Hotel Xcaret Mexico: Overall an amazing resort

Upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised with the smooth check in process (other reviews spoke of issues and that was not our experience). Our room was well situated and had fantastic amenities (super comfy bed/pillows, fantastic shower, comfy couch, nice table and chairs for room service, 2 hammocks on the patio, excellent WiFi with streaming to the TV, well stocked mini fridge and snacks, etc.) We ate at 3 specialty restaurants and enjoyed the menus, food and service. The main buffet was ad [... read more]equate with something we could always enjoy. The food offerings leaned toward Mexican cuisine, which was not always to our liking, but the beach à la carte restaurant and room service had an excellent burger/fries and club house/fries for occasions we did not find food options we wanted. On one occasion, just because we could, we took the boat to Xcaret park just to have lunch at one of their buffets (more American type cuisine on their menu)! Having access to all the "X" parks was a huge draw for our party of 10. We preferred to use the parks that did not require us to be off resort for the whole day so only went to Xplore/Fuego, Xenses and Xcaret - we enjoyed them all! One complaint about the resort was the limited access to public washrooms. We found it very odd not to have bathrooms close to the pools and in some of the restaurants. Bathrooms we found were a bit of a walk away from those locations and we sometimes just found ourselves walking back to our room (which was not always close!) All in all, a great resort that we would return to.

