We love staying at the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda because the food and service is impeccable! This is our 5 time here and we keep coming back every year. The layout is perfect and the staff are friendly as well as the rooms. Clean and everything works.
And if you leave a few pesos the cleaning staff leaves you a nice treat!
We'll be back!
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Viva Maya by Wyndham: Good resort
It was our first time in Mexico and we chose this smaller resort. The beach is amazing! Lots of Palm trees for shade and lots of water activities although the seadoos were coming too close and giving off fumes. They should have a designated area. Buffet was small and very basic, comparable to Cuba, I expected more from Mexico, the à la carte were very good tho. No entertainment or live music and no table service we had to get everything ourselves at the bar. Room was clean and they keep the gr[... read more]ounds immaculate. The staff works very hard and are friendly. We're not demanding or picky so we still had a good week but would not return.
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Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Under rated
This resort is under rated. It is rated a 3.5 star, but I felt it was like a four star rated resort. The rooms were quiet, but need renovations. We asked for two double beds in adult only section and were told that they only have a king bed and a sofa bed. We later found out that the bungalows in the 60 section had double beds. So. Had to sleep on the sofa bed which was extremely uncomfortable. The pool in adult section needed to be cleaned more often. The restaurants were all great! The service[... read more] was really good, but washrooms often had no toilet paper. The shows were excellent. The wildlife was interesting. The bugs are nasty so make sure you bring good bug spray. They should get a swim up bar at the adult pool and have some music playing. It was a little too quiet. Over all a good resort for family's.
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Grand Palladium Colonial: Third visit and still amazing!
We just returned from renewing our vows at Grand Pallidium Colonial resort. Elsa our wedding coordinator was amazing during planning and organizing every last detail. Resort was loved by all 25 family members traveling with us. Resort clean, service and food amazing.
There was a little mess up with room set up with our family of 6 but they worked to rectify asap.
Very happy and relaxing trip
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Danapringle7 -
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Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya: An Unbelieavable Resort With Something For Everyone!
Let me begin by saying that we received communication from 2 tripcentral reps while planning this vacation. Sarah Drain and Diane Newick were both wonderful and answered all questions promptly. Thanks ladies!!!!
We just returned from seven days at Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya. What a fabulous adventure this was!!!!! The hotel is beautiful and huge!!!! We loved that quality about it because we are walkers and walked everywhere to try to burn some of the fabulous food the buffets provided. There [... read more]are huge golf carts that jet around the property and shuttle stops if you'd rather catch a ride everywhere. Plenty of drivers offered us a ride concerned that we were missed.
This resort had a daily schedule of activities guests could partake in every day. Dancing, Spanish lessons, air gun shooting, and archery. We did a few of the activities and I know that lots of other resorts have schedules, they tend to be a little unreliable. We couldn't believe how structured the schedule was. Staff was always on time and gracious. There's an ice cream shop and a coffee shop you can frequent as well.
If you are a 'beach chair' person. (We aren't generally) This time of year was a great time to travel because the hotel had enough traffic to keep all the a la carte restaurants open and activities going, BUT you could still get a chair on the beach or by the pool without any difficulty. This property also has SEVERAL pools from the party scene to very quiet. You will find your vibe very quickly. Snorkeling was great right off the beach.
This hotel is situated in a jungle area and there are nature paths you can follow around that were wonderful. They even have bike tours that take about 40 minutes. Tons of Iguanas and Coati's (Mexican racoon that is adorable) birds, a few cats are around but not many. The butterflies are amazing and we didn't have much trouble with mosquitoes at night. They are very environmentally conscious and do their best to maintain the eco system so if you think that taking a picture of an iguana eating french fries would be hilarious, don't do it. They work very hard to integrate humanity with nature, don't be one of the jerks that wrecks that balance.
The food was wonderful and the buffets offered enough daily variety that it was difficult to tire of anything. The a la cartes were good. Have the beef tenderloin at the Steakhouse. It was amazing! The drinks and the bartenders serving them were all great. I cannot stress this enough. Not one staff member at this resort has their hand out for a tip. We actively tipped all week 20 pesos to a bartender or buffet server and 40 pesos to the a la carte servers. 20 Pesos costs us about $1.63. We spent under $100 on tipping. TIP YOUR SERVERS!!!!! The staff is wonderful at this hotel and will treat you well all week but they work hard long days. Tip them, they deserve it.
Our room was wonderful and huge!!! We traveled as a couple but this Junior Suite that we had could comfortable sleep a family of 4. It was clean with a beer, soda, and coffee stocked bar. Tip these people too!!!! We left 20 pesos for EACH for housekeeping and the fridge person. There's also a concierge at the ground level floor of each building if you need anything at all. We had Mario and he was wonderful. This allows you to ask all the questions you'd like without having to spend a lot of time walking or calling to the front desk. I do suggest reading the guide provide in your room. It will clear up any and all questions you might have.
We loved Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya. We are hoping to go again next year at the same time and bring my stepdaughter along who is 13. She'd love the place too I am certain. We also chit-chatted with several guests who have been back again and again. We hope to be those people as well!!!!!
