Blue Diamond Luxury Boutique Hotel: wonderful exotic escape

the location of the resort in the mayan jungle, surrounded by mangroves, sinotes and lagoons with its abundant flora and fauna makes for an other worldly experience. it is twice blessed in its location because it also sits on a beautiful stretch of white sandy beach which is very swimmable. the service is caring and attentive (although one does encounter some hiccups - when do you not). the food is good. the rooms are huge and well appointed. get a bike to get around the 2 km property.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Overall, a good resort

Hotel and food good. Service at steak restaurant needs improvement. The waiter was not very good, plus steak was not cooked properly. We found the resort too spread out. For example the beach area is a long way from the Gardenview area.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Fantastic resort

We were very pleased with the resort, the staff, the food booze. Everything was clean and well maintained. The beach itself was a little lacking, a lot of seaweed but if you wandered down the beach, there are some better areas. The only issue we had was with food service. Due to some excursions leaving at 7am. There is really no way you can get a decent meal. We tried at the pool side restaurant. They had food sitting waiting but got belligerent with us when we wanted to grab some juice, fruit  [... read more]and a box of dry cereal. Pack a breakfast the night before to avoid this situation. We all felt the restaurant could have been a little more flexible and understanding.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: o.k. resort for the money

The resort is massive in size. The food is great. The drinks are also good. The staff is very professional and hard-working. The beach is smelly and full of seaweed-big disappointment. There were limited areas that were air-conditioned. Not much to do at night-there needs to be more entertainment in the evenings-and it needs to be advertised in a better way.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: no customer service

I would say this resort is very mediocre and I would not go back. The layout of the whole resort is not very smart. Some rooms are 10 minute walk to beach. The concierge is horrible they have no idea what service is!!! Our friend was injured which the resort was aware of when they came back from the hospital. Our friend could not move out of room due to injury and so could not get food and we were not allowed to bring food to her. So she had to order room service and they charged her $12 fee we  [... read more]had to go through two managers and our travel rep on site in order to have the fee's reversed. There is no understanding or service at all!!! They are also very rude!!!

Blue Bay Club Los Angeles Locos: Our favorite all inclusive

No longer Part of blue bay franchise and has improved immensely . It is now known only as los angeles locos. has the BEST beach for swimming and children to play safely. The place is very clean and pretty. Don't expect elevators. We have been 7 x and plan to return often

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Amazing people and resort

When we go on holidays we never go back to a place twice as there are so many out there we want to experience, BUT this one we will return to! Being adult only is the first plus and not too big a resort is good too. It was very clean all the time and if there was anything mechanical that went wrong, they were there almost immediately. The food was good at the buffet, put it this way, you never went hungry, it was fresh and as always some strange dishes but that is to be expected as they have dif [... read more]ferent food than we are used to. It would have been nice to have crispy bacon, some shrimp and some pickles. The food at the a la cartes were very good! The beach, beds, staff and animation team were all great! The only thing we didn't like were the lounges by the pool, THEY were dangerous and uncomfortable. I saw many people topple over if they happened to sit on the end of the lounge. So sit carefully and in the middle, never on the end. All in all we had a GREAT holiday!

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Enjoyed this resort

Intimate, well laid out, clean resort. The rooms are nothing special but had lots of hot water and great water pressure. The food is very good and the staff and entertainment are top notch. The grounds are beautiful and very well maintained. Loved the swim up bar pool. The vendors on the beach are annoying and the water a little dirty at the shoreline.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: fantastic

I was nervous about booking the trip after reading the reviews. So happy that I ignored every one of them. It was everything I could want in a resort and fabulous vacation!!! Highly recommended!!!! There was more than enough space, pools, restaurants etc. for everyone.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Great beach!

