Iberostar Selection Paraiso Maya Suites: Great wedding and honeymoon!

We booked at Paraiso Maya for two weeks - first week for our wedding, along with 15 other family and friends, then the second week for our honeymoon. From the moment we arrived to the moment we left, we felt like VIP’s! The best part is, we are fairly certain that they treat all of their guests this way. In case you have not read this in any other reviews, the resort is HUGE. I mean massive. We spent two weeks discovering new parts of the resorts, new restaurants, new pools, even new anima [... read more]ls. My husband and I clocked in 30,000 steps each one day (that’s equivalent of a half marathon). We enjoyed the walking, but if the size of the resort intimidates you, not to worry - they have golf carts that’ll take you anywhere you want whenever. Some fun places to go include the resort mall, which contains many shops, taco eatery, burger place, crepe store, candy store, disco, and the spa. The beach is beautiful - constantly being maintained, constantly being raked of the seaweed, dedicated staff who spend the entire day cleaning the mess left by guests, brushing off chairs, putting everything in the right spots. Waters in Cancun/Mayan Riviera vary - we saw it go from extremely rough waves to calm sheet of glass from day to day. Lifeguards are on site and keeping swimmers in the safe zone/keeping their eye on everything. The beach has several dedicated food bars spread along a boardwalk for the different resorts. By far the best snack bar I have ever had at a resort. Cheeseburgers, fish burgers, chicken burgers, fries, salads and fruits in to go containers, sandwiches, nachos, and soft serve ice cream. Always fresh and always there. The quality was so excellent that I couldn’t help having fries every day (I normally never eat fries). The walk from the pool to the beach takes about a minute through a “jungle”. You walk on very wide wooden bridges or boardwalks that take you to the main boardwalk along the beach. Below the bridges live the many, many coaties of the resorts. Super cute but apparently can become aggressive when food is involved. Don’t feed them (even though guests do - they look SO cute you really can’t help it). The resort rooms are beautiful. Very well kept, and clean. Two massive closets, a huge bathroom with jacuzzi and stand up shower, a sitting area, and wrap around balcony. Our view when we left our room was the pool, and from our balcony the “jungle” full of exotic birds and Coaties (they look like overgrown squirrels mixed with racoons). Speaking of animals, the resort has no shortage of animals roaming freely. Peacocks, swans, flamingos, coaties, even squirrels!). The grounds are extremely well manicured. They have no shortage of staff constantly cleaning, maintaining, and repairing. This is impressive considering the massive size of the resort. Over two weeks, we saw many changes in weather including severe rain, winds, to general sunny skies. They had staff taking care of it all - whether it was mopping the excess water, or sweeping away the blown down leaves - the entire resort was always being maintained. The staff are probably the friendliest group of people I have ever met in my entire life. Every single person working greets you with a smile and hello. It was impressive because over two weeks, it remained consistent and very genuine! Our room housekeeper, Minerva, was friendly, creative with the towels, and discreet with the cleaning - in two weeks we only ran into her once cleaning our room when returning from breakfast! She, and her night turndown staff Lucia, made sure to make our stay extra special with rose pedals, kind notes, chocolates, and snacks. My husband and I went to the gym at the resort several times, and even attended a Zumba class, dance class and water aerobics. The gym is by far the nicest hotel/resort gym I have ever been to. It has two levels - first level with machines, treadmills, weights, and a stretch area, and second level has three studios reserved for group classes. Tennis courts for tennis players, a shooting range, bikes for cyclists, as well as a designated jogging route for runners. Water aerobics had low attendance, but Zumba was really fun and always drew a crowd. Another impressive detail from the resorts overall is their environmental awareness. Double flush toilets, recycle/compost/paper/trash deposits, absolutely no straws, no plastic cups near the ocean to name a few. As I mentioned earlier, everyone is treated like VIP, no matter who you are. They constantly had servers asking for drink orders, in the restaurants they would replenish your drinks even before you ordered a second one, and if you even had any simple request, they would make whatever you needed happen. The food was by far the best I have had at any resort - variety, quantity and quality. I like my eggs poached, but usually they are overdone at resorts. The poached egg tray had perfectly poached eggs just ready for you to eat every morning! There was a designated kitchen staff cutting smoked salmon and tuna, always fresh fruit, always a variety to pick from. Chefs and kitchen staff constantly walking around the buffet making sure presentation, quantity and cleanliness were maintained. We tried several different buffets and restaurants, and it was consistently that way. Most of the a la carte restaurants require for you to use a buffet for appetizers wit the exception of the french restaurant and Japanese restaurant (El Museo and La Geisha). The restaurant managers always greeted us with a big smile and hello (Adrian and Oscar). You can actually book reservations using their Iberostar App, which is REALLY cool and convenient. theres also a schedule of all resort activities going on that day/week that you can sync with your calendar too. If you ever considered doing a destination wedding, do one. It was GREAT. Low stress, low maintenance, tons of fun. Carmen, our wedding coordinator, took care of everything. We took the very basic wedding package, but had the chance to watch several weddings over the course of two weeks. They really know what they are doing and it was done really well. The wedding photographer, Victor from Adventure Photos, was absolutely incredible. The photos were ready in less than a week, as was the photo albums. We got to leave the resort with everything! What incredible service. If you want to take your kids to a great resort, I highly recommend this one. You can also re-assure them that the WIFI works GREAT and from literally everywhere on the resort. Tons of organized and not organized things for kids of all ages to do. As we were leaving they were adding the final touches to their newest complex, Star Camp, which is the kids programming dedicated for children of all ages. I would love it if our kids would be a part of it but they are 12 and 15, and are “too cool” for that. My recommendation would be to have a dedicated star camp greeter at reception that can whisk the kids away immediately at that age so that they don’t feel like they have to make the first step and sign up. Shows were fun and well attended. Because there are several resorts, there are also several theatres and shows. If you miss one show one night, you can always attend it the following night! The lazy river was used several times by our entire group. Really fun and relaxing. A great addition to the resort experience for sure! Our second week we spent a majority of it diving. Varna, who greeted us at the counter of the dive shop, was awesome and extremely informative. We dove with Iago, Paul and Olaf, all amazing guides and made our trip extra special. One tip to keep in mind is that they do not have a jetty or dock, therefore expect to walk into the water with your gear on to get to the boat. Your boat will most likely be delayed as we had to wait for the bus from Cancun to arrive with divers too. If you leave your equipment at the shop, make sure that it is in containers or cases - my husband’s new mask was smashed after the first day. However, the staff acknowledged their mistake and gave him a free dive.

