Nice Grounds but Food is just OK

Nice resort, a little big for my taste. The beach area was nice, great for small kids. The food was not at all what I expected since I heard from many people that Mexico always has good food. I will not be going back to this resort. The rooms were nice and clean.

Amazing resort

Amazing place with lots to do. Service was wonderful and always greeted you and helped if needed. Night shows were fantastic and also has a disco opened till 2am. You'll see monkeys hanging out in the trees, deers in the bushes, iguanas and geckos on the paths and also koatis. Tons of good food options and Paco tacos was opened till 2am also. The beach was large enough and water was also deep enough also. The beach had lawn chairs, hammocks and beds. Which you would need to reserve them before 9 [... read more]am or earlier or they may be taken. Our rooms were beyond our expectations, comfy king size bed, TV cable, an and a full mini fridge. The xcaret Park was cool to see if you haven't gone before, the package doesn't include most activities the park offers however, each are an additional cost. Our shuttle bus was an hour and a half late (not the resorts fault) but the resort offered to pay for all our cabs to the airport. Hope to come back to the same resort someday!

Great resort

The place was lovely.Saw wildlife ,deer,monkeys on our balcony ,flamingo's outside our balcony.The beach was ok, very busy but lots of fish to see. We stayed at the quiet pool, the others were very busy with young or teenage kids. Lots of walking if you want and also a little 17 hole golf putting , which we had alot of laughs playing. The food was good , the best one was the seafood restaurant.Overall a great holiday and clean resort,

Beautiful resort

The location of the resort in a jungle like setting is beautiful. There is wildlife like monkeys, iguanas, flamingoes and raccoons. The food and the service are good. I recommend this resort if you like being close to nature.

Great holiday

Before leaving on holidays I had read quite a few reviews some good some not so good. But still decided to go to this hotel. I must say that from the time we arrived to when we left and were impressed with the cleanliness of the hotel, from the main entrance to our room and the restaurants, pool area there was always someone there to ensure things were to your satisfaction. The food was in abundance, the choices were multiple from the breakfast to the snacks in the late evening. Could not as [... read more]k more of the people at the hotel, always making sure you were satisfied and that things were up to par. All in all we only have good things to say and would recommend this hotel in a heart beat.

Beautiful Resort

This resort had a lot of green spaces which is what our preference is. The buildings were surrounded by trees and trails for nice leisurely walks. Shuttles were also provided for those not able to do a lot of walking. There were plenty of activities to do on site if you choose to not leave the resort. Kids Club- Kids club was available for what seems like all day! We had Nancy with Kids/Fun Club and she was absolutely amazing with our kids, Even if there were no other kids around, she woul [... read more]d play with our kids in the pool or tennis and basketball courts. There was a mini disco for the kids to attend followed by different activities such as movie night, Hawaiian night, piñata party etc. Our kids were never bored. Nancy gave our whole family a small token at the end of our trip. She is a fantastic and essential part of their team! Adult Activities and Entertainment - There was always something going on at the pool or at the beach as far as activities were concerned. They had short games to keep things interesting as well as daily aqua aerobics, salsa lessons, evening pub and shows in the theatre. There was an area for table games such as fooseball, air hockey, pool table etc. Dining-Dining was great. There were 7 a la carte restaurants. 5 of which were their own separate restaurants. The other 2 were more of a casual patio dining experience. The upper patio overlooked the lower patio and theatre. The food was good but service was a little slow in the Oriental Dining. We waited over half an hour for our entrée and ended up leaving because our kids wanted to attend the mini disco. We ended up going to the buffet after. The Oriental Dining was also the smallest of all the restaurants so there was a lot of people waiting for a table as it is a first come first serve arrangement. Breakfast buffets were available in the main building area as well as at the beach restaurant. Both were very big buffets. The beach restaurant had a stunning view and it was in an open area. Staff was exceptional at all the restaurants. Rooms-Our rooms were cleaned daily even when we said that it wasn't necessary. They provided us with fresh clean towels and stocked the bar fridge daily. Rodrigo would make towel animals for our kids everyday and the kids looked forward to seeing them. Scuba - The instructors were very attentive and great with our young child who was just old enough to participate in the Discovery program.

Truly a hidden gem!

This was a resort worth more than the star rating because of it's proximity to Xcaret, allowing you to go back and forth during the day for meals and to clean up before the night show. Resort itself was lovely, food was great, Mayan ruins and wild animals on site! Small details to improve like the wifi, long time to get hot water and broken soap dispensers in the showers, rocky beach because it's man-made without natural waves. However, overall it was great value for the money and the per [... read more]fect short holiday for our family of 4.

