Ocean Riviera Paradise: Fantastic resort - Wonderful Memories created

An truly amazing vacation experience !! - The hotel is a fairly new resort and we arrived anticipating a few things may still need last minute refinement. While there were few minor and I mean minor issues nothing that spoiled our vacation. Resort staff went out of the way to make us feel comfortable, always friendly,very courteous and went that extra step to make us feel special. Our suite was nice, king bed spacious and very clean - housekeeping was efficient, at time a little to efficie [... read more]nt as they were knocking the bedroom door early to get started. The casino wasn't yet open, (opening soon) but this didn't bother us there was so much more to do. The bowling alley was a nice touch and we made friends with the manager there who again made our bowling experiences fun. Entertainment staff were first class, daily activities poolside and the beach were fun to take part in and we experienced our first pool foam arty - great fun and with laughs. Evening entertainment shows with venues within the large seated indoor Theater and outside Plaza were top rate with professional entertainers, musicians, acrobatics, dancers, vocal artists to name but a few of the many we enjoyed. Outdoor pools were clean, well maintained and an abundance fresh clean towels always available. The beach was amazing, soft white sand and many walks were enjoyed along its shore length. Dining, without doubt an important part of any vacation - 'amazing' is all I can say. The many a la carte restaurants offered varied and quality cuisine. The Blue Moon for romantic dinning was our favorite with the Italian and steak house restaurants close runners up. It was evident that the chef's at each location took great pride in what offered and how it was presented. Mike's coffee shop and the ice cream parlor were side by side and once again much enjoyed by us. Dinning at the Ocean Riviera was definitely 'TOP SHELF ' Trolley transportation through the resort was constantly running and though not far to walk from beach to lobby it was very welcome on occasions. One part of the resort we didn't find until our last day was the indoor pool / hot tub area located within the spa facility .. do check it out, it looked relaxing and fun. We will next time - for us there will definitely be a next time and without reservation we would comfortably recommend this resort to anyone . .... do go and enjoy, we did very much so !

Grand Sunset Princess: It our third time

And has not dissapointed us. VALUE is what we talk about. Qualily/Price is outstanding. The beach, the service, the restaurants the drinks....... The weather, 7 days consecutive sun!! I would go back again!! Strongly recommended.

Bahia Principe Explore Tulum: Amazing resort!

Beautiful white sandy beach, lots of variety for dining, rooms were clean, friendly and engaging staff wherever we went...good value for the travel dollar ...only drawback is the long drive from the airport (over 90mins) ... Also thanks to Rachel for all her help with our booking!

Catalonia Royal Tulum: Excellent small, all-inclusive!

This is a phenomenal all-inclusive hotel. (Note: I tend to avoid all-inclusive resorts and prefer smaller, more intimate vacations. I loved this place.) The grounds are stunning - built among mangroves the greenery around the resort is unique. The beautifully maintained greenery provides privacy to the rooms' balconies and close encounters with the locals (beautiful tropical jays, iguanas, coatis, a great blue heron, etc.). The rooms are more than adequate. While you are not getting full 5 st [... read more]ar luxury - the clean, large rooms offer an excellent bathroom/shower, comfortable bed (if a little soft), a fairly private balcony, enough towels, a safe, etc. The beach is stunning. Better than any of the three other beaches we visited in the area - it was virtually private. There is a couple other very small beach front restaurant, beach clubs whose clients did not venture over to the resort portion. The beach was stunning - the sand was softest we found in the area. Only on one day (the first) was there a significant amount of seaweed that was washed up on the shore but the hotel staff worked hard to shovel it all up and bury it in the beach nearby. The beach had a fairly strong breeze that did result in some rough waves - nothing that you couldn't swim in - but also a nice cooling air that made sitting on the beach even more pleasurable. We also loved the free juice bar on the beach - with many types of fruit, ginger, greens, etc - so delicious! The indoor gym is great. (Although I had injured myself before the trip and could not take advantage of the well-equipped workout machines in a glass front building overlooking the pool.) The third party car rental people out front were great. You pay a little more to have the convenience of renting from the lobby (as opposed to having to go to Tulum to rent) but the service was excellent. The car is on-site and we had one car have some issues and they drove right out to us (1/2 hour away in downtown Tulum) immediately to provide us with a replacement vehicle. The staff were so friendly and helpful. Often bringing a second drink without even asking, saying 'hello' every time you pass them, changing the room early in the day, etc. Aside from the general buffet, there are 6 restaurants from which to choose for dinner. Unlike other resorts, there is no need to make reservations - which is a nice luxury of being able to decide each evening if you are in the mood for a grill, Asian, Italian, tapas, Mexican, etc. Being a small resort, wait times for the restaurants are not unreasonable and one has the option to have drinks at one of the nearby bars while waiting. The ambiance at the restaurants is excellent. The outdoor tapas restaurant is set on the edge of a natural cenote and it is lit with small lights - by far the most romantic, prettiest option. While most of the food at the resort was "okay" - i.e., more than acceptable for an all-inclusive but middling by most other standards. Ambiance and service aside, the tapas was quite mediocre (at best). The other dinner spaces were also nice - only the Italian restaurant seemed oddly placed in the main buffet room and only separated by an 8 foot temporary wedding hall dividing wall. Expecting decent Italian food from an Italian based company - I was disappointed. The risotto was not risotto but overcooked rice in a chicken stock. One day the Spanish head chef made paella on the beach for a lunch - it was again, an overcooked rice dish with questionable seafood (mussels that weren't open and lobster that was quite off colour). If you pay a little extra you get access to a privilege area. The real perk to this is the access to B'loved - the beach side restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks all day. While our dinner there was poor (both of our fish dishes were overcooked and dry to the point of being barely edible) - we enjoyed all of our breakfasts, lunches, and cocktails. In all, regarding the food, it was acceptably decent and did not detract meaningfully from an other excellent resort. They try hard with different restaurants have exclusive drink lists (martinis at the tapas, gin&tonics at B'loved, etc.). Note for dinner, they have some 'cirque du soleil' type show on a few nights a week - on those nights the loud music is a little disturbing for the adjacent, out door, open concept Tapas restaurant - you may choose your dining nights for Tapas based on their show schedule. Finally, this resort is small. It is rare to find an all-inclusive which does not feel like a cruise ship. The adults only aspect makes for such a quiet, but friendly, and not over-sedate resort. There is a nice lively vibe without the loudness of a spring break resort. There was always free lounge chairs by the beautiful, warm, clean pool and beach. The hot tub is also clean and popular and overlooks the beach. I would highly recommend this hotel even for those who often avoid all-inclusives. This has all the amenities without the oversized pandemonium.

