Bahia Principe Explore Coba: It was OKAY but I would not come back

Hotel Chain: This is the 3rd and last time I’ll stay at a resort with the Grand Bahia Principle Hotel Chains, they are notorious for two things worst coffee service/quality ever and aggressive time share high-pressure salespeople. This chain of hotel offers cheap quality coffee from machines that is more than half the time broken. The bartenders are unwilling to make coffee or cappuccinos from the actual machines because apparently it’s broken or my favorite “coffee service is over use [... read more] machines” (this is the same excuse at all three resorts I have been too). On top of that it’s the cheap Nescafe instant coffee served with processed milk that comes from a box that does not need to be refrigerated. Thus if you are a coffee fan don’t go to any of the Grand Bahia Principe Chains its all the same. Second the Time Share sells people who wants you to upgrade your quality of vacation by purchasing a time share of 30 weeks to the Don Pablo black wrist bands luxury service for $20k at any Grand Bahia Principe resorts. On top of that you have to purchase flights and transportation to the resort and if its not the Grand Bahia Principle you have to pay an extra $317 + taxes for each week you stay. You are also excluded from countries like Cuba etc. If you really take the time to break it down and call their helpline to ask for cost of flights and transportation, you will find its not any cheaper to book yourself but instead this forces you to only travel to their allowed resorts for the next 30 years and get the luxury services of an upgraded room and better bar shelf. Coba Resort itself: Coba resort good, lots of iguanas and raccoon like creatures strolling around. The food and buffets are good, a lot better than the Jamaica Grand Bahia Resort. Service is always good if you hold a tip in your hand. The Snack bar is no service basically whether you have a tip or not just miserable people there. The beach is further away and you have to wait for a trolley to come and drop you off. If you want walking distance to the beach like every other resort move to the Tulum side of the resort. Beaches all have major rocks in them so bring water shoes. Definitely not a 5 star as advertised on their signs. Air Transat: Nothing special, same service as Sunwing and other travel agencies. They just want you to book tours and excursions through them.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Great resort

Food : 10/10 Everything I ate was awesome both buffets always had something I wanted and sometimes I didn't have enough room for more! Rooms: 9/10 Clean rooms, great room service, awesome shower , bed was suitable, elevator on one end of the building we were in was broken for a couple days. But it wasn't much of an issue. A la cart : 9/10 Always had selection, amazing service and delicious food, I've never had better steak than at the Italian ! Bars: 7/10 Had a the 24hr "black and whit [... read more]e bar" always people to integrate with and lots to do. Beach: 5/10 Water on the beach was below par, cloudy, clay/mucky "sand" in the water. Although the actual beach sand was great with lots of lounger chairs to choose from . Pool :7/10 Quiet pool at the upper end was slightly less maintained than the larger busier pool by the lower. Each end of the resort. Lower pool was clear and great design. Good selection of music at the busier pool with kids section as well. Entertainment: 8/10 Show we're average for down south I didn't go much, but that's just me. Resort is large but the shuttle service that looped every 10 minutes worked well for moving easily around. Spa: AMAZING that's all lol

JOIA Paraiso by Iberostar: Worth every penny

My wife and I have been to many all inclusives but this one takes the cake. We upgraded to beachfront and it was worth every penny. Example when we hung our baiting suits out to dry on the balcony the phone promptly rang. It was the butler asking if he could have our suits dry cleaned for us. These guys pay attention to the details. From everyone remembering your name somehow to the complimentary sunscreen incase you forgot yours they have every angle covered. Even the bartenders remember your d [... read more]rink and the pool staff have your spot waiting for you every morning. Can't say enough good things. Oh and the food is actually good. Seriously good eats. Different every day and room service will even bring you pasta at 3 am. Could keep going on but everyone should experience this level of luxury at least once. A+++

Iberostar Selection Paraiso Lindo: Awesome Vacation

This resort was amazing. So much to do and very family friendly. From the wave pool to the lazy river, and so many pools to choose from. There was always a good selection of food and snacks, and the night time shows were great!

El Dorado Seaside Suites: Great resort!

