Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Love every minute!

Traveled to Blue Bay Grand Esmerelda for a last minute vacation in early January 2018. Overall we were very happy with the resort and would recommend visiting! Our room was near the back of the resort which meant we had about 10 mins walk to the beach but the plus side is that we were very close to the quieter pool, main buffet, front desk, booking excursions, gym, and a smaller buffet. We requested to move to closer to the beach and the staff was very accommodating, but we ultimately decided to [... read more] stay where we were. The food was amazing and there was no shortage of fresh guac which won me over! We had no trouble getting into any of the a la cartes, very easy to book and all were pretty good. The drinks were great, tons of selection with the option to ask for premium booze. Would highly recommend making the 10 min walk on the beach (to the left) as it leads to a beautiful cenote.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Our fun in the sun

We had a wonderful time at this resort. The room, grounds, washrooms, restaurants all kept very clean. Staff was very friendly, even those that kept trying to get us to sign up for circle one (that part was a little annoying). We had previously been to gourmet resorts so we're determined not to do food comparisons. There was plenty to choose from in the buffets and we enjoyed the A la Carte restaurants. The only thing we didn't like was the inconsistency of the "drinks" and the inconsistency of  [... read more]what their "dress code" was. Example being, my husband wouldn't be accepted in dress shorts, dress shirt, closed toed shoes and had to buy long pants but it was acceptable for others to arrive in torn jeans, tshirts and ball caps! No exaggeration!!! That being said, it would not stop us from returning to this resort. We had so much fun and met a lot of wonderful people!

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: WARNING!! Mexico is DANGEROUS!

I travelled with my 22 yr old daughter to Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda from Dec.24-29. On our second last day she was drugged and taken from our room in the middle of the night! I woke up and she was gone. I believe hotel security tried to cover it up and offered no help. The USA government has posted warning for tourists but the Canadian Government has not. Trip Advisor removes posted reviews that reflect any of the tainted alcohol and drugging incidents. Stay safe and avoid this count [... read more]ry! The drug cartels run the country and law enforcement, so you have no protection. We were lucky and made it out alive and now how safe. I will never travel to Mexico again.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Impressive resort

Just completed a weeks vacation at this resort. Superior room was excellent food was great staff very pleasant and helpful shows were great grounds well kept I would return to this resort and recommend it to others.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: BB has exceeded my expectations

Having only 10 days of my vacation left after a very tumultuous November I wanted some piece of mind to relax alone on a decent and affordable Mayan Riviera resort. It was pretty much the last minute choice through my fave Tripcentral gate. The flight by Air Canada Rouge was smooth, transfer included and short, check in and bell service professional. The layout of the resort is hard to apprehend at first, depends which building you stay at and how late your flight was and how tiered you are. Adv [... read more]ice, just sit down and relax at Black&White bar, pick up your frequent train to the beach area to get acquainted to the resort and the next day you'll walk the rout in 5 min with close eyes. When they finish renovation of a small pull with a bar close to the buildings remote from the beach area (it's almost done) the resort will gain another half of the star. The beach is nice, the bay is a bit shallow, but I've seen much more shallow on PEI :) To cut it up, just wanted to say Thank You Very Much to Martin, who was taking care of my room service, Irma a concierge at Bonampak who has changed my a la Carte reservation in a flip like a magic to SeeFood and have always had a smile I won't forget, and of course Willy, in Di Rossi restaurant - try his grilled mid-rare salmon in cranberry souse prep in red wine. Delicious! Mexican a la carte was awesome too, I forgot the name of the guy, probably too many Don Julios :)... Don't miss Grand Parade on Thursdays, it's like Rio in Mexico! Show cast was awesome, they have some great dancers. I already miss you, guys! Lexa

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Looks good.....

