Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Quite good if don't like swimming in the ocean, otherwise poor.

Almost everything about this resort was quite good except for the following: 1. I like to swim in the clear pristine ocean waters. The water was absolutely awful, no swimming, at most wading. Black murky water only about waste deep at the buoys. Couldn't see your feet. Broken coral/rocks strewn around, and a mud type bottom, not sand as you'd expect. The sand beach area was fine however. 2. Exchange rate in lobby was horrible/pirates. In Canada I could buy 14 pesos for $1 Cdn. Lobby was 10 pes [... read more]os for $1 Cdn. In Canada 20 pesos for $1 USA. Lobby was 15 pesos for $1 Cdn. Lobby taxis and resort stores also gave this horrible conversion. I wish I had known these 2 things before going. Beach/pools question: Very poor because of ocean water/swimming. Pools separately were good, and sand beach was good. Location: would have been good except location for swimming/ocean water is very poor.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Amazing Resort!

Service and Food exceptional! Grounds amazing ! Beach beautiful but not great for swimming shallow and dirty. Rooms a little dated Beds are comfy!! No bugs anywhere!!! Bonus! Had a great time would recommend! Suggestion would be to put more chairs around outside the Black and White Bar . And other areas so people could sit outside at night and enjoy the night breeze. Area for non smokers would be nice as well.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Not bad

This resort had great food. The room was nice but a few things where broken ( bathroom sink didn't drain, balcony door handle fell off, lights in the hallway broken). The staff where impeccable and pleasant. The resort was very clean and the pools where wonderful. Remember to get all your shots, and bring Imodium and pepto- you probably won't get sick at the resort but if you do tours you may be exposed to contaminated food or water- including water you swim in.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Great resort

Pros: we had a room in a building close to buffet, beach and pool. Pool was clean and drinks were great. Lots of activities for teens. Staff around pool, buffet and entertainment were super nice and friendly. Buffet food was excellent Cons: air conditioning did not work in room, a la cartes were ok but not accommodating for large groups. Check in process was slow, unorganized and staff were rude

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Great resort

Had a wonderful time, friendly staff, resort was clean, spa was amazing, I would return! Beach was great, lots of chairs to lay by pool- in or out of water. Activities all day long to keep you entertained. If you wanted quiet time you could go to quiet pool

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Blue Bay Villas

I would definitely revisit this hotel again. The food was generally good. The beach was excellent and very clean. All staff were friendly and accommodating. We were disappointed that we did not have a balcony - we were under the impression that we would have one - so I will definitely confirm this prior to departure next time. The only other complaint was that our check out time was noon and we were not leaving the hotel until 7pm. We were told we could extend our check out time in order t [... read more]o pack and shower prior to leaving, however when we asked at the front desk we were denied. 7 hours before departure is a long time to not have a room - especially difficult as it rained most of that day.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Nice resort - beautiful grounds...poor quality beach

There was a lot of variety for dining... always something to find to eat. Although some will review the a la carte's as great I would say don't expect French or Italian in mexico...then your good! Seafood and steakhouse was great! The grounds were breath taking - beautifully kept. The beach was sadly awful. A beach vacation is not what your going to get here. The smell was terrible, we had red flags the entire week but it was the seaweed and the dirty upturning water that was most disturbing. Th [... read more]e condition of the rooms was ok - could use better maintenance for sure! The beverages were sub-par...they couldn't mix a mojito or margarita properly...the mixed drinks were ok...but light on the booze and often with poor quality alcohol unless you had a great bartender that would ask you what you wanted. The pools were ok - i am not a huge fan of pools but there was a lot of mold which means for me they are not maintained as well as they should be for a 4.5* resort. Weather is not something you can control - so the parts that you can should be managed properly. Great that a bottle of tequila was provided in your room but would have preferred better maintenance over that.Overall I found it lacking - I won't be going back and I won't be recommending it any time soon. Shame - first kid free vacation in a while and in the end it was sorely lacking!

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: great resort

I had a great time at this resort as I always do two years in a row and already planning next year. would have to start by saying that the entertainment crew are very friendly and fun to be around they make even a rainy day fun..special thank you to the entire entertainment crew..other great things would be clean and safe pool area all bars are friendly and happy to serve what ever drink you would like..the rooms are clean and well taken care off. only one issue with the drain, called front desk [... read more] and was fixed asap.the food and restaurants are great the servers are very well mannered and would gladly get you what ever you need to make your life easier during meals..this resort is one of my favorite resorts as I will be returning and look foreward to seeing all my new and old Dominican friends..

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Great little resort

The room was one of the nicer ones I've had in the carribean. It was very clean and the service is fantastic. The food is pretty good, not awesome, but pretty good. The pools are nice and the beach is clean and very nice. This beach has waves, which I absolutely love! On occasion you had to wait for a clean towel, but not for very long. The resort its is very clean and quite beautiful. It's a smaller, quieter place which was exactly what I was looking for. That said, there is dancing and ent [... read more]ertainment that goes on each evening, so there's always something to do. There is no free internet at all at this resort and you also have to pay for the safe. But it's worth it!

