Las Brisas Huatulco: I had an amazing week at Las Brisas

I had a wonderful week at Las Brisas. It was everything that I hoped for and much more. Room - I upgraded to a Club Suite and stayed in the Caribe building in the Mar section. I arrived late at night and woke early the next morning and caught the last of the sunrise. I was blown away by the view from my room, just spectacular looking out over the bay and I had a huge terrace. The room was very spacious and I had everything that I could need, the mini fridge was well stocked with Corona, water [... read more], juice, pop, hips and chocolate treats and they were replenished daily. I also really enjoyed the coffee maker and the expresso pods that were provided. Sheets and linens were lovely. Resort - Spread over a huge area, was thankful for the golf carts as I had a knee replacement 3 months earlier. There are also larger shuttles to transport people throughout the resort. The scenery and the nature were spectacular, beautiful trees, cacti, plants, bougainvillea and other flowering shrubs were everywhere, a feast for the eyes. Due to the hilly nature of the landscape, you really get some spectacular views over the bay. The resort and the buildings are beautifully maintained and are Mexican in design. Beautiful pools and gardens. Beach - Three beaches, I personally enjoyed the middle beach. Lovely beach and the water was crystal clear, fantastic swimming. The only issue I had was it was a challenge getting in and out to to some drop offs and your feet really sunk into the sand. Once I was in, pure heaven. Drink service at the beach was excellent or you could just go yourself to the Tiki bars at either end of the beach. Main Buffet - I found the food to be really good at the main buffet, good variety and often a good temperature. I loved that you could get fish freshly grilled ( they also have other meats and hamburgers). I really enjoyed the Mexican dishes that were offered, especially the chicken in a tomato mole sauce......delicious and beef in an enchilada sauce. I also had some delicious tacos and guacamole and tomatilo salsa etc. They also had many delicious non Mexican offerings, a great selection of fruits, vegetables and desserts. A La Carte Restarants - I tried four of the a la carte restaurants. El Pescador (seafood), the La Kasbah (morrocan), El Mexicano and Mediterraneo (Mediterranean). My favourite was El Pescador and La Kasbah was a close second. I went to El Pescador 3 times during my week as I had unlimited a la cartes with the Beach club. A lot of people find the Kasbah uncomfortable because the decor is authentic and the seats and tables are low. I encourage you to give it a chance because my main course was the most delicious lamb that i have had in a long time. The decor is beautiful and you are entertained by a young beautiful belly dancer. Unfortunately I was not feeling well the night that I went to the Mexican restaurant and ended up leaving after my appetiser. I did not like the Mediterranean restaurant, my appetiser was cold and not flavourful, I left before my main due to poor service. Misc. - The music was nice in the bar area in the evening. I ate late so I did not go to any of the shows. The drinks were good and there was a lot of variety. My bartender at the beach made me a terrific Mojito! Staff - Wonderful, friendly people, overall great service. The scenery is spectacular in this area and I will definitely be returning to Las Brisas!

Catalonia Yucatan: Occidental Tucancun

Older hotel but beautiful beach and great service. The Italian buffet and a la cartes were great. Location was nice and close to the action in Cancun. Ferry to Isla Majures is close enough and a worthwhile experience.

Grand Oasis Cancun: Party Resort

Long lines for food/drinks, staff very unpleasant + unhelpful, rooms were nice however ground floor room smelled musty, drinking cups reused throughout resort and only rinsed out not properly washed. Food very poor for Mexico. If you are looking to party for a week this is the place other than that save your money and go elsewhere

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Great Resort!

Beautiful resort immersed in wildlife with plenty to see. I would recommend this resort for a good balance between great service, food, entertainment and energy. Limited beach area, however there was usually chairs available because the resort is very spacious overall.

Secrets The Vine Cancun: Fabulous Resort

We visited Secrets the Vine Cancun for a conference and added a few days on to make the stay one week long in March 2019. The unit was beautiful, a corner unit with a surrounding balcony. It was very nicely decorated and very homey. It was clean. The staff could not do enough for you. Every time you turned around they were there to help with a chair or serviette. I would highly recommend this resort to friends and family. I one negative would be that the vendors were allowed on the beach b [... read more]eyond the ropes constantly. One trip is fine but for someone who spends some time on the beach, it becomes irritating. The other thing, it is advertised that each person gets a free round of golf a day at another secret in Cancun. Unfortunately, that is not the case. It cost us 150 round trip US, and a 99 service fee for each golfer. It was very disappointing as the golf manager would not budge one cent. There were 5 of us golfing and the course was not busy. This is something that should be addressed as it is misleading. Thank you.

