Bahia Principe Explore Tulum: Great Family Vacation!

We just got back this week from our 10 nights stay at the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum. It was a fantastic trip for my wife, my two daughters (ages 4 and 7) and myself! We would definitely go back to this resort again. Checking in We arrived at the resort around 3pm via a Best Day tours shuttle after a 1hr15min drive from the airport. We were lucky because there was only one couple in front of us checking in. Checking in takes a bit of time because the staff make sure to explain some highlight [... read more]s of the resort on a map that they provide you with. If you are thirsty they will happily give you a cocktail, beer or whatever you fancy. A trolley will then take you and your luggage to your room. The Rooms We had a basic Junior Suite, I believe they call it. In villa 27 on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the nicely maintained grounds. The room was very clean and was a decent size. Nice bathroom and plenty of room for storage. Room included a stocked bar fridge. There is a safe in the room that requires you to take a key with you. We found it easiest to keep the key in our camera case when leaving the room. $40 charge if you lose it! The A/C worked great. The room was very very quiet at night! We didn’t have any bugs in the room or any issues with the room. There were two queen size beds pushed together so my wife and I slept on each end with the kids between us. The Lobby The lobby has recently undergone a renovation so it is nice and fresh! There are a number of things going on in the lobby. Things that we found to be important to note was the room to book you’re a la carte dinners, which can also be done via the Bahia app. The app and the wifi were not the most reliable. There is a desk with staff who may approach you. They are calling it a privilege club, but it is a timeshare sell. We were roped into it not knowing until we got to the presentation that it was a timeshare sell. We got a hat, couple of t-shirts, a few tickets to the Thursday night Mexican fiesta and a bottle of tequila so it wasn’t a total waste. Not a deal we were looking for; especially because they said we had to decide that day only. General Grounds This resort is huge! There are trollies running along the walking paths. It is worth spending the few minutes to figure out the trolley routes. We found there weren’t many trollies that serviced getting to and from the rooms to Tulum lobby. But there were many trollies going to and from Tulum and Coba lobbies. You need to take a trolley to get from Tulum to Coba, etc. Again, it is a huge resort and we found it beneficial to familiarize ourselves from the map how to get to the beach, pools, bars and restaurants. Especially with our four year old in the heat, we wanted to make sure we knew where we were going and if we could take a trollies to get there. The grounds are very well maintained and we enjoyed walking around and enjoying the palm trees and wild life. Like any resort, if you want a good spot you’ll have to get towels and bring your stuff down before breakfast. Please, if you are not going to use the spot don’t reserve it! Some mosquitoes flying around at night so bring bug spray. Note also there are bees flying around. My wife got stung. Might be a good idea to bring kids allergy medicine and an after bite/sting ointment. You’ll notice bats and dragonflies flying around in the evenings eating up all the mosquitoes! Restaurants There is one dinner buffet in the Tulum area. Such a great presentation of food and a great variety. We found the food to be very good quality too, not just good quantity. We discovered that the main buffet restaurant has an eating area that is air conditioned. We found this useful especially for breakfasts. Keeping the children happy during meals made it easier for us! The Brazilian restaurant near the small pool also has breakfast buffet, not air conditioned and smaller variety but it was nice because it was closer to our room. We tried the Mediterranean, Brazilian, Gourmet and Tequila restaurants. The food and the service at the Brazilian one was best. Tequila was the best venue. Bring your reservation slip with you. We found the snack bar by the beach was the best for lunch. Make yourself some tacos, grab a beer and enjoy lunch by the beach! Kids can serve themselves ice cream cones! The only negative thing about the restaurant experience is the service in the buffet restaurants. The staff were working very hard but it seems they were understaffed. Probably a cost cutting measure by management. Bars My favourite was the beach bar on the beach between the smaller pool and the main pool in Tulum area. Samuel was bartending while we were there. Really nice guy who took extra care in making the drinks. Swim up bars in the main pools are always fun. Lobby bars got busy at night but if a line formed it made it easier for the bartenders to serve everyone in fair order. Self-serve tequila bar! It was in the Tulum lobby bar area. What a great idea! Pools The smaller pool was a bit quieter and quite smaller than the main pool at Tulum. We didn’t go to this pool very much even though it was close to our room. The main pool was nicer, larger and more fun. Music playing, a swim-up bar, some fun pool games and more places to pull up a chair to sit and relax. The main pool at Coba was probably the nicest one because of the trees and bushes all around the area. There is a kid’s water park in this area too. Great place for the kids to play! Beach We knew ahead of time that the beach would be a bit rocky so we brought water shoes after reading other reviews. You will need water shoes! Because it is rocky it makes for some decent snorkeling. The swimming area of the beach is shallow so very beginner level, but fun, snorkeling. When we were there, around three half days the beach was not swimmable. A tonne of seaweed washed in. We were amazed how quick it washed in. But, we were also amazed at the great effort by the staff working for the company cleared it all away! They were there the entire time clearing out the seaweed. They also have a temporary barrier in the water to control the amount of seaweed coming to the beach. My wife spoke to one of the workers in the water and he said the seaweed has been especially bad since around February this year; hence the temporary barrier. It is a bit of an eyesore, but it really didn’t negatively affect out vacation. We still hung out on the beach pretty much every day! Our daughters swam in the ocean together without any issues with the rocks or seaweed. The bad seaweed days we just swam in the pool more! If you are after a place with a pristine beach you may want to look elsewhere to be honest. Not the resorts fault, it is what it is. Night Entertainment The shows at night were very well done. My wife and I enjoyed them just as much as our kids did! Great job to all of the performers! To summarize my highlighted points are: Resort is nicely maintained and very clean. It is a huge resort. Family friendly resort. Beach is so-so due to the rocks and seaweed. Snorkeling is good right at the beach. Fish and crabs to see. Bring water shoes, bug spray, children’s allergy medicine and after bite/sting ointment. Bring one more sunblock than you think you’ll need. Waterproof case for safe key, camera, etc would be handy. Familiarize yourself with the layout of the resort and the trolley routes. If you are not interested in timeshare, don’t waste your time with the ‘Privilege Club’ staff in the main lobby, even if they offer to give you free stuff. Go see the night shows after dinner! If you don't want to go off the resort or waste your time shopping, go to the shopping area near the entrance of the resort. Great little shops there, fun Mexican stuff for sale at reasonable prices!