TRS Yucatan: As predicted, the best vacation ever!!!

We have been in Grand Palladium Riviera Mayan 8 times as this is our favourite resort and TRS Yucatan is one of the best. We stayed on December 10 - 17 in building 65 with ocean front view on the third floor. Everything in this resort is excellent - food, beer, wine, tequila, friendly and knowledgeable staff, new room, pools and fun activities. One of our favourite aspects of our vacation was to do yoga every morning in the gym, at 8 AM, by the ocean at 10 AM and 5 PM with Alexia. Butlers, Osc [... read more]ar and Eric, are great guys, always helpful and funny, the guys you want to be around. The Foam Party on Colonial beach, I call it Caribbean Snow, all the restaurants in TRS are great. Chic Cabaret was very entertaining. The coral in front of Royal beach seems to be getting bigger and bigger, a good sign for snorkelling. TRS Yucatan is the nice place to be :)

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Great stay!

We booked our holiday with Amanda Garlough and want to thank her for the recommendation. We were very pleased with the resort and really enjoyed our stay. We would recommend it to our friends and family and hope to go back there. Grounds were beautiful, beach was great. The food was very good and staff were awesome, everyone was very helpful. We had a great holiday.

Sandos Playacar Beach Resort: Fantastic Resort!! :D

A long review but hopefully helpful. :) I visited this resort in November for 7 days with my husband and 2 other couples.We booked here to celebrate my 50th birthday. I cannot say enough about the service we received! A huge shout out to Lizeth,(she is the web relations person I spoke to before we arrived). As she went above and beyond to help us have the perfect vacation. First,she responded promptly to my email before we arrived, then she called our room on the day after we arrived to  [... read more]make sure we enjoyed the decorations they had placed for me.(They had many balloons decorating the walls and ceiling, as well as a towel cake complete with confetti on our bed. Beautiful!!!! ❤ On the table sat a fresh fruit tray,a bottle of tequila,a bottle of sparkling champagne with 2 flute glasses,along with chocolate covered strawberries! Who could ask for more?!) She also called on two other occasions to make sure we were comfortable and had everything we needed to make our vacation perfect. Sandos is very lucky to have her as their representative on the web. Thank you so much Lizeth!! 😘😍 Extremely professional and attentive staff in all other areas of this resort as well. We stayed in the Select Club area which was changing to the Family area during our week.The rooms here were spotless and we had a great view of the pool from or second floor balcony.It is about 11 mins to walk from here to the beach but there is so much to see on the way that it feels much faster. They have a cat cafe which is a fantastic idea,as well as a rescued donkey and sheep.There were also many inspiration quotes carved into wood that were a pleasure to read on the walk. The grounds are beautifully maintained so this helped make the scenery a joy here. Our maid was Liliana and she made beautiful towel art every day as well as kept our room clean. Thank you Liliana! 😘 We loved the adults only breakfast buffet and the choice to use the main buffet if desired. All of the food was great.Many options.We ate at the Italian a la carte twice,The Asiana,the Steakhouse and the French.All were great but our fave was the Italian. We loved having the chance to visit the Palm Bay resort next door that was under construction during our stay. Their water park and pools are fantastic and it will be great once finished! All the bartenders were friendly and smiling but we loved the premium bars the most! Great top shelf liquor as well as service. We also loved the Cupcake cafe,you have to try it....awesome desserts and fabulous coffee/espresso/latte options. Yummy!! The shows were great! We LOVED the AC DC tribute band as well as the Michael Jackson and Shakira shows. Lastly,the beach is GORGEOUS!!!! Clear blue water,wide sandy area where you can walk for miles! Also many activities for all to enjoy! I know I have forgotten some things but this review has to stop at some point. I never visit a resort twice but this is definitely one that I will make an exception for. This was our first experience with the Sandos hotels and it was remarkable!! Thank you Sandos Playacar!! We will definitely look for more Sandos resorts for our next vacation!

Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya: Best yet! 2nd time there!

Staff amazing! Happy couteous and not fixated on immediate tips! Just happy friendly people who are well treated by their employer which keeps em happy while serving you! Great food ! Lots to do and see. Snorkel the reef just feet from shore safe and serene!

Akumal Bay Beach and Spa Resort: Very friendly, quiet place

We enjoyed the more intimate ambiance due to it being a smaller resort and with that came the ability to get to know the friendly staff in all areas. Lovely beach, cleanliness was evident everywhere, rooms, restaurants, grounds and the beach. Nightly live music was good and during the day we were able to enjoy the one man orchestra band, Abel who played for us frequently. The snorkeling was very good, saw sting rays, mantra rays, tropical fish and turtles. The paddle boarding staff were great,  [... read more]special thanks to Aytar who was very helpful, encouraging and professional and eager to learn English which we really appreciated and enjoyed. Big thank you to Christopher and German as well. Cristian, the lobby bartender, and Sintia the lobby server were very good, pleasant and engaging. The women serving drinks worked very hard and consistently and were a lot of fun, with a special thanks to Patricia, Abigail,and Sandra. Clemente the beach bartender was very good. The staff at the front desk were very pleasant, prompt and professional, Minerva, Zaisha, Tesla and Joanna. Any concerns re questions we had were dealt with immediately and positively. We enjoyed eating at the buffet and the wait staff from busters, waiters, cooks, etc were very efficient and friendly. Special thanks to Carlos, Jesus, Otilio, Kevin , Alejandro H and the hostesses Ingrid and Iris. Salvatore the beach ambassador attended to many of our needs with a big engaging, friendly smile.

Sandos Playacar Beach Resort: The resort was really amazing. I will go again!!

The hotel, service, food and staff were so great. Our room was kept very clean and the condiments and bathroom supplies were replenished daily. The food at the various restaurants was really good most of the time. Some evenings the restaurant staff seemed overwhelmed by the crowd of guests and the food suffered on these evenings. My only complaint was the staff and charges from the Spa. Spa staff walked around the pool area requested we buy services such as pedicures, manicures and massages. The [... read more]y assured us if we called #39 and cancelled we wouldn't be charged. Surprise, as we checked out we were charged for all Spa services even if we called to cancel them. The reception staff were able to sort things for us but it was anxious times as we tried to check out.

Sandos Playacar Beach Resort: Nice resort, well maintained gardens

Nice greens and well maintained by gardeners. Drawback for resort is a massive construction( resort is building additional rooms, over 300 of them but this information is not available during the booking. It is dishonesty and unfair to people booking vacation. Resort and Tripcentral should have this info posted. We ended up in the room with view on construction. Our balcony and partial ocean view was useless because of construction noise. Other bad experience: resort made changes of building l [... read more]ocations for families and adults only, but didn't manage to get all information maps on the resort grounds and printed maps in the rooms to up date with all those changes. Shame!!! I would not recommend this resort until all construction is completed

Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya: Back for the 3rd time!

It's been a while since we've been to the Secrets Capri as prices have been high for a few years. Also our first time travelling to Mexico in December but the price was right! You fly into Cancun (air conditioned airport) which is great and have a 45 minute ride to the resort. The food and entertainment continue to be top notch. Rooms are clean and everyone is very friendly. We had one rain day but that is to be expected anywhere you go. The coffee shop is great and open 24-7 and you can  [... read more]borrow books in a variety of languages. No wrist bands needed and no reservations for restaurants with the exception of the Japanese. Top notch alcohol and the wine (white is great).