We really enjoyed our stay. Room was lovely with our own balcony and pool and jacuzzi. Grounds are beautiful. Food was good. Spa services were excellent. But most important are the Mayan people. They are so endearing. Always pleasant and helpful. And do an excellent job. We were celebrating our 50th annniversary and this resort and its staff truly made it memorable. Did not like the step coming our of our room. Both of us almost got hurt because we forgot about it being there sometim [... read more]es.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: Awesome resort!!

Hotel was amazing, clean, staff was always helpful, food was some of the best I've ever had and the beach area was a little piece of paradise. I loved everything about the place. Adults only, so very calm at times but you just take a 10min shuttle and your where all the action is. I'd go back and recommend it to anyone.

Riu Tequila: Great vacation

The hotel is really beautiful, strongly recommend to keep the colonial flavour in case of refurbishment. The other RIU resorts located on the beach have a modern glass/chrome flavour that I hate. If I need that I can go to a hotel downtown Toronto. Staff is great from top to bottom. Had the feeling that I'm part of a big family. Food was great, good variety. Had lamb, turkey, steak, roast, tuna, salmon, salads, variety of cheese, natural juice. Of course hamburger, hot dog and pizza for the m [... read more]orons who prefer fast food instead real food. Croissants were not the real ones that I like and the desserts were a step back compared with what I had at other resorts in Mexico but this is just a drop in the ocean and by no means a deal breaker. Usually the family strategy is to have a different experience with each trip. If this will change we would be more than happy to return to RIU Tequila.

Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya: Absolutely Amazing Resort!!

This resort was the best one I've been to so far. The staff was polite, always smiling and saying hello. The food was amazing and no long line-ups at the a la carte restaurants. The grounds were very clean and well taken care of. The rooms were great. Everything about this resort is top notch, in my opinion. The only negative comment I have is the iguanas by the small pool by the lazy river, stayed close to me even though I didn't feed them. They were probably used to other people feeding t [... read more]hem so they probably thought I would too. I am definitely returning to this beautiful resort and would absolutely recommend it.

Grand Palladium Kantenah: Beautiful Property!

Very happy with our stay. We chose this hotel because of the amazing reviews it received...It did not disappoint. Room was great, beach was amazing and all of the staff were very friendly. I would highly recommend this hotel.

Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya: Absolutely Amazing Resort!!

This resort was the best one I've been to so far. The staff was polite, always smiling and saying hello. The food was amazing and no long line-ups at the a la carte restaurants. The grounds were very clean and well taken care of. The rooms were great. Everything about this resort is top notch, in my opinion. The only negative comment I have is the iguanas by the small pool by the lazy river, stayed close to me even though I didn't feed them. They were probably used to other people feeding t [... read more]hem so they probably thought I would too. I am definitely returning to this beautiful resort and would absolutely recommend it.

Excellence Riviera Cancun: The name sums it up - Excellence

This was our 4th visit to Excellence, 3rd at this location. We have tried other resorts in the past but have found a great balance in this one. The food is excellent, there are 9 restaurants (no reservations) at night (buffet is closed) and several options for lunch. This is an adults-only resort and for us, it is just the right size. The staff here is why we like this particular resort - very friendly and professional. The management runs a tight ship here as there is a lot of competition  [... read more]in this price range. One of the best things about this place is there are a lot of palapas on the beach and we were always able to get a choice one at any time of day. Yes, there is a lot of competition out there and a lot of good resorts - for us, we have found our comfort level here.

Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya: amazing place

the hotel was beautiful from the start,it is a huge place.7 days not long enough to see it all. but the resort is unbelieveable very relaxing,great staff orlando at the mar,isaac at la hacienda.the beach amazing,the food amazing as well.we recommend this resort,you have to go there to experience what we did.the lazy river was the high light you can just float around on a rubber floater.the weather hot,hot.we are planning on returning next oct.