Get comfortable because this review is gonna be thorough description of our stay. My wife and used WestJet to get from Canada to the resort for a 5 day stay. The trip was pleasant and as expected. Upon arrival we were greeted with very friendly desk staff. We were given our wrist bands(lowest tier). They explained everything we needed to know for our stay. One of the concierge told us if we needed anything to let him know (He ask that we look for him specifically). Day 1(1/4day)  [... read more] Hotel staff showed us our standard room and explained the tv wasn't working (not a problem as we don't watch television). I was under the impression from the discription on the website that our room would have a balcony or terrace, however this was not the case as our room had neither. We didn't complain because it was around 7:30pm and we weren't overly concerned about it. Our room also had no chairs to sit on, the bathroom had only one towel and the climate control had one setting(freezing). This also didn't bother us because of the 30°c temperature outside and there was no problem getting another towel. We sat on the bed and enjoyed the two beers that were inside the mini fridge. People we met later in our stay said they were unhappy with their original room and when the complained were upgraded/unhappy again and upgraded again. We left our room and went and enjoyed the buffet. The food was well cooked and presentation was good. We found out the hard way there is no bathrooms in the buffet area. (Bathrooms at the front desk, pool area and our room were about the same distance). We walked around the resort and found the guest and staff to be polite and friendly. We returned to our room and attempted to go to sleep. We could hear the music coming from the entertainment area and people enjoying themselves. Day 2 In the morning (9:30) housekeeping arrived knocked once and came right in. We quickly let them know we were still sleeping. We planned to be out of the room after 10 because that's the time the lunch buffet opens otherwise we would have hung the do not disturb sign(didn't expect housekeeping that early). We left our room around 10:30 without hanging the sign. After lunch/breakfast we went to book dinners at the 3 ala carte restaurants. We asked if it was possible to book more than 3 restaurants(Asian, seafood and steak) but we're told other guests had to have a chance to visit them(fair enough). After this we went to the beach. We were almost immediately greeted by a tour salesperson and a woman who insisted on giving my wife and I one braid in our hair for free(This happened every time we went to the beach throughout our stay by the same people, despite repeatedly rejecting their offers). The beach itself was clean, the water was warm and the view was the best I had ever seen in person, in my life. Also worth a visit, is the snack bar(seafood ala carte at night) at the beach. Good food and a bathroom close to the dining area. For dinner we were booked at the Asian restaurant. This was a pleasant experience. Food was delicious, the presentation was delightful and staff was quick and courteous. We returned to our room to and discovered housekeeping had not returned. Afraid they would wake us up at 9 am we placed the do not disturb sign on the door and fell asleep to music from outside. Day 3 I got up early 5:30 to get a photo of the sunrise at 6 over the ocean. The mosquito are very bad before sunrise but during the day are not bad at all. I returned to my room after I got the picture and went back to sleep. At 9am I woke up to the housekeeping staff yelling at eachother about toilet paper. My wife and I woke up at that time and on our way out I asked housekeeping if we could get another towel and gave them the room number. They seemed to understand. We went to the breakfast buffet. We were greeted at the door with a tasty breakfast shot. The breakfast buffet was average but there was no bacon. This was the only day we went to the breakfast buffet so I'm not sure if this was normal or if I just got unlucky. This day we spent most of the time in the pool enjoying the swim up bar. I was drinking the cocktail of the week called an ice tea. This drink looked like a sunset in the photo and when made by the right bartender tasted delicious and looked like the photo. Unfortunately there were some bartenders who for some reason claimed they don't make it or couldn't make it properly. For these bartenders I would just order a beer (Trial and error). Dinner was at the seafood restaurant. Everything I tried was delicious and the presentation was good. Staff here was quick and courtesy also. We decided to check out the entertainment with people we had met in the pool that day. The show was very entertaining. During the show wait staff brought us drinks. I was drinking water and after a few rounds the waiter said no water so I ordered a rum and coke. They returned with a rum and diet cola. We finished our drinks and returned to our room at around 12. We noticed the housekeeping brought us another towel but did not stock the mini fridge (this was not a big deal to us as the resort is all inclusive but still worth mentioning I think). We fell asleep to music from outside. Day 4 6:45am we are awakened by maintenance staff knocking on the room across from ours and started using tools on the door banging and scratching at the door. I asked that he return in a couple hours. At 8:30 he returned again and began working untill around 9. My wifeand i were upset but were determined to have a positive vacation. I attempted to use the tv and found that it was working. We watched TV untill 10 and went to the snack bar at the beach. There was an artist there teaching tourist to paint free of charge. My wife partook and painted a beautiful apple. We donated to the artist and bought some of his work. This was our last day so we decided to leave the resort to do a little shopping. We went to the front desk and one of the concierge (different one than the one who asked us to look for him) greeted us. We asked where the shopping off resort was and he pointed us in the right direction(2 minutes walk from the resort). He also put us know if we needed anything to look for him. Just him. Similar to the first concierge. This concierge requested we meet him after shopping so he could show us around the resort (we didn't feel this was necessary). At the shopping area tour sales people try to get you to buy a tour. They are respectful when you just say no thanks. Some of the shops don't have prices so look around at all the shops to find the value of what your looking for. Return to the shops without price tags and you can get souvenirs for a good price. Some shops may try to sell you drugs so be prepared. One shop keeper called me a cheapskate because I knew exactly what I wanted and bartered him to my price. The shopkeeper was very friendly and smiled while calling me this. I had fun. We returned to the resort. That night we went to the steak restaurant. Again the food was delicious and the presentation was good however the wait staff was busy with other guests and we waited a little longer than the other restaurants. We went back to the room and watched a movie before falling asleep to music from outside. Day 5 7am we are again awakened by a car alarm followed by 10 seconds of solid horn from the parking lot. We return to sleep untill 11 undisturbed. Buffet. Checkout and travel home was as expected. Overall I expect if we would have complained earlier we could have got a better location away from the entertainment area. Food and guest services were very good. We still got more sleep for the 5 days than a normal 5 day work week.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Pros and cons