Ocean Coral Riviera Cancun: This was our 2nd visit to this resort. Love it!

Love that the resort is so close to the airport. Awesome resort, rooms clean. Staff were always very friendly. Beautiful pool area. Could choose more active vs. quiet surroundings. Could walk for miles on the beautiful beach. Continually working to keep weeds cleaned up. Ocean swimming great. Food was wonderful. No complaints all week from a group of 9!

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great Trip

Had a wonderful time at the resort from Feb 17-23. The service, food and accommodations were excellent. Would definitively go back in the future. Weather was great but there are some rocks near the shore.

Riu Santa Fe: Amazing resort

Good food, very clean. Beautiful view from our ocean view room. Will repeat visit this hotel. A little loud in the wee hours of the morning but other then that it was a great experience. Taxi cabs to town were there within minutes.

Barcelo Maya Colonial: Barcelo Maya Colonial Beach

Barcelo is an amazing resort, beautifully kept, rooms were spacious and very up-to-date. Lots to do, food was excellent. Staff and all their services were absolutely superb. Would definitely go again and would recommend to everyone!

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda: Blue Bay Did Not Disappoint!

My family and I traveled from Halifax to Blue Bay February 15th and stayed for a fantastic 7 day visit. We met up with some family who flew in to join us. This is a wonderful resort and we certainly would return. The food and the people were fantastic. Beach walks and pool time ... what's not to love. The only tip/recommendation I have is that you stay on a middle floor. Not the top and not the bottom. I find this with many resorts and a simple move to the middle floor solves the musty sm [... read more]ell issues. Have fun & enjoy!

Allegro Cozumel: Great Resort

Rooms are nice but not overly large. The grounds are immaculate and the beach is 4 star.The food was very good in all restaurants but not 5 star. We found the resort very good value for the money and will go back.

Royal Solaris Cancun: Beautiful Resort

This was our first time in Mexico. The Royal Solaris Cancun resort was wonderful. The people were absolutely amazing. I would highly recommend this resort to anyone. It would be great to have a games room would be the only thing I would like to see there (at any resort).

Azul Ixtapa Resort: Great Resort

This was a clean friendly resort with great rooms, food and service. Good for families as there is plenty to do for the kids. Handy bus service for getting into either Ixatapa or Zihuatanejo. Would go back here in a heartbeat.

Las Brisas Huatulco: weather guaranteed

What I liked: the gym, the food, I saw colourful, tropical birds, 1/2 hour ride from airport, everyone was so nice. The weather was consistent, amazing pools, grounds were well kept, clean. Coffee was yummy! The walk up to the room was good for me because i like to exercise but not good for people with mobility issues. My room didn't have a view or a patio to sit on, a big disappointment because enjoying my coffee on the patio first thing in the morning as I enjoy the view is an important part  [... read more]of my vacation experience. Pacific side seems more authentic. Earth quake tremor... real cool experience although I was scared and glad it was minor, would have been good to know in advance that they are not uncommon.

