This was a nice place, well kept and helpful staff. Food was good in all the restaurants we went to.
Very quiet around the pool on TRS side. Could play better more upbeat music at the pool. Have a little bit better activities other the water aerobics. Doesn’t need to be full on party but get volleyball going or some fun trivia.
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Riu Playacar: Will return in a heartbeat
The layout of this resort was superb. From the front lobby to the rooms, pools and ocean you are looking at a 2 minute walk. Everything is close. The food was amazing, so much variety and absolutely delicious. Our room was spacious and very clean and the maid cleaned it everyday so well. The weather was fantastic, the pools were clean and they take care of the seaweed issue so you can swim in the beautiful water. Best of all, no line and not crowded, not sure if this was the time we were t[... read more]here Jan 1-8th, 2020. We will be back! You can walk the streets and because it is a gated community it is very safe. The decor and cleanliness was top notch.
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Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach: Beautiful spot
The grounds of this resort are lovely. The beach and pool were great! Rooms and food leave a bit to be desired. Our room's bed was terrible which made having a good night sleep impossible. My partner and I were excited for the restaurants you can book reservations at, for a break from the buffet. However, every single meal we had from the restaurants were mediocre at best. Often leaving most of the meal uneaten and going to the buffet after. The main Buffet had good labeling of food for those wi[... read more]th dietary restrictions (including Vegan options) but no other snack bar, buffet or restaurant did. It is a beautiful resort, well maintained and well staffed. The gym is spectacular and there are plenty of activities on the grounds if you don't plan on leaving the resort. The grounds were a bit too big for my liking but the views can't be beat.
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Jennifer -
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Dreams Riviera Cancun: Terrible Experience
We had problems right from the start of the vacation……We were here celebrating our 12 years together so some what of a romantic vacation. We where sent to room 2217 the room was ok at the start we were not happy that there were 2 double beds as we had requested a king size bed, but we thought no worries this we can over look so we were excited to begin our vacation…..so we turned the air conditioner on to 18.5 as we like our room to be a little on the colder side when we are sleeping and g[... read more]etting ready. We headed out to have a look around and get something to eat. We got back to the room and the temperature did not move it was at 25.5. We called down to the front desk to get someone up to the room to look and they came up had a look and said it’s working so we thought ok great……we woke up in the middle of the night and it was still at 25.5 nothing had changed…..it was so hot in there we actually had to open the balcony to let the cool wind in so we could sleep. We went back to the front desk in the morning and explained the situation and had asked to be moved…….they said no worries we will send someone to have a look so back to the room we went and waited and waited finally someone came and again took a look and said it was working?? We thought ok lets go and get something to eat and come back to see if it is working. Once again it was still at 25.5. by this time we were starting to get mad as no one could seem to fix it and they never offered to move us like we had asked. So again we called down to the front desk and said it’s still not working…….so again they said they would send someone. So we waited AGAIN wasting more time of our vacation finally the same guy came did the same thing NOTHING and said its working by this time we were getting frustrated but thought lets get out to the pool and try and enjoy what was left of the day. We get back to our room and the temperature was still the same 25.5. By this time we are getting frustrated called again and the same guy came and check and asked us to wait he would call the room and get a supervisor to come so we stayed in the room and NO ONE CAME another night wasted waiting for someone. The next morning we called to let them know that we waited all night and no call or no one came……so they asked us what temperature we would like it set to we told them again we like to have it at 18.5, he said ok no worries it will be set to that. So we finally went out to enjoy our day as we had already missed out on 2 days of this. When we got back to the room it was still the same 25.5. By this time we are so mad but thought forget it what a waste of time. The next day we had met a couple and they had asked us how we liked the resort. We had mentioned the room and the that the air conditioner wasn’t working……they asked us what room we were in and we told them 2217. She laughed and told us that they were in that room when they first got there a week ago and had asked to move as they were having problems as well. Now this made me really upset as we wasted 3 days of vacation trying to get this fixed and you guys knew it was broken yet lied to us. So we went back to the front desk and said what the couple had told us and finally they agreed to move us. The new room was good still 2 double beds but the air conditioner was working so we were happy……we went out and enjoyed the rest of our day. Once we got back to the room we noticed a lot of noise coming form above, we didn’t really think to much as we thought the people were just loud but this was not the case it appeared that there was some construction going on which started very early in morning and went on very late it was constant banging and sounded like moving furniture. This started at 6:30 am and went till way past 11 pm EVERYDAY. So between the construction and the kids running up and down the hallway screaming and playing starting at 6:30 am we did not get much sleep or relaxation. We know that you can not control the kids as the parents should be parenting their own children but the kids were terrible……we were on our chairs by the pool and there were kids jumping on our loungers and our table while we were sitting there…….it was ridiculous everything got soaking wet from them it was terrible. We were told that one restaurant was closed everyday which was fine however this was not the case…..we tried the Mexican restaurant twice and both times it was closed. There was so many weddings there and so many areas blocked off it was terrible……I understand that weddings are there but you should not be blocking things off for the rest of the guests. We also had a soft football for the pool to toss around which we did the whole vacation except for the second last day we were told no throwing the football in the pool……how does that even work??? We had been using it the whole time……it made no sense to me and then about an hour later they had a football game in that same pool??? I have been to Dreams in Huatulco and loved it there. We have also been to Breathless in Cancun and Breathless in Punt Cana and both places were amazing. We are very disappointed with our whole vacation experience at this resort. We travel every year to an all inclusive resort and have never had these issues.