Tropicana Hotel: Fabulous Location!

The Tropicana is right in the heart of Old Town.....you can walk everywhere. The grounds are lovely, 2 nice pools and a great beach. Some of the rooms are getting tired but I believe they are upgrading as they can. We have stayed here a number of times because we love the location. It's not the Ritz by any means, but its very clean. Note: don't pay extra for the breakfast option!

Samba Vallarta: Friendly Small Resort

This place is very nice. The rooms are clean and the grounds are very well kept. The rooms and linens are tired but very clean. You do not spend much time in your room anyway. The food is good. There was fish every day and it was delicious. The omelet lady always had a smile on her face. The staff are very friendly. I have mobility problems and I found this resort to be the perfect size.It is not a huge resort. This is my second time at this resort. I wished I had found this resort a lon [... read more]g time ago.

Riu Palace Baja California: Stunning views

The property of the Riu Palace Baja California offered beautiful views of the ocean and the Arch. We enjoyed sitting poolside or in the seated area sipping cappuccinos while taking in the view. The food was overall good. We really enjoyed the Krystal and Indian restaurant. We did not have the opportunity to get seating in the steakhouse, but heard from several couples their steakhouse meals were not good. The entertainment was lacking--perhaps because the resort just opened in Decem [... read more]ber and not many acts have been lined up. We did take in the entertainment and the White Party at the Santa Fe and we did enjoy spending time there. We intentionally chose an adults only resort as that is our preference when we travel--this time we were very relieved in our choice as spring breakers arrived at the Santa Fe at the end of our visit. We spoke to people who managed to move to the Baja from the Santa Fe because of the craziness of the students and they were much happy once they did. The Baja is quieter than the Palace and Sante Fe, but everything is till available to Baja guests whenever they want. I would consider returning there again.

Grand Oasis Sens: Fun on the sun!

I stayed at the Grand Oasis Sens for a week the end of February. The hotel is an adults only and I thoroughly enjoyed the peace. Well....peace from kids. The atmosphere is fantastic and everyone is there to have a great time. There is some local gang violence that kept me on the resort. The rang of age is 20 to 50. I’ll be back!! Tom

Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos: Amazing resort

This trip had everything...fantastic property, great staff, great food, location, amenities. Couldn't ask for anything better. The staff really go out of their way to provide everything and anything you want and they all seem happy to be there always greeting with a smile and a hand on their heart.

Excellence Playa Mujeres: Reliable resort for fussy travelers

This was our 3rd stay at an Excellence resort (twice at Playa Mujeres/ once at riviera maya). We have been to the Cancun region about 40 times and have stayed at an array of 5 star resorts. We have rarely returned to a resort so for us to return to the Excellence tells you everything. We prefer the playa Mujeres location- better beach, service, quality of food and newer. Overall, we were most impressed with the service. Typically service tends to diminish over time at resorts rather than improve [... read more] so we were pleasantly surprised to experience a marked improvement in this area from one visit to another (and it was already very good). The service from absolutely everyone (except one waiter at the Italian restaurant) at the resort was superb (and I don’t say that lightly). Our favourite restaurant was the French and we found ourselves returning every second night of a 9 night stay. The service is first class. Lobster House is lovely for an outdoor dinner given its proximity to the beach. The only disappointment was not being able to dine outside at the Italian restaurant. During the day, the indoor space is used for the buffet breakfast and is quite lifeless in the evening with no ambiance whatsoever and the food is not great. There is also a big step down in service at this restaurant. If one likes group themed dinners, this resort does a great job of putting on entertaining dinner events (note to corporate travel organizers: particularly good for corporate employee events- we hosted 60 people a few years ago and the employees loved these themed evenings). The no reservation policy for restaurants also works well. The coffee shop is terrific and is a saviour for coffee/tea addicts with good snacks and ice cream. Evening entertainment is decent. The Il Divo night was my favourite. The Michael Jackson show should be retired. Finally, I need to note the superb service of our concierge Daniel. My husband had to leave at 9am for his flight and my pick up was at 4 pm. The concierge was kind enough to give me an extra late check out at no charge. This was astounding and because of this consideration, we will be booking another vacation at the Excellence. Final suggestion: for people who like to order wine (as we do), it was somewhat prohibitive with prices ranging from $80-$130 canadian for a decent bottle. The mark up on wine is excessive. If there were more reasonable wines or prices, more guests would order bottles. We noticed that almost everyone was drinking the house wine. The main bar has great martinis made by passionate bartenders. The beach is terrific for long walks as not crowded at all (and no disturbances with locals selling stuff)- very safe to leave your things on the beach chairs unattended for hours at a time. A very relaxing holiday.