Excellent Vacation

The whole resort is remodeled and has modern look. The rooms are spacious and bed is very comfortable. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The food is great. Lots of animals. Kids enjoyed the trip!

A Little bit of Paradise

This was a very nice all-inclusive resort. There are several buildings to accommodate guests. Our room was nice and clean with stocked bar fridge daily! The views from most rooms open out to a balcony that has wildlife literally outside your window. It's a nice size resort in a jungle setting which is a plus if you enjoy watching animals in the wild as you are right in the middle of monkeys, iguana's, parrots and so many other interesting wildlife. There are lots of beautiful pools, an [... read more] adult pool, and a beach inlet that has a net to keep most ocean wildlife out of the resort beach ocean swimming area. Some smaller fish do make their way in, though and the inlet shelters keep the beach goers from some wind - in this inlet is where the snorkeling is - the water was quite murky and smelly on some days - I think it depends on the current that allows the water to refresh from the ocean. The resort's beach area is located at the back of the resort, depending on which building you are in, it can take a good 10 minutes to walk there. There is no ocean front sandy beach this was a huge drawback for us. The resort allows you 1 free hour of snorkeling a day, but we had to carefully climb down the rocks and carefully swim out to snorkel to avoid the sharp rocks. Food was great, selection at the main buffet was amazing, they even have the specialty teas and a cappuccino machine! The food is upgraded at the Specialty restaurants, which include a Steak house, Italian, Mexican, Seafood & Asian. Our favorite was the Seafood restaurant - the bonus is there are no reservations at any of the restaurants - and you can go more than once! There is the Pizza Grill and Paco Taco's which is casual dining open until the wee hours of the morning. Staff was very nice and pleasant. Entertainment - the best show we thought was "Mexico" - which had dances and costumes that represented the whole of Mexico. A truly beautiful relaxing place to stay. The only downfall of this place is the staff that try and sell upgrade packages - and do not take no for an answer. This unfortunately put a damper on our vacation - as there is someone who sits at the entrance of your bldg all day - so trying to avoid them is almost impossible, which they know. We made the mistake of agreeing to see the club package - we were asked for deposit of $20US - 2nd mistake, we were told this reserves a spot and you get funds back after presentation. We were also offered the Xcaret park entrance at a discount, we told them we were not interested in that then the rep Carlos mentioned some other tour packages and asked what we were interested in only after this we were allowed to leave and head to breakfast and we were late for our presentation meeting with airline rep (which they are fully aware of too). They gave us this bright pink beach bag as a token. We felt we were literally forced - after this playing on our minds most of day, we went back to tell that we would like to cancel as this does not interest us. There was a different person at the desk - he said he would have to call his supervisor. We waited for the supervisor - he arrived and went over everything we had heard in the morning - we told him several times we felt we were rushed this morning we had another meeting to attend which we were late for due to this - we simply want to cancel. This supervisor Christian Muniz became quite rude - and told us it will affect Carlos numbers and we are taking away from him - this is his bread and butter! We apologized and again politely told him we would like to cancel we have already wasted so much time. Eventually, he said ok but wait till you speak with Carlos when he returns tomorrow am before your presentation. Again, we reinforced that we just want to cancel and would like our $20US back. He started getting upset and said you were given a beach bag....we told him he can have that bag back! Then he said that he does not have funds and they can be reimbursed tomorrow! He took the form we had been given earlier that day - I asked to take a pic before he took it and that's when he literally lost it - he took out his wallet and slammed the $20.00US on the table !!!! Needless to say, we avoided coming in and out of our building during the rest of our stay!

Occidental Xcaret

Our trip was great, Jairus was very helpful with explaining what to expect at this resort. Food, rooms and all staff were excellent. The only thing we did not enjoy was the people trying to talk us into Time Shares. We will use Jairus again for additional trips.

Jungle Gem

Just returned from one week at the Occidental Xcaret. Great room, good food, lots of acres to wander, wonderful staff. No disappointments. Large pools, beautiful lobby and music every evening. This is a great resort for couples or families.