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Iberostar Selection Coral Cancun: Very nice resort
We booked an Air Canada Vacations package in Sept. 2019 through tripcentral.ca that included a free room upgrade to superior level and included Carefree package. We selected our seats (row next to window) at that time. When it came to check-in online we found that our seats had been changed to ones we did not want (middle row). Air Canada changed them on us without notifying us. At the airport the agent claimed that AC should have notified tripcentral of this change and they should have notified[... read more] us, preferably in time for us to change back to ones we preferred. Our flight there was not acceptable as the middle passenger I had to sit next to a young mother with an active/noisy toddler the whole flight. This experience has made me question whether we should continue to book with third parties or just go direct to ACVacations to avoid this problem in future.
At the resort: We've stayed at 9 other Iberostar resorts plus several other brands in 18 years of travelling to all inclusive resorts. We found the staff at this resort to be the most friendly, helpful and available of any resort we've been to. The resort is very close to the airport which is a great change from the 1-2 hour bus rides we have had to other resorts.
Rooms are very nice, modern, clean. Large walk-in rain shower. Jacuzzi tub on balcony we never used. Quiet AC. Excellent view of sunrise, pool, beach from our room on 12th floor. Maid service in morning and at night.
Excellent drink service everywhere including beach and pool deck. Rarely a wait at any of the bars or snack bar.
Beach: Beautiful to look at but difficult to take long walks on, sloped next to water and very soft on top. The water is amazingly clear even with heavy waves.
Facilities: A variety of good quality chairs, lounges, beds around pool and on beach. Unfortunately all prime spots are "reserved" as early as 7AM every day but unoccupied...no enforcement by staff. We visited the pool at the Iberostar Select only once and found that whole area not to our taste, the pool not very accessible for people with mobility issues and all the ramps, steps, and different levels a problem for similar reasons. After that we only visited that part of the resort for the a-la-carte restaurants.
Food: Buffet breakfast and lunch and poolside snack bar all have a good variety of good fresh food. The hamburgers outside are the best we've had at any resort. The a-la-cartes are mostly good but nothing really impressive. Some "fancy" offerings at the gourmet restaurant were a bit odd, other things quite good. The usual stuff at the japanese. The steakhouse was surprisingly good...nice food presentation of all courses. We were all happy with our meals there. The mexican restaurant was very disappointing. First the menu did not accurately describe the meals. Most of the tacos all looked the same when brought out, i.e. a bit of shredded mystery meat on 3 small colored tortillas. Before ordering our meals, a man came to our table with some kind of ID badge on his shirt asking for our first names. He did not tell us why. We assumed, incorrectly, this was part of the "Mexican fiesta party" that was supposed to be happening there that night (which turned out only to be a Mariachi band wandering thru the restaurant once). This man later returned to our table handing out cheap little pictures with our names written on them, asking for $5 each so he can support his family. This is worse than the people selling stuff on the beach because he tricks you and then guilts you into paying him. The resort should not permit this activity in this or any of its restaurants/facilities.
Star Prestige Lounge/wine selection: It seems a lot of people don't understand that people staying at the Coral Level can access this lounge or order good quality wines off of the Star Prestige wine list available in every restaurant. Some of the staff in these restaurants may be a bit confused about this too but I believe we are allowed to order one full bottle of good wine per room per day at no extra charge. You can instead just pick up this bottle or sample it in the lounge or pick up a glass full there and take it wherever you want. We were surprised to hear some people complaining about the quality of the table wine served in the restaurants (it was not very good wine) when they could have been ordering better stuff any time.
