The Fives Oceanfront Puerto Morelos: Very Nice Resort

This is a lovely, relaxed resort, with a few recommendations and improvements that could be made. Firstly, the resort is not adult only, but the rooftop pool and area is adult-only - this was a nice surprise as this wasn't reflected online or in any review my boyfriend and I read. The rooms at the resort are nice. My partner and I got upgraded to a partial Oceanview junior suite which was so kind of the resort! The bed and sheets were very comfy, but the bathroom, you could tell it needed a f [... read more]ew upgrades. For example, the shower door was malfunctioning, such that with every shower, water pooled on the bathroom floor a lot. But honestly, that was only a minor issue. The resort is overall very clean and lovely. The pools are gorgeous, and the beach is nice. Yes, there is seaweed, but honestly it's everywhere - down the entire beach, and in other areas of Mexico. The beach was not rocky, and white sand; very enjoyable. Activities and events were minimal, but fun. We enjoyed a bike tour through town, yoga, and bracelet making. They even had live bands on the beach Saturday and Sunday afternoons which was a fun vibe. No evening entertainment really; a few live music nights, but it's a pretty quiet resort in the evening. My boyfriend and I didn't mind though, as we weren't looking for such a party vibe. The food was hit and miss. The breakfast and lunch were really good - lots of variety. Fish tacos, chicken burger, fries, fruit were really good. The dinner options were limited. We were surprised to find out that 3/6 nights, only 2 restaurants out of 3 were open. The beach restaurant never served their dinner menu (at least to our knowledge) - which was disappointing. Thus, we were left with only the rooftop menu which was basically all fish, and the Italian menu. The fish/rooftop menu was disappointing. The beef fillet was good, but the sushi, octopus tostadas, and a few other items on that menu were not good. The Italian menu was pretty good; the mushroom risotto and pesto ravioli were delicious. Overall, wouldn't say food was amazing, but it was pretty good. The staff and service were overall excellent. Everyone was very kind, and willing to help. Thank you to the amazing staff!

Riu Palace Baja California: AWESOME RESORT

This resort is perfect for couples. It’s adults only. We had a weeklong getaway there and just had an awesome time. The place is super spotless clean they are constantly cleaning and shining and just always on top of everything that way the food was awesome. The buffet was in my eyes probably better than any buffet I’ve ever been to on a cruise ship and they have 5 specialty restaurants and you did not need reservations for any of them. The food at all those restaurants was awesome. The only thi [... read more]ng is we go to bed pretty early at night and our room was a little too close to the stage area where the shows happen at night but by 10:30 in the evening they were usually all done and it was quiet, so my suggestion would be if you’d like to go to bed early get a room far away from the stage. We just got out of there in time as the spring breakers were starting to come in lots of them at the Santa Fe

Occidental Tucancun: Worst resort I've ever been to!

This was by far the worst resort I have ever been to. The only positives, are beautiful views, nice weather and luckily walking distance to good restaurants. The staff were unpleasant and dismissive, the food was awful - minimal buffet options, questionable looking salads and meat, nothing was warm (luckily there were some amazing restaurants walking distance that we could eat at most nights), extremely difficult to get A la carte reservation - an hour wait in the morning and most were a [... read more]lready booked up, you had to get up at 6:30am to get chairs by the pool, rooms are extremely dated - cracked tiles, showers go from freezing cold to scalding hot, leaking AC, dark bathroom lighting, our deadbolt broke on our door and nobody ever came to fix it even after asking multiple times, door also kept getting stuck and we had use body weight to get it to open. The last night we decided to eat at the buffet for dinner and we finished the the trip with food poisoning and got incredibly ill all night and are still recovering from that a week later. I do not recommend this resort and it has deterred me from ever booking Occidental again.

Dreams Natura Resort and Spa: Just an O-K resort.