Bahia Principe Explore Tulum: Expansive resort...Lots of choices

Very impressive and well kept resort. Covers a lot of area but with the onsite transportation system you can get where you need to go fairly quickly. We had asked to be on the south part of the Tulum section, but for some reason we got put in the North area. We wanted the south because of the quieter pool area, but instead we were close to the loud pool by the Tequila Restaurant. The room was fine but the pool was very LOUD during the day. The bar at that pool did not know how to make a marg [... read more]arita on the rocks. Strange. The beaches were nice but the seaweed has become an issue. Luckily it is just on the shore edge and the sand/palapa area are beautiful for relaxing on the beach. No complaints about food, as there were so many choices that there was always a great selection of foods. The housekeeping was great and we always came back to our room finding it neat, clean and ready for another comfortable sleep. This was our 3rd stay at Grand Bahia Principe and will definitely return.

Krystal Grand Cancun: Good resort

We stayed in the alititude tower over all good stay. Good location close to nightlife. Hotel staff were very helpful. Only one bar at the hotel is open until 1am. Service was a little slow as you need to provide your room number for everything. No night entertainment.

Iberostar Selection Paraiso Maya Suites: Best Resort so Far

We have been to at least a dozen resorts. This was our best so Far! The grounds at the Maya Resort are beautiful. It is a big resort without feeling crowded. The whole resort is clean and welcoming. Check in was quick. Lots of great fresh food. All the staff were polite and went over and beyond to please your needs. When we called the front desk for any request, we were dealt with immediately. Excellent Service All around!! The pools were beautiful. Beach was beautiful. The sea did have sea wee [... read more]d washed up on the beach. But they had a tractor picking it up many times a day. Best resort - service so far in our 10 years of travelling

Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa: Excellent Trip!

My husband and I took a week long baby free trip to the Royalton and it was everything we could have wanted! The room was big and and comfortable. The bed was comfortable (which has NOT been my experience at resorts). All the information about the activities on the resort can be found on the tv. The menus are there too for the a la cartes, however one was slightly outdated. Didn't matter to us much as the food at the a la cartes was quite good -not just the buffet food plated nicely. Speaking [... read more] of which, the buffet food was tasty - always plentiful and lots of variety. Every server always asked if there were any food allergies to be aware of and were quite prompt with their service. The Diamond Club upgrade was worth it for the access to quieter spaces for us. Looking down the beach at the Royalton club and the Hideaway section, all the loungers and daybeds looked way more crowded than in the regular Diamond Club section. We never had to scavenge for loungers or daybeds at the beach and we usually didn't get down there until 11. The servers at the beach bar were excellent and entertaining if you wanted them to be - left you alone if not. Same with the people selling extras at the club - always around, but a wave of the hand or a no thank you and they were on their way. The beach sand was gorgeous and white - but there is some seaweed in the water and on the sand closer to the water. It didn't stink and we swam every day, regardless. They do try to clean it up every day. We went with Sunwing - and there is always that extra piece about getting you to talk to a tour director about offsites which was fine. Nothing that pushy. You also get a voucher book from the hotel for a total of $120 US towards items at the resort, but it all requires you to spend money to get money (i.e $50 off a Spa treatment, $10 in the casino if you spend $10, etc) If you want those things - nice to have a little extra off. We made use of the Casino cash for a bit of entertainment. The nighttime entertainment was alright. Decent talents but sometimes repetitive between the Diamond club pool and the main pool - so you might see the same act a couple of times in a week. There was a dance troupe there on the Friday that was pretty entertaining and a magician. The rest were musical acts. There is a bit of shopping on the resort - but fairly expensive for key items like sunscreen ($24USD) so stock up! But they have things available if you are caught. Overall - our trip was everything we wanted. Lots of sun, lots of drinks, good food and nice staff. Would definitely come back - with or without our kiddo! (Big water park/kid pool on the opposite of the resort from us - looked like lots of fun for the littles) Thanks Royalton! PS. resort is about 20 mins from the airport which was perfect to get away from the airplane traffic, but nice that we didn't have to be on a bus forever.

