The hotel was beautiful. The grounds were exceptionally well kept, the service staff were attentive and responded in a very caring and fun manner. Ease of getting around the property was paramount and exceptional due to the trolleys that were always available. The food was great and the variety well beyond expectations. Some days the beach was a bit disappointing with the seaweed along the shoreline - other days it clear and no seaweed - depending on the winds. There was always somewhere to get cooled down with the huge pool area just behind the beachfront.

Fantastic vacation.

C'est un endroit idéal pour de très belles vacances. La plage n'est que de sable blanc pas de cailloux, très propre.

Everything was excelent. Service, food ect

Les gens sont très gentils. La plage n'est pas belle du tout, mais il y a une grosse piscine. Nous avons aussi appris par des vacanciers qu'il y avait un laguna près de l'hôtel. Ceci est un merveille.. wow paradisiaque

If you're going to a 4 resort, this is probably one you should avoid, particularly if the quality of the food is important to you. The beaches are still in pretty rough shape because of Hurricane Katrina. Lots of large rough rocks in the water close to shore. Lots of seaweed for the first 100 yards of so from the beach. If you use the resort internet facility, beware that the charge is $5US for 60 minutes, and you have to use the time all at once. You can't carry any forward. They do have WiFi in the lobby and the sports bar, and the room safes are large enough to hold a regular sized laptop, so if you need to use a computer while you're there, I'd recommend taking a laptop. Nice pool area with lots of lounges. The resort is a ten minute ride to Playa del Carmen. Lots of off-resort activities available. They have a children's daycare centre that looked pretty good.

We stayed in building 5. The room was very clean and with the exception of one day, we were greeted with towel art when our room was cleaned...the welcome package was a nice touch as well. There were a few disadvantages to this location...the passenger trolley did not come to 5 so this meant a lot of walking...and getting over the bridge without being overwhelmed with the sewage smell was a daily challenge. The noise really carries through the cement buildings, so if people are in the hallways, you hear everything...and sound from above or beside us really carried as well. We learned to unplug our phone so that we didn't get a very early call from the concierge asking how our service was. We did notice the the concierge was there very early until late at night, and tried to be very helpful.

We were forewarned about the beaches, so planned a snorkeling day outside the resort.We do have to say that the staff worked relentlessly to try to clean up the beaches, but in vain. The murky water kept most people out of the water.
We learned that the buffet near the lobby provided better service, as the staff were more attentive.
Our "grill" night was a disaster...the waiter kept us waiting for everything, and we had to keep asking for things, like I got soup, but he forgot my daughter, her drink, mixed up our order for how we wanted our meat cooked...we actually left before dessert arrived, because we waited to 10 minutes and it never came.
By the end of our stay we learned that at the beach buffet, if the staff don't seat you, you can wait a long time for service.
For the most part, we found the food quite good, especially the "a la carte, Mexican night", and of course the guacamole and salsa!
Over all, this was a fairly good place to stay...I don't think I'd go back, only because I prefer different experiences, but for the most part the service was excellent. The staff were very friendly, and always greeted us every time we walked past them. We had no trouble with internet in our room, or with anything in the room, which was always done up well, and very clean.

If your looking for a 5 star accommodation by Canadian or U.S. standards, then stay home. If your looking for a great hotel with outstanding staff, great accommodations and fantastic food, then you have the right hotel. We were treated like royalty from the moment you stepped on to the property. Their first priority was your safety and comfort. I went with my son to celebrate his 18th birthday and we had a fantastic stay at the resort. When I go to Mexico with the rest of my family, this is where we will stay.

The hotel room was nice and looked new. The drinks in the fridge were replenished every day. You get 4 bottles of beer and soft drinks. Plenty of bottled water. The air conditioner provided enough cool air to be comfortable. The only downside was that it ran continuosly so you either had to turn it off if it got too cold or open the balcony door. Overall, the food and service were pretty good. However, I thought the swimming pools were too shallow for adults.

L'hôtel est propre, le personnel très courtois et plusieurs parlent le français . Les restaurants sont accueillants, la nourriture est variée. Le restaurant français est de loin le meilleur. Le vin est excécrable. La plage et la mer laissent à désirer et il faut se lever très tôt si on veut avoir accès à un parasol à la plage. Nous avons apprécié notre semaine de vacances à cet hôtel et nous y retournerions sans problème.

We did a last minute vaction to the Blue Bay and were totally thrilled with the hotel for the price. The staff and concierge were the best I have dealt with at any hotel! Hats off to them all!

It's totally an unforgettable trip !! Smooth connection between airport to resort !! Great staff!! And the food , room , beach ,Great drinks Omg!! where should I start !?!!! It's an awesome resort !! We will comeback again!!!

We had a fantastic family vacation with our two adult children and their significant others. We all enjoyed lounging by the pool. We did get up early to get the spots we wanted, but we needed six loungers together. There was lots of walking, but that was part of the charm of the resort. We had very relaxing couples massage on the beach on one of our last days. We slept well in very comfortable beds. We enjoyed the a la carte dining and buffets. The dinner theatre was just okay--we did not enjoy the pounding drums! The minor issues we had were dealt with quickly and to our complete satisfaction. I would recommend Blue Bay to anyone!

