Las Brisas Ixtapa: Memories

Once again we spent our week at this amazing hotel and were not disappointed. Fantastic service by one of our favourites Jorge! The hotel was not crowded, the food was plenty and the scenery- breathtaking. I do have a little advice to first time travellers. BRING 20 pesos denominations. We had a horrible time trying to break large bills. No one seems to carry 20’s so we were tipping bigger than usual. Not that it wasn’t worth it, but it’s nice to have the option. This was the first and LAS [... read more]T time I do that. We went to Ixtapa island for the second time, it was beautiful but the water was a little murky and even though we did see fish, not as many as last year. We took a cab ourselves instead of the excursion which we liked better. (We brought our own gear as well). This resort is a definite YES for quiet, alone time with a perfect view and service. Can’t wait to see it again next year. XOXO

Las Brisas Huatulco: I had a great holiday at las brisas

I loved the birds. Squirrels, all the beautiful trees and that you are not just confined to one strip of beach but can wonder around and chose from 3 beaches.. a bit a pity that people start to bring their music to the beach and disturbe the natural sounds. but the hotel told them to please turn it down- that helped. food was great, staff very friendly. all in all a great week.

Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya: Incredible resort

Spectacular resort. An adults only must. A lush tropical paradise. Staffed by people that care for your every need. Something to see, do and experience from sunrise to the wee hours of the next morning. You make of it it what you want, but it offers you the vacation experience you want.

Las Brisas Huatulco: I loved it!!

There was an expanse to explore, warm, calm, clean water for swimming many times a day. The buffets diverse and delicious (we are now back home,dieting). The staff were kind and gentle, a pleasure to be around such lovely people. The view from my room was spectacular. Sailing was my favourite! I took out one of the catamarans at least once a day. Always a thrill.

Riu Playacar: When Can I Go Back!!!!!!

This is one of the best resorts in Mexico I have ever visited, and I have been to quite a few. From the front desk when we arrived, to the grounds staff, our servers in the restaurants and the entertainment and recreation crew....whom were beyond excellent.

Atelier Playa Mujeres: Best resort we have stayed in

The hotel and grounds are immaculate, the food in the restaurants was amazing. The people working at the resort were outstanding, always we were greeted with “Hola” and a smile and they placed there right hand over their heart. The service in the restaurants was very attentive. We were there for 2 weeks and everyone from the maids, the cleaners and waiters treated us like friends. The hotel is about a half hour north of Cancun, it’s in a quiet area and not a lot to do close by if you wan [... read more]t to go shopping. I would recommend Atelier for the food, the relaxation and most of all the beautiful Mexican people.

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Very clean and friendly resort, bent over backwards to help us in any way

The food was absolutely delicious every night , excellent entertainment and kept up beautifully, a wonderful place if you want to keep your holiday busy, or if you want to just kick back and relax. Totally an awesome experience and would recommend this place to everyone!

Riu Palace Costa Mujeres: Riu Palace Costa Mejures, almost a perfect recipe for the colors of tranquility