Our family of 8 vacationed at the Blue Bay last week. This resort was pretty nice. Its not a large resort so everything was pretty close to walk to. The resort is clean, the grounds are beautiful and well kept. The people who work here are very nice and always smiling! My parents were given a room on the third floor which was difficult for them to climb. Not a problem when we asked to have them moved. They managed to keep them in our same building and put them on the first floor the very next da [... read more]y. We were in building 5. The rooms are nothing fancy but our maid did a great job and the room was kept clean. The food was good. We always were able to get a bit of variety. Same with the A-la-cart dinners. The buffet wasn't huge but appropriate for the size of the resort. Usually the bigger the resort the bigger the buffet. The pool wasn't large but it was clean and has a swim up bar. The beach was excellent for taking long walks if you want some exercise. You can walk for hours and it was easy to walk on. The water wasn't clear due to the waves but it's a nice sand bottom and not rocky. The only real negative we encountered were the peddlers on the resort's beach area. They constantly bother you to buy, braid, massage etc. All day long. We had one guy put down his wares and take a nap right behind our chairs! This is all within 30 feet of the resort. My sisters and I think the resort must take a cut because although there is security at the beach, they don't seem to care how many peddlers there are or how often they bother you. It's very annoying and frustrating when you are relaxing, reading or having a conversation. I don't mind them doing their job but maybe the hotel should consider giving them a certain area to sell from and guests can choose to approach them instead. We never had a problem getting chairs or clean towels. We found if you go exchange them around 4 pm they were just delivered. I've been to the Dominican 6 times now. Every time a different resort and location. This wasn't my favourite but we did have a good time. The best part was that it was Adult Only and that was a big reason for choosing this resort! Our kids are all grown up and we thoroughly enjoyed not having the young ones around or the parents that don't keep any control, discipline or manners when taking their children on holidays!

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Nice place

The hotel staff bothered us about time share several times during our stay. The free internet did not work and the paid upgrade did not work much better. The bars were understaffed and took more time than it should have to get service. The grounds were kept very nice and the people were friendly our weather was good so we had a good time anyway.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Good, but not impressive

I will start out by stating that this was our first trip to Mexico after 4 trips to Cuba and 2 to the DR. So many people told us how much "better" Mexico is, in particular the food. Yes, there is some more selection and they actually have Heinz Ketchup (big deal), but we were not overly impressed. We travelled with 4 other adults, 2 kids (4 and 6) and I was 27 weeks pregnant at the time, so keep that in mind. The resort over all was good, albeit not as clean as other places we visited. We did no [... read more]t see many workers tending to the grounds and the beach was quite littered with straws and cigarette butts. One day, there was an entire stack of cups by the smaller pool all day and we had already noticed them on our way to our room the night before. The only thing I was really impressed with was the cleanliness of the bathrooms. I am pretty sure someone was cleaning them at all times (the women's at least, my husband tells a different story about the men's...) The big pool by the beach was ok. Soooo many people! There are tons of chairs, but if you travel in a group, you may want to "reserve" chairs in the morning. I found the pool hard to get in and out of, as there is quite a step. The pool with the kiddie pool was not filled enough and the water didn't even reach the filters, which made the water a little dirty. The beach is great for the kids to play (minus the garbage mentioned above), but the water is mediocre for swimming. Part of the beach is banked by sandbags and it just looks bad. The water is not the gorgeous blue and turqouise colour we are used to from Cuba, but that appears to be the norm for the entire Mayan Riviera. There are some pieces of coral as you walk into the water, but only for a small strip. The buffets were well attended and there was a good selection of food, but it did get repetitive after a week. The salad bar was phenomenal in my opinion. We tried the steakhouse and dinner theater and both were good. MAKE SURE YOUR BEEF IS COOKED THROUGH!!! I cannot stress this enough! Both of my kids got a hamburger at the steakhouse which was COMPLETELY red on the inside and we also had several other incidents of undercooked hamburgers at the buffets. I did not drink and spent no time at the bars, but my hubby said that if you didn't have a tip in your hand, you waited a long time to be served. Drinks were good. I found the resort big and the walk to the beach was plenty far for me and the kids. They have shuttles, but they tend to be full at "peek times" to and from the beach. Room was ok (we had a standard gardenview with 2 doubles) but nothing fancy. No facecloths for most of the week. Water pressure is fantastic, temp is great and the showers are fabulous. The maids didn't get too crazy with towel art and didn't do any at all if no tip was left. Overall, the resort is good, but not what I expected from Mexico after what we heard. I did hear it is a lower standard compared to surrounding resorts. But it had everything we need for a great week.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Awesome resort!!

