Our resort review - The good and not so good

The resort grounds are absolutely stunning, with lush trees, beautiful foliage, and vibrant flowers throughout. The employees work diligently to maintain the grounds, and it truly shows. The wildlife is abundant, with deer, coatis, iguanas, monkeys, and so much more roaming freely. It was a joy to stroll around the property or simply sit back and watch these wonderful creatures scurry about. A beautiful and peaceful setting that made the experience even more special! The rooms were spacious,  [... read more]clean, and bright. In fact, this was the first resort where I couldn't hear the people in the adjoining rooms! Each block also had a lovely water feature in the middle, adding to the overall atmosphere. The employees were generally eager to help and incredibly friendly. I want to give a special shout-out to Raffiel, Beatrice, and Victor at the buffet. They always greeted us with a smile and took such great care of us. Lilly at the pool bar was amazing! She made sure our drinks were always topped up and regularly checked to see if we needed anything. And Pablo, you are a miracle worker! No matter what the question or request, you always had an answer and made sure things got done. These employees truly made our stay more enjoyable! Now, for the not-so-nice... The food was tasty, but unfortunately, it was often cold and became very repetitive. By the last couple of days, I was having difficulty finding something I wanted to eat, and I am by no means a fussy eater. One thing I simply couldn't understand was why there were two stations for grilling or frying, yet only one was open. This created unnecessary lineups and backups. I also wouldn't say the extra money for a swim-up room was worth it. I can't count how many times I went out onto our deck hoping to enjoy the pool, only to find people sitting on our stairs or using our sunbed. What's the point of paying extra for a swim-up room when other guests can use the space and amenities? It really took away from the experience. Another shocking discovery was seeing people washing their clothes in the pool. Absolutely unacceptable! And now, the biggest issue for us: smoking. This was by far the worst resort we have experienced when it came to guests smoking outside designated smoking areas. The smoking areas were clearly posted, yet guests continued smoking on decks, loungers, grassy areas, and walkways. It got so bad that we sometimes went back into our room just to get away from it. What was even more disappointing was seeing groups of people smoking and behaving belligerently while several staff members and security seemed to ignore it. The rules are there for a reason, and they need to be enforced. Overall, this is a lovely resort with beautiful grounds, amazing wildlife, spacious rooms, and some truly wonderful employees. Unfortunately, issues with the food, swim-up room access, pool etiquette, and especially smoking took away from what could have been an exceptional vacation. My advice? Go with an open mind and enjoy the beautiful surroundings, but keep some of the drawbacks in mind. Would I personally return? Probably not. Would I still recommend it to others? Yes. Everyone has different expectations when travelling, and despite the negatives, there is still plenty to appreciate about this resort. A special thank-you again to the employees who went above and beyond to make our stay memorable. You are what made the difference!

Great hotel - would recommend

Amazing newly renovated rooms, very clean property and nice staff across all areas. Food was great, the a la carte are not easy to book for groups, but the concierge desk was quick to help. Loved the wildlife on the resort.

A week in paradise

A beautiful resort with lots of places to relax and enjoy the warm weather. From social spaces to private. This place accommodates everyone. There’s rooms are clean and spacious, but could use more towel hangers in the bathroom. There was only 1 and it was far from the shower. Excellent food. Fresh and delicious meals at the many restaurants and bars. A highlight of the week, doing yoga on the beach with Ricardo, at sunrise. Amazing trip! We’d definitely go back.

Excellent resort

The room was very clean and spacious. The beach was great, not crowded and the water was clean and warm. The food at the buffet, both in main and beach restaurants, was excellent. Transportation to Playa del Carmen very efficient. I will definitely come back.

