Akumal Bay Beach and Spa Resort: Great Resort!

Awesome place. All the rooms face the ocean and even the furthest rooms are only 50m from the ocean. Great food and nice snorkeling. Saw sea turtles, squid, stingrays and parrot fish all just 20m off the shore. They even upgraded us to the penthouse suite when they found out we were on our honeymoon. Would definitely go again!

Iberostar Selection Paraiso Lindo: Lots to do!!

Just came back from a week vacation at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo. The resort was beautiful and felt luxurious. There were lots to do for our family (2 kids ages 5,7). We spent a lot of time going from lazy river, pool, wave pool and water playground. We also visited the lazy river at del mar. People working at the resort were very friendly and helpful. Never felt any pressure to tip.

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Beautiful Resort with lots to do

The resort was amazing! First of all, it actually looks like the pictures. The beach was beautiful and the pools are very large. The rooms were clean and the staff was helpful. Free wifi would be nice

Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach: Great Family Get away !

Absolutely Stunning, well kept grounds and immaculate facilities. Truly felt spoiled with the surroundings and elegant look. Safety which was my number one priority was well structured to account for everyone on and off the resort. Very helpful staff. With the good I do have some suggestions to enhance the experience - Don't assume everyone knows Spanish allot of locals - Create walk ways for people so they are not always looking over there shoulders for golf carts flying by - The extra atte [... read more]ntion you get at the Buffets for Drinks needs to follow to all Bars, Lobby and swim up bars. - Although present and very delightful staff that brought you drinks while at pool side could be more diligent, I found we had to bulk order to accommodate for lengthy wait. By the beach it was next to no service. - Pet Peeve was refused drinks at another resort which is so accessible to anyone. If you are promoting segregation close the loop and don't make it accessible. I hate embarrassing situation to the point were you feel your not accepted. All in all my family of 5 had a memorable vacation for life and would return :)

Barcelo Maya Colonial: amazing resort

The resort was really nice; the resort was well maintaineddone and staff were very friendly and always helpful to assist. The food was good too. They had different meals everyday and also an a la carte dinner if you wanted to get away from buffet food every day

Hotel Marina El Cid Spa and Beach Resort: Entertaining

The entertainment was top notch , food was really good most of the times. I found the Mexican restaurant and seafood was not a favourite on my list. The drinks l felt were not high quality drinks, l felt if l asked for a Mia Tia l can honestly say it was never the same drink twice. The entertainment group were wondering and warm and very interactive. I was a little put off when l could not have food by the pool or brought out of the restaurant, l have never had that in any resort. My husband and [... read more] l are not big breakfast eaters so l always liked the option of getting something and bringing it back to the room. ( the room service for breakfast was very limited and not appealing). I enjoyed myself but would probably never go back only because l never go to the same place twice.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Good food!

This is a decent hotel. You will be acknowledged by staff and the bartenders are friendly and the wait staff will remember who you are and give you excellent service. Where it is lacking is the beach. There are a lot of rocks and a lot of debris and seaweed. The beach is quite narrow and hard to go for a relaxing swim when you have to cross a lot of big rocks to get to a sandy part. There are a lot of animals around the resort, at first I thought this was cute and then I saw some animals coming  [... read more]inside and hanging around the dining area and sneaking into the kitchen.

Ocean Coral Riviera Cancun: Great resort. Wonderful people but understaffed

Rooms: Good size rooms for families, comfortable bed, proper amount of towels provided, clean facilities. Restaurants: Adequate choice of restaurants. Things can get crowded at the A la Carte's if you get there a tad late and you will have to be patient to get in. Service is very good and they try and accommodate you as much as possible. Buffets also get crowded and servers get overwhelmed. As a result drinks may be served after you are done your meals. There is no way to get drinks on your o [... read more]wn. Food: There is plenty of variety to choose from whether it is at the buffet or the a la carte. The kids menu is limited as is the same across all restaurants. Pools: The hotel has 4 pools. There is something for everyone whether you like to party or enjoy some quiet. Beach: Great beach. Seaweed is a problem across the Mayan coast but it is very tolerable. Staff try and keep the beaches clean.