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda

We were at this resort early March 2017. We traveled with another couple. My husband has mobility issues and must use a walker/wheelchair for travelling and to get around at the resort. The safety deposit boxes in the rooms are free and so is the WiFi at the resort. The food at the buffet was excellent with a lot of variety. We did go to the Seafood and Steak house al a carts, but did not think they were as good as the buffet. There were 2 buffets to use during the day and one of them be [... read more]comes al a cart in the evening. The service at the bars was sufficient and the people very pleasant. We were in building 5 on the 2nd floor which is no problem because there are elevators in all the buildings. We were close to the beach and the pool area. The rooms were nice and roomy and everything worked. The bathrooms were nice and roomy with large walk in showers, but no safety bars. The bed seemed very hard especially for my husband who is full of arthritis. Also I do have to mention that our pillows stunk, literally they smelled dirty; this was also noticed by the couple we were travelling with. This is a very large resort to get around with a wheelchair/walker. There are shuttles that run daily, but the normal shuttle would not take us to our building, so we would have to walk quite a distance to get to our building. For myself this is not an issue but for my husband it was too far, I could push him in his chair, but that still didn't make it easy. So you could call for a person trolley to take you wherever. The Festival Buffet is closer to the lobby and quite far from our room. That was no problem, but to get back from that Buffet you had to go to the lobby to get a personal trolley to take you back to your room, the lobby is up a huge hill from the buffet. It did not make sense to me to have to push a wheelchair up this very steep hill to get a ride. There should have been a phone at the bus stop area to call for a personal ride; remember the regular shuttle will not take you to building 5. The person with mobility issues has to go further than anyone else to get a ride. We tried telling the driver of the shuttle to phone for us, which he did, but they did not show up. I guess what I am saying is that if you have mobility issues this might be too big for you. All in all the resort is very nice, just too big for us.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Great trip!!

Quite impressed with this resort. It is small, has a small buffet and 3 restaurants. Definitely enough selection of various food to satisfy our tastes. The staff in dining areas and animation group are extremely courteous and friendly. Very clean resort. Large rooms. The only complaint/draw back would be the extra cost for premium liquor. Have been to various other all-inclusive resorts and this is the first time I said I would go back to the same resort!

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: BLUE BAY GRAND ESMERALDA

We just love this resort. Thais is our second time there and it did not disapoint. The grounds were well kept ,the pool area clean ,the ocean front had some sea weed on the shore,a little more than it did the year before,but no biggy. Now the food ; what can I say but Yum. Variety shows,entertainment galore. The room I wish would have been on the back side of my part and not the front where the sidewalk is because is was a lot noisier than the the other side of the hallway. All and all we  [... read more]enjoyed ourselves and would return in a heartbeat. Thanking you in advance for putting our name into the draw to win a trip to another beautiful location. Linda Vaillancourt.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Thumbs up !!!!

Our stay at the resort was amazing other than the elevator breaking on our first day we arrived ( taking the stairs everyday 4 flights really kept us in shape ) The rooms were very clean - I would have liked to have a tub for a nice soak after a long day in the sun but the walk in shower was a nice touch. The balcony had a wonderful view allowing us to take in the beauty of Mexico and the wildlife. The pool areas were very nice and the food was spectacular- lots of shops to fulfill any desire [... read more] to bring something home. The beach had soft sand and getting past the small rocks when entering the water was a small price to pay for an excellent dip in the ocean. The resorts grounds were taken care of very well and the staff were very friendly.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Beautiful

We had an amazing time at Blue Bay the staff was fantastic, very helpful, friendly could answer any questions. It was clean. the grounds were beautiful. Very accessible, to all the restaurant's and shops. The entertainment was excellent a lot to do and see. I would recommend the resort to any of my family or friend's. I would also return to Blue Bay and the Rivera Maya.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Some Things Good, Some Things Not So Good.

