Great value

Beautiful grounds, many restaurants, and pleasant staff. Kids club had good options for water park, play room, etc. Enjoyed the many pools, especially the swimout option. Food was fair to good overall. Beach was a bit of a far walk, and had many shells / rocks and seaweed, but otherwise nice. Good service with room cleaning and beach towel exchanges. It is a large resort (be ready to walk) but you never feel overcrowded at restaurants to the pools. Really enjoyed this resort, great value  [... read more]for a family vacation.

Great Resort

At the end of January, I spent a week at Grand Riviera Princess with a friend, 2 women in our fifties. We had a great time. I was a little confused before we went about the difference between the Sunset and the Riviera but it’s essentially one big resort. We stayed in the Family Club on the Riviera side. Our room was huge and very comfortable. Because we were in the family club, we were able to make all of our dinner reservations for the week with the concierge. Although we didn't eat  [... read more]at all of the a al carte restaurants, the best one we tried by far was Miso. If you can get a seat at the teppanyaki table, it’s well worth it. Food was very good and it was very entertaining. Food in the other restaurants and the buffet was okay, not great but not awful. The resort itself is beautiful. It has one of the nicest beaches in the area. The staff were very friendly. Wifi was free throughout the resort and I was able to connect from just about everywhere, including our room. We played one round of golf at Vidanta, a par 3 course but still challenging. It cost us each $124US for green fee plus $45US to rent clubs. They provided transportation to and from the golf course, about 20 minutes each way. It was lots of fun and but expensive, about $220 CDN. I recommend this resort and I would go back.

GREAT TRIP

Just came back from a 7 day trip to the Grand Riviera Princess with husband and 9yo daughter - we all loved the resort!! The Platinum upgrade was worth it for us - we enjoyed the perks of having a smaller private pool with cabanas, exclusive lounge and designated concierge close-by as the Platinum area is far from the main lobby but closest to the beach so best of both worlds! The beach also has a special section of loungers with wait staff on hand checking for drink refills :) The toughest d [... read more]ecision we had to make every day was "beach or pool?" ... that's the ultimate in relaxation!! There's a shuttle running every 15 minutes from main section to Platinum and back in case you don't want to walk it every time. The 'a la carte' restaurants were all excellent (Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Steak House, etc.) The buffets offered typical fare - somehow the buffet at the Sunset side of the resort seemed better than others but the omelette stations at all were great. We likely wouldn't have bothered with a trip into Playa del Carmen had we researched enough to know there was a market set up in the main area on Thursday evening with lots of local vendors selling hand-made items and artists creating their works right there - amazing to watch! The nightly shows were fabulous and the staff were all wonderful everywhere we went!! We'd definitely go back if there weren't so many equally great places to try out and if time and money weren't an issue...

Beautiful resort

Rooms were big.Service was excellent.The grounds were beautiful and very clean.A lot of walking but exercise will never hurt anyone.Food was alright and the drinks were great.the beach was nice and there was many pools and many different places to eat. The Staff you couldn't ask for better service.

Beautiful resort

Beach- big white sand, always can find a beach chair, some rocks in the water but clear sand bottom in parts Food- just okay. Travelled with a large group and no one got sick. Food was just bland and a bit boring. Instant coffee at the buffet is disappointing but you can get a cappuccino or express at the ice cream parlour. Lots of restaurants to choose from. My favourites were mamma Mia Italian and the cooking show at miso. BBQ at the beach daily was great and tacos at the poolside Rooms- [... read more] stayed family of five in family club swim out. Bunk beds with third bunk pullout and king bed for parents. Loved the swimout. Great for kids to swim while parents are still trying to get ready. There is a gate on the patio for safety for little ones. Family club facilities-fyi were only available to those staying in family club. Great splash pad with small slides, playground and clean kids club facility for babysitting. Felt safe to leave our kids there for a few hours. Kids under four cannot be left at kids club. Kids loved the pirate buffet for kids and ice cream parlour. Push cars available to sign out for little ones. Received a gift in the room - pirate stuffy and kids slippers if you ask. Grounds- well kept, lush gardens, lots of pools , very clean. Shows and entertainment at night were good

More & more like home

Was my 6th time at Grand Riviera/Sunset/Platinum Resort with either family or solo and loved every trip. Beach is getting eroded but not much you can do about nature except accept it..staff is very good, food is good, easy & cheap drive to Playa - too big a place for people with mobility issues, however and place is very clean and well kept.

