Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya: Great Resort with Great Food!

My kids and I really enjoyed this resort. The food was excellent. Loved the clean pools and the lazy river. Wasn't a fan of the beach area. :( .But the snorkeling in the area was amazing. The incredible Dolphin swim was right on the resort saving us time by not having to take a shuttle for this experience. Overall I was very pleased with Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya.

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Good quality but has its drawbacks

Pros: Always good to open with what worked at this resort. Overall maintenance was good. Area is quite lush and full of vegetation, plenty of lizards )although far too many fed the Iguanas which have become quite brazen and the Hotel is trying to manage) and other wildlife which adds a good dynamic. Grounds are well kept and Villas are in good upkeep. Food quality is very good and there was never any issue with supply or access to food. Pasta, crepe and Omellet bar service was fantastic.  [... read more]Friday night is themed Canadian night at the buffet which my kids enjoyed. From a cosmetic and food quality perspective the resort fully met expectations and lived up to the Bahia brand on these levels Cons: for late July this resort was very busy and I understand likely at capacity and in my opinion understaffed for the inner of guests in hand!!! Why? We had to wait for a table to eat at Buffett (breakfast and dinner) and you had to ask for the table to be cleared, supplied with cutlery and good luck getting drink service (water, juice, soft drinks or alcohol) unless you booked a restaurant for dinner and it did not matter if it was peak dining time or not. In fact we caught on that if you wanted a table cleared you had to stand up at the table until you caught someone’s attention to clear and set the table. Even then is was 50/50 for drinks. For reserved restaurants we could only book 3/4 reserved restaurants as all the times had booked up literally within a 2 hours of our arrival so get in quick! To be fair we could have booked a fourth but they offered a 930 pm seating which I did not feel was practical. During buffet dining which you will have to partake in during your stay, If you left your table for food service it would be swiped so someone had to remain at table at all times. I found this to be very annoying. Staff in the buffet area were not friendly in this restaurant. This is likelh a symptom of being over worked. To their defence they could barely keep up to the number of diners present. A similar rule applies to pool chairs. Folks would place towels out at 730 am only to return at 1pm (no enforcement by he resort here) and in general getting a chair poolside or in shade was a no go on two of the 7 mornings. Some people were forced to lay out towels in the grass under a palm tree for a place to sit. Again - not enough resources to service a full property. The Coba resort is quite the inconvenient distance from the “Tulum” property where you can access the beach or various reserved restaurants. Large resorts will use a buggy or train service as does this however using the “train” service was frustrating. Be warned there are Significant wait times and a race to get on the train when it would arrive from the main lobbie or Hacienda! Even with small children, strollers etc. people would not hesitate to jump the line. At times common manners lacked from the guests - again likely a symptom of operating at capacity devoid of sufficient resource to manage guests. The walk to the beach from Coba was way too far so if you like being fairly close to he Beach or at least see Ocean in the distance even if a pool person you could find far better options. Essentially this resort was too big and set back to far from the Ocean for my liking. In comparison to the Bahia Principe Punta Cana the recommendation would be to visit Punta Cana if you had the choice. Uncontrollable: seaweed on the beach during June and July is evidently a natural phenomena. While we prefer the pool a traditional walk along the beach to look for sea shells etc or a pleasant stroll was impossible and not enjoyable in an area that is reknown for beautiful beaches due to the excessive amount of accumulated seaweed. And I mean excessive! While the resort employed full time people (gruelling work) shovelling and removing seaweed on bobcats stacks were remained up to 4 feet high in late afternoon. If you are looking for a beach experience be forewarned to steer clear at this time of year. I’ve been to Mayan Riviera many times and had never seen the beach like this. To be fair we were warned by the agent and having experienced seaweed around the same time in Punta Cana last year, I was not prepared for what I saw here at the end of July. The Hotel has installed barriers in an attempt to control the problem albeit the downside is they diminished the beauty of the ocean view. In fact it may have made things worse and they seemed to trap the seaweed in a designated swimming area. The children’s water park is suitable for kids up to about the age of 7. Overall the resort experience was fair and in hindsight compared to the high standard set with this chain in Runaway Bay and Punta Cana disappointing and not a preferred recommendation for the money.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Great Trip

