BlueBay Grand Esmeralda

I tried to keep an open mind after reading all the negative reviews but unfortunately the negative reviews were right. I would not waste my money on this resort because that’s how I feel, like my money was wasted. Cons: the beach, if you are a beach person like me, do not go here. This is the first time I spent time at the pool while at a resort. The pool is fine but cold. Back to the beach, the water is shallow and very murky. No chance for snorkeling. Yes there is a lagoon but it’s a walk and pretty underwhelming but pretty nonetheless and it is NOT part of the resort. Not much shade either for the days you are feeling burnt. Never had a server come a take a drink order. Long line ups for drinks which I get but it seemed like there wasn’t sufficient staff. Rooms are dated. Very dated. We stayed in building 5 after being upgraded from building 7. Building 7 smellls like the sewer and I don’t care about being told it’s the mangroves, my god we were getting sick being in building 7. We didn’t get upgraded for free either. Not that I expected that. Building 5 was similar to 7 but thankfully no sewage smell and that’s all I cared about. Not enough bathrooms near the beach. There is one a distance away and for the 10 days we stayed there, only one toilet (without the seat) flushed. Always lines. Buffets were the same everyday and lots of dishes were backwards. Food was subpar but we didn’t starve. A le carts were okay. Favorite was the steakhouse and French. I don’t get tired of drinks but the cocktails were inconsistent and flavorless. When you enter the lobby, I was immediately unimpressed. Very dated and just plain ugly. The black and white bar is dated and falling apart as well. Pool tables and other game tables look 20 years old. It felt like being at a dive bar. Chairs and tables are rickety and slummy. Entertainment was just okay. Basic. The grounds are pretty. Lots of beautiful greenery until you get to the pool side - then not much shade at all. Loungers I didn’t have a problem with because someone in our group each day would reserve around 530am and stay there until we all showed. And we stayed all day until we ate and were courteous to give up if we weren’t going to be back within an hour. Staff were good. Friendly. We tried to make the best of our stay because we love the heat and love Mexico but this was an unfortunate lack of planning and researching thoroughly and ended up here. The 6 of us in our group all would not return. This may be a good place for someone that has not been to a resort before or isn’t used to better. I have stayed at grand sunset princess and grand sirines before and there is absolutely no comparison.

Please don't be disappointed by staying at this 2 star resort. I'm sure it was great back when photos were taken but it was a horrible experience. Yes, the staff is great but they are working in a very run down environment. I actually lost weight as most of the food was questionable since nothing was served hot. It was room temperature at best and I'm not sure if the temperature was from the sun or machinery. The a la carte if you can get one, we're just ok - a step up from Luke warm. The only positives I have are the weather was good and I met a lot of nice people-2 things the resort doesn't control. I could go on but you get the idea, if you are looking for a resort with lounge chairs (perhaps small tables by pool?) Service at pool (you must line up like cattle to get a drink) and a room that is falling apart and musty and 2,000 steps from everything- then by all means enjoy.

We came down to check out this resort for a very large group of friends for next year. We will not be coming to this resort. Food was good, rooms were clean but outdated and grounds are nice. BUT I am not getting up at 4am or 5am to claim chairs on the beach or pool. There is also very little shade. People are having to put their towels on the beach and grass as there is a serious chair shortage. Walked around yesterday around 2 pm and every chair had someone in it. Not just saved. Lots of people sitting on their towels as there are no chairs. Guests have to bring the rain umbrellas out of their room for shade. We have been to lots of all inclusive resorts and have never seen such a bad towel game. The resort has caused this because of a drastic chair shortage. If you want to sit in a chair on the beach or around the pool and don’t want to get up at 4am or 5am, DO NOT come to this resort.

This trip was kind of nightmare from the start! We arrived to the lobby. Checked in. Then a guy swarmed us…”are you girls single married…what’s your room number…traveling with men…traveling with body guards?” So basically anyone in the Lobby is now aware we are single, traveling alone as two women! He wanted to sign us up for a presentation! I outright asked “ if this was a time share”…”no, just breakfast and an information presentation about what’s available in the area”! He made it sound like it was a 90 minute presentation at the member buffet. We were needing breakfast anyway…Yup…so we went. Promised us beach bags…massages…tequila…tshirts. Turns out it’s a one on one “timeshare presentation, that lasted nearly 4 hours. Don’t waste your time. When they realized we were not buying into it, they basically kicked us out the door, with a 50 cent beach bag! When we arrived to our room, we checked the balcony, door didn’t lock. The lock mechanism was missing. Went to call maintenance, in room phone didn’t work. Another trip back to the lobby to report the balcony door. Maintenance arrived about 30 mins later (around 9:40 pm). He put in about 8 screws…after about 40 minutes of trying, we asked if we could have a piece of wood to wedge in. He laughed. Eventually he pretended it finally worked, and locked. As soon as he left, of course we checked it, and it didn’t lock. We wedged the wooden furniture into the sliding end of the balcony door just to feel safe. We spoke to many other guests, and they said the same thing. Oddly enough, most of them were single women traveling together, without men! We had to get up at 4:30 or 5:00 am and go sit on a lounger ( if you were early enough to get one) under the pergolas. People were up saving loungers everyday, with their brown resort towels. It was the only way to get one. People were stealing the towels off the loungers, and taking over the lounger because “they’ve been saving their lounger for 4 hours and have not returned”, and if you did not return your towel to the resort, they were charged $32 USD. Police actually showed up at a lounge chair altercation. Apparently the resort holds roughly 2000 people, and there are about 300 loungers! The beach is very dirty water. Definitely not the blue Caribbean water we are used to….definitely a seaweed problem on shore! The shade is very limited, not even nice grass to lay on. The loungers arguments went on daily! Not much for activities, the food is very mediocre….buffets, so Of course we did not starve! The liquor is definitely low quality…I was basically black out “drunk” after two paralyzers. We mostly did drink our own liquor from our room, except for the two drinks from the bar one night! Did not find the staff to be overly friendly, but maybe because many do not speak English! The only thing that saved this trip, was the amazing people that travelled there from Canada! Everyone we spoke with, knew they would not be returning to the resort, by day 1. Save your money! We had family at the same time, at two different, much nicer resorts, for less money than we paid. We were told this resort is going to be shut down in 2027 for complete renovations. Not sure we believe that!

I am currently at this resort and it’s been a big disappointment with the pools and the beach. We have been here for 3 days so far and have not been able to lay by the pool or on the beach due to no chairs. People start holding chairs at 4:30 am. We came to lounge by the pool and on the beach and conceirge just told us nothing they can do. There are 4000 people at this resort and only the owners can do anything about it and they are in another country. There isn’t even 1000 chairs here in total. Owners if you can’t be here to buy chairs and simply make your resort better by this small upgrade that’s ridiculous or at least hire a property manager who can add chairs. Greatly disappointed and will not be back due to this. Unfortunately as the resort is nice but we spent a lot of money to get out of the cold winter to relax and we can’t when we are constantly trying to find a place to sit for the day.