Dreams Aventuras Riviera Maya: Good resort

Staff very friendly and helpful. Resort clean rooms clean. Loved the small pool by the ocean-it was great for snorkelling Omelettes in the morning were great. Loved that you didn't have to reserve for the resteraunts

Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Wonderful vacation

My kids are already asking if we can go back next year! My 12, and 17-year olds had a great time there. The activities that were included such as animal keeper, snorkelling, bike tours, walking tours, just to name a few kept us busy for the week. You really did not have to leave the resort. Rooms were great-we stayed in a newly renovated Eco superior room which I would highly recommend. The beds were very comfy. Food was good. We liked the Japanese and the Italian restaurants but our favourite w [... read more]as the Steak and fish one. It was amazing.

Iberostar Selection Paraiso Maya Suites: Wonderful & Relaxing- Family of 3 - Two Adults, One Teenager

The resort was huge and there was lots to see and do. Our room was a good size and the housekeeping service excellent. We found that the majority of the staff were all very friendly and helpful. The pool was very large. Overall the facilities were kept very clean. The food was okay, not excellent or bad just okay. As a vegetarian it was slightly challenging but manageable. Meat eaters have tonnes of selection. The evening entertainment needs some improvement. Overall we had lots of [... read more] fun and enjoyed ourselves. The weather was fantastic.

Barcelo Maya Caribe: Excellent Resort!

Excellent resort ......if it weren't for the Dolphinarium. Very very sad that such a large resort chain refuses to become a World Class Leader in the tourism industry by not only going to great lengths to protect green sea turtles but also dolphins. Instead of a dolphinarium which continues the degradation in human intelligence in terms of environmentalism and the protection of animal species, why not provide demonstrations/shows teaching the Barcelo patrons about the land and aquatic species in [... read more] its' surrounding areas? The world is starting to take notice and become aware just look at the huge drop in attendance at SeaWorld thanks in part to the movie Blackfish. Its disgusting to see people waiting their turn to swim with a dolphin, the dolphins being forced daily to perform and behave in tremendously small pools. At the end of each day you will find all the dolphins lined up with their noses resting of the pool's edge facing the ocean which is only metres away. So very sad. Upon reading the Barcelo's in room informational booklet the espousing of how they are protecting the environment by only washing the sheets every third day. Really?! Dismantle the futile Dolphinariums, and watch the Barcelo resorts really stand out as World Class Leaders in the travel and tourism industry..... The above makes me so angry but I also very much need to mention about the dive company Dressels that is on site here. My husband and I have been to other Dressels many times before and each time we dove with them they have been wonderful but I have to impress upon you that this Dressels location is THE best one! The entire crew there, everyone from the managers to the equipment guys all are top notch! Our 11 year old son just completed his open water PADI certification there and WOW we/he treated like royalty and we felt like we were a part of a family. Nina was our son's dive instructor. She THE best dive instructor we've ever come across (my husband and I both have our advanced open water and have more than 10 years dive experience at many dive sites including Roatan, Cozumel, Cayman Brac, entire Yucatan peninsula and soon Curacao). Nina was extremely professional and knowledgeable and really related to kids well. We hope to one day be able to dive with her again! This Dressels was absolutely perfect for those wishing to get their open water certification - highly recommend! Even the building itself was very clean, open, huge cleaning tanks, boats very clean, boat crew amazing etc. etc. So the resort itself now. Its massive. There is an enclosed 'mall' to walk through with various touristy shops with a very small casino and a haunted house (?) which was weird. Your all inclusivity doesn't go very far as everything fun is extra $$$. The bowling alley, awesome, costs $15 per game for instance. Want to play pool? Ya that's also $15 per game. Don't even know what the haunted house cost. The only extra thing that we did was the Flowrider which my surfer/snowboarder husband and son wanted to try...and loved. That was $15 for an hour. We did not go on any outside excursions as we had gone before and again, all of these 'tours' are very Disney'esque' and very over-priced. The food everywhere we tried amongst all 3 hotels was amazing. So much food!! Our 4 a la cartes were: Spanish, Japanese, Seafood, Steak house. The only one that was just okay was the Spanish one but ALL were excellent!! Our favourite was the Japanese with the Tepanaki show. The rooms were okay, nothing fancy but clean and adequate (room fridge always fully stocked). We stayed in the Sahil section of the Caribe hotel. This was a perfect location because of its central location to everything and proximity to the dive shop which was our primary focus on this trip. Have to also mention the service and staff at this resort were all excellent; very friendly and very hard working. Would we go back? No. Never again will we stay at a place with a Dolphinarium which is extremely unfortunate because of how much we loved diving with this Dressels location.