Unfortunately my wife and I were both sick our last night at this resort. Some kind of food poisoning but we cannot with any certainly identify the food that caused it. We ate only at the Coral level buffet for breakfast and lunch that day but by late afternoon we were both feeling so ill we could not eat dinner. We were sick all night. Symptoms were similar for both of us including headache, stomach cramps, severe bloating, nausea, chills, vomiting or diarhea. The next day the only thing we could eat or drink was water, bread and bananas. Not a nice way to spend our last day there. We have read that any food can be contaminated including the nuts and seeds we both had on our porridge that morning. We are certain our illness was not due to "tequila flu".
We commend Iberostar for all of its environmental initiatives. We will look for this at any resort we stay at from now on.
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Catalonia Riviera Maya: Great bang for your buck !
The restaurants, rooms, disco and bars were all nice.
Food at the specialty restaurants was amazing (other than Bloved - we thought it was gross and couldn't believe it was an extra charge for some rooms)
The beach was very quiet and relaxing, and the views were awesome.
Great staff ! Both the servers as well as the entertainers
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Tatiana -
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Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach: Loved loved loved the resort!!
This is my second time at Iberostar, first time I was at Del Mar and loved it too! Amazing resort and property and Beach’s lobby is so lively! Amazing staff, everyone is friendly and simply great! Food was always fresh and delish. We were there for a wedding with a big group and the staff did an awesome job taking care of us! I was in room 3349 and it was a perfect location. Minor complaint, the coffee at the buffet was not good, but I heard that it was awesome in the shopping plaza. Book it a[... read more]nd you will not regret it :)
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Julie -
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Hotel Xcaret Mexico: Amazing Resort
Great experience - very unique! This was our second stay here, and we plan to return every year, at least until we have experienced every park that is included with your stay. Service and food are excellent and the grounds are pristine!
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Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Nice Resort
Resort was nice. Rooms were good - could use a little TLC. Food was good and there was a variety of options to choose from. A la Carte reservations fill up by 8am. Pool chairs are taken early so it's hard to get a spot but the beach usually had some available. Shuttles don't come very often but it was easy to walk to pools/beaches/restaurants.
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Alexis -
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Decameron La Marina: Fantastic
I thought this hotel was fantastic I enjoyed every minute while I was down there. I loved the rooms, I loved the ocean view; the ocean was very close to the hotel it was within two steps which was fantastic. I loved the service down there, the food was great. I can’t think of a single thing that was wrong. It was such an easy process to get booked in, the service of my travel agent I had was so good. When I go back I will 100% use the same air transit system as I did the first time. Thanks so[... read more] much for having me and helping me.
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Bellemarie -
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Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach: Amazing Resort!!
I found the hotel very beautiful and clean! The staff went above & beyond to help & were very courteous. Our room exceeded my expectations and the staff cleaned it every day & changed towels, etc. They gave an extra touch making animals out of the towels & leaving fresh flowers. Room service was prompt & dependable!
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Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach: Second time as good as first
We just returned from a week’s vacation, and our second time was just as good as the first. We were given a corner room on the second floor with a tub...that was lovely. We arrived at the resort early in the morning and were worried about checking in, but Oscar greeted us with a smile and said, “welcome homeâ€, and checked us in and provided our wrist bands and told us to go and enjoy breakfast. The food, oh my God, the food was so good. I was exposed to foods I’ve never eaten before such[... read more] as ahi tuna, giant clams, tuna tartar, and four different kinds of passion fruit to name a few examples. I had to exert an enormous amount of self-control every day to stop myself from overeating. I went to the gym twice, and the treadmills were in perfect working order. Again this year, we took the hobie cat out one afternoon, and that’s a real treat to be able to do that. There is good shopping at the onsite mall, and my husband bought a beautiful belt for himself at a fair price. We walked everywhere, but the electric cart drivers offered us rides steady. We never had to walk very long or far without a courteous ride offer. The grounds are so beautiful, the drinks and the service at the pool, the restaurants, and lobby bar was excellent. Even though we are regular everyday people, the staff went above and beyond to treat us special. The morning of our departure, as we were waiting for our shuttle to the airport, a lovely young man named Jodis struck up conversation. When he found out we were leaving, he said to us, “remember, this is always your homeâ€. What a warm and generous thing to say. The only thing I could give back is to tip, and tip I did, to everyone. And to everyone who works there, thank you for your gift of a wonderful vacation experience. God bless!
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Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Pretty good for the Price
The rooms and food were pretty good. The bar the black and white was one of the few things we didn’t like. Lots of walking to get to the beach but we didn’t mind. There’s a blue lagoon 15 min walk down the beach that is pretty awesome and free to see. Overall a good spot.