Riu Palace Pacifico: Nice grounds, good food, generally great service, rest ok-ish...

Grand but tired hotel. Food good. Junior suite had 2 beds pushed together. Beds comfortable, room tired. Pool pretty, beach very good, only one bar for all so under services pool and beach ~ impacts rating. One bathroom for restaurants, pool and beach ~ impacts rating. 30 min walk to edge of Bucerias, 25 min by taxi or hour by bus (2 stops) to Nuevo Vallarta.

Las Brisas Huatulco: We had so many great experiences.

Las Brisas, a beautiful, well maintained, and well serviced locale where you can have some unique experiences. Our Transat vacation was on time, hassle free and their representative, Sophie, very professional. The weather was perfect at 30 C, with a breeze off the ocean. We spent most of our vacation in or on the ocean, snorkelling, on site (first time saw octopus, yellow puffer fish and green starfish) and tour ( Transat chosen rep) the boat was too small for 11 people, but the staff were sup [... read more]erb, Pepe and Thomas). I would say if you go to Maguey beach I would eat the chips and drink the bucket of Corona. Otherwise, eh. We did the shared fishing. If your spouse doesn't fish they may be able to attend for free. Don't take this intending to catch fish, it is fishing not catching, we caught nothing but we were in a flock of dolphins so large the water boiled with their activity. We saw dozens of sea turtles and had a beautiful day at sea. The water was clear and warm. We sea kayaked and spent a couple of hours in the adult pool, loved the stairs with water cascading down to pool, nice to sit in the heat. The city tour was great. Archie was our host and he kept our 4.5 hours fully entertaining. We had a brief overview of geography, history, present and past, enjoyed special lookouts, eating grasshoppers, drinking mezcal, and made a special stop so my wife could look at jewelry. The food was okay. We had upgraded to take advantage of the al a carte, but we don't eat at nine o'clock and that was the only timing we could get. On that note, upgrading, you don't get robes, if you order a drink you are supposed to get premium liquor, possible if you ask every time. The view was awesome. There was a point directly in front of 4205, one night at 17:00 we sat on the chairs with our drink and a humpback whale breached six, frickin times in a row, incredible. Now what bugged me. They have a flag system for the beach. Responsible and great idea. It never changed from red, (do not swim) except for about 12 hours during our stay. It was perfectly safe and at times optimal for swimming, so no confidence in flags. Boy you have to hope you are not there when it is truly busy. Our first 5 days, Feb 17 to 22 the service, availability of lounges etc were great, the last two days were yuck. Our table was given away when we went for our desserts, people were putting their towels on lounges to preserve their spot, it just didn't feel the same. We experienced our first earthquake, 4.8 x 2, and I did not feel too confident if something greater were to happen. It was an awesome holiday, and the staff of las Brisas can be proud of how professional they are to handle what they do with such poise and dignity.

Barcelo Maya Beach Resort: definitely going back!

This resort is definitely one to revisit. The snorkeling is wonderful. The dive shop is great. We were in the Tulum building of the Beach resort section. It was quiet and peaceful and a short walk to everything we needed.

The Fives Beach Hotel and Residences Playa Del Carmen: Amazing!!

Absolutely perfect! Definitely would recommend this resort. Al a carte restaurants were so good. Our favourite was Koh Thai. Our favourite view was from the Zky bar. Staff are so friendly and want to please. Resort is impeccably clean.

Crown Paradise Club: Nice Family Reaort

We had a nice stay at the Crown Paradise Club from February 17th to February 24th, 2017. The rooms are slightly dated but they were clean. The food was good but it was never very warm. The three a la cartes were delicious. You had to book your a la cartes restaurants from the phone in your room and could only book them the day of or the next day. Reservations were only booked each day from 8am to 2pm. The hotel was a ten minutes drive from the airport, which was nice. There were two pools and on [... read more]e kid's play area (a pirate ship). We spent our time in one of the pools that was fairly shallow. It was filled with kids! Perfect if you have young ones.

Barcelo Karmina: A first class resort

We had the joy of going to this resort two years ago, enjoyed it to the fullest at that time so guess what, booked it again this year from February 10 - 24 -2017 again we received the same results people are wonderful and polite, food is great, grounds are kept clean, rooms are kept clean, and all pool areas likewise. My wife and I both highly recommend this place everything close by.

Grand Park Royal Cozumel: Awesome resort

Everything was fantastic my only complaint is that there are not enough beach chairs as they let people from the cruise ships buy day passes and the chairs are spoken for from 8am so I was left sitting on concrete for most of the days. I made the most of it but given the amount I travel and the amount I spent to stay here it was disappointing.