We booked this resort as our friends were getting married. The wedding was beautiful and well organized. The food was excellent and the drinks were well made. The room was clean and well maintained. The spa was also a highlight in our time there. The circuit pool and massages were excellent. The service was prompt and courteous. The biggest downfall of this resort is the water at the beach. It was black in spots and we were not able to swim in the ocean. I would recommend this resort if you are not ocean swimmers as everything else was excellent! Enjoyed our time and the wedding at the Bluebay!

Hotel was great. We also had two nights at the Blue Diamond and that was amazing.

We just returned from a week at the Bluebay with another couple and we had a great stay.
Our rooms were in building 1, near the main pool and the beach. We requested rooms close to the beach, close to each other and king beds. All of our requests were met, except we were told only 1 king bed room was available and our friends were assigned a room with 2 double beds. They were told they could try to move the next day, but didn’t bother.
This resort is quite large, with one section of rooms (buildings 6, 7, & 8) with a pool close to the lobby, shops, 24-hour sports bar, gym, spa & most restaurants. This section is about a 10 minute walk to the beach, the other section of rooms (buildings 1-5), the kids club & the main pool. We enjoyed the walk most of the time, and when we were tired there were shuttles available. There is 1 main road/walkway connecting the 2 sections of the resort.
We ate at both buffet restaurants, and at the French, the oriental and the seafood a la cartes. Of the 3 a la cartes we tried, we preferred the oriental, although the others were both good. There is no limit to the number of times you could eat at the a la carte restaurants. Our package with Sunquest also included free room service and we ordered nachos and guacamole and a cheese & cold meat plate one afternoon when we had a late dinner reservation and were too late getting to the buffet for a snack before they closed. All week we found the food to be excellent – no complaints at all, and we had excellent service at all the restaurants and bars. Servers also often came around the pool and served drinks, which was nice.
Overall we found all staff to be very friendly and helpful. Customer service was excellent everywhere we went. Our friends had a few minor maintenance issues in their room and these were addressed very quickly. The concierge in the building was helpful to book dinner reservations, rather than having to go all the way to the lobby to do it. They were also helpful with any questions, etc. The concierge did ask us about timeshares on our first day but once we told him we weren’t interested we were never approached about it again.
We found the activities/entertainment staff to be lower-key than at other resorts we’ve stayed at before. They did offer beach volleyball and other various pool games, but it just seemed to be less often and a little quieter than at other hotels. This wasn’t negative or positive for us, just an observation. The entertainment desk at the pool closes between 1-3pm for lunch (one day until 3:45), so it was not possible to sign out a ball or anything during this time. Other resorts have made balls available at the towel booth so you can get them at any time. My husband did find this frustrating a few times. Also, we found the beach volley ball court had flat rock under a thin layer of sand, which resulted in some badly skinned knees, elbows, etc. This could be avoided if more sand was added on top of the court or maybe if the court was moved a little further over.
We knew the water would be murky and rocky at the beach, so this wasn’t a disappointment. We found we could walk a short distance down the beach in either direction to find better swimming. My complaint about the beach/pool area was there wasn’t enough shade and it was so very hot in the sun. There were no umbrellas or palapas around the pool, just a few pergolas. We were able to get chairs in the shade most days, but to do so we needed to be down to the pool by 7:30 am. The hotel could easily add more shade, and more chairs, around the pool.
My husband and friends’ husband used the gym several times and found everything there adequate. Our package also included 1-day use of the spa facilities (treatments at an additional cost). We went for a few hours and used the pools there. It was very quiet and peaceful and we really enjoyed the various stations around the pool, with massaging jets, etc. On departure day we had a late transfer to the airport but we were able to leave our luggage with the bellman and continue to enjoy the pool and beach and use the spa change room to shower and change at the end of the day. The change room was very clean and had soap/shampoo, hairdryer, etc.
We watched several shows in the evening and found them to be very good. However, the stage is off to the side of the sports bar, and we didn’t really like the atmosphere there, nor did we find the chairs comfortable.
Safes in the room were free and there were no id bracelets.

It didnt start to good since we were a family of four wanting two rooms beside each other (which we requested at the time of booking) got there and the rooms werent close to each other, kids were further down. So they tried to rectify the problem but it caused us problems for the first two days we were there.....after wards when it was all settled everything was good...nice resort, food is excellent, entertainment could be better, service is awesome everywhere but at the front desk, they dont care if you are happy or not....where as the bell boys, everybody else is awesome....

