Riviere Maya Suggestions

Do you want a BIG resort? What is important to you...food quality, beach, activities, night life, adults only, etc.? Let us know and we will be better able to help you.

Yes let us know what is important to you.
The Beach
Food
Entertainment
Snorkeling
Ammenities
Activities
Location

if you ar looking for an all inclusive a recommend the barcelo maya colonial is just south of playa del carmen is an all inclusive i was there for a week in 2007 the food is great the beach is outstanding the rooms are good and so is the pool area and service any questions please ask my e-mail is esardinas@hotmail.com

First, thanks to all for the prompt responses. I had responded earlier but I started a new thread each time I responded. It was nicely pointed out to me that wasn't the way to do it.

So, I did want to thank you for your help.

I am most interested in quiet beaches. Food and drink, however, are right up there.

I was also wonder how best to make arrangements if you don't know any more than I seem to know.

For example, should I check with Apple, or something like it, or contact a local agent.

I can't help with how to make arrangements - since I am in Canada and things are probably not the same as in the U.S. I usually book a package that includes airfare etc with a T.A.

I have been to two resorts in the Mayan Riviera and enjoyed both although they are very different.

Went to the Akumal Beach Resort a few years ago. It is a smallish 3* resort on a great section of beach near the little town of Akumal - quiet, pleasant but not a lot of ammenities. The older rooms were adequate but a bit worn. The food was actually pretty good but choices were limited. I would recommend it to someone who wants a quiet, simple vacation without all the bells and whistles but with a great beach and very good snorkeling and near a town.

Recently I have been to the Palladium Riviera Maya - a huge mega resort with many ammenities etc. Definitely nicer rooms and more food choices. The beach is quite good but not as good as at Akumal Beach. Because it is so big and is on a very long section of beach, it actually has more quiet beach areas than Akumal Beach. The beach is VERY varied - some rocky areas, some nice and sandy, some with coral and good snorkeling and next door some wild undeveloped beach. Food - a couple of buffets and several restaurants. Food is good but not gourmet. Akumal Beach had better fish and good tacos but overall a lot less variety.

Hope this helps a little

take a look at www.locogringo.com they show a large selection of all-inclusives with lengthy description of each. at the bottom of each resort page there is a tiny airplane to click on - it shows you an aerial view of the resort.

You said you want quiet...does that mean adults only? If so, look into the Iberostar Paraiso Grand, Royal Playa del Carmen and Secrets Maroma. They are all adults only all inclusives with great beach, wonderful service and are all inclusive.
If you are bringing children, look into the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo which is part of the same complex as the IB Grand.
The Royal Playa del Carmen is right in Playa and just a short walk from town if that is important to you.

Chimp, I second the Barcelo, have been there twice.

Here are some good websites:

www.playa.info
www.locogringo.com
www.unofficial-barcelo-maya.com/site/

I used a TA that was highly recommended on the above 2 web sites. Her site is.

http://lonepalmtravel.com/

She is very knowledgable about the RM and did a great job for us.

Wherever you choose to go, look into buying a very reasonably priced map from Loco Gringo of the area before you go. It has alot of detail about local places to see that you will not otherwise hear of in guidebooks. For instance, we visited YAL KU lagoon, a very rustic place, but with amazing the fish that we saw. For first time travelers, it was neat to know a little bit bit about the surrounding area. I guess this will only help if you want to leave the resort briefly to see a bit of the area.

I am also looking for Riviera Maya advice and feeling overwhelmed. I'd like to go in February, and I'm looking for a big hotel, with good food and nice pools on the beach. Close to town too. Any suggestions for me?

w351,
If you are not taking children, try the Royal Playa del Carmen. It's an adults only all inclusive resort right on the beach and right into Playa del Carmen.

We were in the area a couple of years ago and stayed next door to the Royal Hideaway Playa Del Carmen. What a beautiful resort! I walked next door and toured the resort. I'm trying to figure a way to get back and stay there. Playa del Carmen is a great area, and this resort if within walking distance. Have fun.

The Royal Hideaway has suffered som severe beach erosion.

Thanks for the help! I'll look into that. No kids, schmerl.

w351,
There are several great adults only allinslive resorts in the Riviera Maya. The Iberostar Paraiso Grand is one fo the most luxurious. It has great pools, wonderful food, fantastic service, nice big beach. There are some rocks at the ocean entrance, but no big deal. It is however about a $20 taxi ride to Playa del Carmen.
Secrets Maroma recently opened in the same area.
Again, the Royal Playa del Carmen is right in the town of Playa and is also wonderful.