Hyatt Place Los Cabos: Amazing Service and Hospitality

This hotel is very clean, good AC, a great breakfast buffet and has a good size pool. We like the location as it is near many good restaurants, a children public park, two huge supermarkets and public transportation as the 5 minute beach nearby is not swimmable; big waves for surfing. We enjoy using public transportation (coach bus with AC) to go to Cabo San Lucas and public beaches (swimmable and snorkling) as well as the other bus (old, hot and sometimes smelly) to go to San Jose del Cabo to  [... read more]have dinner because this old city is authentic and very charming. The best part of this place is the courtesy and amazing service from the staff. I'd like to mention the professionalism & enthousiasm of Jesus Celso and Diana. They took time to answer our questions and allowed us to learn a few simple sentences in Spanish. These two employees were certainly the best and beyond our expectations!

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great family trip - Barcelo Maya Colonial

Overall, this was a great experience for our family. It was our first trip to Mexico and loved it. Fantastic pools, good food and plenty to do! Highly recommended! Hotel facilities were really impressive - although it was a big resort, it didn't feel like it. There was lots to keep our kids occupied. A la carte restaurants were fantastic. I do recommend these over the buffet, which was good but a little repetitive.

Dreams Jade Resort and Spa: Amazing resort!

Great resort, good food options, but hated that you couldn't reserve tables for large parties. We had 12 and had to wait 1-2 hours unless we went before the restaurant opened. Kids play area service was great liked that I could drop off my kids during the day. Very good staff all were friendly except one bad experience with BD travel person who dropped us back to the airport, he wasn't happy with my tip and said he didn't want it. Very rude and unprofessional.

