Maintenance issues

Days 2 to 4 of our week long stay we did not have hot water in our shower. The door to our room came off the hinge on day 4. The ceiling fan functioned poorly. The TV didn't work at all. The hotel is in need or repairs throughout.

The staff make this a great resort

Let's start with the bad, this is a very large resort which accommodates 2500 travellers. The rooms although dated were very clean and well maintained by a very friendly cleaning staff. The distances from the restaurants, buffet and show area was far from the rooms, although golf carts were available not many were operating. Occupancy was only at 28% therefore staff was limited and only 2 a la carte restaurants were ever made available to us, different themes on different nights but always same  [... read more]2 locations. The ocean in front of the resort is ugly, brown water and lots of washed up algae, however 100 meters either way and the ocean is much prettier. 5 minutes walk left of the resort is a beautiful lagoon area with crystal clear water. The pools are huge and the service is exceptional, kudos to the bar staff, fast efficient and always friendly. Same can be said of the buffet team, friendly greeting every morning afternoon and night, service is fast and they go out of their way to get you drinks, coffee, water and or juices. Front desk staff and manager were very helpful and knowledgeable. I would like to thank the lady in the back office who helped me book my golf rounds, she went out of her way and called several courses to find those that suited are needs, I'm ashamed that I can't remember her name. The resort has a great variety of wild life, deer, coaties, raccoons, giant guinea pigs or small Capiberra not sure what they were, spider monkeys, so many different kinds of birds and of course iguanas of all sizes. Again signs everywhere telling the guest not to feed and to respect nature As for the Covid protocols, they were definitely in place, masks had to be warn at the front reception area and they had boxes in case you forgot, lost or broke the elastic off yours. Restaurants and buffet while standing, and any other in door facility. Every location had plenty of hand sanitizers, the buffet was still self serve but they provided plastic gloves and they were mandatory along with your mask. There were signs everywhere reminding everyone of social distancing. Every public area was constantly being cleaned, bathrooms and dining areas were immaculate. Pool area was clean, trash and glasses being picked up by the bar staff all day. Busses and taxis required the wearing of masks while in the vehicles. The resort has taken every precaution, unfortunately not every nationality followed the rules, North Americans for the most part did but local Mexican guests and some Europeans didn't put much importance on masks or distancing. Overall I would rank this resort as good to great only because of it's incredible staff. Buildings and facilities are dated but still ok, beds were comfortable and rooms were very clean. Too bad for the Ocean but not much they can do about that. Things I liked include the food which was always amazing, kudos to the chefs. The friendliness of the staff, the large pool was a lot of fun with a lot of room. The beach bar with the swings was a nice touch. 👌

Great hotel

Amazing staff, very courtious and fun and super attentionate to our needs, you need to bring your aquashoes to go into the ocean..weeds and rocks,beautifull sand 20 min taxi ride from playa del carmen’s 5th avenue.

Solid resort

The staff were wonderful at the resort. Big pool, good food and good drinks. The service again was amazing! The beach isn't the best but walk to the resort next door and it's good! Would definitely go back

Nice resort, horrible beach

The resort is big, lots of walking, but they have golf cart shuttles. Food was good, staff were friendly at the seabob shop, lots of fun. They gave me and my girlfriend 2 beds and it took them 4 days of complaining before they changed our room to a single bed. Beach is horrible, black seaweed water, rocks and shells in the beach sand so it sucked to walk on bare foot. Very shallow water, only up to my belly buton. Over all 3 out of 5 i would not stay there again. Might as well stay at a [... read more] travel lodge if i want a room and pool, would be less walking and cheeper lol

Beautiful clean happy resort

A very large resort. Lots of places to escape the crowds. Food very good. Service friendly and good. Rooms beautiful, love the deck. Many bars to choose from, 3 buffet restaurants serving fantastic food.

This is a great resort

This was my second time coming to this resort !I find this resort clean and the food was great staff very acomadating! Although it is a large resort the trolley system is nice so u don't have to do too much walking! Especially love the wildlife!

Not the greatest

It is an intimate smaller restort, The beach was a long distance from the rooms, The restaurants are not good, and the buffet the line up are too long, The service personnel were great, but the staff that works in the hotel lobby were actually quite rude, I will not go back

Wonderful resort!