My husband and I travelled November 7 - 17, 2017. Like any resort - there are pros and cons - depending upon what's important to you. Food - 10/10 - amazing food!!! Unlimited a la carte - there are 5 to choose from. The main buffet is clean, great staff service, lots to choose from - even a small gluten free section. Lounge - the a la carte lounge outside the restaurants - lovely to sit out side for a pre or post dinner drink and listen to live music. Great jazz!! Room - 9/10  [... read more]- clean and updated, bed linens changed daily - which feels like a bit of overkill - but I can tell you we appreciated it. Again great staff. Mini fridge restocked daily. Building concierge - 10/10 - Javier - what a great guy - remembered our names from day 1, spoke to us each day in passing - checked in to make sure all was ok. Free Wifi - 8/10 - spotty service, wifi code needed to be renewed about every 3-4 days, not a big deal - they gave out a new one without any questions. Only one free wifi pass per room. There is additional wifi available if needed for I think $3.00 USD/day. Pools - 8/10 - ongoing maintenance. The quiet pool for the first 5 days was awesome - then it went down for maintenance, but by that time another pool was re-opened. The spa and onsite gym looked great - we didn't partake in either. CONS Onsite timeshare sales - they will tell you they aren't timeshare - but they are. We went for the free spa pass - finally walked out after about 3 hours - never did get the free spa pass - didn't really care at that point. I recommend if you are not interested - just say no right up front - waste of a good portion of your day otherwise - and you've already paid for the 'free' breakfast they offer. Beach - 3/10 - not a great beach at all. We didn't go in the water at all. Hotel website - don't take anything on this site as gospel - they advertised free steam sauna - it's $50 USD per visit when you get to the resort. Overall - for us the pros outweighed the cons, we had a relaxing time and ate far too much!

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Can't Wait To Go Back!!

First time in Mexico and the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda really proved to me that I want to go back. The staff were so friendly and helpful. The cleanliness of the rooms, restaurants and even public bathrooms were outstanding - always someone going around picking things up or clearing the table. The grounds of the hotel were so well kept that you never saw garbage laying around and a night the paths were well lit so that you could take a stroll from the B&W bar to the beach and feel safe. My on [... read more]ly caution is that if you get an adjoining room and you don't know the people in that room - change rooms. You truly could hear everything and I mean everything. There were times at 5:30 AM that our neighbor would return with friends and I swore they were in bed with me.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Great resort!

I stayed at this resort with my husband and 2 other couples. We found it very easy to find our way around, the buffet options were great and the staff was amazing!!! We would definitely stay at this location again and would recommend it to friends and family!

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Expectations were exceeded!

My expectations for this resort were not that high after reading a lot of reviews. After spending 10 days there I can certainly recommend that you not listen to a bad word about it. The staff was amazing, the food was plentiful and very tasty - lots of Mexican dishes at every meal. The a la Cartes were wonderful. We did not spend a lot of time on the beach, so the seaweed problem didn't affect our enjoyment of the resort. The smaller pool could use some maintenance - loose / missing tiles, and s [... read more]eemed to be an issue with the water circulating through the pool. The far end near the towel hut seemed to always have a sunscreen slick floating on top. The rooms were kept very clean, and supplies were always replenished. The resort transportation - "Bus" was a welcome feature wen we were tired. It makes a loop of the resort, so you can hop on and off where you need to go. Drinks were terrific! you just tell them exactly how you want it, and that's the way you get it! Pina Colada with Malibu - no problem! Buffet staff was the best - Fernando and Santiago were our servers for 8 of our 10 days - they remembered all of our preferences after the first day!

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Great relaxing resort

The staff were great. They did everything they could to make sure things ran smoothly and everyone was doing what they came to do. The excursions through the resort were reasonably priced, could book almost last minute, and very enjoyable. All around, great place to go, whether to relax or have fun.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Great Vacation at Mexico