Sandos Caracol Nature Resort and Water Park: Love the Resort

The resort is great. So much to do for children and adults the pools are great the kids pools and the slides. My grandchildren enjoyed all and the Cenote they loved the fresh water and the fish and turtles the beach has lots of lawn chairs palm trees and the Coconut drinks right from the coconut shell the food was fabulous at all the restaurants we ate at . We will definitely return. Thank you to all the Pleasant and hard working staff. Made us feel at home

Ocean Coral and Turquesa: Great resort

We have been to Mexico many times, and this resort will remain one of our favourites. It is a quiet resort without a disco! We were able to sleep through the night. The layout of the grounds is perfect for those with mobility issues. The staff were efficient and friendly. No reservations were required for the a la carte restaurants. The seafood and cheese was especially delicious. Sadly the seaweed wreaks the view, but they do their best to clean it up. If you enjoy quiet vacations with  [... read more]a beautiful stretch of sand, this resort is for you.

Catalonia Royal Tulum: Amazing resort

We've stayed at all the Catalonia resorts on the Mayan Riviera and this is hands down the best of them all. Let's start with the beach, which is amazing. Clean, beautiful white sand, no rocks. The grounds are natural, jungle like setting, well kept, with roaming coatis and iguanas. It is an adult only resort and we founded to be relatively quiet. Entertainment was good, in particular the girl only Cuban band and the acrobatic dancers. Staff was friendly and they worked really hard to provide a g [... read more]ood service. Food was fantastic, lots of fish and healthy meals. They cater mostly to the European market which is in many respects a positive thing. No food or drinks are being served in the pool. Location wise, the resort is right by the main highway connecting Playa Del Carmen with Tulum. You can hop on a Collectivo (minibus) running every 5 minutes for just a $3 trip to Tulum or Playa. It is a safe and quick mode of getting around. Tulum is nice and off the beaten path. Buy your souvenirs and booze from Playa! Avoid the duty free, it is way more expansive than buying from the grocery store or Walmart. Twice a week the souvenir stores in the resort have a sale.

Grand Oasis Cancun: Cancun

Great for partying but that’s about it. Rooms actually pretty decent but staff, and food not great. Not English friendly and most staff seemed pissed to be there. Been to other resorts in Mexico that were light years better. But if you want to go with a bunch of guys and party and meet ppl it’s the place

Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort: Very nice resort!

Secrets Puerto Los Cabos was a beautiful clean resort! The maids cleaned every day and turned down the beds in the evenings. Room was a surprise as we had a partial ocean view which was not expected as we did not book an ocean view room so that was very nice! You do not have to book the al la carte restaurants but I suggest you go early because we did have a bit of a hard time finding seating room between 6:00pm to 8:00pm by this time most restaurants were completely booked up! All the food was  [... read more]cooked very well and was to our liking. My husband ordered the octopus from Oceans restaurant and he didn't like it but I think its just preference. You can walk to the beach but you cannot swim in the ocean near the hotel as the water is way way to rough, we were advised by the front desk not to go into the ocean and they were definitely right! The pool area was very clean as well and all drinks from the bar are served in plastic fancy glasses which is really nice so you don't have to worry about stepping on any broken glass around the pool. The towels were readily available even during the day if you felt like throwing in a wet towel into the bin you could and just go grab a fresh dry one no problem. Like at every resort you have people saving seats when they shouldn't be and they leave their towels on the pool chairs and don't show up till 4:00 in the afternoon so we did have a bit of a hard time finding seats as there were 6 of us that were vacationing together! Never had a problem with any of the staff they were all very helpful and willing to please everyone! The waiters and waitresses were very thankful when you tipped them but it wasn't expected but at the same time you were better waited on when you gave a tip! There were lots of activities like poker games, wine and tequila tastings, pellet shooting, archery and painting to keep people busy if they were looking for something else to do other than laze around the pool and drink all day. All and all I would give this trip an 8 out of 10 everything was well organized and I would put this resort among my top 5 that I have visited over the past 20 years! Thank you Secrets and Trip Central!

