I’ll be back

I was extremely pleased with my experience at Catalonia Riviera Maya. The people were absolutely amazing right from the moment I arrived, Special kudos to my new friends Fransisco and Garardo who made my experience even better! I’d recommend this resort to everyone!

Very nice resort.

We liked the layout, that kept everything in close proximity. For the most part Staff were friendly and helpful. The resort was very clean and well maintained. We are definitely considering a return trip.

Catalonia Riviera Maya

Overall the resort was alright, they kept it clean and i liked the smaller size of it which made it like it wasn't overcrowded with people and it was easy to get around and there was always somewhere to get some food if you were hungry. I only attended 2 shows but the ones i went to were good, especially the rock show with a live band. The things that i found strange were no beer or booze in the room and were just told to give the bartenders a tip and they might give you some cans of beer to  [... read more]bring back to your room and they wouldn't you bring food back from the buffet and restaurants to your rooms at all. Also the reservation system for booking the theme restaurants was pretty bad and you would basically have to wake up at 3 in the morning to book a reservation for the next night or you werent getting in at a decent time/or at all and then when you go to the restaurants for dinner, they never really felt that busy. The beach was also pretty much unusable till the 2nd last day or our trip due to seaweed and they were working on cleaning it up the whole week we were there.

Some Issues

The grounds are beautiful, the staff is great and we never had a bad meal. We stayed at this hotel 5 years ago and loved it so much we came back, but I don't think we will be returning. We paid for a premimum room like we had 5 years ago which gave us beer in our room as well as soda and water, this time only water. Trying to get dinner reservations, I had to set the alarm and get up at 4 am to book and even then we only got 2 ala cartes. You should not have to get up at 4 am to book dinn [... read more]er, and you could only book 24 hrs in advance. You should be able to come in on your first day and pick the days (if available) for the week. When we did go to both the steak house and the Italian half the resturaunt was empty so not sure what the issue was. I would recommend this hotel but i would say to pay for a standard room and not the extra for a premimum as you don't get anything extra

Been to better

Overall the resort was fine, weather was good, service was great, people were great, accommodations were average, but fine, food and drink was good. My main grip is the waterfront, really no beach to speak of. Retaining wall, rock and were there is beach, can't walk out because of the stone under the surface. Weeds is another major issue, water area became clogged with weeds.

Well kept resort

Overall the resort is well run, the landscaping is fantastic, staff very friendly, food and beverages was plentiful however quality has decreased and very few options for non alcoholic drinks. Enforcement of no smoking areas and no reserve beach chairs, is weak, realizing it’s very challenging to deal with returning clients.

Catalonia resort

The grounds were well maintained as the staff were constantly grooming the bushes and grass Our room was adequate for 3 people , however there was a daily battle to get towels and face clothes for 3 people The bathroom was dark with the brown tiles it needed more light the buffet food was okay but became same thing every day the Japanese ala carte was very good it was the only one that we could get as you could only reserve it on line this procedure was not good for us who are n [... read more]ot tech savvy the beach was very poor as it was very rocky the one pool that we could access was very good

Great resort!

The resort was in great condition and they kept the grounds looking amazing. The staff was very friendly and if you needed anything they would go out of their way to make sure you were taken care of. Would definitely recommend this resort.