NICE RESORT

Riviera Princess resort side was closed for rennovation. Stayed at Princess Sunset side, which was recently updated. ROOM; was looking nice with new lighting and temperature controls. However, there were issues; 1. shower water leaks under glass partition into the toilet area. 2. No shelving for shampoo etc so bending to the floor to pick up items. 3. Smoke detector lost a screw and was left hanging. 4. Bug found on bathroom floor remained for all 10 days. 5. No rack on balcony or bathro [... read more]om to hang swim suites to dry. 6. Ony coffee provided, had to ask for coffee mate and sugar. No tea or creamer provided. 7. Jetted spa tub was replaced with a free -standing tub in the Junior Deluxe Suite. We wanted the jetted tub. Bed was good. Controls for light and air very good. Fridge restocked each day. Quiet room looking over pool river. FOOD; EXCELLENT FOOD at both a la cartes and buffet. GROUNDS; OK, could have been cleaner on some paths re tree droppings etc. POOLS; Excellent condition and cleaned daily. No shortage of lounge chairs. BEACH; Sand was nice and clean. Water was very warm and fairly clear. A few rocks on entry, but mostly sand allowing to walk way out. Sphagnum moss was not a big issue.

Fantastic Resort!

This hotel has activities going on for unlimited time, you won't get bored! They have recently begun on a new renovation and I find the new look to be beautiful and phenomenal! I recommend this resort for everyone looking to book their first flight to Cancun, trust me it's a good resort.

Not Recomended

I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction with the quality of service and conditions during my recent stay at your resort. What was meant to be a relaxing and enjoyable vacation turned into a frustrating experience marked by numerous issues and service failures. To begin with, upon arrival, we were made to wait over four hours for our room to be ready. Once we finally got access, we encountered the following problems: The air conditioning was not working and required a technician to  [... read more]replace the compressor. The mini fridge was not cooling and had to be replaced. The safe was not functional and required setup by a technician. The TV did not work at all, but due to the growing frustration, I chose not to pursue yet another repair. The jacuzzi was in an appalling state—unclean with hair inside and yellowish water outlets, clearly indicating it had not been properly cleaned or maintained. The room itself was not cleaned to acceptable standards, and daily housekeeping only did the bare minimum. We had to follow up daily just to get basic tasks completed. There were ants and flies in the room, and we were bitten at night despite being covered under sheets. To make matters worse, your representative never showed up the following day as promised. No explanation or replacement was provided. This caused us to miss out on planned excursions, including swimming with the dolphins and a trip to the pyramids. We were unable to book through an official channel and found independent vendors on the property offering the same excursions at suspiciously varied prices, which raised concerns about safety and legitimacy. As a result, we decided to stay in the resort and missed out on experiences we had been looking forward to. These issues represent a serious failure in service delivery, guest support, and facility maintenance. The stay was far from what was promised or expected.

Amazing Resort

Grand Riviera Maya is a beautiful place to go to the beaches are clean. They are constantly cleaning the seaweed garbage, etc.. the staff is very friendly and helpful and speaks English well! The rooms does need to be upgraded, but clean. Overall entertainment was superb. Celebrated my daughter’s birthday with friends, and as per my request, they had a birthday surprise for her dinner at the Mexican restaurant. We were there for five days four nights, and the food was outstanding in all the rest [... read more]aurants.

Large complex

Very large complex with trolleys that take you to the beach (hardly ever came) Difficult to get reservations to a la cart restaurants Limited staff at bars long lines Beautiful grounds with deer and Mexican raccoons. Room very spacious

Wonderful hotel

Everything about the Grand Riviera was excellent. There are plenty of dining options and the quality and variety was excellent. Bars are located throughout the property. Plenty of shaded sitting areas by the pools and beach. Attached tennis club worked well for our group. I will definitely return for a third time.

Subpar resort

We found the grounds of the hotel to be very nice. We found the food to be bland and not alot of options to choose from. Cockroaches in our room and we had a Cotè that slept on our balcony each night, thus leaving behind it's fecal matter and urine. My husband and I came home covered in bites from head to toe. We r told this was from the beach, sand flies I guess. We have traveled to many resorts in Mexico and we found this one to be the worst. We have never had bug bites all over our bodies lik [... read more]e this from other resorts. We would not recommend this resort and will not be back.