Our vacation took place from November 14 to November 21. We chose the Riu Palace based on the fact it is very new, the one-year anniversary of opening was November 17, 2018, and the mostly favorable reviews as seen on Tripadvisor and other vacation review sites. We went with an open mind as we always do, and this is what we saw, our observations and how we felt during our stay. Check in and arrival went quite smoothly after a roughly 45-minute trip from the airport. Let us get aside the minor  [... read more]quips, but need to be noted. We had requested an ocean view room, as it was our honeymoon, and, one checked in, we were surprised when the concierge bringing us to our room pressed the button for a floor a level down from the main lobby. We were given room 143, which was nice, but was anything but a true ocean view. Yes, it did face the ocean, but to see it, we had to really stretch our necks to see over the shades, and other pool equipment between the room and the ocean. Not a room where one could simply sit and see the views. The air conditioning was not working, I saw at once a sensor was missing on the sliding door, this was rectified in short order. The fellow who had checked us in, Francesco, did what he could do to help us out, we found we needed to go directly to the front desk, rather than telephone for help with things; otherwise the calls for assist were never done. I had asked for a couple of things, several times, for the celebration of our honeymoon, to be delivered to our room. That too, never happened. We had asked Francesco, our Sun Wing rep Giovanni who wrote this down so he would not forget. Somewhere things were getting mixed up because we would have room service calling upon us with things such as towels, Tequila that we never ordered! To note, we did ask for a true ocean view room, but this never happened. We left it alone as we wanted to concentrate on the colors and shapes of the resort, we were really only in our room to sleep, enjoying everything the place had to offer sunrise to sunset. Enough of this, now let us get to the resort itself that more than made up for the above! In a few short words, we loved it! Roughly broken down: Lobby area: very nice and bright, the décor and colors will catch the eye. Like every spot in this resort, it was always being cleaned and kept spotless. Just about everything you need is at hand in the lobby. There is a neat little 24-hour snack bar in a separate room in the lobby area as well. It would have a reasonably wide variety of foods and drinks to satisfy most hungry cravings, ranging from hotdogs and hamburgers, guacamole, even smoked salmon from time to time just to give bit of mentioned choices there. Grounds: Immaculately kept! The gardeners and landscapers were always busy doing things there, and were always giving a cheerful Hola! To you when you would walk by. Cutting the grass, trimming or planting more plants, always something being improved upon in the garden. Even for being only a year old, there is already a pretty nice variety of plants with beautiful flowers for the senses. Give this a couple more years to mature, and it will be even more colorful and lush. There are many small water features and ponds around the resort to accent the flora and one can also see lizards basking in the sun on the grassy sections. There is a path you can take close by the beach, this will meander on a colorful way to the sister resort next door, the Dunbar. All paths are baby stroller and wheelchair accessible. One path, later on to be mentioned, not so much. In between the Palace and Dunbar is a water park with a children and adults section. It was fairly popular amongst the guests. Pool areas: Very nice, kept clean, and the waiter service for drinks was top notch. There was always service with a smile. There are five swimming pools, each one having a slightly different flair from the others. Children are allowed in all the pools, even the pool bars. Some have complained about this, but we never seemed to be bothered by the kids, they add some spice and laughter to the scene. One memorable event is the pool foam party! Much, much laughter and entertainment! One never had to scramble or play the before sunrise towel game to snag a recliner at a choice spot by the pools, there was always plenty of room. The Beach: A very pretty one indeed, every day, depending upon cloud cover, would be wonderful colors of aqua, green, many combinations. A few days had yellow caution flags flying, there are lifeguards, and the slope of the beach being gradual means that even with some waves, it is quite safe with prudence to enjoy yourself a bit in the ocean. There is a long row of palm trees planted along beach to provide plenty of shade for folks seeking a respite from the sun during the day. The sand is very, very soft, not too hot on your feet. As with the pools, there is never a problem finding loungers on the beach. A tractor comes by a couple of times a day to clear away any sargassum which may have washed up upon the beach. There is volleyball nets on the beach area between hotel and loungers and games are organized every day for willing participants. In between the palace and Dunbar, the beach has an area where water sports equipment such as wave runners and small catamarans can be rented if ocean conditions permit. The beach is quite free of any vendors, and if any do come near you, a simple “No Gracias” will suffice to send them on their way. Waiter service can’t be beat on the Riu beach. Service was frequent enough, and the folks doing this did not have an easy trek going back and forth between bar and beach serving guests during the day. Part of the problem is no paved or hard surface leads reasonably close to the beach, making this particular path a hard or impossible one with mobility issues. One gets a pretty decent workout especially going up to the hotel from the beach with the deep soft sand. Imagine the waiters doing this all day! Compounding this, there are no beach washrooms, the closest ones being up that slope in front of Pepe’s Restaurant, a popular eatery at lunchtime. Supposedly this problem of beach access is being looked into, and if it is, the beach would truly be a perfect ‘10’. Restaurants and food: Always a very subjective subject! We will honestly say that the Riu Palace had the best and most tasty selection of food we have experienced in our travels of AI resorts. We are referring to the Buffet, we only did one A-la-Carte, more further down. We are real foodies and are quite fussy about such. Yes, the buffet is that, a buffet, but the offerings were never anything but satisfying. Each night has a different theme, but there are always staples offered every night for those who wish to stick with the same thing. Thursday evenings is lobster night at the buffet, and that is a very nice evening in itself. For seafood lovers such as ourselves, it was so nice to see all types of seafood offered every night. Shrimp, squid, octopus, baked salmon, smoked salmon, sushi, Mahi-mahi, swordfish, you name it! Meat lovers are not left out of the deal either, there is a large variety of meat and chicken dishes as well. We were never disappointed with that selection either. Vegetarians need not fear, you are also quite decently accommodated too with a big variety of salads, individual fruits and vegetables and also for the baked goods folks, many selections of rolls and breads. Breakfasts in the buffet were amongst the best we have had, and the selection is large. Marinated salmon and other things we don’t usually see every morning at other places were aplenty at this place! Omelet station was nice, pick your ingredients, and the folks at the cooks would make the omelet any way you asked. Breakfast was always held at the buffet, and it was wonderful eating outside if you wished watching the sunrise if you are an early bird. & AM is when the breakfast buffet opens. Again, for those going on excursions which leave early, remember there is the small cafeteria just off the main lobby! 24 hours folks! As for the A-la-Cartes, we did the Italian. Meh, we were not thrilled, pure and simple. We had lunch at Pepe’s a couple of times, the food was good, but many guests were being disorderly with regards to manners, such as using hands instead of tongs to handle food from the trays, ETC. We chose to go to the calm of the buffet after a couple of tries. In all fairness, the food at Pepe’s was great as well! Very nice selection given the space they had to work with at the counters there. We can’t offer any other reports on the others, as we did not go to them, please see other reviews from other folks about them. In all honesty, the buffet was so enjoyable and full of variety, we kept going there. Bars and entertainment: Very nice! The bartenders were at your service, quick courteous the ambiance especially in the lounge was just right, the views from the windows could be paintings, so relaxing was the view. We were able to get cappuccinos, pastries, cakes, and light snacks in the lounge to accent the beauty of the large and airy room. The other bars had quick service, clean and orderly. The drinks themselves, no matter which bar, were always potent! Beware folks who are light drinkers! Logistics, etc: The Riu Palace is quite isolated, but this is changing rapidly. One can see many construction cranes all along this relatively unspoiled strip of beach, many new resorts are going up. With this, in the future there will be local entertainment. For now, however, folks need to take a taxi or rent a car to get to the much more lively Cancun district. If you simply want to stay on the hotel grounds, there is enough activity on sunny days at least to keep you occupied. Excursions and related: Even though the hotel is relatively isolated, there are many excursions folks can partake in for extra cost. These can be arranged through vendors on the hotel grounds or through your travel rep on the grounds. Do your research, see what the deals are, and what suits your own tastes. There is a very large selection ranging from simple transportation to get from the hotel and back, scuba diving, trips to Chichen Itza and beyond. We chose an excursion to Isla Mejures on a catamaran, included was a nice box lunch, drinks, and a stop along the way to snorkel. The time we were allowed to explore the island was very short, next time we will fix to get a taxi to the ferry (Ultramar is one which sails every half hour or so) and be able to explore the island at our leisure with a rented golf cart. Many other forums can be found on Trip Advisor, etc, to discuss these sort of things. By the way, the sunsets seen from Isla Mejures are absolutely spectacular! Summary, would we go back to Riu Palace?: Yes, we most certainly will, but we will be more cautious with the front desk and hope to have a better experience then we did with a few things. Paltry in the sense, but when paying a decent amount of savings this should not be. We have enough Spanish to get by and Google Translate is your friend at certain times so it was not a language barrier, it could honesty be the front desk folks getting their legs working at this beautiful resort. Everything else was absolutely great, we would recommend the resort to our friends and family for sure. The 4-stars from us are only because of the front desk encounters, the rest is definitely a 5-star, and will get better as things develop and get sorted out! Thank you for reading our long-winded report!