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Kris -
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Barcelo Maya Tropical: Not Bad, Not Great
Not bad, but not great.
The positive: The grounds were beautiful and there was a lot to do during the day as this resort is huge! There were several pools and the pools were nice. There was also a shopping mall, several water parks for the kids, nightly shows, a spa, bowling and mini golf at an additional charge. There were lots of food options at the buffets. This resort is best suited for families with young children. My partner and I didn't mind sharing the resort with many kids. Most of the[... read more] wait staff were great 😊. Especially in the buffet restaurants. There were many options at the buffet and the food there was overall pretty good. My partner lives seafood and he had seafood on a couple of occasions and said it was good. The Japanese (Kyoto) a la carte restaurant and the steak house (Santa Fe) were also very good.
Negatives: The beach is very rocky in most spots which makes it hard to enjoy swimming in the ocean (which I love). You need to bring water shoes. Many of us cut our feet on the rocks. This is not a romantic resort for couples and there's not much to do for the adults after the nightly entertainment is over. It's a quiet resort after 10:30 PM. They could definitely improve the food at the Italian a la carte restaurants. The food at the Italian restaurant was disappointing and we had a very rude waiter there. He was terrible. This is my 4th time in the Mayan Riviera and each time I've stayed at a different resort. I would say that this is my least favourite 4-5 star resort that I've stayed at in the Mayan. It's my least favourite due to the quality of the beach, some of the a la carte restaurants and the fact that it's too large to feel that attention to detail and also there's not much to do in the evenings. It would be nice if they had a piano bar that was open after the nightly show where adults could have a drink or cappuccino. However, if you have young children, this resort is great ðŸ‘. It wasn't bad, just not worth the money for a couple travelling without kids compared to the other resorts you could choose from in the Mayan.
On another note, our Sun Wing Rep was terrible! Our plane was delayed 3 hours in Toronto for our departure. We were not informed at all of the delay. We waited 3 additional hours after our scheduled pick up time in the hotel lobby for our bus to pick us up and take us to the airport. When I called to find out what was happening as nothing was issued in our hotel, I was told that a Sun Wing Rep would be coming to provide an update. No one showed up. Ever. We all waited for 3 additional hours in the hotel lobby with no update or contact from a Sun Wing Rep at all. Terrible customer service from Sun Wing!!
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Ally19672000 -
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Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Such a wonderful resort!!!
We stayed at the Luxury Bahia Akumal March 30th-April 6th, 2017 and had the best time. I went with my husband and 18 year old son as well as my parents. The staff here are so incredibly sweet, we just loved them. The grounds are so beautiful. We would enjoy an evening trolley ride to the other resorts (Coba and Tulum) just to sight see. The resort is huge but the trolleys were always only a 5 minute wait to take you anywhere.
The food in the buffet was simply delicious....and OMG the dese[... read more]rts!!! We went to 4 ala cartes, the Brazilian, Mexican, gourmet and Japanese. The Mexican restaurant was so delicious and the entertainment was so fun. The mariachi band were amazing and would go to every table and play you a song and goof around with everyone and were always ready to pose for pictures with you. The Brazilian is a must...so much meat on a stick :) yum!!!!
The beach was just ok...BUT...the man made lagoons were so much fun and had so many fish in them. You didn't usually see too many unless you fed them pieces of bread, then there are hundreds of them. I absolutely looked forward to this every day! I would suggest wearing water shoes as it is quite rocky. My mother is abit nervous of the big waves so this lagoon was perfect for her and she had so much fun....we all did!!! There is an adult beach and infinity pool at the end of the Akumal beach, this was where we spent most of our days. There's an awesome lunch buffet and bar there too, and a trolley to take you back to the lobby or your room. It was heaven!
The rooms were beautiful. Always had an abundance of hot water, fridge stocked and room cleaned daily. The only down side was the hard mattress, however in my parents room their bed was nice and soft. Guess it is hit or miss there.
I emailed the resort prior to our arrival requesting a villa near the pool and lobby as my parents are elderly and they accommodated us completely...we had the best location in my opinion. We stayed in villa 49....so perfect!
Thank you Akumal, we will be back!!!!
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Cathy17 -
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Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Beautiful Experience
I recently stayed at Sandos Caracol Eco Resort while attending a friend's wedding. The resort is beautiful, embracing the natural beauty of Mexico and preserving the natural atmosphere and wildlife. Resort staff were friendly, courteous and consistently helpful.
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Anthony93 -
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Riu Lupita: Hidden Gem! Highly Highly Highly Recommended!
The hotel was wonderful, clean, the food was excellent. There was tons of variety to try out every night, and the restaurants were great. The steakhouse was especially delicious, as well as the Italian bistro and the Mexican restaurant. The buffet was amazing and the food was always fresh and delicious. The rooms were cleaned daily and restocked every second day. The entertainment crew were awesome and did well to entertain everyone nightly. The bar staff was awesome as well and they always prov[... read more]ided a variety of drinks. I highly recommend this hotel. We stayed for 2 weeks and easily could've stayed for another week. It is very close to Playa Del Carmen 5th avenue and although it wasn't a beachfront resort, the shuttle runs every half an hour from morning to evening, and its very short (5 minutes) and even stops by the entrance to 5th avenue Playa del Carmen. Excellent vacation. 5 Stars!