This was our first all inclusive resort. It's very large one but they have golf carts that run every 15 minutes to drive you around. The building we stayed in had a pool close by. It was a 20 minute walk to the beach and other pools. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The food was delicious. There are several restaurants to choose from and a plenty of food choices for every palate. There are shows in the bar every night. Each night is a different theme with great music.

Great trip but

Great trip to the Blue Bay. Resort was beautiful and the people there are awesome. Food was great and rooms are very clean. The a la carts were all very good. I have only a couple of cons for the resort. Supper buffet line ups were very long and slow moving. My major complaint is the beach is very poor shape. So had to spend my time at the pool.

Amazing

Just returned from a wonderful vacation at the Blue Bay Esmeralda. The food was great, rooms were clean, the pool was nice. The resort is large and spread out so there is a lot of walking but we really have no complaints! Would definitely go back to this resort.

Needs repairs

Very nice grounds well kept wasted whole day waiting for someone to come shut of shower. control that fell apart when turned on.it took them hours to realize they couldn't repair the control and moved us to another room. Someone went through our dresser drawers we reported it but think it fell on deaf ears.the beach was the shits. Theytry to. keep it clean of seaweed.but looks like a full time job. staff was very friendly.someone went through our dresser drawers and removed some water we put th [... read more]ere. To make it closer to coffee pot. What other wdrawers did they go through.

Nice and clean Resort

Resort is very clean, grounds, rooms, lobby, restaurants. Great food selection. Difficult to get reservations at all A'la carte's. Staff is nice. Entertainment is average, same as most resorts. Layout is great. Building 6 is very central to everything. Not enough pool chairs.

3rd times a charm

Just returned back from Blue Bay Grand Esmerelda.. a great 4* for your dollar! Food, drinks, grounds, pool are all fabulous.. The work done on the beach line was a definite plus.. The rooms are ready for a revamp and update but loads of hot water pressure and a comfy bed.....if there is a musty scent ask the concierge for maintenance to drain the air conditioner and its gone... we also bring Bounce sheets and that helps with any issue as well... We have only ever been in building 4 on ever [... read more]y visit and I put a big towel near the door to muffle sounds from other late night dwellers. If you want easy, fun and no stuffiness from other tourists this is a great resort!! Juan and Miriam in the buffet... awesome caring service...Daniel at the swing bar.... the drinks pour freely... our ceramic painting at the pool is always a highlight .... loved our yearly trip and looking forward to the next one!!! Angela at Trip Central was super easy to deal with and I recommend using her for questions, sounding board and of course she made the ease of booking and reminded me it was a deposit and a payment plan if need be, not a few grand out all at once... Anyone can book online but if there is an issue who would you do deal with....

A resort

My husband I went from Feb 2 to Feb 14th. We were pleased with the service of this resort. The only thing I can say I was soooo disappointed in was the location of our room. It was ground level and by an entrance and it was so busy and noisy at all times at night. Room 6120 is a room to avoid, we had no privacy and our patio doors look out onto a busy path and really no garden view. I will not go back there for that reason. This was our first holiday in years and we booked early. We talked to pe [... read more]ople who booked last minute and got great second and third floor rooms with some kind of views and did not have to keep the curtains closed at all times, and paid less. Besides that it was a nice place, very big, clean and lots of walking, which is not a bad thing. The beach was not very nice when we arrived full of weeds, but a week later they had it all cleaned up and it looked pretty decent. The staff at Blue Bay were great, helpful and very courteous. Food was a good too, the buffets offered many different kinds of food and the A la carte were good too. we really enjoyed the Steakhouse and Mexican nights, we could not get into the French dining. The other thing was people stealing beach chairs to put by the pool area, we saw a man take someones beach chair with all there stuff tied to it, so he could be by the pool. Our last 2 days were kinda spoiled by arrogant, selfish, loud and obnoxious french people, I assumed from Quebec, because there french was more slang. They also thought the world revolved around them, taking extra chairs just put their bags on, while people were looking for beach chairs to sit on. One couple even took 2 chairs from the beach and put it by the pool area and then had the nerve to reserve 2 chairs on the beach. Beware of the stores on the premises, they charge almost 4 times more than going into town. We recommend you bring extra suntan lotion, bandages( for blisters for all the walking) They charge everything in American dollars or Mexican Peso equivalent. We met lots of great people as well and made some good friends too. So if you like large resorts this a good one.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeraldo

We spent a week with friends at the BBGE. It was a nice clean resort. we were in number 8 bldg. over by the smaller pool. Very loud at night time. Hallways are uneven stone and every time a suitcase or cart went through the hall it was very loud. Lots of late night partiers kept you awake half the night with laughing , talking or knocking on doors. We were nearer the Black and White sports bar and buffet and shops. Also nice sized pool where we were located that was convenient with a ba [... read more]r and nice buffet restaurant where breakfast , lunch and supper could be got. The only negative is wish they had a few outside tables and chairs there. We would come back to that area in the evening and have a drink but have to sit on the loungers or stand around. We ate at the Mexican, Italian, and Steak house. Every meal we had was great. Main buffet was good but the buffet over in our smaller area was best. The night we got there we went to sports bar for Super Bowl and thank heavens they had big screens in a couple of ballrooms. The main area of bar was so loud you couldn't hear anything. We opted for a ballroom area and they had waiter service there and lots of munchies for the game. I heard the shows were great at night but didn't go see any. Had the opportunity to take the trolley over to the other section and it was a huge pool and steak house was there. Interesting watching a cat wonder through the rafters watching everyone. also outside the Italian, Asian and French is a very nice lounge area to sit and enjoy a drink. Loved seeing deer in the back of our room and many. many Mexican raccoons. Although they were everywhere running around as people would feed them despite lots of signs not to. They would come around pool area and pilfer through bags to see what they could find or steal any food you may have. Would have much preferred a room facing pool area instead of back and woods. We could have at least sat on balcony at night and enjoyed a drink rather than try to sit by pool uncomfortably. The lobby area was nothing to elaborate on as it had no bar area or anything. Very small and unfriendly in my opinion. Shout out to the pool bartenders though Ignacio and Alberto. they took very good care of us each and everyday. Also our favourite waiter in the pool buffet area was Fernando who was there till day we left and Severino. Overall was a good vacation with good friends. would recommend it but not sure I will go back to that one.

Great resort with excellent service!

I very much enjoyed my stay at the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda. What initially struck me is how lush and beautiful the grounds are and that and the wildlife there certainly added to our vacation. The rooms are spacious and very clean and the beds quite comfortable. A minor issue with the room water temperature was resolved very quickly. I very much enjoyed the food at the resort. At the buffets it was fresh and hot and there was a good selection though the main buffet had the largest offering.  [... read more]The a la carte restaurants were a nice surprise as the meals there were really good. Favourites were the French and the Mexican but the others were excellent as well. The only two downsides were that to get a chair by the pool you had to get out and throw a towel over your chosen chairs by 6:30am or you were out of luck. Secondly, was that you had to be at the lobby by 6:50am to line up to make reservations for the a la carte restaurants otherwise you couldn't guarantee you'd get a seating at any of them and certainly not at the more popular ones (French). Getting up at the crack of dawn while on vacation is not necessarily want you want to do. That being said though, one of the best things at the Blue Bay were the staff. They are among the friendliest and most accommodating I have ever met and the service you receive is excellent. They absolutely were one of the high points of the vacation. Overall, despite having to be up early to guarantee my poolside chairs and restaurant reservations, I had a nice and really relaxing vacation and would definitely consider coming back.,

Fantastic Resort

This is definately one of my favorite resorts. I've travelled to different parts of Mexico on numerous occasions and found the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda my favorite! The concierge , Sophie, will do everything she can to make your stay comfortable. The staff is friendly and efficient and any repair problems in your room are attended to immediately. The food is excellent, fresh jumbo grilled shrimp ( on the buffet!), filet mignon at the restaurants, as well as an abundance of fresh fruits and veget [... read more]ables! I shared a suite with my brother and sister in law, which had 2 large bathrooms and was beautifully maintained and cleaned daily. Carlos, our attendant created amazing sculptures made from towels and linens! There are 5 restaurants and 2 different pools to choose from. ( one is a quiet, more private area) There's something for everyone here, and I look forward to returning!

Nice Resort

Resort was nice. Rooms were good - could use a little TLC. Food was good and there was a variety of options to choose from. A la Carte reservations fill up by 8am. Pool chairs are taken early so it's hard to get a spot but the beach usually had some available. Shuttles don't come very often but it was easy to walk to pools/beaches/restaurants.

Pretty good for the Price

The rooms and food were pretty good. The bar the black and white was one of the few things we didn’t like. Lots of walking to get to the beach but we didn’t mind. There’s a blue lagoon 15 min walk down the beach that is pretty awesome and free to see. Overall a good spot.