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Kyle -
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Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Lovely stay
The food and service at this resort was excellent. The grounds were very well kept and it was a beautiful resort There was also a very nice children's area both at the beach and in the hotel. Although the resort was huge there were continual shuttles going to all the other Bahia hotels on the property. All of the service personnel were very friendly, courteous and helpful. The beach was unfortunately very small and limited in terms of swimming. Two members of our group had rooms that were very d[... read more]amp and mildewed. The air conditioning did not seem to function well. We would stay again but would request a room where the air conditioning worked well!!
Recently visited the Iberostar Paraiso Beach for a week stay. Beach was beautiful, golf course was amazing. Food, drinks were all fantastic. Iberostar staff were always friendly and very accommodating.
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Ocean Coral and Turquesa: GREAT VACATION
MY SPOUSE AND I HAD AN AMAZING VACATION. THIS RESORT IS NOT ONLY BEAUTIFUL, BUT VERY WELL MAINTAINED AND GREAT STAFF. THEY ARE RESPECTFUL, KIND, VERY WELCOMING,GREAT ENTERTAINMENT. IF YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO SEE THEIR SHOW/PERFORMANCE "GREASE''. IT IS WELL WORTH IT. THE A LA CARTE DINNERS ARE DELICIOUS AND THE BUFFET.
ONLY THING THAT WOULD NEED IMPROVEMENT IS THE HOUSEKEEPING.
THANKS FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE RELAXING TRIP.
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Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great resort
This is a great family resort for all ages. Clean, friendly, good food, perfect beaches for swimming or snorkeling. It was our first time in Mexico, we will definitely return. The grounds are beautiful and well kept.
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Akumal Bay Beach and Spa Resort: Snorkel-fest ! - Akumel Beach and Wellness Resort
Great beach hotel with views -our room (in the 4000 block) was a few minutes walk from reception but literally 25 metres from the sand
Great choice with loungers in the busy snack bar area, beds by the pool or along the quieter sections of beach
The free snorkelling on the hotel beach with coral reef and turtles eating grass in the shallows was an AMAZING bonus. For better coral and fish, swim out a few hundred metres and it was incredible!.
Rise and Shine and Hatha Yoga classes were r[... read more]eally good, lasted over an hour and lots of ability levels catered for.
Aquafit good fun at 11am daily and keeps you from feeling guilty!
cocktail and waitresses in main bar very good; live music to 10:30-11pm every night had good atmosphere; more suited to 40+ ages
Downside:
service at breakfast in main buffet not so good; not very organised and waiting ages for coffee.
Rooms very plain and ordinary, but clean
Food overall very good. LIMA restaurant menu a bit restricted and wished Pelican snack bar had cold cut sandwiches and baguettes as a bit limited to fried options.
Would recommend - loved it all!
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Jason Mac -
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Decameron La Marina: Amazing resort!
The La Marina is a great destination for a couple get away or even family! For such a newly open hotel they ran fabulous, the food was great, service was immaculate, and the drinks were great, so close to the beach as well which was very convenient, constant fun the whole time, the staff was very engaging with everyone including us to make sure the stay was one to remember, me and my wife will be going back very soon as it was such a relaxing experience, I would like to thank everyone there for [... read more]such a great experience, and I would love to thank tripcentral for giving us the opportunity to stay! And we Hope to be coming back to Mexico very soon!
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Tammielyn -
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Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Beautiful resort
This resort is beautiful. The lobby and grounds and landscaping is the reason I can say that. The food is the best part of this resort. So if great food is on the top of your list for vacations this is the place! The rooms are ordinary. Nothing great. The room we stayed in 5606 the bed is very firm and for my arthritis not good at all. The resort is very large but has excellent carts coming every few minutes or so to to you where you need to go! The beach I give as 2-3 star. Not wide. And furt[... read more]her reduced by being full of chairs. There are no waves really at this beach. And the sand is not powdery soft if that's important to you. The people were absolutely lovely and respectful and kind. We were introduced to our "butler" on day one Armando I believe his name was, who said he would be there for anything we needed, however we asked him for help wt needed, he didn't do it, later in the week another thing we asked help with, with the usual I'll get it done reply and didn't do it again. Either there are too few butlers and he's spread thin or just isn't great at his job. Not sure. Not impressed by this part of the service of this "luxury" resort. Been to other luxury resorts in the past that outshine this one in this respect of service. Overall wt enjoyed our stay. And would recommend this resort to others. BC of the beach not sure if we will be back.