Needs renovations

Après plusieurs accros nous avons eu une vacance agréable. Il y a 7 édifices, les 5 premiers sont près de la piscine et la plage, les 6 et 7 sont complétement à l'autre bout près de certain restaurant et une piscine. Le restaurant de fruit n'est pas climatisé et il y fait très chaud, donc très désagréable. Pour les autres restaurant à la carte c'est très bien. Le buffet le soir est aussi très bien, nous avons due l'utiliser car il n'y avait pas de place au Stake House que nous n'avons pu essayer. Vous devers réserver vos restaurants le matin pour le lendemain soir sinon il risque de ne plus avoir de place.
Pour les chambres elle sont confortables mais ont besoin d'un up-date. L'endroie en générale est très prore
La plage n'est pas belle du tout. Ma peite fille à bien aimeé le Kid Club

2nd time there. Food is still very good, beach is not so good, place is very "worn" and in dire need of a reno, especially the rooms. Staff and service is excellent. Grounds are nice.

Expérience satisfaisante mais pas à la qualité d'un 4,5 étoiles. 4 au plus.

Clean, good food, great staff. Beach could be better.

Ma famille et moi c'est pour la première fois de notre vie qu'on passe des vacances de rêve. L'hôtel est excellent, propre et sécuritaire. On est trés fier, de notre retour à Montréal on a suggéré le voyage à nos amis et à nos familles.

was very dissapointed with our trip. It cost us alot more money in cabs and for meals off the resort cause the beach was so bad and that is the main reason we went to Mexico to begin with. The staff was ok.definatley not a 4.5 star. There was an awful smell from the ponds and it was very unorganized.Rooms weren't done till late afternoon and we found this to be a real inconvience. We will definatly not go back to this hotel. We will return to Sandos in Playa Car. Would like to see some compensation for the extra costs incured which we were not expecting.We found the beach very dirty and it was made of sand bags that were sticking up all over the place. Not a nice place to spend the day.

Our family had our first out of country holiday together at the Blue Bay Esmerelda. It was a beautiful resort, the staff was friendly and paid attention to detail. A mix up with our room waa cleared up within minutes of our arrival, and the consierge was quick to assure us not to worry, that all would be resolved. I noted that the staff really had a camraderie with each other as well, and they worked as a team. The food was good (going to miss that guacomole!) and the weather beautiful every day. The beach was not so clean, but not for lack of staff attention, it is just that area gets so much wash up, but that was noted online in the hotel description, so we were aware of it. The pools were well attended to, and the washrooms were constantly cleaned. We gravitated towards the smaller pool, as it was a little more family friendly and quieter, but did spend time at the large one for activities. All in all a good time had by all, and we felt cared for and doted on!

Check in and out very smooth. Friendly service with good food. excellent beds -unexpectectedly good room service. Lacked that open air Mexican feel. Good for older travellers perhaps a little scared of mexico. Beach OK but water was murky and at times ( depending on tide I guess) dirty. Our teens were bored.

The flight was pleasant and uneventful. Having a private check-in and our room ready in the morning was a bonus!The food at the a-la-carts was amazing.We were very impressed with the staff . The resort is one of the cleanest I have been to. The security made our stay feel safe.Nolitours reps were the best. I would reccomend this hotel.

After booking we were wondering what we had gotten into because of some very negative reviews but we had the opposite experience for the most part. This was our 6th trip to Mexico and 12th trip south so we are comparing to our other experiences. We found most of the staff to be very friendly and helpful.

The resort is on beautiful grounds and we found the beach itself nice and enjoyed our walks on the beach both ways.Walking to the north you come to a beautiful tributary where the fresh water meets the ocean and to the south you go by several resorts. What people complain the most about is the water quality of the beach and depending on the currents, it does bring in a lot of dark rotted down vegetation so for a few days we used the pool instead of the ocean to cool down. It is also shallow with rocks and plants in most areas which is great for little ones but is not great for swimming, just fun and floating.

We ate at the buffets for all our meals and we found the food selection here much better than at the Barcelo we stayed at a few years ago. We aren't a la carte lovers and the one we did try, we had to go to the buffet after because we didn't care for what we had at it. We like trying new foods and don't like having to wait to eat.

It is a good 10-15 minute walk from the beach to the lobby area,buildings 1-5 are closest to the beach but further from the evening restaurants and buildings 6-8 are the furthest from the beach but have their own pool and are closest to the evening restaurants. Anyone with young kids would get tired of walking everyday to the beach but there are shuttle buses you can get on if you don't want to walk. We didn't mind the walking for the much needed exercise.

We noticed a few things wrong in our room when we got to it, reported the problems and they were fixed before nighttime. We were in bldg 5 and the only thing we didn't like is that the doors are not sound proofed and you hear every slamming door and voices in the hall late at night.

The Esmerelda needs a lot more shaded areas because it is hard to come by if you don't get up early to reserve a chair in the shade at the pool or beach. They need to address this problem because many of the saved chairs weren't even being used until after 10 am.

There are a few cons but nothing that would rate our experience as poor or would make us say don't go here. If the price is right (under $1000 before taxes)then I would say you have gotten a good deal.

nice beach, good food, overall great value

Tres belle endroit,mais pour ce qui est de la plage beaucoup d'algues et de roches.