Catalonia Playa Maroma: Great Place Loved it!

The Jungle effect was amassing. Very Clean and great service. Drinks were of very good quality, food was excellent. Staff were very helpful. Loved having the little forest critters around us. Great location

Dreams Playa Mujeres Golf and Spa: Good Family Resort

After staying a week at this hotel I was so surprised to read some bad reviews about this hotel. It really scared me and almost made me want to go somewhere else. I’m glad I didn’t. So for this reason I felt I needed to write this review. First off I would say this is more of a young family resort. You don’t see screaming kids around but it’s not a party hotel. It’s generally quiet. Service- again not sure why people were complaining. The service is fantastic. Everyone works so hard [... read more] and is very pleasant. You don’t feel pressure at all to tip but the service was good from arrival to departure so we typically did. No problem getting a drink ever. Hotel - 10/10. Considering it’s a family resort it was so clean. Grounds are beautiful. You never see garbage, plates or glasses laying around no one seems to be smoking which is really nice. It’s a big place but nothing is too far away and it doesn’t seem busy. Beach- the beach is very long. Right in front of the hotel they do a really good about cleaning the seaweed if you walk down the beach that isn’t hotel property there is lots of seaweed. You just need to walk closer to the water and you’ll be fine. Not the best beach I’ve been to but there are plenty of chairs, towels, and bars to service you. Water isn’t super clear like the Mayan so if you really like to swim this may be a problem for you. Food- there is something for everyone. The gaucho (meat place) was amazing. Many people raved about this. You need to get there early if you don’t want to wait. The buffet for breakfast and lunch was great. Lots of fruit and 2 omelette stations. Dinner at the buffet I have to agree was lacking but no one really was there so maybe they don’t want to have lots of food that people won’t eat. The Mediterranean place was also good. The French place was adults only which was a shame. Maybe they could offer an early time slots so families could enjoy it. For me the fusion (sushi style) wasn’t great but others really liked it. I’m just not a big sushi Eater. We have an 8 month old and we were always able to find food to give him. There are also plenty of high chairs and they are clean. Ice cream place was reallllly good and also had the best coffee. Rooms- Beautifully designed. House keeping came everyday and the fridge was always stocked. If you have a baby that naps you’ll need to work around them since the timing varies. Entertainment- not sure we never made it out since we have a young baby. After lunch hour and around 7 they have a band which was nice having live music. Water- bottled water is provided. You cannot drink the tap water (you probably wouldn’t anyway) I felt so bad about using plastic everyday. This was the only negative thing I would say about this hotel. Other - there are mosquitos at night but they provide repellent in the room. Overall this was a great trip and I would come back as a family. Many people we had met had been here multiple times. If it was just me and my partner I would probably still come and go the the secrets side more frequently. Of course sometimes there were a few hiccups but nothing to give this hotel a low rating.

Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa: Has everything you need

The hotel was well kept and had lots of options for food and entertainment. Since the resort is a little ways from the city center it’s nice for these options to be available. Great resort if you have a family with children as they have a large water park area with slides and activities and also a separate area for adults who prefer the more quiet experience.

Grand Palladium Colonial: Very enjoyable Rivera Maya Vacay

We really enjoyed the Grand Palladium Resort. Three hotels in one compound. Lots of choices to eat, drink and swim. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The grounds were very clean and there was lots of wildlife on the pathways too.

Marina Fiesta Resort and Spa: Different kind of "All Inclusive"

Resort is very clean, nice grounds and views of the marina. Nice restaurants to choose from. Staff are nice and hard working. The pools are quiet, not much entertainment. The downside is having to sign for everything, really slows things down. Our suite was amazing.