We had a great time staying at Generations Riviera Maya resort. Our room was a ocean view swimout on the third floor. In fact, all rooms at this resort are ocean view. The staff were very friendly and accommodating and the food was really good. The beach did have a lot of seaweed but then every resort on the Riviera Maya has the same issue. All in all, we highly recommend this resort and would stay there again.
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Private -
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Not as advertised
We stayed at Generations in November 2025. We were extremely disappointed with the accommodations, service and amenities. Caution to anyone booking; this property is not as advertised and is not a 5 star hotel, rather 3.5 star at best.
My wife and I have travelled extensively and stayed at many all inclusive resorts throughout Mexico and the Caribbean, including a previous stay at the El Dorado (adults only section) where we had a great 5 star experience so we were expecting more from Genera[... read more]tions. It seems that the family section is an afterthought compared to the adult side.
For the cost, Generations is not worthwhile. If you are looking for a real family friendly resort, consider something else.
Rooms - overall very outdated. Our first room was a regular ocean view suite and was dark, dingy and dirty upon check in. The couch that was supposed to be a pull out for our daughter was not a pull out and basically a sheet over top a nasty, stained sofa. We spoke to management and Fabiola was great at helping us find another room and kindly upgraded us to the largest suite available. While the decor was outdated and room a little rundown, it was clean, spacious, and significantly improved our experience.
Beach - Mexico is challenged with seaweed, no surprise to us. Most resorts do their best to manage this by cleaning the beachfront regularly so it’s still a usable space. The adult only section was completely clean while the generations side did not get cleaned for 3 days until I complained. Because we are travelling with a two year old, we were not permitted in the clean beach areas. Within 20 minutes of complaining there were 3 people raking up seaweed.
Service - staff are generally very friendly, polite and respectful. However considering this is a family resort, there should be a little more effort put into accommodating request especially when it comes to young children. We asked a few times for vegetables (eg steamed broccoli) or a simple piece of grilled fish for our daughter but there was no accommodating anything that wasn’t on the menu.
A simple example, my daughter asked for sprinkles for her pancakes. Knowing they had sprinkles from the ice cream bar the night before, I asked if they could bring some out and was told that was just not possible.
Another example; we ate at the Palms grill for lunch, we asked for a popsicle at the end for my daughter. We were told no because they closed at 3pm…it was 3:03 when I asked…ridiculous.
Maybe we are being particular but there are really small things that staff could be doing to make guests experience a little better.
Food - breakfast and lunch buffet, no complaints. Dinners at the buffet are mediocre at best. We eat pretty much everything but noticed very few vegetables in general and no fruit (except at breakfast). Unfortunately we were forced to eat at the buffet most nights (more on this below).
Evening taco station poolside was really good.
Other than the buffet. All restaurants are à la carte. There is no pool side food service or outdoor grille for an easy lunch. This made things challenging with a small kid as you need to dry off / change before getting food. You can also do room service which might have been a little easier in hindsight.
Restaurant Bookings - other than the buffet there are only 3 restaurants available to Generations guests (Indian, Asian, Wine Bar). You can eat on the adult side but you need to leave your kids behind. We had a very hard time getting a reservation at any of the 3 restaurants especially for an earlier seating (because of a young kid) as those times were often booked by guests on the adult side who have access to close to a dozen different restaurants.
Buffet is small with limited capacity. At peak times there were sometimes long waits, which becomes frustrating when you have so few dining options. Keep in mind the hotel was only about 40% capacity so I could only imagine the experience during a high-season.
Suggestion to the hotel: you should probably block off earlier seatings times to give priority to generations guests so they aren’t stuck at the buffet all the time. Or allow families to make reservations on the ElDorado side if even just certain nights of the week to still keep some exclusivity for those staying on the adult side.
Amenities - not a lot for kids to do at Generations itself (no splash pad or slides, no kids pool, limited activities and programming). There is a nice little indoor play area with activities and face painting (Wendy was super nice!).
One positive note, as a guest you do get some free access to the Nickelodeon water park. While our daughter (age 2) was a bit young to fully enjoy the park, the property is fantastic and I would definitely recommend a visit there whether you stay at Generations or not.
You also get all inclusive access to Maroma beach club. We did not get to take advantage of this, but it looks like it would be a fun day.
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Debbie -
Verified Purchaser
Amazing resort
The resort is beautiful
There were a few issues
- the pool was very cold barley anyone got in it, maybe it was wrong time who know but you figure with travelling in April and temps were around 28-32 it would be warmer
The swim up rooms were amazing loved it
I found myself nothing wrong with the resort
Meals and good was great the wine restaurant was amazing food was great
The beach … in order to get in the ocean you hand a bit of a sand bank to get over to reach the ocean well not muc[... read more]h of a beach , if you have mobility issues it would make it difficult to get to the ocean
Overall great resort
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Kathryn -
Verified Purchaser
Very disappointed!
