Royalton Hideaway Riviera Cancun: Overall ok but....!

Basics of food, entertainment, service, and room were pretty good. Beach is covered in seaweed and staff could not come close to keeping up its removal. Water is churned and brown ....we did not enter the sea....we just walked the seaweed beach. Giant resort being built next door...at the concrete pouring stage. Royalton owns and promotes a "diamond club". It is sort of a timeshare and there is sales pressure throughout the resort. We went to nexus to book an excursion and there was a roy [... read more]alton rep right outside offering the same excurrsion for $100 less...if we went on a timeshare promotion. Another employee told me the house wine "tasted like shit" when trying to sell a wine upgrade package. Could not get a glass of wine on room service. You must carry your own up in a cup from a bar. Booking a dinner reservation at the Japanese restaurant was a joke. Must be same day starting at 3 pm. It was lined up and full by 3:06. Complete waste of time. Butlers are salespersons and cant help with reservations or much else. Clearly, these were annoyances to me but we still had a good time and ate well

Iberostar Selection Paraiso Lindo: Absolutely Gorgeous

This resort was one of the nicest places that my wife and I have been to. The grounds were impeccable. The service and the people delivering the service were a 10 out of 10. We have travelled all over the world, and finally found a place that we will be returning to at least once a year. The food was great and just as it should be for a place of this caliber. The weather was just what we had ordered, sun and blue skies every day. WE WILL BE BACK.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: FANTASTIC RESORT

THE FOOD WAS EXCELLENT THE ROOMS WERE SPOTLESS THE GROUNDS WERE VERY CLEAN AND THE PEOPLE WERE VERY FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL CAN'T WAIT TO RETURN. THE DRIVE FROM THE AIRPORT WAS A LITTLE LONG JUST OVER AN HOUR BUT WELL WORTH IT

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Amazing vacation

Perfect weather, great staff, excellent food, beach was great, seaweed but staff clean. Rooms very clean. Did an excursion snorkeling in a cave and then to a sanctuary . Book excursions with travel agent, much cheaper

Generations Riviera Maya: Overall Not Up to Expectations

To provide some context for this review, our family has been to five resorts, and our most recent three trips have been to the Mayan Riviera. For the past three years, we have visited the Azul Beach Resort, also a Karisma property. Overall, we were far less impressed with Generations then we have been with Azul Beach Resort. Generations did not meet our expectations given our previous experience with Karisma and especially the very inflated reviews on trip advisor, which I am now quite skepti [... read more]cal of. Pros: The rooms are absolutely gorgeous and have a stunning ocean views. (With the exception of building 18 whose views are blocked by the culinary tower). The entertainment staff are to be commended. In particular, the Mexican fiesta was the highlight of the trip. Quite frankly, the two ladies who ran the children’s piñata, were incredibly gifted and their love of children was evident. For our money they were the stars of the show! The bubble party was another plus. The pool bartenders were for the most part attentive, and the beach butlers were exceptional. The wait staff at Palm’s were the most friendly and attentive. The full length pool, while chilly, was a lot of fun and bouncy play structure a great feature. Cons: In no way is the food “gourmet”! Its quality and presentation was much less than we have experienced at Azul Beach Resort and the other resorts in the Mayan Riviera. The chef market is not open for dinner, and if you, like we, enjoy eating breakfast outside forget it! This was an option only on the first day and never again. When I asked why, the hostess at the Chef’s Market ignored my question. Instead we opted for room service, eating breakfast on our balcony. The quality was at best, OK. As pictured, one morning, instead of hash browns we were served what appear to be yesterday’s fries. My daughter and I also ordered cookies and milk nightly from room service. Only once did tasty cookies appear. The rest of the time it was packaged biscuits and once even corn bread! There are three main restaurants for dinner but only two of these are open each day. In sum, by no stretch of the imagination was there that type of choice or quality of food to which we have become accustomed at other resorts. The so-called butler service was anything but. Really all they did was try to sell us time shares, to set up a beach bed one day, and restock our fridge with water. (The bar fridge was not replenished during our week stay.) While there are many beach beds, only a few are shaded, and one morning I noticed butlers placing tee shirts, presumably to hold these beds for other guests to whom they were going to try to sell timeshares. I took a photo of this. The policy says “no reserving beds” but despite this there was the ubiquitous odious American woman who claimed five beds for her extended family one day! Entertainment started too late: 9pm for any of the shows except the fiesta and fire show. The cleaning staff were quite loud in the adjacent rooms, for travellers with toddlers, can screw up naps. We had trouble with the lock in our room not working, and this took two and a half days to resolve. Before dinner, the light on the lock was solid red and would not read our card. Some security guard came and fiddled with the lock and let us in. We attempted to verify that the lock was now working. Returning to our room after dinner, the light on the lock was again solid red and would not read our card. It was our toddler’s bedtime. This time two security guards came to fiddle with the lock and preceded to spend an hour and half trying to fix it to no avail while telling us, “just five more minutes”. Finally, I had to kick them out and tell them to come back tomorrow. By this time of course our toddler’s bedtime was shot and as a result we had a sleepless night. The next day the lock was finally fixed. While this can happen understandably at any place how it was dealt with it was nothing more than a comedy of errors. As other reviewers have commented, the beach was not very good. In conclusion, despite wanting to love this resort, Generations Rivera Maya was a letdown. As another guest commented to me while we were there, “At Generations they seem to say ‘No’ a lot”. Definitely not worth the added expense! We had a good week but next time we will give another resort a try.

Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Great for kids

This was the first time I stayed at this resort, and I chose it for my son's 8th birthday and I have the following pros and cons Pro - Clean resort - Able to see a variety of animals ( monkeys, peacocks, coaties, iguanas) - Great service - very small language barrier - Always pool chairs available - Lots to do on resort ( segway tour, snorkling in the cenote) - Water park Cons - Large resort with lots of walking - Extremely rocky in the ocean - I had money stolen from my bag in [... read more] my room - I didnt find the nightly shows entertaining at all. My 7 year old son asked to leave 5/7 of the shows - Not much selection on buffet Overall I think it was a good resort, but will not be returning

Grand Sunset Princess: Great resort

The grounds where very clean. Buffet was good but a la carte restaurant not so much. The staff was very friendly and helpful and the server very good. The rooms were clean daily. Overall a good resort I would go again.

Hotel Xcaret Mexico: Amazing Resort

The resort was stunning, the service was very good. Some language barriers , but nothing huge. The food was excellent. This resort defiantly puts a new spin on traveling to Mexico!! The parks were filled with amazing things to see and do.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: Great time!

Everything was great, staff is attentive, service is great, food as well. Was always too cold in the room though, could not control temperature....? Beach was nice although too many seaweeds due to high winds and waves....out of hôtels control. It was my first time in Mexico and not the last, rained for approx. 3 mins in 7 days... A la carte restaurants were amazing.... Beware of merchants outside of airport taking advantage of people who are not yet aware or councious of exchange rate.... [... read more]ended up paying $20 for a beer and bottle of water.....ignorance is bliss for some, expensive for others.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Incredible Resort

My first large resort and I loved it. So much to do we didn't even do an excursion. Fully entertained and considering there were two days the resort was at capacity 2300; you didn't even feel it. Nothing was too crowded as there are 5 pools and so much to do. Loved the lil shops; loved the panio bar at night. The evening shows were so well done and produced and costumes were amazing. Every al cart restaurant was beyond yummy and plenty and devine. The butler service was suff [... read more]icient; they were very busy and not always available but we were patient. The mattress in the privileged rooms was the most comfortable I've EVER slept on. I'd love to know the make. The eco friend animals were an amazing touch. the sports and entertainment staff around the pools could not have been more friend and outgoing and entertaining. I just can't say enough. The grounds are incredibly clean and maintained and just transform over night every night. The staff and there has to be so many "overnight" are incredible.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Excellent Family Friendly Resort!

Our family had an awesome time here. The food was excellent and we were blessed by great weather. The room was clean and modern and we loved the hanging basket chair on every balcony. The setup at the beach was great but actual beach was not the best, not really suited for swimming in or snorkelling if you are into that. The awesome pools more than made up for that though. Would definitely return.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Home away from home

This was our 4th time at Blue Bay. This resort never disappoints we absolutely love everything about it. We had no complaints from start to finish they were very accommodating. Service from house keeping to bar tenders fantastik. We cant wait to go back again in November.