Food was pretty good which was the highlight. Staff were nice enough, but the staff to guest ratio was off. Long bar lineups and slow pool service compared to other resorts we've stayed at - despite tipping every round. Ie. Drinks were sometimes melted by the time they got there. Hyatt seems to be intensely cost cutting, even that seemed a reason to keep drink rounds slow or self serve. Bars closed much earlier than posted hours (by 10 instead of 1030 or 11 or the disco supposedly open till 1 ?) [... read more] and we were told sorry you can get a can of beer if you want by a grumpy bartender. Seemed like staff wanted to gtfo come 930. No bar drink menus posted, no mint for mojitos a lot of the time, bar wouldn't make shots "its a family resort" which we certainly weren't going crazy by any means. Usually if you asked for a drink from their online menu they couldnt make it, only very basic recipes. Or inconsistent, some people got garnish some didnt, some got a completely different drink despite ordering the same thing. Now onto the rooms and grounds and hotel: our first room reeked of mold and had staining like it had flooded, door was all warped. I know Mexico is humid but this was insane. We asked to be moved and it was better, our families other room (swim up) had no smell and was much better. Between the 2 rooms, they had inconsistent amenities. One slippers one without, one had a soap dish, one didnt lol. We borrowed an ihome charger alarm clock that was in my sisters room because the rooms had barely any working outlets and when we returned it to her room on the last day, they called me to accuse me i stole the alarm clock when our room never had one to begin with ?. The resort itself is in o-k condition, but if it is only 5 years old that shocks me as there were signs of disrepair. Grounds are well kept but other resorts we've stayed are nicer. The pool chair game is annoying but we were able to get a spot at the preferred pool (some days better than others like some days no umbrella available and sat there burning) without going out at 6am like the other freaks. Could never get any chairs at any of the other pools. Beach and sand are nice but water murky and sargassam but if you manage expectations that way it was fine. Waterslides and zip line good, lazy river and activities and entertainment were meh. Another weird thing is they use carbon paper slips to take your order...no ipads or at nice places they do it by memory just seemed weird for a huge hotel chain, like what year is it! Charging an add on like a special bottle of wine, or spa treatments etc to your room was a whole ordeal where you were made to sign your life away in 3 highlighted spots on a carbon receipt book and handwrite 'i accept these charges' ? it was so outdated. Staff seemed legitimately scared if they didnt follow every protocol to a T. There were just a lot of cost cutting penny pincher vibes overall. For $8k for the 2 adults and a kid on this trip, I would not stay here again. Its just on the higher cusp of mid tier, and would have paid a couple more grand to have those smaller details looked after that I notice.

Secrets Playa Mujeres: Nice renovations

We stayed at Secrets Playa Mujeres in 2024 and were so looking forward to seeing the renovations done in 2025. The biggest improvement was the rooms! Much brighter and modern. The pool area and grounds in general remained the same with the only real change being the checkin location. There didn’t seem to be as many restaurants as we remembered and had to venture to the resort next door, Dreams, for a few dinners. Our biggest disappointment was the beach! There didn’t seem to be much effort in k [... read more]eeping it well maintained. I realize the seaweed was out of the resort’s control, but even the lounge chairs just seemed to be dropped on the beach. There also seemed to be an added emphasis on the Hilton brand, marketing and sales. We stayed here because it was a Secrets not because it was a Hilton. The entertainment staff as well as the staff in general were top notch and met all of our needs. Over all our stay was very relaxing and we were well taken care of. If you don’t mind spending the week at the pool than you would have a great time at Secrets Playa Mujeres.

Flamingo Vallarta: Very tired resort

Rooms are very poorly equiped. Towels are old, old and grey! Pillows are old and way past expiring- lumpy and too soft or too hard. couches? are dirty and worn out --ready for the garbage dump. We enjoyed the breakfasts which we had daily but we would not recommend eating from their buffet-everything is cold and made too far ahead. The sevice was friendly and excellent. We had a big issue with the maintenance of the pool area-it was started too late in the day so disrupted access to the  [... read more]pool when most visitors wanted to be at the pool.

Catalonia Grand Costa Mujeres: Nice Resort

This resort is very nice. It is clean and easy to get around. The rooms are very spacious. The staff are great. For the most part the food was very good and the pools are really well kept. Really good value for your money. The biggest complaint I would have is that the resort allows guests to book the restaurants 7 days in advance. For this reason we were not able to experience all restaurants. The buffet was lovely but they have difficulty seating everyone and this often results in a [... read more] long line up to get in. The room was really nice but had some maintenance issues. Door handle was loose, toilet continued running, shower water temp was not regulated…fluctuated between extreme and cold. At the beach, the only shaded loungers are a good distance from the shore and go quickly. You need to be up early to get these seats. All other beach loungers have no shade but are easier to get.

Flamingo Vallarta: Marina view

We stayed here for a week, walked the boardwalk, ate at different restaurants. We to the market Thursday. Hotel needs to update their furniture in the rooms, especially the sofas. Bed was excellent. This is an older hotel but kept very clean.

Las Palmas by the Sea: Basic No Frills resort

Grounds were excellent, reception was blah,no map, no information at check-in. No fridge or coffee maker in room. That's an issue as bottled water was room temperature and you had to get dressed before a first coffee. Food was repetitive, and catered to majority of guests, who were Mexican. Loved the staff, a saving grace ! For the price, would not return.

Barcelo Puerto Vallarta: Nice resort

Clean, good service. Only downside was I had to pay for zero beer. Other than that the food was great and room service was great. Front desk was super helpful. Enjoyed my stay at the this resort and would stay again.

Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Beautiful resort

The resort offers so many activities. Most of the experience was fantastic. Front desk staff was less than helpful. Horrible experience checking in. Had sent a email request for the two rooms to be close in proximity and they were as far apart as you can imagine. They refused to try and change rooms for us we were a party of 3 women and would have felt safer if the request would have been met. The dinners were amazing and all the other staff went above and beyond to make our experience amaz [... read more]ing.

Barcelo Maya Palace: Excellent Resort

A very large beautiful resort. Lots of pools and beautiful grounds. Very nice staff. Excellent food, lots of options. It's a nice touch to have access to the other 4 resorts. Beach was nice but rather rocky. The evening theater shows could use some work. Just like most resorts lounge chair reserving by the pool was an issue, you had to work around. Overall I would return.