Reading the reviews before heading to blue bay grand Esmeralda I must say I was a bit apprehensive however as soon as I stepped foot on the resort I knew I was going to have a wonderful week! My boyfriend and I traveled to Mexico jan 12th-19th with air canada vacations. The bus was easy to find once we arrived in cancun and the trip to our resort was only about 40 mins with one stop at iberostar along the way. Check in at blue bay was pretty painless the staff worked hard to check in the 100 of  [... read more]us that arrived at the same time. My only complaint was that they generally told everyone the layout of the resort all at once and because everyone was excited to be there and doing other things it was hard to hear which resulted in us getting a little lost finding our room because the resort is HUGE. They did have golf carts to take you to your room however we opted to walk because the grounds were just so beautiful. Everything was immaculate and there was staff working constantly on the up keep everywhere you looked. Speaking of staff I was so supprised at how genuinely nice they were to everyone! From the groundskeepers to the bartenders, buffet staff and front desk everyone was so pleasant and always smiling and saying hello. We were happy with our room it was clean and the maids did a wonderful job everyday, fresh sheets and towels and little towel creations were on our bed daily. I found our room was cleaned in the morning which was great. Our shower was amazing never a shortage of hot water and our bed was heaven!! Our blowdryer didn't work but I called down to the front desk and someone was there to replace it within a half hour. Be careful when your out on the balcony the door will lock behind you! We were stuck on our third floor balcony for about 25 mins before we spotted a worker who radioed for someone to come save us! We were in building seven which was close to the smaller pool and festival buffet and black and white bar. It took us about ten mins to walk down to the main pool and beach area which was never a problem because it was such a beautiful resort. I was actually very supprised at the beach after reading such negative reviews. I thought it was great. Yes there is seaweed that constantly comes in but they had workers on the beach all day taking it up so unless our down there at 7am before they arrive the seaweed was never an issue. They had lots of beach chairs so finding them was never a problem. We weren't a vip guest and im ️glad because the cup section isn't directly on the beach, it's raised up and here are sandbags infront of it. We walked down to the left of the resort a couple times to a beautiful lagoon that had bright blue beautiful water!! It was breathtaking! We also took the kayaks out a couple times ( free of charge) and had a wonderful time as there are no time limits so we could explore the whole beach. The food was also great. We mostly ate at festival buffet for breakfast, the smaller pool buffet for lunch and for dinner we went to the steakhouse twice, Italian and Mexican a la cartes. They tell you to book your a la cartes 24 hours in advance however we made same day reservations and it was never a problem. The steakhouse was amazing!!! Luis was a wonderful server we were lucky enough to have both times. Our steak (the special cut) was awesome!!! The Italian was also very good, be prepared it is a lot of food!! I was actually very disappointed in the Mexican however. We rushed back from our all day excursion as xel- ha ( which was awesome) to make it on time only to have to wait by the door for 20 mins to get seated even though the restaurant was not busy at all. Another 20 mins to even get drink orders and a half hour after that for our main course. It was the only time on the trip the staff were rude and were not enjoying there jobs. The food wasnt the greatest either and was very cold. We ended up going to the biggest after. Other than that the rest of the food was great, the buffets always had a large selection you did see a few repeated items over the week but we didn't mind as they were excellent. There is also no shortage of alcohol! The drinks were fantastic!! We brought bubba jugs and they had no problem filling them with whatever we liked! Piña coladas at the smaller pool bar were great and the strawberry margaritas at black and white bar were so tasty!! It was also nice to have beer and run restocked in our room everyday so we could sit on our balcony and have some drinks before dinner. The swing bar was very fun during the day and after about 11pm! Until 11 we hung out at the black and white bar and watched the shows rode the mechanical bull and played cards. As for complaints I saw others making: Time share- I never once saw someone selling timeshare nor was I ever asked to purchase it or go to meetings. I don't know where other reviewers saw these people but I'm ️glad I didnt! Wifi- first of all your in mexico wifi shouldn't be a main priority however I never had an issue with it! It worked in my room, both pools and the beach. It was slower in the mornings but again, I never had a problem. Smokers- again never had a problem with this. They have designated smoking areas and the smokers stuck to them. If staff saw people smoking around the pool they kindly asked them to move to a designated area. Overall I had a wonderful week and would not hesitate to recommend this resort to anyone!! I've travelled south about 15 times and this was one of my favourites!!

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Decent resort, great price

food was good... the staff were very friendly except the bartenders at the swing bar (although they are very busy) the beach wasn't anything special, but if you turn left and go down the beach there is an amazing lagoon with excellent swimming... this is the 4th resort we've stayed at in the area and did not compare to the other four (h10 ocean coral, grand riviera princess and adventura spa palace) but we got a fanatic price, so you get what you pay for! enjoyed my week but probably won't go ba [... read more]ck !