Good time

Hotel was well kept and clean. Check-in was a breeze. Check out was pretty slow, took 45 minutes waiting in line. Food in thd buffets was marginal. We couldnt say that anything tasted good there, its all edible, but wasnt tasty. The a la carte restaraunts are much better except for the regular miso restaraunt. It was terrible. Rooms were good but had double beds and a pull out sofa for the five of us. Double beds are too small for two adults to sleep in. I would go back to this resort however as [... read more] it was a good option for our family of 5.

Best One Yet!

We travelled from December 7 - 14th and had a swim-up suite. The additional cost for this was well worth it in my opinion - the balcony was bigger and we had our own private section away from the crowds at the other pools. The room itself was spacious and clean with a large walk-in shower and jacuzzi tub and a king-sized bed. The resort was large and lush and very well maintained - I didn't see a piece of garbage anywhere the entire week. Everything was kept clean, from the walkways [... read more] to the common bathrooms - spotless!! There are a lot of restaurants to choose from, as well as several buffets. There are 2 buffets that serve only breakfast and lunch (these are closer to the beach) and 2 more that serve all 3 meals (closer to the lobby) We ate at the 2 Riviera buffets. There are also plenty of a la carte restaurants to choose from - we tried the Oriental, Mexican, Italian, steak house and the Japanese Teppanyaki. We didn't really care for the oriental, but the rest were delicious, as was the dinner buffet. We also ate at the bbq grill on the beach, which serves hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, nachos, etc. There's also no shortage of activities going on throughout the day. There's a sports bar where we played pool and had some snacks, and there's always something going on throughout the day. We didn't participate in any of the activities, and didn't go to any of the nightly shows, but we did enjoy the evening entertainment at the plaza bar near the lobby where there were live bands and other things - one night they had a "fire show" which was fun to watch. There are also several shops with the usual tourist stuff as well as a great jewelry store. We booked several off-resort activities, but they have nothing to do with the hotel, so I'll leave that out of my review. I would just like to say that there are PLENTY to choose from if you want to head out for a day (or half-day) trip that you can book in the lobby. I would like to add that this is NOT a place for anyone who doesn't like animals as there are plenty of them here. They have a sanctuary of sorts within the resort that houses ring tail coaties and you will see them everywhere around the resort. There's also plenty of iguana and there are also some domestic cats that have been rescued by a local animal shelter that live here (these are all tagged and get regular check ups from the shelters). They don't bother anyone, and I didn't see any animals in or near the restaurants or on the beach. But the ring tail coaties are brave little buggers and they'll come right up to you on the walk ways if there's food nearby. They didn't bother us, and they're very tame and very cute... but they ARE there. I thought it added to the charm and appeal of the resort, but I'm sure others may not have the same opinion. To sum things up - this resort is clean, spacious with beautiful pools, a great beach, delicious food, and great service. I would go back in an instant, and would recommend it to anyone - either with a family, as a couple, or on your own.

Stunning,breathless resort!!!

Me and my husband,representing a group of eight people.I was researching many resorts and finally decided to recommend and booked for all of our friends.(the other 4 people)We were at the resort for 1 week from December 4th-Dec.11th.Honestly, after reading some of the negative reviews,I was a little disappointed . But no, absolutely not after we arrived at the resort.It was exceeding my expectations.Our first impression was.Wow,what a tremendous,gorgeous,spectacular resort!!!All along the path t [... read more]hat we walked to our suites,I must say it was clean,well kept,beautiful,perfect maintenance with some cute animals along the way.The waiters,waitresses were all very polite and nice.Room service was very good and they filled the mini bar every day.Me and my husband was in junior suite 6213.On our first day, I checked the patio door and found it was unable to lock,so I called the front desk, and they fixed it in 15 minutes.That was execellent.The shows every night,I must say was really outstanding.They also had live band every night,that made the resort more lively.The beach,a little rocky in some areas,but not all. They cleaned the sea weeds every day which was really good.The weather was cooperating,even though I checked the weather before we left that it's gonna rain every day.But to my surprise,turned out it only rained the day before we left for few hours,and the sun was out again.The only thing that we were a little upset,was our wait to check in ,which was a little slow, but that was just a minor thing.I wish they can improve in that area in the future,otherwise will be perfect.Overall, our stay was the most enjoyable,relaxing.We also like to say thank you to Mernie Shields,our ticket agent for being very helpful,attentive . So, please do not listen to all the negative reviews to anyone that have the intentions of coming to this resort.I would highly recommend.