Solid 4 star

The hotel was exactly as expected, 4 star. The food at the buffet was decent, they were always refilling stations, so sometimes you did have to wait for bacon, veggies or chicken, but they always brought more. There are 2 egg stations for breakfast, one more geared for omelettes, but they still made me eggs if they were less busy than the other. Lunch and dinner they had a meat station, which was very basic but many sauces to pair at the other stations. There was no pasta station, wh [... read more]ich is a first in my experience but they did have pasta dishes. I do wish they had a pasta station, so it would be fresh. The snack bar was always delicious. Burgers were good and the chips and guacamole delicious. There was also Chicken wings, hotdogs and other traditionally "American" food. The hotdog stand we had once and it was good, then was out of commission for the week, so they had a taco stand which was way better. The Crepe stand also had milkshakes and ice cream cones, which was a great addition. The crepes were okay, in my opinion. Getting a reservation to the restaurants was difficult, we were lucky to get into the Italian and Japanese. Both were okay, the "Japenese" teppanyaki show was not as exciting as I have seen at other resorts or even at locations in Whistler or Toronto. It is more mixed "Asian food" than Japanese. We had the upgraded PRIVILEGE status and luckily paid very little to add it to our package, as the cost was worth it, but I wouldn’t pay the $50 per day I heard others paid at the front desk. We were to get a king bed, as a couple on our honeymoon, but ended up with two queen beds. The Bloved restaurant was good, but the same menu daily, it would be better if it was rotational. If you didn’t get a reservation to another restaurant you had other options to chose from. The "privileged" pool area was more quiet, but it wasn’t monitored so there were regular wrist band people at the pool. Not something I cared about, as I was always able to get chairs. Others were concerned as they had paid and couldn’t get what they paid for. The privilege beach, is quiet, but unfortunately on the lagoon side, so the water was not as clear and a little on the green side. The entertainment shows were the best I’ve seen for theatre, but didn’t have as many acrobatics as I’ve seen at other hotels. Usually they have aerial silk performances and fire shows on the beach. That would be a great addition, a fire show or similar performances on the beach one night. After the show, there is also no other form of entertainment, except the late night disco, which is not for everyone. It would be nice if they kept another bar opened even until midnight with live music, but I understand difficult with the rooms so close. Overall, the drinks were made pretty well. Mojitos were the best. They will ask you how strong you want them made and they are pretty good at remembering your face/drink preferences! Caesar at the Japanese restaurant was an outstanding host, and the bartender there was outstanding. Joel at Italian was wonderful, super friendly. Arturo was the best entertainment staff. He was so fun and funny. He was Cogsworth and Flounder in the Disney show, it was the best! The Moana show was really well done, the best of the week! Most of the staff speak little to no English, which made it difficult at times, but we did google translate, as needed. The spring coil mattresses were not very comfortable or supportive. The room we had was nicely renovated and the shower was good. The room cleaning services were always great, they left us enough towels, water and many soaps. The Room Service we received was also decent, great chicken sandwich. The resort had many things for children to do, definitely more family oriented. I also recommend bringing water shoes as the beach is pretty rocky. The wifi connection around the resort was amazing and allowed us to stay in contact with family back home. We were in a safe gated community and a 500m walk to the Marina and Dolphin Cove. The return trip around the marina is about 2.5 kms. Many people also rented golf carts to drive around. Definitely worth a visit. We also walked around to see the privately owned houses within the gated community. It felt safe, even at night, and everyone was very friendly. Overall, we had a great time and would go back.

Catalonia Riviera Maya-

We have just returned from the above hotel and a week stay, we have been to this resort about 10 years ago and found many upgrades, from the rooms, the healthy fruit, veggie bar Maloo. We did notice the variation in level of service in what package you purchased that was different than 10 years ago. The incorporation in the use of technology as tremendously changed and for me caused some stress (not strong with tec) but was able to adapt and the staff were great to help without using tec.( I fee [... read more]l all driven due to covid) Booking restaurants though the app, knowing your transportation back to the airport you need a device to review this information to not miss your flight. Meals at the restaurant were good but preferred the buffett as there are many options. Many drink options and never felt like I was missing out. The crepes hut was great! Going to this resort we knew there are not the mile long beaches and still enjoyed the overall look and beach area.

Good value

We were lucky to get a recently overhauled room and it was excellent. Food was what can be expected, ala carte were good but try to figure out the following. They ask you dress nicely but don't enforce it whatsoever. In most restaurants where they are trying to be upscale they would ask you to turn off your phone. Here they only have one or two actual menus and want to to download the menu to your phone, so what you have is people in t shirts and grubby shorts looking at their phones and you [... read more] wonder why did I bother to bring nice clothes? Staff are generally pleasant. Biggest problem is the isolation. If you want to go to Playacar for a shopping trip or meal away first you have to spend $90.00 US on a cab ride to get there. Add the Canadian conversion and it becomes a major expense.

