Not the best all-inclusive experience I've had. Probably near the bottom, actually.
First the excellent:
- Bar drinks were great
- Bar staff were great, as were most of the other staff
- Probably some of the best shows I've seen in resorts and cruise ships. The entertainment was scant, they didn't even have music at the palapa bar until I put some Cuban music on my phone. But the 9 PM show was real good
The good:
- The grounds were kept nice and clean, although getting around was a bit awkward. For instance, on the 2nd floor where I was, there was no staircase down to the first floor except towards the front of the hotel and away from the beach. So you have to go all the way to the front before you have to go back towards the beach.
- The crepe stand (open from 12-6) had pretty good crepes.
The mediocre:
- The rooms were mostly clean, but I know my wife would have complained had she gone with me. I did not use the cleaning service during the 6 days I was there because I'm okay with the room not being made up every day. So, if I tell you the cleanliness wasn't top notch, that's saying something.
- Location-wise, it's not a great location and hard to get to. It's in a private area of Puerto Aventuras, surrounded by homes
- The pool water was a little murky for my taste. I've been to better water quality pools in other resorts.
The bad:
- First resort I've been to that's completely smoke free. Not even vaping. You have to go in the front driveway or the beach to smoke.
- Absolutely no beach, or a beach you can walk into the water from. Completely algae ridden.
- Extremely foul smell at times. It smelled like sewer gas. They said it was the algae in the ocean water, but I don't buy it. I walked to whatever resemblance of a beach, and the smell didn't get any stronger, even though wind was blowing from the sea unto shore.
- For an all inclusive resort, there was no room service. When I asked, they said my all inclusive did not include that. I asked about them bringing some beer to put in the fridge in the room, and again I was told that it wasn't included for me. So I had to buy my own beer so I could have a couple of cold ones in the room.
- Absolutely small buffet and not much variety at all. Kinda the same foot over and over.
- Together with their sister property next door, they had 5 restaurants. 3 of those I was supposed to be able to use due to my level of all inclusiveness. Of those 3, I could only get into the Italian (which had, again, completely mediocre food), even though I tried to make reservations on my first day in the other 2 as well. Their booking web site said they were all booked for the next 5 days (Wed-Sunday). But when I walked by them, they weren't even 1/3 full.
- After 11, there is NO bar open except the one in the disco with loud music banging for 2 hours. So, between not having beer in the fridge and no bar open, you better get your last drink at 11. A shame because I usually stay up until 2-3 AM and sleep until 10-11.
- Despite having checked the boxes that I did not want to be approached or talked to re: buying into their timeshare (or whatever they call it), they talked to 2 of my family members. Small thing, as my family members should have known better, but still.
- I mentioned the lack of entertainment earlier. As I said, the 9 PM show was really good. The only other entertainment I noticed was the 12 noon exercise in the pool. Other than that, they really didn't have any staff dedicated to entertainment.
- The pressure to upgrade is there in check-in.
Other, small/informative things:
- The safe would not fit my standard 15.3" notebook
- No bar soap. Just liquid soap and shampoo
- The shops don't take cash and also can't break any cash. Even the on-site currency exchange would not change MX Pesos into lower amounts for me so I could tip the friendly bar staff. Luckily the front desk didn't give me a hard time and just changed the money for me.
Doobster2026-05-14