Sunshine Paradise

The grounds ofhe Mexican Grand Riviera Princess are impressive with many walking paths lined with statuary symbolic of the culture. The lawns and many gardens are beautiful and very well maintained. The pools are very clean and designed to give maximum visual appeal as they are strategically placed throughout the site. The staff are courteous and eager to ensure the guests have an enjoyable, relaxing stay. Rooms are serviced on a daily basis and towels and linens are changed every day.

Beautiful resort

Grand describes the grounds and gardens. Food was good. Drinks were excellent. Service was also excellent. Rooms were clean and spacious. Beach was lovely. Pools were exceptionally clean and many to choose from, always enough lounges at any time of the day! Personally prefer smaller resorts as there was a lot of walking to get to and from the beach area and the main lobby - but hey, a little exercise is always good for you!

Beautiful Property

The hotel itself was beautiful and very large. Lots of trees ,wildlife and flowers. Beautifully kept. We had no issue getting around as we enjoyed the walk up to the buffet/restaurants and back after. But every now and the would catch the tram the travels back and forth every 15-20 mins. We were in the far end of building 6 and quite close to the beach which we liked. The room was comfortable,air conditioning worked perfectly. The bar fridge was stocked daily with water,soft drinks and beer. [... read more]No complaints about the room at all ! Lots of pools running through the resort if your'e a pool person and several bars close by to get drinks. We are beach people and we found a spot in the adults only area on the beach that was perfect.We generally stay at adults only resorts so we were happy to find an adults only area on the beach as there were a lot of kids. A palapa,a bar close by and a beautiful view! The beach unfortunatly has a fair bit of rock in the water in this area ,so you need to be quite careful where you walk. Water shoes or sandals would have been a good idea.All in all we enjoyed a perfect week of sun in our spot on the beach. The drinks were very good and most days there was waiter service. My only real complaint was the food. The specialty restaurants were mediocre at best. Reservations had to be made in advance and times were very limited. We ate at the Steak House,The Mexican and Asian restaurants. Of the 3 the asian was the better of the 3 but still not great. The rib eye at the steak house was sub par and the coconut shrimp appetizer was like something out of the frozen food section. The Mexican restaurant was disappointing . Again,very mediocre . After these 3 we just went to the buffet for the rest of the evenings.We could usually find something there. Breakfast at the buffets was also disappointing. The omelette station used a lot of oil and so everything was oily. Most mornings the bacon was so over cooked it was almost inedible. Much of the food that was preprepared was luke warm at best. The fruit selection was sad, a lot of fruit in syrup !! We never went hungry but the food was not as enjoyable as we had hoped it would be. Everything was over cooked and it was next to impossible to find a hot potato or vegatable anywhere. The Beachbar Grill was our most enjoyable lunch of the week. What was amazing was the coconut ice cream at the ice cream shop !!! While we didn't love the food,the beach was great and the weather was perfect !! This is a large beautiful resort that has a lot of families and weddings. We got a good deal so Would i go back??????? For the right price, yes I would .

Wedding dream come true!

The hotel grounds, pools, beach, and rooms were incredible. Our resort wedding coordinator, Lizeth, helped to group our entire wedding group telogether in one section of the resort to make it easy to stay together. She made our day stress-free because she was so organized and friendly and just PERFECT! I honestly could not have asked for a more perfect trip to celebrate our wedding with family and friends. A dream come true!!!

Fantastic Resort for families

The resort was absolutely beautiful, with several a la carte restaurants and amazing buffets. Whether you want a quiet day at the pool, or an exciting day filled with games and activities at the swim up bar or on the beach, this resort has it all! The resort staff was friendly and helpful We will be back next year!

Lovely resort!

Grounds were immaculate, room was clean (a little tired though), the bed was comfortable. The food was good, not great but no one in our party got sick which is a good thing. The beach was nice with lots of lounges and the pools were clean. The staff were all very pleasant. We personally prefer a smaller resort but had no complains.

Resort to look into!!