Barcelo Maya Caribe: Très beau site!

Nous avons séjourné à cet hotel, du 20 au 27 aout. Très bel hotel, très propre, excellent service, belle plage, bonne nourriture, idéal pour les familles, resto Japonais et Italien excellent. Tout est à proximité. Parmi les points à améliorer: le buffet est un peu redondant, surtout au déjeuner et la nourriture pourrait être un peu plus chaude. Le wifi est disponible uniquement dans le Maya Mall entre 10h et 13h; d'un autre côté, c'est excellent pour les ados qui doivent conve [... read more]rtir leur appareils pour la lecture ou les activités. très beau séjour et j'y retournerais sans problème!

Iberostar Waves Tucan: Amazing resort!

The hotel is beautiful clean and the staff is very helpful and polite. The service is impeccable and the man made jungle is unique and well looked after. The only thing that I would recommend to the hotel is to supply bath robes and slippers to their guests.

Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Great Kids Resort- but bring bug spray!

We travelled here from Aug 16-Aug 23 2017. We were a family of four (kids age 5 and 3) and traveled with another family same age as our kids. The resort itself is lovely and a lot for the kids to do. Resort is about 40 MIN drive from airport. Rooms: There are 3 sets of rooms.. I stayed in the basic room with my family (Building 36/37/38/39) all very close to the kids Aqua Park and Cenote. This is the simple room, but the space was sufficient. We pushed the two big beds together and there wa [... read more]s a lot of room for the stroller and space for the kids, beds were comfortable and good pillows. Open concept washroom area for shower but private toilet. We did get mosquitos in our room as well though, so bring extra spray for inside and outside the room. Also the monkeys are close to these rooms which we saw every morning. Next set of rooms are ECO upgraded rooms (Rooms 13-19), can't tell you about that, but more money to upgrade. Last set of room is the SUITE (our friends stayed here), they were in building 9 (extra $1800 US and ask for it when you are there), and had two washrooms and lots of space and access to room service and separate sleeping area for kids and parents to relax in, these buildings are close to the BIG MAIN pool and adult GOLD member restaurants. Food: First day and last day food wasn't the best, but overall was fine. Began to get repetitive. Lots of options for vegetarians (there is an actual vegan restaurant too on the beach) and lots of gluten free options too, lots of fish and sliced up vegetables and always apples to take out with you. They are fine if you take food out as long as you ask for a plastic plate. Waiters very nice. We tried Teppanyaki restaurant (Reserve when you check in), we found it just "OK", food was over cooked and the sushi was cream cheese sushi, so wasn't "amazing".. The vegan restaurant was good, just VERY hot/humid in there (no restaurants have AC) and the Mediterranean restaurant had a great breeze from the beach and good food (but service is very slow) there, it opens at 5:30. Buffets open 5:30 or 6, and always pizza/pasta/chicken/rice/beans etc.. There is also a snack bar, but we avoided it, out in the heat and the Coati animals all around it.. Restaurants NOT air conditioned so you are sweating and hot while eating.. Entertainment: My only complaint is that the shows begin at 8:30pm, which was too late for my kids who were fast asleep by 7:45pm! (one hour behind and humidity all day), they never saw a show. Kids club is a big indoor playground and they let the kids run wild, not as much planned activities there as I would have liked. I generally stayed there with my kids to cool off as it's air conditioned and they have a movie theatre there too (not always in English though). Sign up for activities the day before though. Pools: Great AQUA KIDS POOL, pretty amazing, tons of slides, shallow waters, and water is warm. Always ice cream and hot dogs here and chips as a snack. My 3 year old went up and down the slides by himself and was easy to supervise them here. Overall great family trip, just VERY hot and humid (bring shorts or very light long pants.. not jeans). Bring a lot of mosquito repelleant and after bite and aloe cream for the bites.. luckily my kids weren't eaten alive as bad as I could imagine, but my husband was! Must go swim in the Cenote, it's open daily from 9-5 , the water is cold but you see lovely fish and turtles. Also lots of animals to see, that the kids loved.. petting zoo with donkeys, sheep, bunnies, pig and ducks. Along with another area where the deer are and lizards and monkeys out every morning too waiting for a banana.. ( I wouldn't feed them directly as the monkeys have gotten mad or grabbed the banana out of our stroller), we just tossed it at the bottom of the tree and saw them run down to get it.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: Best Bang for Buck