Iberostar Waves Paraiso del Mar: Amazing Resort

We dealt with Jennifer Brown of Tripcentral. As usual, she's amazing. Thank you. To say this resort is large is an understatement. The grounds are amazing and extremely well kept. They do have trolleys. The buffet has lots to choose from. The restaurant dishes were amazing. I can't begin to tell you how great this place was. Stayed there 12 days and that wasnt enough.

Grand Oasis Riviera: Truly an amazing stay!

We recently stayed at the Grand Oasis Riviera resort. We had a fabulous week stay. We loved how clean and friendly staff were. The food was very good and lots of options to enjoy. We particularly loved how quiet the resort was. Always somewhere to sit and enjoy a beverage. Our room was on the first floor and our building was very close to the main pool. However just outside the patio doors of our room was a 3.5 foot deep pool and lounge chairs. So most of our time was spent here reading and  [... read more]enjoying the sunshine. We took advantage of the sports bar cafe and enjoyed coffee and snacks from here each day. We have stayed in other resorts in Mexico and found this resort to be by far our favorite. We would definitely stay here again.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Great Week

The grounds were beautiful, pools were beauftiful, staff was amazing and drinks were good. That being said, rooms are very dated, but were clean. We were on the second level in section 8. The big concern was lack of loungers at pools and beach. There are only 6 palapas at the beach (unless you are a Circle One member). No shade. That was a BIG disappointment.

Riu Latino: Viva Riu Latino!

The hotel cleanliness was immaculate and the condition of the hotel excellent. The grounds were spotless and all the staff (maintenance, entertainment, bar, cleaning, front desk, retail) were very friendly and welcoming. This hotel exceeded expectations. The food was very good with a ton of variety. The Riu party offsite was quite the experience. Our family thoroughly enjoyed our first time at the Riu!

Samba Vallarta: Lovely stay

The hotel is old for sure, hot water in shower is pretty much non existent. There are a lot of kids so if that's not your thing its not for you. The staff and food make the resort,Louise and jazmin at the pool bar are amazing. Overall the staff get a 10 out of ten, the resort itself should be rated a 3 star.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Would not recommend

Rooms smelled too musty Service was not very good À la carte restaurants took over an hour to be served not enough staff to look after all the guests Definitely not enough loungers at the pool and beach area too many people complaining that they don’t have enough loungers and there were even altercations due to not enough loungers I will not be returning to that resort

Riu Vallarta: Barely Okay Stay

This was our first trip to Mexico and we booked 3 weeks, paying a premium for a top hotel. The only good thing I can say is that the weather is incredible - blue skies and 29-31C every day. Room was bad, ended up paying another $750 CAD for an upgrade after a 4 day wait. (This must be a common practice because they have an actual "Upgrade Your Room" Desk for a fee.) Pools are overcrowded with people reserving chairs well before 7am even though they say this is not allowed. After the first week,  [... read more]the whole El Mencho Cartel thing happened but we felt safe. Then the hotel started closing all A La Cartes except 1 so your meal options were limited to the Buffet or the 1 restaurant that you cannot reserve in advance so good luck getting in. FYI - most of the A La Cartes are also buffets. In my opinion, the food options are terrible. You're not going to starve but the options rarely change so it's the same thing day after day after day - it gets old fast. The hotel moved us again to completely close the North Wing of the hotel because of cancellations, etc. so 3 rooms in 3 weeks. There was no pool/beach bar service and the drinks were just okay - bitter vodka, probably low-end quality for sure. There is a sign in the room that says they restock the minibar/coffee/waters every 2nd day but we had to call down at least 4 times because they were not replenished. We booked one excursion in the hotel with Sunwing (Rhythm of the Night) - we were not told we had 2 options (evening/night shows) so we were booked on the night show where the show was first and dinner was served at 10:30pm. We had to take a taxi to/from the marina ourselves (more $). The boat brought us back to the marina just after midnight where NO transportation was waiting to take any of us back to our hotels. One person managed to find a taxi, and luckily for us that driver called a bunch of his counterparts for the rest of us- otherwise, I'm not sure what we would have done. The nightly hotel entertainment was just bad and depending on where your room is, you can't get away from it. It repeats every week, so if you're there for 3 weeks, you're going to see the same things 3 different times. You can walk for miles on the beaches which is nice, but there are few shells, etc. to find (if that's your thing). Beach chairs are plentiful but side tables are not. Local bus service is available right outside the hotel, and takes you to Walmart where you can take a different local bus to the Malecon, etc. Or the bellhops can get you a cab from the hotel. I doubt this entire poor experience was a result of the cartel effect (which really lasted 2 days). This was our first vacation in 15 years and I was beyond disappointed. Overall, I felt ripped off, especially considering what we paid.

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: Great resort!!

The Resort was beautiful! Lots of pools and beach space. We never had to worry about finding chairs. Buffet food was good. Al a cart restaurants were fantastic! My only suggestions would be to upgrade rooms, they are out dated and provide more service at the pools for drinks and snacks.