Ocean Coral Riviera Cancun: The good,bad & ugly

Nice hotel overall but it is somewhat isolated. Service and staff are excellent. The room water/shower have a strong sulphur smell as do the towels and linen. The food is above average with lots of restaurants none of which requires reservations. The house wines could use with an upgrade in quality. All other liquor is good.

Iberostar Waves Quetzal: Great Holiday

This is a very good hotel with almost everything you need except a hot tub.The highlight of our stay was hand feeding the monkeys every day. The food was good in all restaraunts except the Italian were it was very good.We would like to thank the concierge staff for getting a birthday cake for one of our family members, this really made her holiday a memorable one. Would also like to thank the cleaning staff for building #27 for the great job & all of the wonderful towel art.It was an amazing sta [... read more]y & Thank-You Iberostar Quetzal

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: 3rd visit

We love this resort and always have a great time. TIPS We take the mirror off the wall so we have a full length mirror The air conditioning wasn't working in our room and we had maintainace come 3 times saying iit was fixed. Management was rude about it in the beginning but tried to help us out with trying to relocate us. A guest who was having the same problem came and fixed it. She turned it off. We would turn it on for a couple hours a day and it was much better, we didn't have to sleep i [... read more]n our seats I'm vegan and found the choices limited. The juices they add sugar to and the tongs and serving spoons are used for the same food dishes. We tried using the a la cartesian but they only have vegetarian options They are also starting to cater to the European market, their trip prices are a lot less than the Canadian prices The quality has definitely changed. Gray Goose used to be free, now its $6 We do love how friendly the staff are, that its adults only and the adults only section at Akumel. The best part of the beach for swimming is after Tulum on Silver Resort, take the green shuttle We took a separate shuttle which only took 1 hr 15 min with Canadian transfer, excellent service and very fast We might go back

Royal Hideaway Playacar: A True 5 Star

Stunning grounds with perfect pools and beach area... there are so many quality areas to enjoy the grounds and the sun for hours and hours. And when you do the service will be consistently helpful. The Grill overlooking the beach has a million-dollar view... which is a good thing because the food in this all-inclusive is what sets it apart... every restaurant is delicious. But The Grill was special... the Manager and the Wait Staff were amazing. The Royal Hideaway rooms were spacious and the kin [... read more]g bed was top quality for a great sleep. This review is not an exaggeration at all... my wife and I had a really great 9 days... and we travel a lot. The only thing that could be improved... heat the pools a bit more. We will return.

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Incredible Trip

This turned out to be the best vacation, exactly what I needed and I cannot express enough gratitude for Jenn Black and her help in suggesting the resort based on my expectations. I was looking for complete R&R after a stressful period. the Occidental Xcaret was so perfect, with the relaxing environment, great food, friendly staff, excellent spa, sports bar for a couple of NFL games. It was all perfect. I can't wait to go back to this resort next fall, only I will stay a little longer next time. [... read more] Thank you Jenn, you couldn't have picked a better place ! And the wildlife (monkeys, Iguanas, birds, etc.) just added to the enjoyment.

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Good resort

I enjoyed the hotel. Good staff and well trained. With excaret park within walking distance is a bonus. We bought the all inclusive package that is a benefit The food options were good and the resort was well maintained and very clean.

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Very nice hotel

The hotel was huge comfortable and clean . Enjoyed a lot walking around discovering the nature . Would definerly return again when I get a chance . The stuff is very friendly , variety of food was great

Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach: Good times

Resort, rooms, staff were all great. Food was good but became a little monotonous after 2 weeks. Loved the pool and beach and we are considering returning next year. Special thanks to liliana and Geovani

Barcelo Maya Caribe: Amazing Resort!!

Best Resort ever!! Awesome food and ambience!! Loved the whole trip. Highly recommend it. Best family resort. My son loved the pools and water parks. Everyone were friendly and always available at our service during our stay.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: This resort should be a 6 star instead of a 5 star

The people that work there are absolutely amazing to talk to. Very friendly. Very quick to help you at anytime. The room we stayed in was very nice. House keeping is fantastic. Very caring people. The food is phenomenal. Excellent alacart restaurants.

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: beautiful resort

This is my third time to the Bahia in Mayan Riveria. I enjoyed each visit immensely. The beach, entertainment, fresh food choices and of course the warm welcoming staff. Only criticism is the prepared foods could be less salty. The beach at Coba and Tulum was a little rocky so bring water sandals but it was not required at Akumal. There is also a beautiful beach at the little Tulum near the second Mexican restaurant Tequila. Its worth the 5 minute walk . Enjoy !!!!