Bahia Principe Explore Tulum: February 2020 trip

I stayed at this resort in February of 2020. I'll outline the experience I had during my 7 day vacation here. Keep in mind that the resort has a couple of different sections (Tulum, Coba, and Akumal). I stayed at the TULUM section, So my review is solely based on the TULUM section. I departed on a Wednesday morning from YYZ. I landed in CUN at 10AM. I got on my shuttle bus that took me to Tulum. The bus ride was about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Upon arrival, I attended the front counter where [... read more] I checked in. The hotel staff provided me with a key for the safe as well as a towel card (both subject to a charge if you fail to return them upon check out - around $40 USD). After I had checked in, the staff advised me that my room was not ready yet (the time was 1:30PM). They told me the room would be ready around 3:00 PM. This is an inconvenience after the flight from YYZ to CUN and then the 1:40 hour bus ride to the resort. The staff told me to have lunch and return after to see if the room was ready. I was directed to the buffet where they served breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. Each night the buffet had a different theme for dinner (Spanish, Mexican, Asian - food looked the same all throughout to me). When I entered the buffet, I couldn't help but notice several birds on tables picking at the food left over by other guests who had finished eating. I sat at my table and was greeted by the friendly servers who asked me what I wanted to drink and so on. I then headed into the buffet and began to walk to see what the buffet had to offer for food. Nothing special, just your usual burgers (chicken, beef, fish), hot dogs, pastas, a Mexican food section (tacos, cheese quesadillas, piccolo's di Gallo, guacamole), Pizzas (cheese, pepperoni, vegetarian, sea food), fries, and cold cuts. I don't eat seafood so I choose a burger, fries, and some Mexican food selections. I went back to my table and tried the food. Excited to try the food, I ended up being very disappointed. The food had NO TASTE at all. Pizza's were under cooked, burgers had no taste, and fries were soggy. At approximately 3:00PM, I went back to the front desk and was advised my room was ready. I took a trolly to my room. When I got to my room, located on the ground level, I noticed it was VERY OUTDATED. There was a 24 inch LG TV in the room (no options to rent movies), very outdated paintings on the walls. However, the plus side was that the room was clean. After I had unpacked, I decided to go explore the resort - try to locate pools, beach, bars, cafe's, etc. I started walking around. I was able to find one pool which was close to my room. I noticed that the pool was empty - not a lot of people in the pool. I looked closer and noticed that several birds were in the pool. Several birds would just swim in the pool and bath themselves. I was shocked. I looked further into the pool and discovered that this pool was absolutely filthy (dirt, leaves, birds, etc in the pool). I was in absolute shock at the state of the pool and grew disappointed. I then left that pool and walked more where I found the beach. If you are into going to the ocean to float for several hours during the day, I don't think this is the resort for you. This beach had giant rocks placed approximately 50 - 100 meters away acting as barriers. Basically, you were allowed to pass those barriers. I continued my "exploring" and located another three pools, all close to each other (not connected). Only one of the three pools had a pool bar. This was in a sense the party pool. Here they would host activities (games, water Zumba, etc). These pools weren't dirty like the first pool I had been to. The other two pools were just relaxed. Kids would play in them as well (there were no water slides or anything). After spending some time at the pool, I went back into my room to shower and change for dinner. I went back to the buffet and once again, I was disappointed. Not very many selections (pastas, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, etc). Again, NO TASTE at all. After dinner I decided to make reservations at the restaurants on the resort. There were different types of restaurants at the resort. I went to the reservation office was advised by the staff that I was only able to make reservations for 4 restaurants. Odd, since I had a seven day stay. I decided to make reservations to a Mediterranean, Italian, Peruvian, and Brazilian restaurant. The restaurants were OK. Food was a LITTLE BIT better than the buffet. I guess my favourite one was probably Italian. Pizza was alright, nothing special. The Brazilian restaurant was like Copa Cabana (if your from Toronto, you know where I'm talking about), but they had like maybe 5 cuts of meat - chicken, sirloin, pork, and fish). The Medeterainain restaurant was OK. I had ordered a couscous and chicken dish. The chicken was OK but the couscous did not taste good at all. It seemed to be infused with strawberry - kind of weird to me. It's important to note that not all of the restaurants were in the Tulum Section. Some where in the Akumal or Coba, so I had to take a trolly there. I decided to spend some time at the other parts of the resort. I took a trolly to the Coba section. There were probably about 3 or pools here. There were about 2 pool bars. Better than Tulum. Pools were cleaner. 1 of the pools had activities taking place (games, dances, etc). There was also a water park in the Coba pool for the children. Note that there is NO BEACH at the Coba section of this resort, so if you are staying at Coba, you'll have to take a trolly to the Tulum section and walk over to the beach. I also attended Playa Del Carman on one of the days. This is a half day event. A jewelry store called "tour" basically pays for the shuttle to Playa Del Carman (the infamous 5th Avenue - about 30-40 minutes from the resort) in exchange for you to spend 45-60 minutes in their store. BE CAREFUL as the sales staff try to get you to purchase something. Just note that you DO NOT have to buy anything. Once I had finished at this store, 45 minutes later, the bus picked me up and brought me to 5th Avenue where you get to spend 2 hours there. Good time to try any restaurants and buy some souvenirs. After the 2 hours, the driver picked me up and drove me back to my resort. Once my seven days were over, it was time for me to check out. Luckily, I had a late flight departing CUN at 9:30PM. A bus had already been arranged to pick me up for 5:00PM. The resort is equipped with wifi, however it's very slow and only good for 90 minutes. There is an option to purchase the premium internet ($15 USD for 3 days). One night, I decided to purchase the premium internet. I logged on and the screen prompted me to either have the $15 charged to my room or my credit card, I selected to have the room charged. When I clicked "submit", the internet complely shut down and had no access to the internet. I was forced to tether the data on my phone to my computer. Upon checkout, the staff informed me that I had a fee of $15 (USD) for the premium internet fee. I told them that I never even got to use the premium internet as the page had shut down. The Supervisor came down and told me it was my responsibility to advise them that their internet wasn't working. I didn't want to cause a scene, so I paid the fee headed to the airport. Overall, I did not like this resort. The beach had the barriers, rooms were out dated, the food was absolutely the worst part, and lastly, some pools were not clean. I do not recommend this resort for anyone who is considering it. The resort is rated a 4.5 star but I don’t think its close to it. The only positive thing I can comment on are the friendly staff. They were very polite and friendly. I thank them for their hard work at the resort.

Las Brisas Huatulco: Las Brisas Comfort

The Las Brisas resort in Huatulco Mexico was very comfortable and the food choices were varied. The rooms were comfortable with lots of space and small fridge that was kept stocked daily, the coffee machines (pod type) were inconvenient as you only got one regular and one decaf a day. The staff were very accommodating for your requests in a timely manner even with the long commutes from the main buildings to some of the suites. If you like to walk you get lots of it from your room to the bea [... read more]ches and restaurants. The shuttle service around the resort was frequent and speedy even though we only used it a few times as we like to walk. The three beaches are all great and finding chairs somewhere was not an issue unless you wanted to be front and centre, there was always a place on the grass or at the third beach near the water activity centre. The food in some of the alacarte was inconsistent from night to night, but the buffet dinners where always varied and provide fresh grilled items daily both for lunch and dinner. Kitchen staff seemed to be aware of gluten allergies and were very helpfull and accommodating.The location of the resort was private yet close to several towns that are easily reached by walking or taking a taxi at set prices.

