Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun: Great newer resort
This hotel is only a few years old, so the building and its amenities are still quite new. Our room was beautiful. We opted for the Diamond Club once we arrived and it was worth it. The restaurants are fantastic and the service is outstanding. The beach unfortunately is experiencing an influx of seaweed, but the hotel staff is doing all that they can to minimize it through daily raking and setting up a seaweed barrier out on the water. The proximity to the airport is really convenient. Only a[... read more] 15-20 minute drive.
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Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya: Beautiful Resort
This was our 3rd visit to this resort and even though half of it was under renovations it did not disappoint. Our room was large, kept clean by housekeeping, with good A/C, shower and a comfy bed.
The food at the A la Carts and the buffet was enjoyed by everyone. We booked the A La Carts through our concierge without any problem.
We enjoyed the beach, the wildlife, the pools, the beautiful trails throughout the resort, the lagoon, the swim up bar and beach bars during the day and the lobby[... read more] bar and sky bar at night. One of the activities that we really have enjoyed with each visit has been the lazy river. One thing that we noticed this time is that many of the clear comfortable tubes have been replaced with very large less comfortable black tubes. My only hope is that when we come back next year, the management team will have more of the clear tubes for our fun lazy river experiences.
We will be returning to this resort, which has become our favourite resort in the Mayan Riviera.
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Bahia Principe Explore Akumal: Our 2nd stay here.
We went last yr in Apr and this Apr again, stayed in block 53 this time and it was exactly the same as the other block we stayed in last year. Room was clean and to our liking. we did have an issue with the door latch that got fixed. the grounds are very nice pools look amazing but we enjoy the beach time so we spent most of our out door time there. the restaurant were all great and the food was top notch at all the restaurants. you get to book all your meals 10 days before you get there on an a[... read more]pp which was a great thing. The shows were great we didn't care for 2 out of the 7 shows we saw. I cant stay enough about the staff all were great regardless of what their job was.
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JOIA Paraiso by Iberostar: Iberostar Grand Paraiso Truly Grand
Over the top service. Great food. Beautiful beach. Magnificent pool. Large rooms. Perfectly maintained property. Being refreshed this August. Loved it. Access to all five Iberostar hotels on site. They have their own marketplace or shopping centre. Nice spa. Adults only. Vibe is not party time. Most couples are 40 plus.
I've been for a 3 nights long solo last-minute vacation as a women in this resort. Firstly, I would like to say that I felt safe and respected in every moment. Secondly, visually resort looks amazing, and customer service is impeccable. Theirs "all inclusive" service really shows what these words mean. I was amazed by the number of activities they're offering, food and beverage options. Rooms are clean and spacious. I would recommend this place, and I will go back there for sure!
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Catalonia Riviera Maya: Stay At Catalonia
The hotel was clean and the workers never seemed to stop working. Meals seemed to be the same all the time at the buffet but was lots of choices. Seemed hard to book the a la carte dinners and they were never full??? so not sure why that was. The beach area and places for shade was great.
Even though we go sick we had a good time
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Selection Riviera Cancun: Great resort for a family!
We really enjoyed our stay at Azul Beach Resort Riviera Cancun. The staff was very helpful, the amenities were perfect for having a toddler with us, and the grounds were filled with great places to eat, play and relax.
IT WAS THE BEST RESORT THAT I HAVE STAYED AT CAN'T WAIT TO RETURN ROOMS WERE CLEAN STAFF WERE VERY FRIENDLY AND ACCOMMODATING FOOD SELECTION WAS VERY GOOD BEACH WAS NOT TO GOOD SEAWEED ALL OVER THE PLACE
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Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun: Amazing
Very clean. Super friendly staff. Good food. Great shows. Super family friendly resort. Lots of programs for kids. Clean gym and well equipped. That totally worth the money we paid. Spa was very great but abit pricy.