Great Place to Vacation (if you can deal with a few things)

We returned to the Occidental Xcaret after having a great experience in 2015. This time was terrific too - food is always amazing, staff couldn't be nicer or more helpful, rooms are VERY clean and the grounds are keep near immaculate. A few things that didn't make a good grade would be the HUGE snake we ran into twice during our visit (two in our group have serious snake phobias), the ever present pressure to sign up for the Vacationers Club (time share racket), the very loud noise in a couple o [... read more]f the restaurants (you'd think that would be a relatively easy fix) and some sketchy guests (there was a domestic dispute including violence in our building - would be nice to see a greater presence of security staff to actively tone down the stuff you wouldn't want your kids to hear). Some of those criticisms they could easily fix, others probably not. Overall the place is awesome and we've never experienced better food, facility or staff. You just have to navigate the stuff that isn't quite as perfect. Just like life, lol.

Beautiful Resort

This hotel was truly everything it promised it would be and then some. We had an amazing time and the staff and the hospitality were top notch... :) The resort itself was absolutely stunning. The food was delicious... the service was above and beyond..Loved it and can't wait to return...

Gorgeous Resort

We had an awesome time at the resort. The grounds were well kept with amazing wildlife running around. The pool areas were very nice and kept clean and free of debrie. All the staff on site were very helpfull and curtious. Rooms also were very nice and the cleaning staff friendly and efficient. I wold recommend this resort highly for all ages. The alacart dining was nice many varieties of food. The specialty restaurants were very nice as well. The only recommendatin I hae is that they should c [... read more]hange the poicy for men having to wear long pants and full toed shoes, were women are allowed to wear what they wish . Felt this to be a bit unfair for some of the women were very poorly dressed as if they did not care that they were in a restaurant were all ages are present.

Nice resort

This is a beautiful hotel, very clean and nice staff. I think they need to improve their food very repetitive. Stayed in this hotel 3 years ago and the food was great. Best part is the monkeys coming to the balcony. Very nice pool.

Absolutely beautiful resort.

The grounds were very well kept and loved the jungle effect with all the trees. The walk to the beach each day was gratifying. The opportunities for different personalities was unlimited. I would return to this paradise.

Great resort with amazing grounds

The entrance area and view are stunning! The tile work at the front desk is incredible, and the service was friendly, fast and efficient. Our room had been redone and was very clean, fresh, comfortable (great bedding), had everything we required (minibar, safe, toiletries, etc.) and everything operated perfectly. We enjoyed the grounds and wildlife immensely. This was our sixth stay in the Mayan Riviera, and the first time we've experienced deers and monkeys on the grounds of our resort. Th [... read more]e food was good and the service in the buffet, Paco's Taco's and the oriental a la carte was excellent. Great snorkelling at the beach, and we enjoyed the adult and the quiet pools. The location next to Xcaret Ecopark and so close to Playa del Carmen was terrific. We spent a day at Xcaret and we will definitely return to this resort because of both our experience at this resort and because we want to spend more time at the park. Thank you!

Can't beat it!

We had an amazing time! Everything was perfect. We highly recommend the week pass to Xcaret park next door. We went snorkeling everyday in the park and then explored the park for an hour or two longer. We returned to Occidental for lunch and enjoyed the pool and the beach for the afternoon. The staff at Occidental were very helpful and friendly. We would definitely return.

Very interesting resort! With its jungle atmosphere.

Our stay at this resort was made exceptional due to the maxing staff!! Our every desire was met. The food in the buffet was always well set out, and tasty. The theme dining was good as well, but we didn't enjoy the oriental theme as well as the others. Dress code in these is very strict! Our concierge Jonathan in building 19 was heaven sent, he made our trip more than enjoyable One downfall, was enduring one day without power, this meant no elevator, no food, drinks, air conditioning, and no [... read more] intervention. This outage was supposed to be from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, but went on to approximately 5:00 pm. No one offered any concession

Amazing Time!

This hotel is currently under renovations as we knew about this before we went and contrary to what others have wrote on Trip Advisor the construction was NO BIG DEAL. Unless you plan to sleep all day in your room in which case you may hear some of the banging but otherwise the noise is limited to 10-5 everyday. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous, monkeys, birds, flamingos as you walk around the resort. The pools are spotless and the entertainment staff at the activities pool are a blast and s [... read more]o accommodating (especially Marialuna and Ali). The food was really good and selection of restaturants (and the fact that you do not need to make reservations in advance - this was a first for us) was amazing. There was food choices for everyone - even the pickiest of eaters. Bars and bartenders and servers were phenomenal and would serve top shelf booze if requested and always with a smile. We had pool side service and an amazing server (Noemi) who always made sure we were taken care of. I would and will definitely go back to this resort. My only complaint if I had one was the beach and it is small (but we knew that going in and made the best of it).