Barcelo Maya Riviera: Adults Only Resort!

The facility is gorgeous and very modern, not typical Mexico at all. Everything about this place is impressive and very large. Service levels are excellent and staff aim to please. Food is outstanding both at restaurants and buffets. There is always a choice between eating outside or inside. The rooms are spacious with good sized balconies. King bed is huge; spans 8 feet! Love the ceiling fan so one can turn off the air and sleep with open door. There are plenty of toiletries offered and a n [... read more]on-stop supply of shower gel, shampoo and conditioner.

Bahia Principe Explore Tulum: Great time

Delicious food, tons of options. Rooms were clean and cozy. Would've appreciated an extra outlet for charging (only 2 in the superior room) but it was not a big deal. A charge pack my partner brought for his vape made it a non issue. I wonder if they'll add some during renos this spring. Could always find a spot by the beach or pool which was sweet. Tasty a La carte but unfortunately 3 were unavailable because of early reno starts. Still was able to get into 3 and had a great experience. No seaw [... read more]eed problems on the beach, it was gorgeous. Great snorkeling along the beach but they could use a public washroom along there! Maybe I was just blind but didn't see one...

Decameron Isla Coral: Amazing Beach, Mediocre Otherwise

Beach was simply amazing, the weather was fantastic (February vacation). The staff at this resort were somewhat nice and welcoming, some bartenders and servers went beyond our expectations whereas some were not very welcoming and didn't want to help with some questions we had. The staff at the front desk reception were not very helpful and spoke little to no English. This was very surprising considering most tourists that visit these all inclusive hotels are Canadians/Americans, who are English  [... read more]speakers. Food/Drinks: very very basic with limited selection. Buffets were constantly the same food every breakfast/lunch/dinner. The a la carte restaurant (seafood) was good, but there is only 1 on the resort and menu is always the same. However, you do have the option to try a la carte restaurants at the other Decameron resorts down the beach with a free shuttle service during the evening. Drinks at this resort were either a hit or a miss. Somedays the drinks were amazing while other days, frozen drinks such as pina coladas/margaritas were served as a liquid and almost warm (they were undrinkable). Room: A basic double-bed hotel room with a balcony. The air conditioning unit in our room was constantly fluctuating the temperature, either freezing cold or too hot. Air conditioning unit broke multiple times and staff having to come and fix it. Bed/pillows were also pretty stiff and uncomfortable. Overall decent vacation, the surrounding town had great restaurant/drink options if you are getting sick of the food on the resort. I recommend Restaurante Pineda or Tonita I, which are close by. Absolutely awesome food and drinks and cheap. Around ~$30 USD for 2 entrees and about 4 drinks.

Grand Riviera Princess: Amazing resort!

This resort was beautiful. Lots of restaurants and snack bars to choose from, which all have amazing. Multiple pools allow for you to join in on the party, or choose to relax in peace and quiet instead. Would definitely recommend!