We stayed for two weeks and upon checking into our room (superior upgrade) we were greeted with no hot water at 11 pm. The next morning there was still no hot water with which to shower and I reported it to the reception desk. During the two week period I found myself reporting no hot water in our room on no fewer than eight times. They reset the boiler and once done it was fine until it went awry again. The first couple of days were rainy and we noted people had the use of blue umbrellas so [... read more] we asked for one but were told if there was none in our room we would get one when someone checked out. Four days later no umbrella but the weather was sunny so we didn't need it. Other rooms had a small table outside on their balcony/terrace so we asked for one which we didn't get until my girlfriend raised the issue with them once again and also about the umbrella. She told the desk she was very disappointed with our small requests not being addressed but later that day we received a small table and an umbrella. Often the cleaning staff did not get to our room until 5 pm when were were wanting to have a shower and prepare to go out. The cleaning staff seems to be overworked and I believe the resort lacks sufficient staff to do the cleaning of rooms. Not too much to ask in my view. The pools were clean and the swim up bar was good with local drinks and local beer a plenty. There were lots of poolside games and events which were fun and the activity staff was great. The evening entertainment at the theater was excellent with us having taken in four shows put on by a local dance troop that was fantastic. Great music and great dancing. From 11 pm to 1 am the DJ moved to the beach area where music consisted of some hip hop/pop music but was mostly latin/Dominican flavoured. Fun stuff if you can dance to it. The food in the buffet restaurant was quite good with a good variety but lets face it you can't expect breakfast pancakes and French toast sitting in a warming tray to be good and it wasn't. I stuck to fruit, croissants (excellent) and scrambled eggs and the occasional prepared egg dish. The sausages were always dry and hard. Bacon was served only occasionally if you like bacon. The breads and rolls etc were excellent though. We found the coffee quite strong and bitter but we were able to ask for a cappuchino which was very good. There are a few machines throughout that dispense it or regular coffee. There are three a la carte restaurants one Asian, one seafood and one grill for steak etc. The food at all three was excellent and the service was prompt and courteous except for on our last night at the El Pescadore seafood restaurant. Reservations are a must and proper attire is required. A few days prior to our last night we made reservations at the seafood restaurant for 8 pm. Being our last night we got dressed up and were looking forward to a nice last dinner together on the beach. Upon our arrival at 7:55 pm I presented our reservation card to the server at the door and he told us they were not ready yet for us and that we could wait outside on the patio. We noted there were three empty tables the we waited outside. Over the ten minutes that followed three couples arrived and they were all seated quickly. My girlfriend asked last couple what time their reservation was for and they said 8 pm. Now well after 8 pm we had no table so we departed. The server only then came running out to tell us they were now ready for us and that we should come back in. We declined and departed after telling him it was not right to have had us wait while seating three other couples who arrived well after us. The incident was reported to the assistant manager who agreed that what he did was rude and improper. That said, everyone else we encountered at the resort was very kind, helpful and pleasant. On a scale of one to ten I would give Blue Bay Villas Doradas a 6 and no more. The superior room was less than that with no hot water, the lack of clean, fresh towels occasionally, few amenities in the room, things in disrepair etc. and inconsistent room cleaning. It has a price point and you get what you pay for. I have been to much better beaches. I have been to DR several times now and most other times I stayed at a higher end resort which is what we should have done this time around. It was okay but a bit of a disappointment.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Great Resort

The resort is a little dated but very clean. The staff are wonderful wherever you go and always have a smile. The food was good but the buffet was very repetitive. In our opinion, the French a-la-carte was by far the best followed by the Italian. We stayed in building 4 and we were very close to the pool and beach which was a plus. Our room was kept very clean daily and we always had fresh towels and a lot of water on hand. Overall, it was a great trip.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: It is a great resort

I really love the resort as it's not far to go to the beach. The pools are great, the food is great, the people are friendly too. The rooms are tidy. The shows could be a bit better as I have seen other shows at other resorts and they are way better. It's three times I go to Riviera Maya and every time I went you always have these people trying to lure you into these 90 minute meetings talking about timeshare. If you are not interested then why don't they just accept the answer NO. When you  [... read more]say no they keep trying to get you to change your mind and I really did not like that. Other than that I enjoyed everything about the resort and the weather was great.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Not so amazing resort - like we were told!

The room was fine and clean. The grounds were very well kept. Staff was great. The downside; the beach was very disappointing. The sand was never cleaned up or raked. The beach was full of Algae ..... so much that we were not comfortable going in the ocean. There is little entertainment at this resort. Nightly shows are not worth watching. There is a lack of music variety (in general) by the pool, by the VIP lounge or at the Black and White lounge. I came to Mexico to listen to Latin mu [... read more]sic and it was like pulling teeth to get anyone to play our requests. The food at the two buffets was not the greatest. However the a la carte restaurants were great. Selling Timeshare was obviously objective. They use different tactics to get you to buy.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Good resort

If you are looking for huge rooms and marble everywhere, this isn't the place. but if you want great beach, clean rooms and a good variety of food for a good price then this is the place. We stayed for 10 days starting on the 17th of February and were impressed with this resort. Smaller resort everything close, very friendly staff. Having stayed in some that you need a trolley ride to the beach this one was perfect. From our room which was in building 7 near the spa it was less then a 5  [... read more]minute walk to the beach or the main lobby. One thing odd was the mini fridge wasn't restocked. Not a big thing but nice when it is.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: blue bay

Hotel was great , food very good choices and friendly people all around. What I didn't like is when you start to get bothered and stresses out from the sales people who tris to sell the timeshares packages ? we're there to enjoy a vacation not to get bothered and stressed out? Another thing to I think they should improve the auditorium part where they have the shows every night , the show they had for "Grease" was so terrible its looked like a bunch of people on stage going crazy and didn't even [... read more] know what they were doing? Some parts of it was so innapropriate for the young children who was watching.