Mexico

The resort was good for its food in both speciality and buffets. The staff was very friendly, the beach is limited but very well kept, pools were great and the drinks were awesome. Room that I was in disappointed me but I was just here for the beach and weather.

TERRRIBLE RESORT

DO NOT GO TO THIS RESORT!! It SMELLS SO BAD, service is terrible. Food is gross. A terrible resort , the smell wants to make you throw up, even getting this resort for free you should still not go waste of time and money

Do not go --want some sort of a refund!

While the entertainment and food were good--the beach was an absolute disaster! The picture on this review is NOT what it looks like. Seaweed--all brown the entire beach, no swimming. There were men piling it up on the shore and dump trucks daily taking it away. The noise of dump trucks on the beach all day with smell of rotting seaweed and gas. The piles and piles of seaweed were left on the shore to rot overnight and the entire Yukatan beach side had a rot smell all day! We deserve a r [... read more]efund to travel that far without ever being told this is a huge problem in mexico right now! The Yucatan side of the resort is run down, with chipped paint in the rooms and linens had pulls all over them. The staff were friendly and kind. We also had an incident of a man following our teenage daughters. This was disturbing as it was rumored that he is there often.

Great resort

Just like the first time we stayed the resort was great. The room was clean, the food was good and the staff were very accommodating. The staff followed the Covid protocol and ensured you had a mask on when e eye ring the Buffett or the main lobby, they sanitized the tables between guests. We stayed for 10 days which was the perfect amount of time. The only negative was the smell of the seaweed some days. The workers removed the seaweed on a daily bases but it seemed like they couldn’t keep u [... read more]p. All in all I would still return.

Nice resort but no beach and seaweed problem

This property is very beautiful but my only qualm is the beach was infested with seaweed and there was a strong stench most of the time. Luckily there was two pools to enjoy during our stay the only fallback with the pools was that you had to get up early just to save a chair. Food was good nothing that I havent had before. I will give kudos to the Japanese restaurant which was amazing. Entertainment was a lot of lip synching shows. The only show I truly liked was the Mexican night in the l [... read more]obby bar of Riviera side. c Rooms were dated and there was plumbing problems and AC issues in our room. Overall I would not stay here again as there was no beach and it was too far from the airport.

Good resort

It is a beautiful resort, with many positives, but also with room for improvements. The grounds are beautiful, well kept, very clean and orderly. Room cleaning was perfect, and always on time. Water bottles were replenished almost every day. There are no entrance hangers (for jackets), towel hangers in the bathroom and tissues in the room. We were very lucky to get a beautiful room, at the top floor, with ocean view. However, many, many rooms have a very bad positioning, unworthy of a  [... read more]4 star resort. We opted and payed for a Privileged package, but were not accommodated in the Privileged building. Other than a bar somewhat closer to one of the beaches and access to an a-la-carte restaurant, there were no "privileges'". Buffet restaurant: perfect. Amazing food, clean, great service. A-la-carte restaurants are good, except the Steakhouse - which should be closed. It is a joke. The restaurant management thinks they can sell anything to anyone. The servers are borderline rude and lacking minimal common sense for serving at a table. The rent-a-car in the hotel is useless, as it is impossible to rent a car for a full day since the staff has 9:00AM - 3:00 PM schedule. Very rude personnel. Covid: Staff wore masks all the time, without exception. Patrons were asked to keep masks inside the restaurant when walking. This was a bit overkill, as nowhere else were masks required. No other Covid restrictions were implemented. This was understandable, as countries are opening up, and lifting restrictions at this point. Overall good experience.