Let's first start with the resort itself. The place is massive so be prepared to walk a lot to get from building to building. If you like to stay at the main pool or the beach, if you're situated in Building 4 or 5, you have a long walk to get to the main buffet or a la carte restaurants for dinner. Despite the resort being so spread out in size, it really is a beautiful place. The Pool Area is nice. There's always fun stuff going on there between music, activities etc. There are 3 pools on  [... read more]the resort. One is closer to the lobby and two are closer to the beach. These are the main pools. I was a bit disappointed to not have a swim up bar, especially since the water in the pool was virtually a hot tub. The Beach: It's seaweed season apparently at the moment. So the water isn't that clear blue colour from your dreams ;) At the start of our trip, the seaweed was in piles along the beach. My guess is they pile it to let it dry because within 2-3 days, it was gone. Despite the water being darker in colour, we still stayed at the beach more than we did the pool. We swam in the ocean multiple times and it was no problem for us. Far more refreshing than going into the hot tub that was the pool. The beach only had one bar which was the only downfall. It was always packed and there were always lots of people at the bar. There's also a great little lagoon to visit. If you're looking at the ocean, turn to your left and walk about 10 minutes. You won't regret visiting this little paradise. The Room: Very well air conditioned. Got too cold at one point. It has everything you need for a standard room. Nothing more, nothing less. Washrooms were great, shower is great. The food: By far the best food I have had at a resort ever. The main buffet near the lobby was a pretty good hike from our room so we typically ate breakfast at the beach buffet. This restaurant became an a la carte at dinner so it's only available for breakfast and lunch. We never really ate lunch there as we'd typically walk to the lobby area to get some drinks at the sports bar before heading to lunch at the main buffet. We ate dinner at the seafood a la carte (beach buffet during the day) first. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. I'd put in that middle area that you'll be content with but won't have good things to say. The food tasted good, it just didn't have enough seafood for me to call it seafood. We did the Mexican a la carte next which was amazing. really good food and great vibe in the restaurant. The last a la carte we did was Italian. This was also really really good. Very romantic setting if you're celebrating anything special. There was also a french a la carte and a steakhouse which we were unable to try because we had booked excursions and got back late.But I heard both are fantastic. Staff: Contrary to some reviews we read - we never had a single issue with staff. They are super nice and helpful. The only thing to be aware of is some of them are a bit aggressive trying to sell you an upgrade. It starts off with an invite for free vouchers at the spa and breakfast to find out more about there VIP program. We said no to all of it but from what we heard, it ends up being a presentation for time shares. Accept the offer at your own risk. We also declined to deal with staff for excursions. We booked everything through our travel company which was west jet vacations. They had a rep on the resort all day to help and answer all our questions. The only negative for service was at checkout. We called in advance to have a cart come pick us up at our building so we didn't have to walk with our luggage. We waited for almost 40 min and no cart came so we decided just to walk instead. Excursions to Consider when visiting Riviera Maya: Island of Cozumel, Ruins in Coba, Ruins in Tulum - The island of Cozumel has a secret beach you'll want to visit 10 times over. Overall we had a great time and experience. Would I go back to this resort? probably not but we're also the type of people who like to try new resorts. None of them are ever perfect anyways. We'll definitely visit Mexico again though.