We arrived late at night and checked in with ease; however the room numbering system confused us a bit lol. The resort is large enough with several pool options which is great if you want to relax or if you want to party there's a place for you!! There are 3 swim up bar pools which was so nice (the pools could use some maintenance as quite some of the tiles are missing). Most of the restaurants are good; however the buffet selection (2 of them) have limited selections compared to other reports a [... read more]nd the steakhouse as well as seafood restaurants were a huge disappointment with over cooked dishes and very poor presentation (I mean a piece of meat dropped on a plate on its lonesome). The hotel is Very Clean and the Staff are for the most part very helpful and friendly. We'll be going back I'm sure.

Lovely resort

The resort was well kept and the staff were friendly. Happy for the a la carts as the Buffett was alright. The shows were ok but the place shuts down around 11. I was expecting more from the resort over all.

I enjoyed this resort

I went with the Platinum package and some of the perks were pretty good when I got a chance to use them. Although the Platinum Package was advertised as more of a VIP experience it really isn't. You just get a few extra perks that the other hotel guests don't have. Pros - private check-in with a private pool / bar for Platinum - private area on the beach for Platinum - discount at the spa for Platinum guests but you have to book within 24 hours of arrival - giant resort with lots of opt [... read more]ions for lounging by pools, greenery, etc. - buffet food was pretty good. Lot's of fruit options, cheeses, cold cuts, fresh veggies, and salads, with a variety of hot food options - service at every restaurant I went to was wonderful. Friendly staff and very attentive - very clean resort that is well maintained. I really enjoyed walking and exploring the resort during the day and in the evenings - massages on the beach were very relaxing - great beach with lot's of areas to sit Cons - Platinum hotel area doesn't really have a lot of places to relax. The cabanas and lounges by the private pool at the hotel area fill up early. I was often left searching for a place to sit. It rained a lot when I was there so I ended up spending most of my time in the main hotel area because there was more seating options there. As a result the Platinum's private bar / butler services were not available to me at these times. - the gentleman at the Platinum check-in reception was actually rather rude and talked down to me when I asked questions or needed clarification during check-in. When I was done checking in, he just pointed to the elevator and started working on his computer. I ended up carrying my own bags to my room. That said, out of all the staff I encountered during my stay he was the only one that was not great. All other staff was friendly, attentive, helped whenever asked, and smiled a lot - advertises a personal butler to serve drinks on the beach and at the Platinum private pool but this service was very slow especially on the beach (often close to an hour between order and getting my drink when on the beach). I ended up just going to the bar to get drinks myself. Waste of a perk for paying for Platinum - room was often not cleaned until very late in the afternoon so never felt I could go back and just relax - the attendants that offer the beach massages at times were very pushy in trying to get people to book a massage. On my last day one attendant approached me no less than half a dozen times to get me to book a massage. He woke me up 2 times and I had to tell him no at least 3 times during each conversation. I actually did want a massage because the previous beach massages were lovely but he was just so pushy he ruined it for me

Amazing Resort

It's a large resort.The grounds are beautiful. There are cats and coatis on site. My husband loved greeting and feeding the cats on our way to the main buffet. We actually took dry cat food with us. The coatis are unique little animals. They travel together and are often seen coming in and out of the garbage containers and making their way across the walk ways, You will also see them at the area around the Snack bar on the beach. The service was excellent at the buffet and the bars. W [... read more]e did one al la cart...the Oriental. It was OK, but the buffet offers so much more. Everyday day the buffet has numerous fresh vegetables and fruit, grilled vegetables of every sort, the typical grilled fish and other meats, fries, melted cheese and sweets. There was also a great selection of cured meats, olives and cheeses. Also beautiful breads. Rooms were spacious and clean. If you have mobility issues, there are carts like carts that run along the parameter of the resort. The beach was beautiful. There was a yellow flag most days, but it didn't stop us from cooling off. There was also a beach bar. I know we will return. It was a beautiful resort and a great value.

Fantastic week stay

Great value, food, drinks and people. They have all kinds of drinks Vodkas, Brandys, JD, etc. The people are so nice, always tip a dollar it goes far and they work so hard. The rooms are big and always clean, there are tons of pools, not too many have handicap accessibility We only found one. The sea was ok too much sulfur when we went so it was merky and there was a smell. The Zumba and foam party was amazing and so were all the entertainment shows.