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ValA -
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Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya: Amazing resort
3rd time to Grand Serinus,and it was fantastic.6 of us in total.This place is amazing.We loved the beach,fish around us,lazy river river,lagoon,and watching the monkeys.All the staff here are so friendly.The grounds are beautiful as well.We are looking forward to coming back next year.
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CarolineW -
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Barcelo Maya Palace: Barcelo Palace - My home away from home!
I had the most amazing experience with my Mexico trip!!! From the minute I pre planned not knowing where to go, I reached out to Karol Chareza through Trip Central, and he helped me find the perfect destination. The Barcelo Palace hit every check mark and MORE!!!!!!!
I flew out to Mexico April 8, 2024 and landed in Cancun with Air Transat, very smooth process. We arrived at the resort and it is paradise. I was amazed to find out my resort has sea turtles that swim out front all the time. Wh[... read more]at an incredible experience in the ocean!!!! I also was able to take advantage of the Hydro Water Therapy as I was premium - wow.. what an experience!
The drinks, the food, the staff all are amazing!! Not only will I return to Mexcio.. but I will return to the Palace for sure!!!!!!!!!!!! I made the best memories over the ten days I was there.
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Iberostar Selection Paraiso Lindo: 3rd time to this complex and we will be back - Iberostar Pariaso Lindo
We just returned back from a wonderful week at the Lindo Hotel, stayed April 14-21st. We went with our two teenagers and had two rooms booked. Since we pay the adult rate for both kids now being 13 and 17, it is the same price to book 2 rooms or 1. We emailed in advance to ask for rooms side by side or adjoining rooms. We were informed via email that the adjoining rooms would be extra and were prepared to pay for them. Our flight with WestJet was uneventful which is perfect and our private [... read more]transfer with Kalido was wonderful (cost $100 USD return). We waited about 30 minutes for baggage arriving on a Sunday around 1:00pm, customs took no time at all. Upon arrival at the hotel we paid an extra $50 USD per night and received newly renovated family suite rooms in building 54 on the ground floor. I was thrilled as that is exactly what we wanted. The location was perfect and ground floor is my favourite.
The resort was busy, they desperately need more bartenders! Only 1 at the swim up bar all week, that guy was so busy all day, every day. Actually only 1 bartender at most of the bars, so there was always a long line up for drinks. Insulated mugs are a must so you don't have to wait in that line too much.
Food was incredible. I got most of the restaurant reservations we wanted which I booked right away with the concierge, except one night. I checked the app a few times and a 6pm at Hashiru the Japanese restaurant opened up and we took it. I was not impressed with the buffet, it was just busy all week, no matter what time we went. I guess not enough staff to keep up as the service was slow. The food at the buffet was good, but it was just not an enjoyable meal with so many people in lines and kids running all around the place. We ate at the following:
Buffet Dinner first night - it wasn't my thing, so we did not go back for dinner. It was just really really busy so not too enjoyable for us.
El Museo Gourmet - it's a new menu now, not a set menu and it was delicious, one of our favourite meals
Lemon & Spices - this one was my favourite, I love Greek food
Hashiru - we went for the kids, but personally it is the same show at every resort, when it is just my husband and I, we would skip it
Under the Sea - service was great, the sculptures are wonderful and the food there was really tasty
El Rancho - excellent food, we could just eat that bread all night and be happy
Olivetti Italian - this was excellent as well, I had the sea bass with risotto, so good.
We participated in activities throughout the week, but mostly kept to ourselves. We had many trips around the lazy river, which yes is lazy but we loved it. Lots of shade in the lazy river, so it was nice to be in there. The wave pool we used, but it is really geared to the young kids, it is just not that deep. The main pool and the waterslides were perfect for our teens.
My biggest disappointment was the beach. The beach itself is great, but with red flags every single day, the water was not swimmable. It is really rough water on that whole stretch of resorts, we knew this coming in, and that is why the lazy river and waterslides are a big plus here.