Pros: Adults only / Amazing food / Private beach area / AAAA Service / The resort App becomes very useful. You have access to all of the other resorts when staying at the Sian Khan. Cons: LOT'S OF MOSQUITO'S

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great resort

Resort is very nice and very big. We stayed at the Barcelona Maya Colonial Aug 18-25, 2017. 5 hotels on the property but you would never really know that. Lots of space, big pools, tons of pool and beach chairs. Service was good but check in process was not - waited in line 30 minutes and we weren't the last ones. More staff needed when the buses arrive from airport. Check out was similar. Beach and ocean were rough/waves for 5 out of 7 days. Somewhat windy on beach (never felt too hot). Food wa [... read more]s excellent but only able to eat at 3 restaurants even though we had 5 to choose from (the others were all booked). But buffet was very good. The mall and market on the resort was a great feature. Surfing machine was a blast for the kids ($15 for 1 hour). Kids were happy to do that once. Cenotes across the street (Eden and Azul) were great ($6 per person) and only a 15-20 minute walk. Lots to do at this resort. Overall impressed and would recommend.

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Very nice resort

We really enjoyed the fact that the resort is located within an eco park, interesting animals, however mosquitos were quite bad so beware. Food was excellent in a la carte restaurants ( we ate at the oriental and Mexican ones) and you don't have to make any reservations. Buffet was also good. Friendly staff. One complaint is that some staff are pushing to sign up to an info session to become a member of the Barcelo hotel chain, unless you are considering buying into their time share don't waste  [... read more]your time. The resort is very convenient if you want to go to the XCarat park which is right by the resort or X-Plor park, for which they offer a free shuttle. We went to The Xel-Ha park and Tulum combined. One disadvantage is that you lose half of the day to enjoy the park because visiting Tulum takes up 2 hours (approximately). We got caught in stormy weather so couldn't appreciate the snorkelling as much, but it is hard to predict when you book a few days earlier. We still had fun though. Beach is very small and can get busy but snorkelling in the cove is great as well as along the shore by the adult pool.

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Fantastic Family Fun!

Everything was great....the hotel, views, food, nightlife and the clean beach at Tulum had fish eating out of your hand. The staff was very friendly and the shuttles to the different areas around the hotels was a quick and easy ride. The beach has a fishing charter with knowledgable guides and know thier stuff, I caught a 25lb barracuda to prove it. Ill be back!

Grand Riviera Princess: Very Nice!

The resort was huge! That is a positive and a negative. Lots to do, lots to see and lots to eat. A lot of walking, but our kids - aged 11,8,6 - were up to the challenge. We would go back. We had a great time. The rooms were clean and the staff was nice most of the time.