Grand Palladium Kantenah: Great Resort

I just came back from spending seven days at the Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort and Spa. We originally choose this resort because we wanted to stay in the Mayan Suite. The suites were all booked so we took a chance that we could upgrade once we got there. After a long ride in a bus with no A/C, we were greeted by Kenia at the check-in desk and were able to upgrade to a Mayan Suite for half our stay. Kenia was really nice and sweet. We also met Cecelio one of the shuttle bus drivers and he was [... read more] friendly and explained everything to us. The Mayan Suite was everything I imagined and more, why would you shower indoors when you have an outdoor shower? I think my boyfriend and I were having four to five showers a day. The rest of the room was lovely, a huge bed, a hammock on the balcony and a view of the beach, and the mini bar was always stocked with plenty of water and other beverages. We were just steps away from the beach and could run back to run in seconds if we needed anything. The upgrade was totally worth it. On that side of the beach was a small little beach bar, Rodrigo, Irvin and Liz were fabulous, fun and friendly. We were far from the restaurants but the Mayan Suite was worth it. We switched to a deluxe suite halfway through our stay and that room was nice as well. We were closer to the restaurants and the paths between the villas and the beach was convenient and useful. The food at the buffets was good, a lot of variety but we preferred the a la carte restaurants. We ate at the steak house three times. I like that we didn't have to make reservations. It was low season so maybe that's why we didn't have to wait too long to eat. We also made use of the coupons that the resort provided us especially on wine for our meals. As I said the steak house was our favourite. Omar at the steak house was awesome, he was friendly, and his recommendations were spot on. I also have to mention Mariebela the hostess, always smiling. The Brazilian restaurant was our second favourite, Italian and Thai were okay. We would go for drinks at the Kantenah lobby bar, where Maria served us and she was so much fun. The sports bar also came in handy for late night snacks. The week was fabulous, we had great weather, the service was good, an awesome beach where the water was calm. There were a couple of days where the sea was a bit rough and the shores rocky. There was one issue when we checked out, the bell hop picked up our luggage and left without us and we had to walk to the lobby wondering where our luggage was. All in all a great resort, huge so be prepared to walk a lot. Room Tip: Mayan Suite is the way to go. See more room tips Green Features: I'm impressed with it's environment friendly practices and great to see the staff put it in practice. It was an inspiration to me. https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g499445-d295150-r426674281-Grand_Palladium_Kantenah_Resort_and_Spa-Akumal_Yucatan_Peninsula.html#

Bahia Principe Explore Coba: Bahia Principe Coba Might Not Be a Good Choice for Couple with No Kids