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Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Excellent hotel in an excellent location
I really enjoyed this hotel. It was huge and there was lots to do. I especially like the location it was close to a lot of beautiful places in this area of Mexico. The staff are friendly, the entertainment was good and the people travelling were nice. All in all five star resort and I would go back. Special shout out to Gerardo at the entrance of the lobby for helping us out.
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Tomtom -
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Grand Palladium Colonial: Excellent resort
Excellently food, nice pools, lots of activities for kids, great for family vacations. A lot of walking but plenty of golf carts transporting people all over resort. I would recommend to friends with or without children. There's something for everyone.
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Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Amazing Paradise!
Our trip was from April 28 - May 5. It was one of the most enjoyable vacations that my husband and I have taken. We went to Los Cabos four years ago and it was over the top. Service, location, hotel, food all amazing. We felt perfectly safe, but were a little hesitant about elsewhere in Mexico, but the Occidental at Xcaret Destination exceeded our expectations. It was like a perfect paradise - from the amazing wildlife, beautiful resort, excellent service, delicious and plentiful food. We en[... read more]joyed every minute. So wonderful to see monkeys swinging from trees, iguanas, flamingos, deer, turtles, coatis all on the resort. The staff were all friendly and helpful and our maid Angela took amazing care of us. We were located in building 18, right near the main pool, which was great and in close proximity of the main lobby and restaurants. Just a short five or so minute walk to the beach, but there is a tram if this is an issue. I was happy to see that the staff followed through with dress codes in the buffets and the a la carte restaurants as many do not and I do not think that is right. This annoyed some people, but come on people, do your homework before you go and make sure you bring the proper attire. The only slight negative is the pressure at the beginning to take advantage of viewing their club (members area), basically timeshare. You just have to remain firm if this is something you are not interested in pursuing and they left us alone after the second day. Overall would highly recommend this resort to anyone and would return in a heartbeat.
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PB44 -
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Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Beautiful Resort
The resort is absolutely beautiful. Loved that the resort has some Mayan Ruins right there. The grounds are kept immaculate. The food was delicious. The staff were friendly. The animals were a delight for my son.
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Genny -
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Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya: Amazing resort
The hotel was so beautiful with so much stores to shop from.
Activities everyday on the beach and pool.
Music was insane.
Room service and rooms was awesome.
Disco parties , foam parties are so much fun.
The food omg was amazing different varieties .
Anything about this resort and ppl that work there is FIVE STAR !!!! I will definitely recommend this resort to anyone :)
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The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences Playa Del Carmen: Amazing resort!!
Great restaurants,Excellent food
very nice resort for family with kids under age of 9 or 10
beautiful beach but short and rocky, good services very friendly staff, kids club was so useful and helpful
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Remi -
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Akumal Bay Beach and Spa Resort: Overall great vacation!
We visited this resort at the end of April for 1 week with our two sons age 9 and 12, the resort was sold out for the week. Great hotel for couples or family. All rooms face the ocean and all have jet tub on the deck/terrace. It has 24 hour room service and all restaurants have a no reservation policy. Service was outstanding, probably the best I ever experienced. Beach and snorkeling where great! Lots of chairs at the beach and pools. I was a little disappointed with the food, it wasn't bad but[... read more] I expected more... probably because of the great reviews I had read. I usually like the no reservation rule, but here the wait was really long. I felt they almost forced you to go to the buffet at night, there is 3 a la carte restaurant, the Japanese and Mexican only had 40 seats each..... Activities or entertainment where almost non existent. The entertainment staff where dull and not very engaging.... Overall great resort and we had fun, but for the price I think we could of done better.....
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Iberostar Waves Paraiso del Mar: Great value, lots of fun.
Grounds are beautiful. Pool is well kept. Lots of seating by the pool and by the beach. Lots of birds and wildlife.. Great food and service.
We had a great time. Highly recommend iberostar to anybody.
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SabVallieres -
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Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya: Amazing resort!
The Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya is one of the best resort we have stayed at! We went there with a group of 50 people (for our wedding) and everyone (execpt 2) thought it was amazing as well. And we made sure to use plenty of the resort credits (spa, excursion, etc) !! A big thank you to the staff at HardRock and to our travel agent Kevin Dupuis!
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Bahia Principe Explore Coba: It was a great vacation
Very nice hotel, we enjoyed everything in it : service, meals, organization, beach, activities. Staff was very helpfull and friendly , we had some questions and everithing was resolved with patience. In general organization was very good - from meeting us in airoport till bringing back to airoport. Beautiful place, would recommend it. Very nice park and show at Xcaret , ~20-30 min from hotel
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Catalonia Playa Maroma: Beyond perefect
Everything was superb: the cleanliness of the hotel, amazing food, beautiful beach and great staff!
The only negative was the presence of
seaweed a few days in the water but no one to blame but Mother Nature !