We booked one tour through Nexus (Westjet/Sunwing) and decided we will never book with them again. The tour was not as described only visiting 1 coral reef and not 3, they did not provide any snacks or lunch which they said they would, and they did not provide return transportation to the hotel. They left you stranded at their location so you could spend more money on food and drinks and souvenirs. Next time, I would book a tour through a private company like Kalido.
Overall the week was exceptional, it was our third trip to this complex, first two times we stayed at Maya. Staying at the Lindo, I did not feel as though I missed a thing, it was perfect. We stayed at the Maya previously as there were 4 of us in 1 room and I wanted the extra space. Now that we get two rooms, kids are 13 and 17, we don't need each room to be bigger and having two bathrooms is a big plus.
We met and friended one of the star friends named Franco. He really made my son's week. He has been there for about 5 years now and is really a gem on the resort, this guy deserves a raise!
Do not hesitate to book Lindo, you will have a wonderful week.
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Mame62 -
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Barcelo Maya Caribe: Beautiful resort
This resort is amazing, second visit and it only gets better. Service was exceptional and staff was always willing to provide anything you needed. Rooms were very clean. The food at this resort is fabulous and the the restaurants provided superior meals and the presentation was so beautiful. Loved my vacation and will definitely return!
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Stacey -
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Barcelo Maya Colonial: Great value - beautiful resort
I've been to the Barcelo Colonial 22x. Most of the time we are a family group of 8 to 27 people. This time it was just two of us. We try to book the Colonial, but we've stayed at the Tropical as well. Its the same, just the next building. We booked this time through WestJet Vacations.
FLIGHT
Our flight with Westjet, there had no tv screens so unless you had a tablet, it was super boring so I napped. Water, pop and coffee with 1 cookie or pretzel bag was offered for free. They did have a sma[... read more]ll menu to order items at a cost. It was a smaller plane with 3x3 seats. The staff are great and friendly.
MEXICAN CUSTOMS
Not efficient at all, took us over an hour to get to our luggage. We were of the first people off the plane and our line was still full while the other 4 lines emptied. An average employee would notice and shuffle people in other lines to even it out. Nope.
On return the airport was a sh*tshow. Even though we checked in online and had boarding passes and used the kiosk to get the luggage tag, we waited 90min to drop off luggage! Then paid $60 CDN for 2 hamburger combos at Johnny Rocket (not worth $20 never mind $60).
SHUTTLE
This was provided by Nexus Tours. We downloaded their app, registered and got a QR code in the app. Once there, we found the employee in orange shirt and fedora and he guided us to small van. Ride was nice, air conditioned. Good driver. All smooth. Keep in mind its 1hr and 15-30min ride.
On the return, here is where problems started. Nexus tours called our room multiple times. I picked up 3x and told them I’m not going to desk (I have no desire to waste time listening to sale pitches about tours and wasting my beach time) I’ve been to Mexico 30x I don’t need to do tours. I told the rep you have an app and I got QR code on the way here so I’ll do the same and check in online and get the QR code. No need to come to desk. Alex hung up on me.
48 hours before flight the QR code didn’t update with shuttle pickup time so I walked to desk near lobby and asked about pickup. I was threatened there may not be room on bus because I choose to ignore them and not go to desk. Why would I when its all digital? He was rude and made me worried I would have to pay for a taxi. I told them its already included in packing price and I’m getting on that bus come hell or high water. It was my birthday and I cried for an hour worried about return transport to airport. I emailed my travel agent at TripCentral (Liz Simunic) who saved the day by contacting Nexus tours to get me on the shuttle. She acted promptly and helped alleviate my anxieties. I will never book Westjet if they continue to use Nexus Tours as vendor. It was horrific experience.
CHECK IN
Was smooth for us as we are Premium members. Yvonne was great. Our dinner reservations were all done and off to eat at buffet quickly as it was closing at 10pm.