El Dorado Royale: Beautiful Resort with some drawbacks

Beautiful resort, However nothing in life is perfect. There was not enough beach side and pool side service resulting in long waits for drinks. Room service, at least 1 hr waits for delivery. Restaurants food quality was amazing, however wait times were at times 1hr. I could understand this if the dining room was full, however when half the tables were empty and we were given a pager, no explanation despite repeated questions as to why, just a smile. The concierge annoyed and badgered you to at [... read more]tend the sales presentation for an expensive membership. The pool and bar closes way to early. This is an adult resort , we don't have bedtimes. The evening shows were impressive and the Mexican fiesta night was amazing with outstanding performances. Room quality was outstanding.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Wow!... Couldn't ask for more

Got back from ORP on the 24th of July and couldn't be any happier! Our expectations for the trip were wildly exceeded ... We stayed in Eden very close to the beach and pool ... We have stayed in Mexico several times and this resort was the best ... We have previously stayed at and enjoyed another hotel in the H10 chain ... Ocean Coral and Turquesa so restaraunts etc were similar yet ORCs were even better Everything was excellent ... Reception was seamless ... Service was great in all the bars a [... read more]nd restaurants .... Pools were all as advertised ... El beso ...party pool!!! ...Eden ...fun but a little calmer and the beach pool was great for going for a dip right off the beach ... Entertainment staff was excellent day and night ... There were plenty of huts and chairs at the beach ... There were a number of comments on trip advisor concerning the walk from beach to lobby ... 10 minute stroll at the longest with lots to see on the way Lots of reviews talked about the seaweed on the beach and in the water as well as the fact there are lots of rocks ... All are correct .... However it's an ocean surrounded by one of the largest reefs in the world .... If you go through the initial seaweed area the ocean is gorgeous .... Take water shoes if you have tender feet ... The workers are constantly cleaning the beach all day and should be commended for their hard work Tips .... If you like the beach stay in Eden ... Adult area is El Beso All the restaraunts were great except Route 66 ... Burger place we didn't try but stayed away because we heard it wasn't great If you want a good burger go to the beach restaraunt at lunch Definitely go to the beach restaraunt at dinner and sit on the patio .... Beautiful breeze on the ocean and a fabulous array of seafood Blue moon was delish but you MUST have closed shoes ... No sandals if you are a male ... Sexist? .... The food is worth it Italian was also excellent Eat breakfast at the Mexican restaraunt .... Seems to be a little known secret but they have everything the same as the buffet but no lineups ... See Jose and/or Ricardo ... AKA ...The Chili Man if you want to book a tour especially snorkelling ... Set us up on an excellent snorkelling adventure Go book ORP now .... You won't regret it

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Large Resort

Overall the resort was good. The food and restaurants were excellent. It was nice to be able to use the amenities at 2 of the 3 hotels. The room was also excellent. The travel was smooth and comfortable. We had a few things that we thought could be better. Although they are good at looking after the grounds and caring for the wildlife there, they used sewer water to water the grounds and it stunk very badly after they watered. Usually they would water in the mornings and so when you opened yo [... read more]ur balcony door, the stench hit you. One day they watered in the afternoon due to meetings in the morning and it was awful. We did kindly mention it and they changed watering to an earlier time. The second issue was the service. We used to live and work in hotels in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. The wonderful people working were working hard, but the hotel was at 100% occupancy and there simply were not enough servers in the main restaurants, so you would wait a long time to get service, and we always tipped. The entertainment was excellent as well. Unfortunately the pools felt like hot tubs. The last issue was the unfortunate state of the beaches. They have been washed away over the years from hurricanes, and pollution has caused tons of seaweed to wash up. The Beach of the Coba hotel was unusable for half of our days. It is a sad state. They told us that before they used to clear away 1-2 tons of seaweed a month and now it is up to 120 tons PER MONTH. They simply cannot keep up with it. It was seaweed soup. We were able to use the beach from the Akumal hotel, but not there amenities, so it made for a hot hot day. Luckily we had a beach umbrella. It is a wonderful hotel, and they did try and please us when we politely expressed our issues. They were kind and decorated our room door for our daughter's birthday and delivered a small cake. Next time I would book staying at the luxury Akumal resort instead.

Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya: Excellent resort!

Resort was wonderful, our room was really nice. The food was amazing, every a la carte restaurant we loved. Service from all employees was great. Only thing to complain about was some seaweed at the beach

El Dorado Seaside Suites: Great Hotel and Vacation

The rooms were beautiful, staff helpful and the food was fantastic! Tons of amenities and the WiFi is on point with access everywhere on the property! The only thing I'd say to guests is to turn on the "dry" feature on your a/c otherwise your room will be covered in moisture because of the high Mexican humidity.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: GREAT TIMES, GREAT PEOPLE

This hotel was great it did have its positive’s and negative’s, bed could have been more comfortable..... Great place to spend an anniversary ❤️❤️ Last night they gave us a complimentary night at their BLUE DIAMOND BOUTIQUE HOTEL ❤️❤️Wow was resort. Would totally recommend and would go again

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Great resort but had restaurant booking issues and major issues with trip central

This Resort is beautiful. There are multiple pools and activities. The nightly entertainment is really good. The food at the buffet was decent. Their steaks at all the restaurants were excellent. There was enough variety to satisfy every member of our family ranging from a 3yr old to 60+ yr old. The ice cream parlor was a hit! Rooms are clean and nicely decorated. We lost electricity in our room twice during the 7 day period we were there (mid July 2018) ..and one of those times the water [... read more] pressure was down and then completely stopped flowing out (front desk said it was an issue through out the hotel and this was fixed within about 15min) The Bars were serving imported alchohol that my hubby said was exceptional as he's usually seen domestic alcohol at other resorts in our past travels. The service however was backed up on few occasions with about a 10 min wait as there weren't enough bar tenders. The beach was not great. Too much seaweed. The staff that was in charge of cleaning up the seaweed couldn't keep up. It looked and smelled dirty. Not many people were going into the ocean. We usually enjoy the pools anyway and were not bothered. Though it would have been nice to be able to walk down the shore had it been cleaner and seaweed free. We arrived at the resort around 8pm. No one greeted us with drinks as we normally have been at other resorts in our past travels. My biggest complaint is the way the restaurants book guests. First they have many restaurants to choose from but the Japanese restaurant is the only one that takes reservations on the same day you want to dine. Guests stand in line from 10am for guest services to begin taking reservations 1130-1230pm ..and this place gets booked fast. In order to get a guaranteed booking, they make you buy a bottle of wine. We did this finally after unsuccessfully attempts to get a reservation two days in a row. And they screwed up our booking. When we arrived for dinner at the Japanese restaurant they had a booking for only 2 when we had asked for reservation for 6 family members. We fought for our seating for 6 people and refused to leave. This was the only way we were able to dine hear. The other four guests who's seating we apparently took arrived 30 min late so they were denied seating at that point. The guest services also made mistakenly told us this restaurant was taking reservations on monday which we learned on the monday that its closed when we went in to make reservations. We basically wasted a decent amount of our time trying to book dinner at this restaurant which is the most popular one there. Server and cook were very good. The cooking table was entertaining and enjoyable after all but it didn't start pleasantly and so my mood was upset as I was the