Wyndham Grand Cancun: Great Hotel.

Good service, good food, great staff, everyone is helping. Great room service, the beach is beautiful. Nice view. Clean grounds Pool area is fun. Good service, good food, great staff, everyone is helping. Great room service, the beach is beautiful. Nice view. Clean grounds Pool area is fun. the pool on the beach is great.

Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: A Great Getaway!

I’ve been to Bahia Principe Akumal three times now. Each time was terrific. The resort is beautiful, the service is always excellent, the food is good and the beaches and pools are great. The folks there are all very friendly and attentive. The resort is very clean. The are attentive to any issues one may have and do their best to accommodate special requests. It has both areas for families with children as well as adult only sections. The entertainment is excellent. There is a variety of thi [... read more]ngs to do outside the resort which you can safely signup for. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to have fun or relax and just getaway.

Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos: Awesome resort.

The resort was perfect. Very clean. The hotel staff were some of the friendliest people we have met. They were very polite, professional and accommodating. The food was excellent and the waiting staff were very attentive. There are three pools to choose from, the common very large pool, the children's pool and the adult pool. Drinks and food were served at your lounge chairs. Room service was also included and available 24 hours. There were several ala carte restaurants to choose from alon [... read more]g with the buffet restaurant This was deffinatly a five star resort that we plan on revisiting.

Emporio Cancun: mediocre resourt, better off in larger chain

Hotel was not really 4 star. It only had 1 restaurant and 1 buffet that looked more like a snack bar. Airtransat transit for return flight was 3 hours before the flight and hotel refused to help with food in the morning because buffet opened up at 7 and we were leaving at 6:35. They tried to hussle us into going to their store and buying sandwiches even though we had all inclusive, refused to give us food to go when we came to restaurant a night before the flight. We even spoke to manager of [... read more] the buffet who explained to us that ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT is only in the restaurant. this is a first time i had experiences something stupid like that in ALL INCLUSIVE hotel. Drinks were ok, but selection was not comparable to say Bahia Principe or Secrets chains that we normally go to. Forget about fresh fruit smoothies with alcohol. Only standart stuff you find in any bar. Another major issue why i am leaving such low review was constant renovation. We have kids and we specifically went to the hotel because it has small kids swimmingpool for kids with slides. But they were making renovations all week and that included: building stairs from cement (i especially enjoyed breathing that stuff), welding out in the open (mere meter from the kids pool putting my kids sight at risk), making pergola type structure out of wood with wood shavings all over the floor and then of cause covering wood with sealeant that stunk like crazy chemicals. In room AC was super noisy and beds mediocre. On contrary to our requests to get our room clean in the morning, very often when we got back from beach at 2-3pm it was still not cleaned and we could not have nap with kids. On a good note, they had nearly empty beach with nice comfortable beds because hotel was full of drunk kids and they were sleeping all day and good selection of food from menu from waiters on the beach and around the pool. Also, special thanks to italian restaurant that was absolutely phenominal. If they had 2-3 restaurants like that and we could eat there more then once a day, i would give hotel higher rating.

Dreams Sapphire Resort and Spa: Great resort

Small friendly resort with great service. Restaurants excellent with plenty of choices. Preferred club pool a piece of heaven - quite and serene with exceptional service. Main pool very busy and noisy - great for kids. Beach fantastic but seaweed a problem while we were there making access to the ocean impossible. Rooms pretty standard for Mexico. Great for families or couples. Lots of evening entertainment and great main bar area with lots of seating and efficient service.

Bahia Principe Escape Sian Ka'an: Honeymoon trip

My husband and I bought our son and daughter-in-law a honeymoon trip to this resort. I am so pleased with the special treatment they received and how happy they were with the resort! My husband and I got married at the Bahia Principe Esmeralda in Punta Cana 5 years ago and loved it there too! Booking was easy with Trip Central and their tips and information were very helpful! Thank you for making the kids honeymoon so fantastic Trip Central! A very pleased Mom!