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Fabulous Holiday

Resort: Although, as you will see our overall review of this resort is great, there were a few glitches when we arrived. First our room was not ready until very late in the day so we had to go on the beach in our travel clothes. When we booked our room we requested a balcony. Our ticket indicted we were to get a room with a gardenview, these rooms have balconies. When we arrived and finally got our room we had to walk up 3 flights of stairs to a room with no balcony. My husband has bad legs an [... read more]d it was very painful for him. We were told at the front desk that they didn't have a balcony room and were told to come back the next day, we did this two more days. Finally, three days later a gardenview room became available but at this point we had unpacked all our belongings and were not interested in moving everything. We also had an issue with our safe and had to return to the front desk 3 days in a row before they finally understood that it was the key card for the safe to enter our password that wasn't working. It was not our room door key that wasn't working. They kept giving us a new card but it wasn't for the safe, it was for the room door. We therefore had to bring all our money and passports with us to the beach for 3 days because we didn't have a safe. Finally they sent someone to come check our problem and it was then that they realized we were not talking about our room key card it was our safe that wasn`t working. On our second last day at the resort, we were approached by a recruiter for Blue Bay Hotels and other Hotels. We agreed to meet with the representative at 10:00 am. the next day. We were told it would last no more than 15-20 minutes but on the day of we were told no more than 1 hour. We were told to bring identification and that we would receive a gift just for attending, we chose a bag with two towels, t-shirts and hats. When we arrived, we were asked for identification and I showed our passports, we were asked for a credit card and we advised that we did not have one. Our representative was late, when he finally approached us we were put through a 15 minute (if not more) display of pictures of his family and a long chat about him personally, his family, sports he played, jobs he had. Why? We don't know. It was our last day at the resort we were just anxious to get out to the beach. We made this quite clear to him. When he finally went into his selling pitch, about what this was really all about it was to get some sort of membership to allow us to get cheaper rates for various vacations. He explained this a number of ways, showed us pictures, re-explained it but would not tell us the answers to the one question that we continued asking him, how much it would cost us. He then led us to a screen on the wall again to show us the same pictures of various resorts, which we had already seen and began to repeat what he already told us about resorts, savings etc. Again we demanded to know how much and he again refused to tell us. We had told him numerous times, this was our last day, we wanted to be out on the beach, and that we were told it would take an hour at most...he kept refusing to tell us the dollar amount. We finally told him that if he didn't tell us now how much it was going to cost, we were leaving. He would not tell us so we left. As we were leaving I asked for our gift bag and was told that because we didn't give them a credit card we could not get the bag with the beach towels, just hats and t-shirts. I walked out and my husband waited for the bag. The rep followed us and continued to hound us about his promotion; again my husband asked how much, he then said he couldn't tell us it was up to his boss. We left very very upset and frustrated. It was a big smirch in what had been a beautiful holiday. On a very happy note, we were more than pleased with the staff in the dining room, in particular Pedro Hernandez who went over and above the call of duty to make our holiday, dinners and evenings stand out. Always a smile, always accommodating. He is an exceptional person who made our stay most enjoyable!!! Thank you Pedro, we are happy to call you friend. We also like to thank Carlos for his attentiveness. As well as all the other staff. The food was always very good and a wide variety to choose from. We were very impressed with the selection and freshness. We really enjoyed our A La Carte dining experience at the Chinese Restaurant. The entertainment staff was very very friendly and entertaining as well. We enjoyed their enthusiasm and presentation of various activities. The New Year's Eve dinner, show and music was amazing as were the fireworks, we danced the night away on the beach until 3:00 am. Thank you for such a wonderful evening. The bar staff was always very accommodating and most were very friendly as well. The swim up bar and beach bar staff were especially friendly. The beach was wonderful as was the water. Every day we went for a walk along the beach visiting neighbouring resorts and noticed that ours', Blue Bay, was the nicest beach of all. The staff on the beach were always accommodating, always finding us chairs if we couldn't find one. The only drawback was the constant popping up of peddlers on the beach selling things, we would be approached at least 10 times a day. The resort itself was very clean and well maintained. The pool area was very nice and the pool was always kept clean. The rooms were neat and tidied daily. On a few days however we did not get fresh face cloths or fresh soap and shampoo. Overall, we would definitely recommend this resort to our friends and we would like to come back ourselves. We are thinking however that we would like to look at a Villa, if not a Villa definitely insist on a room with a balcony with less stairs. We enjoyed our stay, enjoyed the staff and met some wonderful people. ******************************************************************************************* Travel: As for travel, unfortunately our departure flight with Air Transat was delayed on January 5th. We had been told to be in the lobby for 12 noon. At 12:50 one of the other passengers noticed a paper at the lobby desk saying our flight was delayed, we wouldn`t be leaving the hotel until 3:00 p.m. There was a representative from Air Transat at the hotel, he should have told us we were being delayed. It was quite obvious we were all waiting in the lobby to be picked up. When we were told about the delay we requested our hotel room back in order that we could change and enjoy the time that we had to stay because of the delay. We were told we couldn`t have our room back. Fortunately for us some of the people we met allowed us to put our suitcases in their Villa and change in their rooms. We had to keep going back to the lobby to check on our flight. Our flight was again delayed and we were now not leaving the hotel until 6:00p .m. Our flight was now arriving in Ottawa @ 1:00 a.m. on January 6th rather than at 6:40 p.m. on January 5th. As a gesture of goodwill to apparently compensate us for the delay, we were given a $15 food voucher for a restaurant at the Dominican Airport. When we arrived, it took over an hour to get our food because everyone on that flight had the voucher for the same restaurant which was essentially more or less a cafeteria style restaurant. There was only one cook and people were screaming they got the wrong order and some even left without their food because they were so frustrated. At one point we were told by airport staff that the plane was ready to leave, that they would wait for us to get our food but that we would have to bring our food on the plane. When we arrived at Ottawa, we had to wait again because we did not have a gate to pull up to. My husband was supposed to work on January 6th @ 6:00 am. but because we didn't get home from the airport until 3:30 a.m. he had to call work to say he couldn`t make it in (he drives City transit and could not be driving with not even 3 hours sleep). I also had to miss 1/2 a day on the 6th because we arrived so late. Due to this delay we both missed work and feel that we should be compensated by Air Transat over and above the $15 food voucher.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: OK value for the money