one who faught for our seating. Oh and I had asked to speak to the manager who was never called to the front to help with the situation and confusion. The second most popular restaurant is the steak house and is only takes walk-ins. But with a family of 6, we had to wait 1 hour and 45 min !!!!! Again this was ridiculous and they had told us it would be about a hour wait. In that hour we decided to feed the kids at the buffet and then return in time to be seated. We still had to wait about 45 more minutes. We put our name on the wait list st about 740pm. We returned an hour later and were finally seated around 930pm. It was a very late dinner for us and they turn off the Air conditioning at about 10/1030pm. So half way into dinner the restaurant was beginning to get warm and eventually uncomfortable to eat in a hot environment. Not the best experience. The main entrees were very good yet not excellent and the appetizers and desserts were very much so lacking in flavor and quality. Server was very kind and helpful. Lastly, when booking with trip central, the reservation/receipt/email DID NOT INDICATE That we had paid for AIRPORT TRANAFERS as part of the AIR CANADA VACATIONS PACKAGE. There were no vouchers available as part of our online booking. We ended up forking out $97 USD for return taxi fare to and from hotel for 4 people. My parents were supposed to arrive the same day and time from calgary with connecting flight from Toronto to cancun. We were coming from toronto. We were all supposed to land together on the same flight but my parents air Canada flight got delayed in Calgary for 3 hours so they had to take a different flight the NEXT DAY. They arrived the following day and ALSO PAID $67USD FOR A ONE WAY TAXI TRIP TO THE RESORT. had we been made aware by trip central about the airport transfers we would have saved $170 USD that the taxi company charged!!! Let's not forget that my parents got delayed and so they would have missed their connecting flight in Toronto .. other other option given to them was to fly out to Seattle and wait their for a few hours before catching a red eye flight to Cancun arriving 8am. This option would have meant that they'd be In transport for more then 14+ hours. Really not a good one at all for someone who's in their 60's with health problems. So they chose a direct flight the next day and arrived at 8pm at the resort. They missed one whole day of their vacation and nights stay at the resort. So who's going to compensate for this?? Not to mention they missed out on the birthday celebrations that were planned for their granddaughter for that afternoon of the day they finally arrived. Just a big mess ..and alot of hard earned money lost. Not how you expect to start off your vacation. Did I mention this was my parents very very first time traveling down south to an all inclusive resort. Started off with some disappoints for sure. The first day/afternoon we missed my parents as they weren't present to enjoy the once a week pool bbq and pool foam party. Disappointing! I'm not sure I would return to this resort when there are plenty of other great choices out there. In fact we are not sure if we will ever book with trip central again unless the above issues are resolved and compensated for. We've lost alot of money booking with trip central and air canada vacations. 1. The taxi fare could have been avoided! $170USD 2. The airport transfers we paid for were no use to us because we were never made aware of or given the vouchers on booking. (Air Canada vacations rep told us the vouchers were approx. $25/per person each way). So apparently we paid $300CAD (INCLUDED IN THE COST OF OUR TRIP..$50PP) in total between us 6 that trip central did not give us the vouchers for. 3. The delayed Air Canada flight for my parents from Calgary to Cancun via Toronto, resulting in one missed night stay at the resort. Losing one whole day at the resort.

Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya: Simply Amazing

I had my doubts as my last all inclusive was not that great. The Valentin Imperial Maya however was a very different experience. This place is beautiful, immaculate and well maintained. No detail is overlooked including the hotel stamp pressed into the sand on the outside ashtrays! ( and I don’t even smoke!) The grounds are stunning and the property design is very easy to navigate, We stayed in building three which was convenient to restaurants, the lazy river, the main pool and the beach. [... read more] We didn’t mind walking but there were golf cart shuttles easily accessible in all parts of the resort. I can’t say enough about the staff who were SUPER friendly and that includes everyone from servers, to gardeners, to concerige. The restaurants had little or no wait time. Our favourite stop was the Martini Bar which quickly became a nightly tradition! I can’t wait to return!

Royalton Hideaway Riviera Cancun: Amazing!

My husband and I came here for the first time for our honeymoon and I couldn’t be happier about this choice. Hands down one of the best resorts I have ever been to and experienced. From the moment you walk in to the point of leaving you are treating like royalty. The accommodations, food, staff EVERYTHING was truly amazing. I would definitely come back.

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Holiday of seeweed

This was our very first trip to Mexico and it completely left a bad impression with us. The resort is wayyyyy too big to be comfortable as they seem to be understaffed everywhere. Every meal at the main buffet, we seemed to constantly clear up our own dishes, fetch our own flatware, napkins, or on occasion, beverages. I hate to sound petty but we’ve been to plenty of all-inclusive and this was just below standard. Our room wasn’t cleaned regularly nor was the mini fridge ever restocked. On o [... read more]ur first day of arrival, our son was sleeping in the room (when we were finally given our room key-check-in took hours so our first day was basically a write-off) and there as a knock at the door. Since he was sleeping, it took him some time to get up to answer the door and as he was about to open the door, a man just walked into the room unannounced! My husband inquired at the lobby and was told that there was no reason for anyone to enter our room. Because my sister was with us (and she speaks fluent Spanish), she was able to translate for us as much of the hotel staff don’t use or understand proper English. We were told that we would receive a courtesy for our inconvenience but that never happened. We just wasted a lot of our time trying to get answers. To make the trip even worse, the beach is completely UNSWIMMABLE. I wish we had known about the seaweed epidemic taking over the Riviera Mayan, we probably would not have booked this trip at all. The swimming pools (in abundance) are so shallow that the water was STEAMING HOT. Since the beach was unswimmable, the pools were overcrowded and we overheard several people bluntly blurt out that they were “just going to pee in the pool”. What a classy place (not!!). So I’m completely disappointed with our trip and feel ripped off of our annual beach holiday. We went with family so at least we were all together for the experience but still, I would have expected some sort of warning from our travel agent in regards to the swampland like beach. Utterly disappointing! As the days progressed and we were at least able to admire the beautiful gardens around the resort, we smelled the most disgusting stench. When we inquired with someone on staff, we were told that the gardens are watered with recycled water (as in recycled waste water). That was the most unappealing thought especially as there is a garden en route to the buffet so the appetite level dissipates quite quickly with the stink. Note to self-don’t drink from the coconuts that are offered from the gardener? Lastly, we needed the assistance from the Public Relations representative and again were frustrated that her English was so below par that we again needed my sister to translate. For what should have been a stress-free holiday, we were not impressed.

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Resort

Overall our family had an excellent time, the service was courteous and friendly. The resort is massive, thus the shuttle buses were pretty much on time and efficient. Beach was awesome and restaurants were good. I recommend the Brazilian restaurant as the food and service were fantastic. The hotels downfall was the rooms ait conditioning. It didn't cool off the room at night and there was no exhaust in the washoom, thus making the room even warmer. Overall I would recommend this hotel to anyone [... read more] and would definitly return for another vacation.

Bahia Principe Explore Tulum: Great Family Vacation!