Grand Oasis Cancun: The highs are high, and the lows are low

You do NOT need the black wristband. You have access to around 75% of the restaurants with the blue (middle tier). You can also, if you really want to, buy the black wristbands for a day or two (we did for the last couple days of our stay), if you really want to try out one of the fancier restaurants and bar/lounges (they are only SORT of worth it?). You also get access the cooler beach beds, but a lot of them are in dead sunlight, and you have to camp with your towels early AF if you want to ac [... read more]tually get a beachbed. Otherwise it's just access to a nicer bar by the beach, and I couldn't even tell you what else. The black level buffet was nice, but basically just high quality version of the normal buffets. The pros: Amazing entertainment in terms of bar selection and evening activities. Basically a fully functional circus that performs almost nightly that is actually genuinely impressive Kinky Nightclub does almost nightly full productions of burlesque, etc. Beach was GORGEOUS. Pool was pretty cool - you could swim a long way in like a long wrap around deal. Swim up bars. Interesting features that are cool for kids like water spout things, stuff to climb over that decided the sections, and sharp rocks. Amazingly wide selection of food options, including some amazing Mexican options (Sarape restaurants, the La Placita snack section) Top foods: all the tacos (Hippie Chic Fish tacos, Sarape Tacos, Placita Tacos), Ceviches/Tartars, Chicken Tenders. If alcohol is your goal, congrats. They pour like 50% alcohol in their drinks. We actually had to ask for LESS alcohol. The Cons: Exactly 0 soundproofing between the rooms in the regular hotel (apparently the more expensive rooms are better). I could literally hear EVER MUTTERED CONVERSATION as if it was right beside me. Someone's alarm consistently went off at 4:30am and I was basically convinced it was coming from my phone. It is a party resort. There are young men yelling at all the godawful hours of the night in the room next to you. You will be intimately aware of their successes and failures on Tinder. You will become familiar with the song that "changed their life, bruh." You will overhear the friendship that is telling Diego to not fall asleep bro, Diego, don't throw up bro! DIEGO! SWALLOW IT DIEGO!!! Food could be fairly hit or miss. Eating earlier during the restaurants' service hours tends to help, as the foods is less rushed/they haven't run out of items. I'd say the food was maybe a 7/10. DO NOT BOTHER WITH THE STEAKHOUSE. This resort really just sucks at the basics: LINES. LINES. LINES. Want lunch or dinner? Go before you're hungry, to start waiting in line. Want to attend the circus? Show up an hour early for seats. Kinky Bar - same. We went during Feb 10 - 8, which I feel like is pretty peak attendance time. There were TOO many people to be comfortably at the resort. The poor employees were overworked to the max. They were all putting out food at max speed, but there were still constant lines. It's HUGE and mazelike. We were still trying to figure out best routes to get from A to B by 7 days in. For some unknown and terrible reason, some restaurants have the same name? There are 3-4 Dos Lunas. 2 Sarape's. 2 Hippie chics. WHY. Getting water is annoying - there was exactly 1 area to pour your own water. Everything else was having to find a bar, wait in line, and then get water. Bathrooms in the common areas were NOT near anywhere I wanted a bathroom, like the beach, or immediately beside a pool, or not in a far flung corner of the lobby, not at ALL in the lobby of the hotel buildings. You need to also be ready to head to the bathroom early before you really need to pee after drinking on the beach. Bathrooms were only really solid to use in the morning. Not a lot of upkeep was happening during the day (again, because I think they were ludicrously understaffed) so pray you didn't need toilet paper, or just go back to the lobby bathroom or your room. I hover-peed FAR too often. The floors were wet AF with pool/sea water, and probably piss. Again, probably because of the crowdedness, but maybe not: I feel like there weren't enough beach chairs. It was ALWAYS a struggle to get them if you showed up too late in the morning. I know this is a common problem at resorts, but I genuinely feel like this was the least amount of beach chairs I've seen at a resort, and it is the biggest resort I've been to to date. Bars are cool but PACKED and not in accessible/chill outdoor areas. There's not really a nice like "just sit outside at night and drink" bar. Smallest but maybe most annoying issue: towels. They don't do the towel card system, so you always need to carry your beach towel. There were "levels" of towels, and a few in our group ended up with lower tier towels by accident and couldn't go back. One ended up receiving a straight up bathroom towel and was screwed for the rest of the trip.

Riu Flamingos: Very good

Hotel is beautiful clean as ever this is our second time I enjoy most this time.The only thing is the room were located is higher but we are at the end can’t see the Ocean hopely the next time we comes back they give us an Ocean view room but other than that it’s really nice place enjoy.

Riu Flamingos: So much Fun

All in all it was a great, fun trip. Riu staff are excellent and they certainly do everything right. We did have a problem with the room we were given, there was a foul smell coming thru the air con. and it was dark and damp. We requested a different room and were told they didn't exchange just because we didn't like it ??? A cleaner came to the room at midnight with bleach and spray, with three children in our family I refused to have them breathe in fumes all night. We kept the doors open all [... read more] night and didn't get much sleep. Next morning after a long negotiation we got a different room, the holiday was saved....except lots of little things that were annoying but not game changing. The safe was broken, the phone didn't work, the keys worked intermittently. The foam party was great, the white party was spectacular and the Michael Jackson show was fantastic. Food was good (not great) but great selections and fantastic service.

Grand Sunset Princess: Beautiful

Loved this resort! If you are looking at this resort just book it! Best value, staff, location, food, facilities, and entertainment! The beach was also great! Lots of different excursions offered from resort as well!

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Terrific Resort!