ROOM
Each named section has 2 buildings, 3 stories with an elevator in the middle. Imagine a hallway open to the sky and rooms on your left and rooms on your right. Its bright because its open and there are plants and beautify 10ft tall angel statues along the hallway.
Our room this time was a disaster. We were in Guanajuato building and our bed was broken. It was 10:30pm and we were tired but I didn't want to waste the next morning dealing with it. A worker came to fix it (no english) and it was not fixed I sank off and fell to ground. The manager (Marianna) came and apologized and offered to move us. There was no other room on 2nd floor with 2 double beds facing away from loud theatre until the next day. I didn’t want to move next day as it would waste ½ day. So, by the time we go to new room in the next Jalisco building and settled it was midnight.
We got to the new room and the mattress sank to the point I slid off the bed. Manager could see as she escorted us to new room. She promised to have the mattress replaced the next day. I told her also to have someone unplug sink, the toilet lever didn’t work and the wood door of the entertainment unit you needed to open to access mini fridge wouldn’t close and was loose and was ajar. I said it was a liability issue as I could walk into it, especially in the dark at night on the way to washroom. The next day there were 12 employees in our room at the same time, switching mattress, fixing plumbing and loose door. All was good after that.
Keep in mind the rooms are dated. But they are clean, the AC worked great and the fan even better to circulate the air. The rooms are VERY humid so leave a spare kg in your luggage as your clothes will be damp and heavier on your return home. Don’t bother bringing anything from home and lugging heavy damp rid stuff. Not worth it. Just know your clothes will be a bit damp. The room has a king or 2 double beds, a desk with chair and mirror (use this to blow-dry hair as bathroom is HOT), a sofa, round glass table (not needed just takes up space), a large wood tv stand combo with mini fridge inside and also drawers to put your clothes. Once of us used that to put clothes in. Try to keep wood door in front of mini fridge open when you are not there to let air from back of fridge circulate. The fridge is not cold, not warm but not cold enough. The TV has only a few English channels, so we bring our Firestick to watch Netflix.
The bathroom is large, big shower. I wish they had a handheld shower as the rain one from above doesn’t help get soap out of hard to reach, areas. They provide shampoo, condition and body gel. All terrible so I always bring my own. The sink and shower seem to always be a bit clogged. They have a magnifying mirror, great for makeup or picking zits lol. Its large enough for 2 people to get ready. But its HOT! There is no exhaust fan. Too hot to blow dry hair in there so I use the desk in the room. They do provide a descent blow dryer but I bring my own. Oh, no point to spend time flat ironing your hair in 5min it will be a chia pet. They also provide shower cap, sewing kit, comb, toothbrush and paste, shoe shine. Oh, I always bring an air refreshener for the bathroom and one for the room. Each morning, I leave a note in Spanish thanking housekeeping for keeping room clean, I ask for how many towels I want and leave my tip on it.
Also leave a note for the person who replenishes the mini fridge with the same request and tip taped inside or outside the fridge door.
There are not enough plugs in the room. By the bed, by the desk and in bathroom.
The mattresses and bedsheets are AMAZING! And I’m picky!
There is a large closet and many hangers plus iron and ironing board, robe and slippers (you keep slippers not robe). Where the safe is there are 4-5 shelves so 2nd occupant can use that for clothes. Safe easy to use and in my 22x I’ve never had anything stolen, in safe or anywhere loose.
The patio doors never seem to lock by being on upper floors we weren’t concerned. Large balcony with 2 chairs and table plus retractable clothes hanger to dry clothes. Privacy and great view of tropical bushes.
There is a tall mirror by the bathroom to check yourself out before leaving the room.
Lobby is the best of the 4 same level buildings. The largest and airiest just perfect to hang out or play cards.