Our room wasn't ready, which we expected. Once it was ready, at 3pm, we waited for over an hour for our bags. Once we called to say they weren't there, they were sent quickly.
The rooms are spacious beds comfortable, good bathroom, however dark. We opted for a swimout, which looked nice but it was too cold. All of the pools were too cold to enjoy. There was water aerobics/water zumba posted every other day, however it never took place. I'd wait at the pool, no announcement, no excitement at all[... read more]. Very disappointing! There is no music playing, nothing happens. This was the most boring resort we've ever visited, hands down! If you don't have children with you, you can visit the El Dorado, where they have a band at 8-9:30, then entertainment at 10. This was enjoyable. They also have a few bars with people! The bar at Generations usually had 0 to 4 people in it. There is no " lobby bar".
The beach was another huge disappointment. There are cement barriers dropped all along the 3 resorts, it's rocky and not very swimmable. The beach itself it kept clean.
The food, well I have to say much better than most resorts. Generations, again very limited, but the a la carte restaurants were pretty good.
Some great servers, Alberto (takes care of the privileged area on the beach), very nice guy. He brought us drinks a few times. This was the only time we were ever offered a drink on the beach ir at the pool. Zero service other than Alberto. Jeremias in the buffet was very personable and attentive. Good often cold.
Our stay was with Air Canada vacations. The pick ip and drop off was excellent, we had great service. Our complaint is geared towards the resort. Our flight was a late one and therefore pu was at 7pm. There was no hospitality room although the place appeared to be nowhere close to capacity. They charged us ,$20.00 US pr hour to keep our room until 5, then said we had to check out. They said if we ate at the resort, we'd have to pay for another night! Wow, really poor service we don't make the times for flights or pick up, so rude service.
This was so disappointing, definitely not close to a 5 star as advertised.
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The Broock”s travel club -
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Very disappointed
We are a family of 4 . 2 adults and 2 teenage kids . There is absolutely nothing to do after 9:30.pm ant the hotel. Entertainment if you can call it that is at 8:30 and ends 9:15. There is nothing at the hotel after 9:30 not even a bar or coffee shop open. No music NOTHING.
Only 3 restaurants one of them has only Indian food. If you are not a fan of that you are left with 2 restaurants for which you have to make reservations.
This resort is popular with weddings . We were woken up at 9AM be[... read more]cause a wedding party had their event early in the morning with very loud music which was provided by the hotel staff.
Very disrespectful to other guests .
Did not like it at all will never return.
Also it is very very small hotel , you can’t even walk around in the evening there is only pool area and the back of the hotel .
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Private -
Verified Purchaser
Worst resort
It was the worst experience I have ever had. Had a 2 year old grandson with me no food choices for him. No buffets only 2 restaurants open. West jet was the worst no pick up no drop off. No reps available at generation resort to talk to had to book a ride to airport as no one could help us. Generation resort is nothing like they post on Instagram or you read about. I recommend not to go. Rooms beyond outdated. No drinks for children. Never again . No night life and it's around a swamp the smell [... read more]is terrible
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Private -
Verified Purchaser
Overall Not Up to Expectations
To provide some context for this review, our family has been to five resorts, and our most recent three trips have been to the Mayan Riviera. For the past three years, we have visited the Azul Beach Resort, also a Karisma property.
Overall, we were far less impressed with Generations then we have been with Azul Beach Resort. Generations did not meet our expectations given our previous experience with Karisma and especially the very inflated reviews on trip advisor, which I am now quite skepti[... read more]cal of.
Pros:
The rooms are absolutely gorgeous and have a stunning ocean views. (With the exception of building 18 whose views are blocked by the culinary tower).
The entertainment staff are to be commended. In particular, the Mexican fiesta was the highlight of the trip. Quite frankly, the two ladies who ran the children’s piñata, were incredibly gifted and their love of children was evident. For our money they were the stars of the show! The bubble party was another plus.
The pool bartenders were for the most part attentive, and the beach butlers were exceptional.
The wait staff at Palm’s were the most friendly and attentive.
The full length pool, while chilly, was a lot of fun and bouncy play structure a great feature.
Cons:
In no way is the food “gourmetâ€! Its quality and presentation was much less than we have experienced at Azul Beach Resort and the other resorts in the Mayan Riviera. The chef market is not open for dinner, and if you, like we, enjoy eating breakfast outside forget it! This was an option only on the first day and never again. When I asked why, the hostess at the Chef’s Market ignored my question. Instead we opted for room service, eating breakfast on our balcony. The quality was at best, OK. As pictured, one morning, instead of hash browns we were served what appear to be yesterday’s fries. My daughter and I also ordered cookies and milk nightly from room service. Only once did tasty cookies appear. The rest of the time it was packaged biscuits and once even corn bread! There are three main restaurants for dinner but only two of these are open each day. In sum, by no stretch of the imagination was there that type of choice or quality of food to which we have become accustomed at other resorts.
