BlueBay Grand Esmeralda

I was last week of March in this resort. I was surprised to see such limited food presentation during breakfast and lunch time in this resort. I felt like being in Cuba where luck of food is a real problem. It was just basic. The restaurants also had limited menus. The evening buffe was Ok but crowded. Lineups like in Cuba. The House of Coffee was great but again…lineups. Resort is understaffed. It was clean, rooms were clean I admit, but resort needs upgrade and renovation. The beach area and swimming pool area were totally exposed to sun. No umbrellas around pools. There were only a few palapas on the beach so if people wanted to get some shade, they had to come before 6AM to hold the place under a palapa. Meantime half of the beach was empty as it was reserved for VIPs only which weren’t there. That’s for club members and RCI ! Kids’ playground is a joke. A little swimming pool with one small pipe so kids can slide. Ground not maintained. The resort is quite long, and most people walked from the beach to the lobby area because transportation was rarely available. So, it sounds like there is a management issue in this resort. No control over quality of service. What’s going on with Mexican resorts? I noticed that the quality of service in entire Mayan Rivera has gone down in last couple of years.

TLDR: Friendly staff, a so-so beach and nice pools sum it up. Did I have a good time, absolutely! Did I let the poor quality of the resort ruin a vacation – no, but set your expectations low. Pros: • The service staff are fabulous (servers, bartenders, cleaning staff) zero complaints, only compliments. They do the best they can with what’s available. • If you’re vegetarian, the lunch and dinner buffet has a vegetarian section • Excellent café • The gym is great • Swing bar is cute • Pools and beaches are nice • Staff to their best to keep everything clean Cons The battery on the card scanner on our room door was dead. Thankfully my daughter was inside when I tried to get in but I literally waited hours for maintenance to come. It was around noon when I first asked for help, then followed up with three phone calls to guest services. When I went back to the lobby around 4pm, I was met with annoyance and patronage – I get it, people love to complain at hotel staff but we literally could not leave our room together without being locked out. The maintenance guy came around 4:30 and replaced the batter and fixed the lock on our patio door (that too was broken and wouldn’t lock). We wasted a day/took turns leaving the room, all for 15 minutes of work. This same day I also requested clean towels for our washroom. Nothing. I even asked cleaning staff in the hallway for clean towels and she said no. (This might have been a language barrier and maybe she thought I wanted them for the pool?) Food: Overall, not great I really appreciate that the buffet has a vegetarian section if its own but if you’re vegan, you’ll have a hard time finding anything. You’re also asked about allergies before you sit down (we don’t so I’m not sure what they offer if you). If you don’t eat pork/meat, avoid the pizzas – they use the same pizza cutter on everything. If you love hamburgers and hotdogs, you’re in luck! They even put hotdogs on the pizza. If you want fruit, stock up at breakfast because the only fruit you’ll see after that is on dessert. The service at the buffet and restaurants is excellent. Wait staff are lovely and work hard to make sure you’re having a great experience. The quality of food is so-so, even at the restaurants.

The location has beautiful vegetation, with different animals including cats, coates, iguanas and more. Lively atmosphere great for families and children. The rooms are run down, and the toilet smells like sewers, but the ac works, there is hot water, and the mini fridge is filled daily with water and all sorts of drinks. The resort is very clean, and we got our money's worth for the price we paid. The food is great, but more mexican food would be better. There is margarine used in some of the dishes though, and the taste is funny. There will possibly be lousy drunk people howling outside your door but besides that the noise level is good, we recommend earplugs. The beach's water is murky, but five minutes away there is a lagoon with crystal clear water and fish. The pools are magnificent and clean there are three of them. The staff is amazing, and so helpful!

Luis Alberto and Leo were great servers!! Very nice dinner at the L’atelier

Luis Alberto and Leo were great servers! No complaints! Good experience