We have been to the Mayan Riviera several times, each time the resorts were fantastic (which is why we continue to return). We chose the Barcelo Maya Colonial to try as the resort grounds looked great, the reviews were good and the beaches looked especially nice. We were not disappointed! A very well run, secure, clean and organized resort. The food was outstanding, the staff professional (and patient with some ridiculously demanding guests), and the grounds were superbly kept. If I had a criti [... read more]cism, I'd say our bed was less than great, one side was kind of broken, we propped it with a pillow and towels. But if I'm honest, that was really the only issue. I had asked the front desk to solve it, but a day later it wasn't fixed, so we just dealt with it. Overall, there were many, many things that were very good about this resort. We especially liked the way it is connected to several other resorts so you could go to the beaches and restaurants of the others freely. And a note: one of our group was really snake phobic and we chose this resort because the grounds were a good mix of beautifully manicured but not overly jungle (snake environment). We saw nothing remotely snake like or spider like during our whole stay. We have at other resorts. Eeesh!

Grand Sunset Princess: Great resort!!

Loved this resort. Food was amazing, the resort was beautiful and cleanly, always good entertainment, and respectful staff. I would go here again! Highly recommend this resort for couples, families and friends.

Grand Sunset Princess: Highly recommend

This was a fantastic resort. Food was phenomenal, beach was beautiful and the pools were stunning. Resort was very clean and the animation staff had some super rad activities organized for the day. They know how to entertain the guests and make them laugh. All staff were great. Highly recommend this resort to anyone interest in travelling to the Mayan riviera. I am not usually the type to return to a resort twice however I will certainly be going to this one!

Crown Paradise Club: Great Resort

Everything was very clean, food was delicious. Staff was very friendly, happy and helpful. The beach area was very clean no seaweed in the water. Great location with easy access to the public bus system.

Royal Hideaway Playacar: Exceptional resort!!

This resort is absolutely gorgeous. The rooms are very spacious and beautifully appointed. The grounds are well - kept and there is so much greenery. The big pools offer amazing views of the ocean, and the small pools are so private you are often the only ones there. The beach is spectacular, the food at the restaurants is exceptional, and the staff go out of their way to be friendly and helpful. I have only 2 small criticisms. It is unfortunate that smoking is allowed in the one outdoor bar w [... read more]ith evening entertainment. Most nights we couldn't sit there because of all the smoke. The second is the culture of snagging pool chairs in the wee hours of the morning (by laying towels or books on them). Many days we saw chairs with towels on them with no one sitting in them for hours on end. Something needs to be done to make the pool chairs more equitably available to all guests.

Grand Decameron Complex Bucerias Trademark: 5 stars

This was the 10th time in the PV and Bucerias area and the first for my partner. She almost immediatley felt safe and comfortable and the 14 days were a joy. Enough pools and beach areas that you can find the one most comfortable for you and the food changed daily so you never get bored with the same buffet items. Staff are fun to interact with and Tony especially made us feel welcome for every meal we had in the general buffet.

Iberostar Waves Cozumel: Great Resort

We visited Iberostar Cozumel for a week with 5 other friends and family. The resort is Clean and the staff are friendly. The food was great and our time spent on the beach and in the pool was perfect. My expectations were not quite met with a special birthday decoration request for our room that I paid for. But I would still recommend this resort to my friends and family.

Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa: Excellent family resort

The royalton reviera cancun was a great vacation spot. The pools and the food were excellent. The location close to the airport was great especially with kids. Variety of food was one of the best I have experienced. Usually you get the same food 5 different ways, but here each restaurant was different ( our favorite was the Indian restaurant). On the downside - there was jellyfish in the ocean that made swimming all week impossible. Also they do not guarantee 2 beds for 4 people in one r [... read more]oom - seemed strange. In the end they gave us 2 cots which worked out, but odd. I recommend the diamond club if you can. Reservations and a few extras made it more enjoyable.

Occidental Nuevo Vallarta: Such Beauty!

A fantastic resort! Extremely clean room and pool area. Very pleased with the beautiful views from the restaurants. Able to see the ocean from 2 of them. Food was very good with lots of choices. Drinks were constantly served by the pool. Great service! The entertainment staff were super friendly and full of energy. Nightly shows were very good with trained dancers. No fighting for pool chairs, always some available. Cons: No free wifi spots. This made checkiing in for our return flights very di [... read more]fficult. Had to cross the street to use Starbucks free wifi.