The so-called butler service was anything but. Really all they did was try to sell us time shares, to set up a beach bed one day, and restock our fridge with water. (The bar fridge was not replenished during our week stay.) While there are many beach beds, only a few are shaded, and one morning I noticed butlers placing tee shirts, presumably to hold these beds for other guests to whom they were going to try to sell timeshares. I took a photo of this. The policy says “no reserving beds†but despite this there was the ubiquitous odious American woman who claimed five beds for her extended family one day!
Entertainment started too late: 9pm for any of the shows except the fiesta and fire show.
The cleaning staff were quite loud in the adjacent rooms, for travellers with toddlers, can screw up naps.
We had trouble with the lock in our room not working, and this took two and a half days to resolve. Before dinner, the light on the lock was solid red and would not read our card. Some security guard came and fiddled with the lock and let us in. We attempted to verify that the lock was now working. Returning to our room after dinner, the light on the lock was again solid red and would not read our card. It was our toddler’s bedtime. This time two security guards came to fiddle with the lock and preceded to spend an hour and half trying to fix it to no avail while telling us, “just five more minutesâ€. Finally, I had to kick them out and tell them to come back tomorrow. By this time of course our toddler’s bedtime was shot and as a result we had a sleepless night. The next day the lock was finally fixed. While this can happen understandably at any place how it was dealt with it was nothing more than a comedy of errors.
As other reviewers have commented, the beach was not very good.
In conclusion, despite wanting to love this resort, Generations Rivera Maya was a letdown. As another guest commented to me while we were there, “At Generations they seem to say ‘No’ a lotâ€. Definitely not worth the added expense! We had a good week but next time we will give another resort a try.
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Private -
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Breeze beautiful
This visit was a return visit to Generations, many staff stood out offering over the top service-Enrique Torres/shuttle driver our butlers Paco, Candy man, Cesar and Christian very professional and always loving and helpful. We did use restaurants at El Dorado Royale but preferred the Jade restaurant and Chef Market restaurants, The only place we found a good steak(included in the all inclusive price- as most steaks have additional charges) was at Cocotal restaurant-beef tenderloin on menu was [... read more]fantastic, they used to have this choice at the Italian restaurant but have changed the menu recently to dis clued all steak and are selling them on the upscale for sales unfortunately. Most dinner menue S at the El Dorado have switched their beef and chicken dishes for fish and seafood leaving almost nothing to order on the menue said if you do not eat fish or seafood, the previous 8 years the menue said always included food choices for all eaters, this is no more the case, very little food choices for non fish and seafood eaters (lobster is upscale not included with all inclusive). Room cleanliness was extremely lacking compared to all previous visits to Karisma hotels, room service menu has decreased, leaving little to desire as well. Over all I found this visit showed a large downscale in room cleaning, food selection and shuttle services, waiting 45 minutes for a dinner shuttle is unacceptable (sand flees bite the most after 6:00 I had over 40 bites on my legs, then I stood in the middle of the road to block a shuttle after being passed constantly by half empty shuttles going one way and full shuttles coming back and changing the time to 20 minute wait again) sad that I finally had to stand in the middle of the road to block a shuttle to get a ride for my husband and other couple with us!!! Shame on the resort for only having 2dinner shuttles for all three resorts all week!!!
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Hawkeye -
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Generations Riviera Maya
One of best resorts I've been too, food was awesome and service was great, unfortunately not knowing Spanish slowed some service down but overall a top rated location.
Shuttles between the Adult section and Family section, but also can walk if you enjoy a 10 - 15 minute walk.
I would definitely recommend this to everyone.
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Sean_todd -
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Generations is Very Kid friendly
This is a very beautiful hotel but if you don't have kids i recommend staying next door at the el dorado. Generations has amazing modern rooms with an extremely comfortable bed and a neat balcony pool. There is shuttle service that runs all day in between generations and el dorado, we spent alot of time at el dorado because it is an adults only resort and the pool and bar were a bit more laid back. We were woken every morning at generations by screeching kids playing on the blow up pool toy righ[... read more]t below our room, generations pool bar was overrun by children and was tough to enjoy a cocktail while sitting in the pool. After dinner the entertainment was a disney movie by the pool but at 9 pm they had some pretty cool shows on the terrace. The food on the other hand was absolutely amazing, 5 stars at every restaurant, the only buffet was the chefs kitchen and everything there was great. Make sure to visit jo jo's bar and restaurant, their lunch and dinner menu are superb and we even enjoyed their bbq beach burgers at noon and the swings around the bar were a nice touch.