Catalonia Riviera Maya: Catalonia Riveria Mya

Hotel for the most part is good but nothing better than a 4-star. Staff are friendly but rarely know a SINGLE word of English (other than the front desk and concierge staff). Food is good but variety other than 6 ways to make eggs Spanish-style and the like makes it difficult to say that the food variety is good. The food also lacks taste. The resort so desperately needs a chef to teach all of the cooks how to cook with flavor! Pools are good but the activity staff, again, speak no English  [... read more]so more than 60% of the guests don't participate in anything b/c they have no idea of what's being said.

Grand Sunset Princess: Great resort

Our stay here is was great. Travelled as a family with our 2 sons 18 and 19. We wanted a larger resort with lots of things to do as we were travelling with teenagers/young adults. There were lots for them to do but plenty of pools and beach chairs to choose from if we wanted a quieter spot.

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Excellent

We stayed at the Akumal in the Adults only section. It was right on the beach. The room was spacious with a partial view of the ocean. The room was thoroughly cleaned daily. In fact, I have never stayed at a resort where the maid service was so thorough. The food was absolutely delicious. It is nice to have the private buffet at the adults only section for breakfast and lunch. It looks out over the water. The selection was very good, replenished regularly and it is not overwhelming as a  [... read more]regular buffet can be. We had an a la carte each evening and all were very good. The beach sand is made from coral, so don't expect the soft sand of other areas. Water shoes would be an asset. There are lots of beach chairs and palapas. The resort is very large, but transportation to other areas for the evening meals is very easy.

Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Perfect Family Resort

The resort in a whole is amazing, but very big. So much for kids to see and do between the water park, the beach, the pools, just even general activities like walking or biking the trails! Animals everywhere! I would highly recommend this resort for families. We went with my daughter and grandson and it was definitely worth the experience. Since we are a couple in our mid fifties I doubt we would return as just a couple. The ala carts were good but the buffet was a little repetitive. However tha [... read more]t being said we never left hungry. Staff very friendly and attentive. Oh and the beds and pillows were probably the most comfortable out of any all inclusive we have stayed at in the last 10 yrs!

Dreams Jade Resort and Spa: Nice, comfortable resort

We really enjoyed this resort. Everything is centrally located and easy to walk to. The food was excellent. The best food and wine we've had at any resort. Service was always excellent, including pool & beach service. Rooms are spacious and beds are comfortable and resort is kept clean. The only thing lacking is a quiet pool.

Barcelo Maya Caribe: Bad time to stay at this resort!

The hotel and beach are lovely and the food was excellent. Our first 2 days were wonderful at the hotel , and then guests started to arrive for a 3 night Phish concert that was held at the hotel . There were people using drugs in public places all over the resort during the day , and we were kept awake with loud parties on the lawn right below us that started around 2 am and went until 6:30 am one night , and 5:30 am the other 2 nights . There were people running around the grounds screaming an [... read more]d banging on doors and we couldn’t call the front desk from our room. Don’t go to this resort while Phish is playing if you want a relaxing holiday or if you are traveling with a young family .

Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya: Excellent resort.

My 7 day stay at Grand Sirenis was a wonderful experience. Everything you could want/expect from an all inclusive resort. The resort has multiple pools (plus the beach) and many poolside chairs so it is not difficult to find a spot either in the sun or in the shade. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, plus most spoke English, French, and of course Spanish so no translation issues whatsoever. The rooms are nice with good quality A/C and free wifi which was fairly good speed even at pea [... read more]k hours. The food was by no means amazing but good for all you can eat buffet and available at any hour of the day. The one con was the A la cartes, where the food was not much higher quality than the buffet food. That being said I only visited 4 so I can't speak for all of the restaurants. Overall it was a really good vacation, and I would highly recommend (just remember to pack plenty of sunscreen).

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: A little piece of heaven!

This hotel was amazing! If you’re a nature lover and love to explore, this is your place! Watching the monkeys in the jungle was the highlight of my trip. There is a man made beach which is small but very well maintained. There was a lot of seaweed and beach was unswimmable for 2 days so we used the pools instead which are beautiful. Grounds are spectacular. Loved the buffet at the beach the best. All food was good. Drinks were delicious. Loved the Oriental restaurant. All staff worked very ha [... read more]rd and went out of their way. We’ll be back!