The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences Playa Del Carmen: Excellent family resort

We loved the hotel because was a low rise and everything very close to each other. The rooms are well equipped for babies and toddlers , beds very uncomfortable. Amazing gourmet dinning . Great room service. Beach was not our favorite.

Sandos Cancun: Unique, amazing resort

The resort is was very beautifully maintained and our rooms were very comfortable and roomy. The food was great. We especially liked the Tempanyaki and the Steak and fish restaurants. There were a lot of different activities to do...Biking, denote swim and snorkel, water slides, and nightly shows. We were close to Playa del Carmen. Great family vacation!!

El Dorado Seaside Suites: Beautiful place to escape!

Amazing resort, amazing food, amazing staff, amazing time. The list goes on, but really this resort has it all. After coming home, I'm suffering withdrawals from the relaxation I got from being there. The resort has a stunning view and setting- we stayed in the portion with the pool balcony which was an absolute treat to cool off in and escape the sun. The pool(s) were just as much fun and nicely shaded towards the evening. The beach at this portion of the resort was definitely more for loun [... read more]ging on the beds- the sand is made up of many small shells. We would walk to the sensimar portion for a softer sand and a more beach-y experience. Staff is incredibly friendly and attentive. There were always employees tending to the cleanliness and appearance of the resort- regardless of what they were doing they would acknowledge your passing. Everyone there really wants you to have a nice time. Many interactive events take place daily such as coconut painting, dancing, live music, etc. The only okay experience we had was with room service taking a long time or not getting us what was ordered; don't get me wrong- very worth the wait. Anywhere you go on this resort for food is absolutely unreal. I was blown away by the food at every single restaurant we tried. Klay talay is well worth reservations. I needed a vacation more than anything and I got far more than I could have ever expected. This is the perfect place to unwind and remind yourself what relaxation feels like!

El Dorado Seaside Suites: Beautiful Resort!!

We just returned from a week at El Dorado Seaside Suites. We were there from July 1 - July 8 with a group of 40 for a wedding. The resort is beautiful, very well kept. They are always working on the grounds. Service was amazing, from room service, at the buffets, sit down restaurants, bars and beach service. Service is quick. Especially nice being handed a cup of fresh fruit, drinks or a nice cold towel at the beach was very appreciated. We always were able to get a day bed or 2 and loung [... read more]ers. Shuttles always coming around. We ate at most of the restaurants and the food is amazing!! Most nights the restaurants did their best to accommodate our large groups that we ate in. We really enjoyed the Seaside Market for breakfast, lots of choices. Room service was usually pretty quick, 30 minutes or so and always very good. I know many in our group ordered a lot of room service, always enjoyed having room service 24/7. Maid service for us was generally good. The odd time we had to ask for fresh towels and toilet paper. My only disappointment was that not once did I receive towel art. I was looking so forward to it too. Always left a nice tip for our girl too!! Our bar fridge was filled each day!! I knew from reading posts, to keep our room on "dry" and I passed that info along to our group as many had a lot of moisture in their rooms at the start. Our room was always so cold, for some reason we could not adjust our room temp even when we used the remote. However, sometimes that cold room was really nice. A lot of people in our group had issues with hot water. They did come and fix our shower so we had hot water. Our bride had an injury, they called the resort doctor in at about 11:00 p.m. at night for her. He was very nice to deal with and took the time to deal with her injury. He also saw her again the next morning to check to make sure everything was ok. This happened 2 days before her wedding!! Needless to say, our bride wore fancy flipflops!! In general the resort is beautiful, they work so hard, never stopping!! We all had a great time!! The food, service, drinks, staff, everything was fantastic. The staff will do what they have to in order to accommodate any requests. The odd issue, but you will get that anywhere, so I can't really complain about anything. I would highly recommend the resort.

Crown Paradise Club Cancun: Amazing Resort

Love this Hotel and will def going back!!!! Had lots of fun and the food was amazing! Lots of entertainment for kids and adults! Crown Paradise is the Best