298 reviews
Pandemic Holiday Experience
After two and a half years, friends and I were ready to board a plane and head to Mexico, a destination we all love.
We booked through a tour operator that rated this hotel a four star. It was not that, by far, a three star at best.
Check in went smoothly, but my first surprise was that there was a charge for WiFi in the room. I have not had to pay for that at an all inclusive resort in many years. It isn't a big deal, but it surprised me.
I would like to commend the staff at the resort. If it were not for the staff, this trip would have been a disaster. We had an amazing roaming concierge who took care of us like we were the only ones on the resort. We had a server at the food truck, who reserved a table for us and always ensured we were happy.
My friends celebrated their wedding anniversary while we were there and the staff did a great job showing them the love they deserve on their special day.
The pool is in bad need of repairs. Firstly it is a large pool and there was only one entrance by stairs, otherwise you had to enter and exit by ladders. The stairs were on very bad shape and I thought I had cut my foot more than once. It is the only area that is shallow and therefore full of children and hard to pass through.
The rest of the pool has missing tiles, missing plaster, not well maintained with dirt, leaves and more floating around.
I saw a family with a naked baby in the pool. No one said anything and I had to finally tell a lifeguard to talk to the parents, but again, the clientele had a sense of entitlement the whole week we were there, like they were in their own home with no lack of regard for others.
The group I travelled with and myself are foodies and where this hotel lacked was in the food department. I am sure prior to the pandemic there were more food options, but what is there now was very disappointing.
The buffet was not a bad option, but I don't know anyone that wants to eat buffet three times a day for seven days, which is pretty much what we did. It is also challenging during a pandemic where many of the guests were touching food with their hands and it really was not always a comfortable experience.
We did like the food truck burgers, but again, after three days of burgers we wished for more options. Foods like pizza and ice cream, which are available at every single all inclusive I have ever been to were non existent here. Christmas Eve was our last day and we were shocked that there was in fact ice cream served at lunch that day.
On our second night we thought we would try Tiki Taco, and to our surprise was a buffet, not an a la carte option. The options (in my opinion) were less than impressive and we did not want buffet, we wanted to be served.
Let me address the Italian restaurant. We arrived at the location and were told that men could not enter with sandals. Excuse me, why is that? Our husbands were wearing collared shirts, dress shorts and dress sandals. We were turned away.
We attempted a second time, men in closed toe shoes, and this time were told there is a waitlist and we would not be able to dine there. Twice turned away.
This resort is a small resort and all of the evening entertainment was poolside and was very loud late until the night. The week we were there it was clear that the clientele was largely local, and all of the on resort activities were catering to them.
Thankfully we booked the sun club rooms and had access to lounge. It was a nice escape for guests to go to escape the noise of the main floor. There was a server to serve drinks, but food was non existent. Again, a disappointment.
On Christmas Eve the party went on very late into the evening and for this of us who were not Spanish speaking, we had to escape to our rooms and try to sleep with pillows over our heads.
I would not return to this resort. I had a great time with my friends, and if it weren't for the staff we met along the way it would have had a much different outcome.