Once again we have returned to a Bahia Principe resort. We have been coming to Bahia Principe resort several times per year for about eight years or so. I believe this is our 14th stay and this marks our first vacation at the Bahia Principe Coba. We have stayed at all the Riviera May resorts, the Ambar in Punta Cana, Cayo Levantado in Samana, and in Runaway Bay in Jamaica. As we have stayed with Bahia Principe more than ten times (I think that’s the number), my wife and I are considered VIP [... read more] guests. It’s taken me some time to figure out what this gives you but essentially you are entitled to unlimited a la cartes, access to all the resorts at Bahia Principe Riviera Maya including the exclusive Don Pablo sections and can get certain requests granted. I have many friends ask why we would keep going back to the same resort chain over and over. I can tell you it’s that VIP status. While on paper those perks don’t look that tremendous, it’s like booking a higher end resort without having to pay for it. For example, on our last day we spent the entire day at the Sian Ka’an resort and enjoyed all that they have to offer by their quiet pool, including a pool side BBQ, top shelf drinks, and best of all no children (Sian Ka’an is adults only). Later in the evening we had reservations for the Alux restaurant which could very well be the best restaurant in the entire complex. All of this on Coba pricing. Like many other guests of Bahia Principe I do send an email to the resort about a week or so before arriving. I don’t make many requests but I often ask for an improved room selection. It’s sometime hard to say if I get an upgrade in the room since most of the rooms are essentially the same as one another. I can say that sometimes a room upgrade comes in the form of where it’s located on the resort. We were assigned room 32714 which is located in the building directly between the Royal Golden Lobby and the smaller of the two larger swimming pools in Coba. I has also informed the resort that it was my wife’s birthday that month and I would appreciate if they could leave a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of tequila for us upon our arrival. These requests were granted. They also added helium balloons which ended up getting snagged in the ceiling fan which caused some excitement. One of the things about being repeat guests of Bahia Principe is that you really notice when you got something in the past and suddenly it isn’t there. In the past we have seen our mini fridge restocked daily with two beers, Coke, Diet Coke, two bottles of water, Orange Fanta, Sprite, mini vodka, whisky, and rum, a small chocolate bar and a small bag of chips. Certainly if you were at the Bahia Principe for the first time you wouldn’t notice if something wasn’t there. This time the mini fridge was only stocked every other day, and there wasn’t any liquor at all. This is not a big deal for us as it is an all-inclusive. Certainly those missing items are available all over the resort, however it was noticed. Over our fourteen trips we have tried every a la carte and buffet restaurant the resort has to offer. What I can tell you is that the gourmet restaurants are excellent. Next to the Alux restaurant in Sian Ka’an, I would say that the Don Pablo restaurant in the Tulum section is the best. Everything else is very good and I would suspect you would have a hard time having a disappointing meal. I will say that the buffet restaurants are all pretty much the same thing. If you were staying at Coba, for example, I wouldn’t go out of your way to take the transportation to the Tulum section to try their buffet restaurant. There are some key food experiences that happen at various locations around the resort in any given week. For example, the cooks will make a paella right next to or on the beach. This is a lot of fun and certainly gets you something fresher than what is at the buffets. Most of our time was spent at the beach. As VIP guests we were entitled to use the Akumal section and beach. The only issue is that with the blue Coba towels you wouldn’t be able to exchange them for fresh towels since the Luxuary Akumal section has a different style of towel. In fact I would like to say to the resort that perhaps you could apply some more modern customer service standards and get rid of the towel police on the beach. I felt like I did something wrong as they got out their clipboard to look me up to see if I was in fact going to try and steel Bahia Principe towels. It’s this stubborn attention to rules at this chain that makes me sometimes question my loyalty to this resort. I honestly don’t know that I would return to the Coba section as it really caters to families with children, which we do not have. I think I will continue to look for good pricing at the other resorts and simply take the transportation to another resort which we would have access to.

Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya: Nice resort

We had a real good time at this resort. I would not class this as a 5 star but more a 4 plus. Food was good but it could be better. Would have liked to have the opportunity to do a la cate, when not feeling like dressing up for dinner. Our room was oceanfront, which was great, loved it. Real nice beach and pool. We do travel alot so will definitely keep this on our list, overall enjoyed the resort.

Riu Palace Riviera Maya: Loved it!

The hotel is a bit dated but is still beautiful and immaculate. The grounds are very well manicured and the RIU standard is very apparent. The beach is lovely white sand and the water is warm and rock free. The food is wonderful and the staff are amazing.

Catalonia Yucatan: October vacation

Catalonia Yucatan beach hotel was excellent treatment food was excellent, amenities were entertaining and clean room, pool were trated every night and drinks were service as requested, atention it was to What people needed

Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa: Wonderful family resort

The Royalton was a beautiful resort and was well equipped with multiple pools. Some of the highlights included the foam party in he pool, the wide range of choices at the buffet, the Hunter restaurant, the service and the unbelievable powdery soft sand. It is truly unfortunate that the Mosquitos are so bad and that everyone suffered such horrible bites. Also the consistency of the food and drinks could be improved.

Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach: Good Resort Experience!

Beautiful beach inclosed by lagoon, pools are respectable & very good Alacarte Restaurants (Japanese & Thai are worthwhile). Swimming with dolphins was cool! Recommend visiting nearby Tullum & Xhel-Ha.

Akumal Bay Beach and Spa Resort: Perfect honeymoon spot

This hotel was clean, really good service. We loved the size and being close to the beach. Our room was decorated with rose petals and a bottle of wine. We had enough restaurant choices for a one week stay. Would've loved to eat again at the Mexican restaurant.