Finest Playa Mujeres by Excellence Group: Great family resort

Finest playa mujeres was a great family friendly resort. We went with a 8 month old baby and they provided all the baby amenities like bottle warmer, sterilizer, bath tub, monitor, crib. They also have an awesome kids centre while our baby was too young to take full advantage of it, it would be a great place for toddlers and older. The resort had great amenities, staff was friendly and offered amazing service and food was good. I would definitely go back and plan to when my little guy is older.

Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya: Wonderful resort!

This resort has beautiful pools (3), lovely tropical grounds, impeccable service by all staff, and amazing food in ALL restaurants! The beach is also well laid out with lots of palapas, and great snorkelling. It takes a day or so to find everything on this resort though because it’s so sprawling and pathways are roundabout. Not a biggy once you figure it out. The only thing I was a little put out by was that by 4:00 pm the events teams would ask you to move out of the way so they could set up  [... read more]tables and chairs around the pools. And, yes, usually at all 3 pools were large corporate events, every night. Felt a bit like being at a business hotel versus a leisure hotel. Otherwise, we loved it!

The Local Hotels Mazatlan: Amazing

Thelocal is a wonderful hotel with great staff and an even better location. If you are choosing to stay here with the all inclusive option, you will have access to free bicycle rentals at Mazatlans downtown boardwalk along the ocean. It is close to everything, and it holds some of the most beautiful views of the surrounding islands. The food and drinks are absolutely delicious. If you are looking for a more quiet resort with not too many tourists, this is definitely the place to stay.