We just got back this week from our 10 nights stay at the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum. It was a fantastic trip for my wife, my two daughters (ages 4 and 7) and myself! We would definitely go back to this resort again. Checking in We arrived at the resort around 3pm via a Best Day tours shuttle after a 1hr15min drive from the airport. We were lucky because there was only one couple in front of us checking in. Checking in takes a bit of time because the staff make sure to explain some highlight [... read more]s of the resort on a map that they provide you with. If you are thirsty they will happily give you a cocktail, beer or whatever you fancy. A trolley will then take you and your luggage to your room. The Rooms We had a basic Junior Suite, I believe they call it. In villa 27 on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the nicely maintained grounds. The room was very clean and was a decent size. Nice bathroom and plenty of room for storage. Room included a stocked bar fridge. There is a safe in the room that requires you to take a key with you. We found it easiest to keep the key in our camera case when leaving the room. $40 charge if you lose it! The A/C worked great. The room was very very quiet at night! We didn’t have any bugs in the room or any issues with the room. There were two queen size beds pushed together so my wife and I slept on each end with the kids between us. The Lobby The lobby has recently undergone a renovation so it is nice and fresh! There are a number of things going on in the lobby. Things that we found to be important to note was the room to book you’re a la carte dinners, which can also be done via the Bahia app. The app and the wifi were not the most reliable. There is a desk with staff who may approach you. They are calling it a privilege club, but it is a timeshare sell. We were roped into it not knowing until we got to the presentation that it was a timeshare sell. We got a hat, couple of t-shirts, a few tickets to the Thursday night Mexican fiesta and a bottle of tequila so it wasn’t a total waste. Not a deal we were looking for; especially because they said we had to decide that day only. General Grounds This resort is huge! There are trollies running along the walking paths. It is worth spending the few minutes to figure out the trolley routes. We found there weren’t many trollies that serviced getting to and from the rooms to Tulum lobby. But there were many trollies going to and from Tulum and Coba lobbies. You need to take a trolley to get from Tulum to Coba, etc. Again, it is a huge resort and we found it beneficial to familiarize ourselves from the map how to get to the beach, pools, bars and restaurants. Especially with our four year old in the heat, we wanted to make sure we knew where we were going and if we could take a trollies to get there. The grounds are very well maintained and we enjoyed walking around and enjoying the palm trees and wild life. Like any resort, if you want a good spot you’ll have to get towels and bring your stuff down before breakfast. Please, if you are not going to use the spot don’t reserve it! Some mosquitoes flying around at night so bring bug spray. Note also there are bees flying around. My wife got stung. Might be a good idea to bring kids allergy medicine and an after bite/sting ointment. You’ll notice bats and dragonflies flying around in the evenings eating up all the mosquitoes! Restaurants There is one dinner buffet in the Tulum area. Such a great presentation of food and a great variety. We found the food to be very good quality too, not just good quantity. We discovered that the main buffet restaurant has an eating area that is air conditioned. We found this useful especially for breakfasts. Keeping the children happy during meals made it easier for us! The Brazilian restaurant near the small pool also has breakfast buffet, not air conditioned and smaller variety but it was nice because it was closer to our room. We tried the Mediterranean, Brazilian, Gourmet and Tequila restaurants. The food and the service at the Brazilian one was best. Tequila was the best venue. Bring your reservation slip with you. We found the snack bar by the beach was the best for lunch. Make yourself some tacos, grab a beer and enjoy lunch by the beach! Kids can serve themselves ice cream cones! The only negative thing about the restaurant experience is the service in the buffet restaurants. The staff were working very hard but it seems they were understaffed. Probably a cost cutting measure by management. Bars My favourite was the beach bar on the beach between the smaller pool and the main pool in Tulum area. Samuel was bartending while we were there. Really nice guy who took extra care in making the drinks. Swim up bars in the main pools are always fun. Lobby bars got busy at night but if a line formed it made it easier for the bartenders to serve everyone in fair order. Self-serve tequila bar! It was in the Tulum lobby bar area. What a great idea! Pools The smaller pool was a bit quieter and quite smaller than the main pool at Tulum. We didn’t go to this pool very much even though it was close to our room. The main pool was nicer, larger and more fun. Music playing, a swim-up bar, some fun pool games and more places to pull up a chair to sit and relax. The main pool at Coba was probably the nicest one because of the trees and bushes all around the area. There is a kid’s water park in this area too. Great place for the kids to play! Beach We knew ahead of time that the beach would be a bit rocky so we brought water shoes after reading other reviews. You will need water shoes! Because it is rocky it makes for some decent snorkeling. The swimming area of the beach is shallow so very beginner level, but fun, snorkeling. When we were there, around three half days the beach was not swimmable. A tonne of seaweed washed in. We were amazed how quick it washed in. But, we were also amazed at the great effort by the staff working for the company cleared it all away! They were there the entire time clearing out the seaweed. They also have a temporary barrier in the water to control the amount of seaweed coming to the beach. My wife spoke to one of the workers in the water and he said the seaweed has been especially bad since around February this year; hence the temporary barrier. It is a bit of an eyesore, but it really didn’t negatively affect out vacation. We still hung out on the beach pretty much every day! Our daughters swam in the ocean together without any issues with the rocks or seaweed. The bad seaweed days we just swam in the pool more! If you are after a place with a pristine beach you may want to look elsewhere to be honest. Not the resorts fault, it is what it is. Night Entertainment The shows at night were very well done. My wife and I enjoyed them just as much as our kids did! Great job to all of the performers! To summarize my highlighted points are: Resort is nicely maintained and very clean. It is a huge resort. Family friendly resort. Beach is so-so due to the rocks and seaweed. Snorkeling is good right at the beach. Fish and crabs to see. Bring water shoes, bug spray, children’s allergy medicine and after bite/sting ointment. Bring one more sunblock than you think you’ll need. Waterproof case for safe key, camera, etc would be handy. Familiarize yourself with the layout of the resort and the trolley routes. If you are not interested in timeshare, don’t waste your time with the ‘Privilege Club’ staff in the main lobby, even if they offer to give you free stuff. Go see the night shows after dinner! If you don't want to go off the resort or waste your time shopping, go to the shopping area near the entrance of the resort. Great little shops there, fun Mexican stuff for sale at reasonable prices!