Was truly perfection

Everything was very clean staff were so kind and helpful Food was excellent. With a great variety even for picky eaters Good value for the price that was paid Beautiful grand entrance when you walk in

Excellent resort

Hotel was spacious and clean. Beach was lovely. Buffet had excellent choices and great theme nights to keep things interesting and fresh. A la carte restaurants were available for booking considering the number of guests during our stay. Only issue was the top shelf bar liquors were extra so this is good to know for people assuming "all" liquors are included. Grounds well maintained and staff very friendly. It's a large resort so be prepared to walk - overall a great vacation to enjoy the  [... read more]sun.

Large Resort with Lots to Do

We are very happy that we selected this resort for our Family Vacation (kids 11/14) It offered lots of activities, had a variety of pools and a nice beach. The resort was clean, had a lush jungle feel with all the trees and the rooms (Junior suite) were good. (We didn't spend much time in our room - so we didn't need or expect it to be extravagant.) It was nice - average. The beds were good, the pillows were interesting (rock hard or non existent soft.) The bathroom was large and well laid  [... read more]out. The staff were always cleaning the main areas, walkways, grassy areas and buffets. We saw many wildlife during our visit: Monkeys (occasionally), quati (always-everywhere), deer (occasionally), croc (fenced in by restaurant), iguanas (daily), Agouti (occasionally), cats (always). The only area of the resort we found needed further attention during the daytime were the pools. Every pool needed to be skimmed/cleaned. Collection of leaves, grass, dirt was in each pool bottom or floating in water that we visited (3) The only main downfall I found was that the resort was almost too big. The walk from lobby to rooms or rooms to ocean or rooms to restaurants was always a hike. (I guess it was helpful in walking off all the meals/drinks...) Overall we would recommend this resort to friends

Been to better

The resort was well manicured, room was clean, check in was simple! Had a few issues in our room with a clogged drain and a not working safe but once we called the front desk they were very prompt at fixing it! The buffet was decent as long as you go early! Mamma Mia miso and lefluer were really good! The grill and taco bar near the pool area were great! The rest were sub par! Service at the bars was typically very slow not enough bar tenders for this size resort! Unfortunately the beach was [... read more] not my favourite! I’ve been to much better! The water is murky and very rocky! And when the waves pick up all the sea garbage comes up on shore! Too much seaweed for my liking, most resorts seem a little better at keeping this at bay! Did enjoy all the wild life around! Didn’t care for them asking me to upgrade to premium wrist bands upon check in, was told had to do it now or it will go up tomorrow! Thankfully I did not as it’s not needed, not that I would have when it was presented the way it was, don’t like being felt pressured right away! Didn’t care for the way this was suppose to be all inclusive yet every time we turned around they want to charge for this or that extra! Ex, ice cream shop, kids water park, the one and only restaurant on the beach! Unfortunately ran into more than a couple people who complained about being drugged at the same pool bar! we believe two people that we were with also fell victim to this as they had complete black outs that didn’t make sense! Unfortunately 5 out of our group of 10 got sick either while thier upon returning home or a combination of both!

Beautiful resort!

We started our trip from airport to the resort with a negative, luggages have been lost, between 2 stops, I hope they retireved their bag, I know I would have been angry. Instead of a 45-50min drive we had an almost 3hrs, we arrived around 01:00.pm night at the reception. The receptionists were nice, we had the room pretty quick, nice room, clean. The next day we found out we couldn't lock the door of our room, and we went to ask to change the room. They were understanding, we changed it with a  [... read more]room on the 1st floor, same clean, nice room. Very cute wild animals allnaround the resort, coatis, deers, lizards, spider-monkeys and of course some cats. All rhe animals are friendly but not recommend to approach, but the cats 😊 A lot of activities, sports, we went to the gym, coach Ricardo very attentive with us, cool, very nice young men, I recomend going to his classes. He has yoga on the beach, fitness and some other gym activities. The pools are super nice, they were full almost all the time, the activities at the pools so fun, zumba in the water, I recomend, it is, so much fun. Also i recomend walking the beach, beautiful beautiful beaches, they were clean, white sand 💯 We went to a few "a la carte" restaurants, I recomend to go if you, have time, you can enjoy some good food, drinks and fun! Miso Teppanyaki, La Vaqueria, La Hacienda, all nice and the food excellent! The walk from the rooms to the beach, to the restaurants, it is not bad, 10minutes max we enjoyed walking every morning, lunch and night, the alleys are clean, beautiful. Last day we were told to be in the lobby for the bus at 16.10 and the bus came after 17:00, it was not too comfortable to wait in 30 degrees hot in denim, t-shirt, and snickers, but this is Air Canada Team, not blame the hotel. I would sugest the hotel to have a shuttle to bring their guests to their resorts and back to the airport, it would be a very good addition and help for the turists. All in all a very nice first experience here, I would go back and yes I will recommend 💯👍