The hotel is a solid three star. The food was fine. The guest service was OK. The rooms were nice. I found that the maid service was very good. The only frustrating issue I had was on the first night. The lock on the sliding door was broken. I called the operator, front desk and guest services five times in a span of 2 hours and was given the promise each time that they were sending someone right away. My son and I did not have lunch and were starving for dinner. The problem did not get addresse [... read more]d until 7pm with a man placing a piece of wood in the door frame. Upon our return from dinner, the lock was fixed. The nightly shows were OK. After attempting to watch three of the shows, we stopped going. Also, for people that like to watch tv at night, they do not have 10 English tv channels they have three at best.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Amazing stay at the Blue Bay

My girlfriend and I really enjoyed our stay at the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda in December 2014. The hotel grounds were beautiful, staff were excellent, food was great. Before going, we were concerned about some of the reviews, which were negative about the beach. While it didn't compare to Varadero beach, it was fine. The resort is well situated, 10 mins away from Playa Del Carmen, which is easily accessible by shuttle or taxi. This is a nice 4 star resort where the staff work hard to give you [... read more] a relaxing and worry free vacation at a very reasonable price.

Blue Bay Villas Doradas: Awsome Resort!

Place was just gorgeous, clean, entertaining, relaxing, energetic. Truly a paradise! Food was delicious and choices were lots, sure to satisfy any finicky person. My first time at a resort and can not imagine a better place. Was I in heaven?

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: GREAT

It was good. Great alcarte food and always something to eat. Resort is big so always somewhere to go :) Lots of wildlife on the resort which was exciting. Lots of people there to tell you about excersions and help you book. Everyone is very helpful and friendly, staff is always very willing to help you with anything

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: The resort and staff were fantastic.

The rooms and food were great with volleyball by the beach daily. It was a family vacation with our two boy's (15 & 19) and we had a great time. As boys can be boys, they accidently left the safe open with $1000 of electronics in it. Chamber maid called surcurity, safe was locked emdiatley and a note was left for us to contact them upon our return. NOTHING missing and very professional