Our 2017 vacation start from booking with TripCentral at Square One Sopping Centre. Thanks to Bill Gentry for helping us book on this hotel that I choose from their book. This is our first time in Mexico, and it was a great vacation I would say. We stayed at Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda. This hotel is great to stay, very relaxing, it has a very good scenery, some creature around, like Koatis which are very cute. Food is okay, you are allowed to book your dinner at all kinds of ala crate restaurant t [... read more]hey have, except I would recommend not to book for Oriental. Not great. Mexican, and Steak house is my fav. At a buffet they have different theme every night. Service are good and staff very helpful and very accommodating to all the tourist. Even if you do not give them tips every time you have your meal. At the end you will have no choice to give them some $ as their service is really great. The weather is great too even if it was raining for two days before we left. I though it was still great as there was time to just relax in your room. Lots of sleep. Room was just nice size, it is being clean everyday and most of all linens smell fresh everyday. Unlike the last hotel we visit in DR. Linens are smelling mouldy and sweat. Pool area is spectacular, activities are also great. If you love to swim on the beach though this is not the place for you. Beach is smaller and feels muddy under water. Mean sleepery, the water is brown sometimes. Some other day, it is okay. Still great in general. Thanks again to Juan, Miriam, ( staff that wait by the beach buffet). And again to Bill Gentry from Trip Central at Square One Shopping Mall Location. I would definetely come back to have him book our next vacation. Informations you need is e-mailed to you before you even ask.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Perfect Vacation

We visited Blue Bay Villas Doradas in May 2017 and I'm writing this view in Oct 2017. The very fact that I can't recall a single negative point and smile when I recall our vacation is a good sign. The food was fresh and plenty with a more than adequate amount of variety for different tastes. The rooms were well kept and clean; linens and towels were replenished regularly. The grounds were tidy and pristine. Their was a good mix of different age groups and people were friendly. The  [... read more]staff were spectacular and always helpful with a good command of English. The beach was as beautiful as any other and finding a lounge chair or towels was never a problem. Being a smaller hotel the night time entertainment wasn’t like the larger over-the-top resorts but we had fun nonetheless. We walked over 6km into town and visited the local department store and a well known fish and chip spot on the ocean called Big Lee's. This was a pleasant break from the massive resorts with hundreds of people and provided the rest and relaxation we were looking for.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Great Resort

This was our second visit to Blue Bay and we were happy with our stay there. The staff are great, the food is great and although we didn't’ have as much choice in the food this time, we still had plenty to eat. We think this may have been due to the pool snack bar being closed for repair. This is a nice clean resort if you’re not fussy on going in the ocean. The beach is nice lots of chairs available but the ocean is rocky and weedy and full of black silt. Even with water shoes, we found it  [... read more]difficult to go in the water because it was so murky. There is a huge pool steps away from the beach with lots of activities throughout the day. There is also a quieter adult pool a little farther back which we enjoyed. Overall, we really enjoyed our stay and will likely go back.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Ok resort, with potential

Very nice small-medium size resort with 3 storey cottages. Nice grounds, nice beach bar and restaurants, the beach is fantastic, although sand is not as white as Cuba's Cayo Largo or Santa Maria. Beach was cleaned from seaweed by workers daily . While front desk management was very accommodating and helpful, we found service elsewehere was the lowest point in the resort. Food was not too many choices but very good and fresh. Drinks selection is terrible - only "house" wine included, seafood [... read more] restaurant had no white wine even for purchase, possible to buy Dom Perignon at cash bar but not even normal orange juice - all "juices" offered are syropy drinks. Daily room refill consists of 4L large canister of water which cant be taken to the beach and no glasses available in the room ( no cola or beer) - looked in redibly cheap. Extremely noisy around the pool- management goes extra mile to make activities going non stop. Which seemed contrary to resort size and looks.. We had to change room after loud party until 3 am. Overall we still enjoyed our vacation, some good some bad we give it solid 3 stars.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Amazing Resort

Food was delicious, friendly staff, clean resort. The Beach was okay, did not go in the ocean as it was not clean could be dirty due to Hurricane Irma and Maria going through. But we did sit at the bar on the beach and it was great. All the pools were clean and big lots of room to swim or walk in. Great idea with the beer/beverage cart and Popsicle/ice cream cart around the pool.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: very good

excellent food. many options for vegetarian and non vegetarian which i was happy about it. very close to many places such as playa del carmen. the hotel offer a taxi service for $5 to playa del carmen and they pick you up as well .

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Ok

Dinning really wasn't what we expect As Mexican and being in our country we expected a lot of flavour the service at the swimming pool was really poor not enough waitress and the bartenders didn't have good attitude

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Good food!

This is a decent hotel. You will be acknowledged by staff and the bartenders are friendly and the wait staff will remember who you are and give you excellent service. Where it is lacking is the beach. There are a lot of rocks and a lot of debris and seaweed. The beach is quite narrow and hard to go for a relaxing swim when you have to cross a lot of big rocks to get to a sandy part. There are a lot of animals around the resort, at first I thought this was cute and then I saw some animals coming  [... read more]inside and hanging around the dining area and sneaking into the kitchen.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: It was okay

The resort was okay. It was not my favourite considering the service was not that good. Our room got flooded and concierge nor management called to offer us an alternate room. This created alot if dissatisfaction for us as we attempted to followup with front desk more than 3 times. We finally got a new room after 4 attempts and negotation.