GROUNDS
Immaculate, they work hard to have it perfect. Biggest, longest, cleanest pools, bridges, covered outside walkways between buildings so you never get wet and protects you from sun. Easy to navigate. Large resort and lots of walking but I have mobility issues and never felt tired. VERY, VERY, SAFE. Even walking alone, at night, I never felt unsafe. Beautiful plants and flowers everywhere, just gorgeous. Pools (not to swim in, just décor) between restaurants etc. fountains. Resort on flat land.
The gym is nicer than some in Canada and the Hydrotherapy area has Hammam, sauna, cold plunge, hot plunge, many lay down loungers, men and women’s lockers with toilets and showers. There is cucumber water, chlorophyll water, towels, 4 showers with essence waters, ice machine to use to cool off your body. There is an outside pool with fountains and a jacuzzi. Gorgeous! Thy hydrotherapy is for Premium members or pay $30 USD a day for use.
There are iguanas and turtles (by the Palace rooms) please do not feed them at all. They will get sick.
Just outside the Colonial building is the kid’s waterpark our nieces used from 2 years old til 12 years old. And a kids club that my nieces went to from 5yrs old to hmmm 10 years old? They loved it and wouldn’t want to hang out with us.
EMPLOYEES
All excellent and helpful and quiet and respectful. The servers speak English, but the rest mostly no English. Please don’t mistaken them not engaging in conversation as being cold. Its mostly confidence due to language barrier. They were all amazing. Our breakfast/lunch server Oscar will hunt us down to seat us and every morning had our drinks ready for us. In Marenostrum fish restaurant, Roman and Moises took very good care of me and brought me a birthday dessert and sang to me. In Sante Fe Steakhouse, Jorge is always our server and remembers us year and after. He is amazing, went above and beyond with extra dessert and shrimps. Adela at Tokyo remembers us too and took care of us both nights we went for Teppanyaki show and had all the servers sing to me for my birthday with a special cake.
BUFFETS
My boyfriend prefers them. I prefer a la carte. There is SO MUCH CHOICE that anyone who complains is just wrong and picky. Its not a Michelin star restaurant, its cooking for thousands of people. The buffet is huge with pasta and omelette stations, dessert stations, fruit, breads, meat, cold cuts, salad, Mexican food, carbs – nothing missing.
A LA CARTES
I prefer them, feels special.
Tokyo – book Teppanyaki show, you get soup or salad, an appetizer like sushi roll or tempura, them main dish of a meat or fish with friend rice and veggies and dessert. I order surf and turf. Unfortunately, both dinners our chef didn’t speak English very well thus didn’t engage us in the show and make it fun. We’ve had better times other years but the food was good.
Sante Fe Steakhouse – the best. It has an antipasto bar, you can choose from menu for multiple course. The best is tenderloin (baked potato and corn side), and dessert. Very good steak!
Marenostrum – quick service (too quick), I always order ceviche Marenostrum, instead of soup I ask for Shrimp cocktail (its actually a main but really? 6 shrimp a main?) and then grilled lobster tail with rice (looks big but lobster yields ½ palm of meat) and dessert.
La Trattoria – my boyfriend hated the Papardelle Bolognese, the meat sauce here and at buffet is sweet and weird tasting. I had seafood pasta and it was delicious. A nice antipasto bar as well.
Beach buffet – we hate it and prefer to go to buffet where breakfast is served.
BEACH
The last few years the seaweed got bad to the point I didn’t want to return this year and beach regressed with hardly any sand, a hard surface to walk between beach loungers and ocean. But first 3 days crystal clear water and day 4-7 very little seaweed and they filled the beach with lot of soft sand. It was beautiful! It was a windy week which meant waves but beach was full, no chairs by 9am and full all day and water filled with swimmers. Gorgeous.
PUBLIC BATHROOMS
The ones by outside buffet and pools was soooo hot no windows or AC. You could die in there lol.
TOWELS
The resort gives you a towel card per person, make sure you don’t lose it 25USD. Plus, we would exchange our towels and the guy never asked for the cards.