Riu Palace Las Americas: Great Resort!

Beautiful resort, grounds were great, food was excellent, big beautiful lobby, very clean all over, the only critic I have it was not a quiet group of people at the swim up bar, very loud and I prefer to be more on the quiet relax time.

Grand Decameron Complex Bucerias Trademark: Authentic Mexican Brightly Coloured Resort in Great Location!

Royal Decameron Resort Complex Review We always enjoy staying at the Royal Decameron Complex as we love the authentic Mexican feel with bright colours and artwork! This was our 5th time to this resort from February 21-28, 2020 and this time was for a wedding – per my suggestion of this resort! A group of 34 of us! Location: The reason for choosing this resort was the bright coloured building (not white and modern looking), location and free form pools with some shade. The ability t [... read more]o walk just 14 minutes to the markets or 6 minutes up the hill to highway 200 to catch the collectivo or buses to surrounding towns makes this an ideal location. A suggestion for improvement: As the cobblestone is very difficult to walk on, and the sidewalks are uneven, it would be great if there was a sidewalk along the property to connect with the one further up the hill. Pool & Beach Area: Fabulous beach where you can walk for miles in both directions. Beautiful pools – especially the larger one in block 6. Additional palapas and umbrellas would be beneficial as even though we want the sun, the direct sunlight all day can prove to be too much for some of us. Another area that is of obvious concern is the uncomfortable loungers. It is a shame that one has to go out and purchase an air mattress for the loungers just to be comfortable. Check In: Excellent with quick service provided. The biggest area of improvement would be supplying the safe key at this time (and include the charge in the price of the package). We went to the area where we had to purchase the safe key and pay a daily fee - twice. The first night they were not ready for us as our information was still being entered into the system and the next day the system was down. How does this provide us with comfort knowing our valuables are safe??? Rooms: Beautiful room in block 6. Appreciated the complimentary soaps/shampoo/body wash and hair dryer. Our maid was fantastic – very friendly and quickly resolved any needs we had. Improvement ideas: Supply face cloths, additional hangers and perhaps more than 2 bottles of water daily. We each used 1 bottle for brushing our teeth morning and evening so that left no water just to drink. Perhaps 4 bottles per double occupancy room would be more appropriate. Also, an ice machine in each block would be appreciated. Unfortunately, the bedside lighting is not condusive to reading as it is not bright enough (especially for those of us who wear glasses or eyes are aging). Above bed lighting would be appreciated. Restaurants: This trip we enjoyed the buffets. We did not try to book into the a la cartes because we were never up early enough to get on the list. We loved that guacamole is now served! Also loved the crepes, although they were served in the evening. We would love to see them as a breakfast option with the addition of pineapple jam. Of course, the omelette station was fantastic. Was not so fond of the majority of the desserts with the exception of the ice cream! Perhaps coconut and pineapple muffins or mini cheese cakes that are sold in the area could be added to the line-up. Other fantastic additions would be: a specialty meat station – fresh fish, roast beef or turkey, stir fry station – with choice of meat / tofu / vegetables and sauce; vegen / gluten free / and keto stations. Drinks: Loved that watermelon juice that was offered many times in the buffet. Almost all of the drinks were too sweet – especially the non-alcoholic pina coladas. We actually went into town just to have some. They are not creamy at all – just super sweet! This has not changed in all my times staying at this resort and it would be a great improvement! Evening Shows: I enjoyed the nightly shows, but having been to this resort many times was disappointed that they have not been updated. Having said that, I did miss Grease as it was not in the line-up. The nightly show in the ampi-theatre at 9:30 is too late – not only for those who wish to bring their children, but for those of us who have had a wonderful long day enjoying the sunshine. Perhaps an 8:30 start would be more appropriate, with the entertainment by pool 1 starting earlier as well. I was surprised to see that dry ice is still being used both on the stage and in the disco. It makes it very difficult for those who suffer from asthma or other health issues to stay and enjoy the show. The disco does not start until 10:30 and consists of extremely loud music videos (with no option to change the style of music). Unfortunately, it is too loud to even carry on a group conversation. As a large percentage of the clientele are older, it would be beneficial if they started earlier, turned down the volume, had a variety of styles of music and offered dance lessons such as salsa, cumbia or buchata. Wedding: Great venue which exceeded the bride’s expectations! She said the person organizing the event was awesome! The ceremony location on the beach was beautiful. The wedding started at 4:00 (so sun would not be too intense). Following this, the reception was in front of the Tropical Buffet. The food, bar service and mic system to play our own music made it a night to remember. The most fun was dancing on the grass! Would highly recommend it. Overall, we loved this resort and will continue to return, but it would be great to see the improvement suggestions.