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great family trip - Barcelo Maya Colonial

Overall, this was a great experience for our family. It was our first trip to Mexico and loved it. Fantastic pools, good food and plenty to do! Highly recommended! Hotel facilities were really impressive - although it was a big resort, it didn't feel like it. There was lots to keep our kids occupied. A la carte restaurants were fantastic. I do recommend these over the buffet, which was good but a little repetitive.

Dreams Jade Resort and Spa: Amazing resort!

Great resort, good food options, but hated that you couldn't reserve tables for large parties. We had 12 and had to wait 1-2 hours unless we went before the restaurant opened. Kids play area service was great liked that I could drop off my kids during the day. Very good staff all were friendly except one bad experience with BD travel person who dropped us back to the airport, he wasn't happy with my tip and said he didn't want it. Very rude and unprofessional.

Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Love the Resort

The resort is great. So much to do for children and adults the pools are great the kids pools and the slides. My grandchildren enjoyed all and the Cenote they loved the fresh water and the fish and turtles the beach has lots of lawn chairs palm trees and the Coconut drinks right from the coconut shell the food was fabulous at all the restaurants we ate at . We will definitely return. Thank you to all the Pleasant and hard working staff. Made us feel at home

Ocean Coral and Turquesa: Great resort

We have been to Mexico many times, and this resort will remain one of our favourites. It is a quiet resort without a disco! We were able to sleep through the night. The layout of the grounds is perfect for those with mobility issues. The staff were efficient and friendly. No reservations were required for the a la carte restaurants. The seafood and cheese was especially delicious. Sadly the seaweed wreaks the view, but they do their best to clean it up. If you enjoy quiet vacations with  [... read more]a beautiful stretch of sand, this resort is for you.

Catalonia Royal Tulum: Amazing resort

We've stayed at all the Catalonia resorts on the Mayan Riviera and this is hands down the best of them all. Let's start with the beach, which is amazing. Clean, beautiful white sand, no rocks. The grounds are natural, jungle like setting, well kept, with roaming coatis and iguanas. It is an adult only resort and we founded to be relatively quiet. Entertainment was good, in particular the girl only Cuban band and the acrobatic dancers. Staff was friendly and they worked really hard to provide a g [... read more]ood service. Food was fantastic, lots of fish and healthy meals. They cater mostly to the European market which is in many respects a positive thing. No food or drinks are being served in the pool. Location wise, the resort is right by the main highway connecting Playa Del Carmen with Tulum. You can hop on a Collectivo (minibus) running every 5 minutes for just a $3 trip to Tulum or Playa. It is a safe and quick mode of getting around. Tulum is nice and off the beaten path. Buy your souvenirs and booze from Playa! Avoid the duty free, it is way more expansive than buying from the grocery store or Walmart. Twice a week the souvenir stores in the resort have a sale.