Nice small resort ! Everything was great

We had lots of fun there ! Rooms where spacious and clean! We had the privileged rooms! Bed were very confortable as well, Beach is more like a lagoon so if you don't mind it's allright ! Food was allright

Hotel needs improvement

We went to this hotel six years ago, in 2016- back then, it was a relatively new hotel, peaceful, with kind staff. For a family of 5, including 3 little kids, this was a dream. We couldn't wait to go back, especially to the Privilege Family suite, which boats two bedrooms, a huge bathroom and an outdoor bath tub- perfect for any child, large or small! Unfortunately, after our two year covid wait, we found that the hotel wasn't the same anymore. For starters, it wasn't the quiet family experi [... read more]ence we had hoped for. Loud, obnoxious groups of people, each carrying their own speaker, roaring their music, took over every pool area. They drank, were loud, splashed water- it didn't matter the group. As the day went on, the louder each crew got. It wasn't a very pleasant experience for us and our kids. There were never enough beach towels. People would hoard their towels from pervious days, wake up really early in the morning, and reserve all chairs. By 8:30am, there were no towels and no chairs. There was a huge amount of people, in comparison to the first time we went. We found staff not as friendly, the beach wasn't cleaned for days after huge lumps of seaweed came to the shore, and there was never enough food at the buffet- or if there was, there would be only the last bits of eggs or bacon, which were by the time we ate, cold and soft. On the plus side of things, the Privilege room and Executive side of the hotel was quiet and clean- a perfect oasis for our family to relax after a loud day at the pool. The restaurants that you need to make reservations for upon entering also were very tasty: our favourite ones were the Mexican one called Albrijes and this Asian- fusion cuisine called Bloved. Very classy, fancy and tasty. The Japanese restaurant was also very good. The wifi is awful. We still had to have meetings and do work from home, and it was impossible to get a good connection. The walk to the marina lets you get some distance from the hotel and its food- full of restaurants, shops and a walk along the marina. Six years ago, I would have definitely recommended this hotel to people- however, this time around, I wouldn't recommend a loud, noisy place for a family with kids. The PCR test was also a disaster. We signed up for our times, and found two lines- one with people- like us- who had PCR times set, and the other full of rowdy Americans getting their antigen tests without having to have made a reservation. Because of this, two lines were going into one little cabin, each person getting tested by one nurse. We waited there with three kids for two hours, listening to loud people get drunker as they waited and as time went on. The plus side? We received our answer within hours, so we were ready for our flight. It was lovely to be in the warm sun, see the ocean and the beach and have a brief escape from the cold winter up North; however, the ambiance of the hotel has gone down, much to our dismay.

Was nice to get away again!

My wife and I went to the Catalonia Riviera Maya for a greatly needed week long holiday, which we enjoyed immensely. Here are the good, and the bad points. Staff all incredibly friendly, and helpful. Such excellent service! Our maid was excellent. Animators were terrific, according to my wife, (especially Lúa, Karol and Sam). She really enjoyed taking yoga, and stretching classes, as well as water aerobics. She prefers to have Spanish music playing at poolside, but that was not played very m [... read more]uch. One day there was Spanish lessons, but my wife was very disappointed that she could not take some lessons daily. Unfortunately, the ocean was rough most of the week. Kayaking was not possible and shore snorkeling was only possible a couple of days. It was not as good as we remembered from 2 years before as a hurricane had damaged the coral. Food at the Brisas buffet was good, but as usual at all-inclusives, repetitive. Not very hot. Happily, they had bacon daily. Delicious cappuccino! The main buffet restaurant Mercado was unfortunately closed the whole week. Usually we had lunch at the poolside grill. Again, good and tasty, but usually not hot. We did have 5 a la carte restaurant meals from 4 of the 5 choices. These were all excellent. We could not get a reservation for the Japanese restaurant unless we wanted to eat dinner at 10 pm. So, in conclusion, we had a great week and look forward to when we can come back! The staff we always masked and cleaning was ongoing through the day. PCR and Antigen tests available on site and results were less that 24 hours. Not all guests were masked but that is not the fault of the resort or the staff.