Bahia Principe Explore Tulum: FANTASTIC

We were at the resort for nine days. The weather, the beach and pools were truly awesome. The daily buffets were well planned and very good. The ala carte restaurants were very good. All the staff were very helpful and friendly. Our room was cleaned very well and was comfortable. The only downside was the plumbing, the toilet would not flush properly, but it was quickly fixed by staff.

Iberostar Selection Coral Cancun: Not A 5 Star ⭐️ (Adult Section)

We stayed in the adult section of this resort and definitely not a 5 star. We met with our concierge for less than 5 minutes on our arrival and never saw him again. Our building was literally 100 ft away from the kids section of the Resort next door (Seadust ). Our room was lovely and clean. Nice balcony with ocean view. Mini fridge was not restocked. Only one a la carte and one buffet. The remaining restaurants were in the family section. Reservations for theses places had to be made the day af [... read more]ter our arrival otherwise, according to staff, they would be fully booked (which was not true). Food was good...was not expecting anything fancy. Swimming pool was toooo cold to swim in, it would be like a polar dip in Canada. Finally we were able to use it on the 5th day of our stay. Ran out of Mojitos (in Mexico ???) and ran out of white wine...I would rate this as a 3+ Adult Resort and would recommend staying in the family section....it looked much nicer. Shutout to Luis at the steakhouse restaurant who went out of his way to find the wine I enjoyed.....

Catalonia Royal Tulum: Nice quiet resort

Small, quiet adults only resort. Entrance to the resort is very modest compared to bigger resorts. Lobby is impressive. Check in was efficient. There is a bar in the lobby tucked into a corner, that should be more in the open area. There is a small pond exiting the lobby with fish, turtles and various large birds. Path to the room is a very pretty, winding cobblestone path carved through the jungle. The room was cleaned consistently every afternoon. There was always adequate towels and th [... read more]e mini bar was always restocked. The 2 buffets were good and the 5 a la cartes were good. Favourite was the grill on the ocean. Swimming pool was too cold to enjoy. Beach is very nice with about 2 km of sand for walking. Seaweed was minimal, but increased with a strong east wind. It piled up over a couple of days and was not picked up. Recommend for couples looking for a quiet laid back vacation.

Bahia Principe Explore Tulum: Such an amazing time!

We had a wonderful time at this resort! The rooms were well taken care of in a good size! At the grounds were always clean kind and beautiful! No The beaches are gorgeous and the pool was a such a good time! And all of our meals were delicious :)

Wyndham Alltra Playa del Carmen: Fantastic Resort

The staff from room service, housekeeping and food services where absolutely fantastic. There were 11 of us for my wife’s 60th birthday and we had a party in the Brazilian Steakhouse and the staff was amazing this was our second visit to Panama Jacks in as many years. Truly a delight. Thanks to all Stephen Coulson and party

Grand Sunset Princess: Beautiful Resort

The hotel grounds are beautiful. Good food, but could be warmer. The snack bars by the pools are excellent. Good drinks. Pools are cold. The beach was nice. House keeping does a great job. Mini fridge always stocked.

Palacio Mundo Imperial: Awesome Resort!!

This was our first time travelling to Mexico, for my husband and I. We were impressed the moment we got off the bus, as we headed inside the Palacio Resort.. Smiling faces greeting us, along with drinks and fast service. We proceeded to our rooms admiring the beautiful resort with marble floors, glamourous shops and tasteful décor. Our room was very spacious with double sinks, fridge with water, coffee machine, A/C, comfortable king size pillow top mattress, balcony overlooking the mountains  [... read more]and scenery and even a small gift basket with Mexican treats. :) We had access to 3 different Resorts with free shuttle services, each resort was uniquely different. It was interesting to see all the different views, shops and many restaurants. So many different pools as well as swim up bars, waterslide, wave pool, jacuzzi and sitting areas! We will be going back to these very clean, affordable and friendly Resorts for sure!! We would recommend the 3 Mundo Imperial Resorts =Princess hotel Pierre- and Palacio !! A few things I found that wasn't pleasant were ; that we had to sign the bill every time we ordered food and drinks, hot tub in the spa wasn't working and that we had to pay extra for sheltered areas on the beachfront. Other than that it was a great vacation and we really enjoyed it.