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Awesome resort!

This resort is a foodie’s paradise! The resort was clean and the staff were eager to please. They made my stay very comfortable. The special touch in my room to help me celebrate my birthday was very touching! I felt safe Had a great time and would dedenitly go back!

Iberostar Selection Paraiso Lindo: Amazing resort

Beautiful grounds, stunning beach, excellent food and the service was stellar. Rooms were very comfortable and well situated with the pools and beach close by. The quality of the food as well as the abundant choice of restaurants and buffets along with the 24 hour cafes and ice cream and crepe place just added to the amazing experience.Amazing holiday and would definitely go back to this wonderful resort, Iberostar Paraiso Lindo.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: 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.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: 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.

Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach: Great resort for kids

Hotel was great. So many options/activities for the children. They were very impressed with the Star Camp, pools and beach. They also enjoyed the play structure and carousel in the evenings. Grand kids were very impressed with the breakfast buffet. While it is a huge resort, there were carts constantly circling to get you from one end to the other if required. We ordered and paid for an upgrade for a birthday party celebration and everything was well received. While most of the service st [... read more]aff could speak some English, answering any questions requiring details for the answer was often a challenge. The staff work very hard. We would return.

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Great Resort

The resort was amazing. The food was great, clean rooms and staff was very friendly and helpful. We would go back and stay here. We enjoyed it very much. There is so much to do here, you don’t have to leave the resort to have a lot of fun.

Grand Riviera Princess: Great resort for the whole family!

This resort is massive! With four hotels in one, it’s no wonder the resort in so large. However, there are shuttles every 15 minutes to take you where you need to go (beach, lobby, etc.). Food was fantastic and consistent in all restaurants. Lots of activities that will keep the whole family busy! This is my second visit to the Grand Princess and I have referred many close friends to this resort as well and they loved it!

Sandos Playacar Beach Resort: Great Resort

We stayed for a week at this resort over March Break. It was clean and eco-friendly. We had issues the first morning with our shower and our toilet but they were quick to respond and resolve with no further issues. There is an opening with shutters from the bathroom into the bedroom which is inconvenient but not a deal breaker. You couldn't see through but the light shone through from the bath to the bedroom which is disruptive at night. Lots of choices for restaurants so we could eat at a  [... read more]different place daily and the food was quite good with lots of healthy options. Staff were all friendly, no matter who it was, everyone said hello. The attempt to sell you on the Royal Elite program was a nuisance but I gather happens at all resorts. Overall a great week!

Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun: Totally over the top

This was our eighth Mexican all inclusive. Secrets Maroma was the best we have stayed in to date. The room was beautiful, the ground wonderfully kept. The best part was the service. When you go to the pool in the morning, the pool concierge greets you, and finds you loungers and puts towels on them, and up goes the umbrella, if you wish. This is the same if you go to the beach. Cold water handed to you right away. The pool bar servers are always around to bring you anything you want, including [... read more] food if you wanted. The entertainment staff was excellent. We really enjoyed all the shows. So many fun activities all day long. The a la carte restaurants were wonderful. We really enjoyed the buffets also. All in all the best holiday to date.

Grand Oasis Riviera: Little too quiet but beautiful spot

Far from airport. Was very quiétude during pour stay. Would have appreciate music and animation during the Day. Didn't Read Much before last minute booking. Good food. Loved the beach. Pictures let us think we would have access to the Sian Khan hôtel next door which wasn't the case... Little disappointed but well rested.

Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach: Great resort

Had a great week in Mexico. The staff at the resort were amazing. Some even remembered us from our last visit to the resort 4 years ago. Well be going back again next year with a bigger group. The kids area is amazing as well.

Hotel Xcaret Mexico: Best resort ever!

This was my second visit to this resort and incredibly it was even more amazing than the first time. The resort is stunning, nature based and set in the jungle amongst rivers. The rooms are well appointed and have amazing showers. The food, the service, the parks are all top notch.

Barcelo Maya Colonial: It was okay.

It has become very commercialized since we were there 3 yrs ago. At that time it was a great small resort. That is why we have come back 6 times. They put us in the wrong resort when we got there and it took 2 days before we were put in the resort I paid for. As far as a welcome pkg which I also paid for, it did not show up for 4 days and that was with a daily reminder to the people at Transat. It took 4 different people and 4 days to get what I paid for. The food in the resort was good and  [... read more]the staff as always are very pleasant and helpful. I do not think we will go back there because this past trip felt like a fight trip with the hotel and not the relaxing vacation I am use to having when at the Barcelo.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: 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.