ROOM KEY
Ask for 2 extra because they demagnetise and you end up having to walk 10min back to lobby and 10min back to room every day. Keep them in folder and don’t put them near cell phone or credit cards.
CONCLUSION
Great value for price point. We will definitely go back, as we have the last 20 years!
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Barcelo Maya Tropical: Great in every way!!!
Beautiful resort with immaculate grounds, friendly and helpful staff, excellent food - both buffet and all restaurants, great beach (appreciated the daily cleanup).
I would recommend this to everyone.
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Wheezerwill -
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Selection Riviera Cancun: Good family resort
We have been to this resort 15 times so far. We love the atmosphere here. The service staff are amazingly friendly and because we have been here so many times many know us by first and last name. Our butler was very efficient in making the restaurant reservations for us. The Prestiege member pool butlers are the absolute best. Every morning our lounge chairs were prepared with towels and plenty of cold water to start each day. They were extremely efficient and eager to serve every need we had, e[... read more]specially Antonio (Tony). Alexandria greeted us every morning (for breakfast at the Spoon) with a smile and a reserved table, she was the sweetest staff member we have ever encountered and she should go far in this industry. The room was always clean. Unfortunately, the food was hit and miss at times (cold), however one I pointed it out that I was not pleased the last four dinner meals were excellent. Pools are fine, beach has been deteriorating due to climate change, no fault of the resort.
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Bails48 -
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Grand Palladium Riviera Resort And Spa: Nice resort, lots of amenities. Rooms just ok
We overall had a great week. Lots to do at this resort, you won't be bored..service was great in the restaurants. The shows were amazing. The biggest let down that almost ruined our trip was that our AC broke during 40 degree weather. They "fixed" it after we asked them twice but it did not fix the issue and we had to move rooms at 11pm. We had two very tired kids. They moved us to a 3rd floor room and we had a wagon with us. No elevators. The front desk did not apologize or appear concerned in [... read more]the slightest of the inconvenience. The bell hops were great though and very helpful and empathetic about the move. It would have meant the world to us if they even showed a shred of empathy at the front desk. Overall I would recommend this for a nicer budget trip. The rooms were not impressive but I guess you get what you pay for. It was a lot of money to us though. The pools and beach were lovely and fun and Incan safely say our kids had a great experience. Definitely a good resort for families.
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Grand Palladium Riviera Resort And Spa: Pretty good for the most part .
Grounds were Lovely as well as the staff.
Needs some updates. I know a few people had issues with the air conditioning. My screen door on the balcony fell off the first day and was never repaired. Food was adequate.
Good resort for the kids
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Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun: A true 5 star experience
We booked this trip to celebrate a birthday. We had the swim out room and were upgraded to beach front(LOVED THAT)
This resort is truly a 5 star experience.
The food was amazing
The service was exceptional
The resort is beautifully and tastefully decorated
Everything was so clean
The beaches were groomed daily. I have been to many resorts all over the Caribbean and the Mexicans at Maroma have done it right! Loved my experience and already looking to book another getaway in the fall
I [... read more]have nothing negative to report about his resort. We joked that the only negative thing was driving into the resort on the bumpy road. This is a STUNNING RESORT!!!
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Ocean Riviera Paradise: Lovely Resort
The resort is very well maintained. Very clean and very friendly,helpful staff. No line ups for buffet.
Several a la carts do not require a reservation. The Steak House was very nice but the rib eye steak was very tough. The steak at the Blue Moon was excellent. We could not get in the Japanese one unless we bought a US $50 bottle of wine. We did not not.
Lots of loungers at the pool but they could use more umbrellas, several were broken.
The beach was disappointing as there was no b[... read more]each space for chairs, there were some chairs up off of the beach.
We walked down the beach a way and sat on a towel, of resorts that were close by, which was fine.
Very pleased with the gym and walking track around the resort.
Overall, a wonderful vacation!