Amazing resort

The resort in general is fantastic- the animals, the grounds are vlean and taking care og every day by workers. The customer service is ok, except that some people need to underatand that november is not the season yet so the hotel lacks on workers and service sometimes. The rooms are clean even if they need some maintenance sometimes, for the price it's ok. If you want luxury go to more expensive hotels and pay 50% more. The food is plenty, you can ALWAYS gind something to eat..sometimes you  [... read more]wait in line few minutes, but not a problemmtry to relax, you're on vacation, you are not late anywhere...unless you have a trip booked, but then you wake up earlier and you'll be ok. I found the food tasty, warm, diverse, and plenty! The beach is great..there's sand and water and plenty of chairs for everyone. There is nothing you can do about the smell or algae, as hurricane season just ended beginning of november-it's normal...if you do some research you stay informed and know what you pay for. The servicea are good, tge workers are paid in peanuts compared with us...so they could use a bit of appreciation for the hard work. I would like to thank few people who went above and beyond to help: Alejandro from reception, Andrea and David from tbe buffet, Ricardo from the gym for his pilates and yoga classes, Marco from Coco-Bongo, and every single dancer from the entertaining team. Bartendera are very nice in general given the fact that sometimes are overwhelmed and under-tipped. The animals are my favourite part of this resort..yes, even the coatis. Some ppl complained they were too many..but remember they eat all the bad insects, including cockroaches. And if you keep your food protected, you should be fine. Monkeys are something else...In some places you pay to see so many animals..here, tbey entertain you in all-inclussive style. There are also deers, iguanas, turtles and squirrels. Overall it's worth the money if you keep your mind open and stop complaining about little things. I had a problem with the luggages but I was mad because I was tired and I forgot the poor bellboys are not the most educated people at the hotel....Sometimes the supervisor needs to show up and help with the situation.But it always gets solved. We got our rooms changed with no problem-sure, sometimes a tip (10$-20$) would speed up the process, but it's up to each tourist how they want to handle the situation. Bottom line, you are on vacation-relax and open your mind-as Mexican culture is very different from notth American one or Europe,...etc.

Fantastic

We had been to Great Riviera Princess in 2009 and it was spectacular. We decided to go back again Oct7/2023 and so glad we did. Amazing resort. The A La Carte Restaurant were all amazing and the food was delicious, French was our favourite and Miguel made us excellent Margaritas (he travels from restaurant to restaurant with a cart and makes them right at your table with different infused flavours (passion fruit was my favourite)). We booked our reservations with Ximena at the desk and she wa [... read more]s a pleasure and helpful. The beach was clean and lots of chairs with lots of shade. Very little sewed and if any they cleaned it every morning. We used the buffet by the beach and met Maricella our server and she made sure we always had everything we needed. The pools were nice, just wish they maintained them a little more and higher water levels. We went with our friends and they also enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to booking another trip soon. Definitely recommend

Great resort

The hotel was beautiful. The grounds were immaculate! The resort is huge so be prepared to walk. The food was great. An assortment of options for each meal. Numerous buffets and restaurants! There was never a lack of options for food.

Okay resort

the resort was very clean and the staff were all very welcoming. the reason this resort wasn’t my favourite was how big it was , it took forever to get to where you needed to be. also the food wasn’t the best, we expected better food and service for what we paid but in all honesty it wasn’t that bad. i would recommend to do platinum if you stay here or you don’t have access to many restaurants and amenities. a lot of animals on this resort so if you don’t like animals then i woudlnt re [... read more]commend.