I had started my own post for assistance on where to go. I think I have it narrowed down to the Riviera Maya specifically the Ceiba del Mar in June. Has anyone stayed here?

Good luck with your trip. We have always had good luck with Palace resorts. If you are looking for adult only try Adventura Spa Palace - if not, the Moon Palace. There also other Palace resorts. For what it is worth we enjoyed the town of Playa del Carmen more than Cancun.

The Palace resorts are all inclusive, including many excursions worth seeing such as Chichen Itza, etc.

We paid to go to Xcaret and while expensive, we felt it was worth the $. Enjoy!!!!

Author: w351
Date: 10/30/2008, 04:57 pm

I am also looking for Riviera Maya advice and feeling overwhelmed. I'd like to go in February, and I'm looking for a big hotel, with good food and nice pools on the beach. Close to town too. Any suggestions for me?


w351,

I was in your same boat a few years ago. The best advice I could give is to list what is most important to you and go from there. For us the most important amenities were:

1) A/C in restaurants.
2) quality beaches.
3) great pool w/swim up bar.

Number 1 really narrowed it down. After researching all the ones that met this requirement it got a lot easier. Barcelo and Palladium kind of fell out and then it was just a choice between the two (Barcelo won). Check all the resource I listed above (and there are others) and once you get started it can then be kind of fun. Ask questions on boards like this as well. If I can answer any other questions I would be glad to.

I love the Barcelo & have been there twice. We would love to go again to Mexico & try someplace new but my family just wants Barcelo. It was perfect as far as we were concerned!! the unofficial barcelo site is a great wealth of info!!

Which Barcelo location?

We stayed at the Barcelo Maya, south of Playa del Carmen. It is actually 3 resorts in one. There is:

Beach/Caribe (low end)
Tropical/Colonial (middle)
Palace (high end)

You can choose the one that fits your budget even though all are very nice.

Our TA recommended the Valentin Imperial Maya for our next trip. The price is not bad at all, and the property looks great-wonderful beach huge pool, great rooms... you should check it out looks better than some other properties listed here...

My sons and I stayed at the Barcelo Tropical last Dec. and it was great! Great food, pools, activities, rooms...beach was a little rocky...but other than that we really enjoyed it. Good luck. I also got help from Locogringo.

http://www.unofficial-barcelo-maya.com/site/

Go to the above site to look at pics, read trip reports, post questions, etc regarding Barcelo resorts. We have stayed at Colonial/Tropical twice & loved it!! We picked because of the beautiful long stretch of beach with wade in snorkeling which was perfect even for small kids. We are all dying to go back. Love to try someplace new but can't imagine anywhere as perfect for our needs.

I agree with some of the other posts for staying at the Iberostar in Riveria Maya. I was there last May and it is huge and really nice. Although I didn't stay there (I went for just a day) to Royal Haciendas which is part of my time share company. The Iberostar certainly stood out. My husband golfed there and he said it was unbelivable. Lots of restuarants and if you are looking for all-inclusive this is the place to go.

I have been to the Barcelo resort 6 times and have stayed at the older part, Beach/Caribe once, Colonial/Tropical twice, and Maya Palace twice. The rooms at the Palace are the nicest but the Colonial are fine too. This resort is huge. If you stay at Palace you can eat, drink, swim wherever you like and I highly recommend this resort. It is close to Tulum and Paraiso Beach which are must dos but do it on your own thru a taxi service (cheaper less wasted time). Go to the unofficialbarcel.com website.

I have stayed at Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal twice and the new Iberostar Paraiso Lindo once. We liked these as well but the beach at Tucan/Quetzal is still pretty eroded and did not think the food was as good as Paraiso Lindo. However the pools and guest areas at Paraiso Lindo are stunning and have a wave pool and lazy river.

Thank you guys; this helps a lot. I'm going to sort through all the information and prices and I might have more questions in the next couple of weeks!

Ok guys we're still planning. We've narrowed it down to Barcelo Mayo Colonial/Tropical, Iberostar Paraiso Lindo, and Secrets Capri Riviera. Any help as to what the key differences between them are? I know Secrets Capri is smaller and quieter, but it got rave reviews on Trip Advisor so I wanted to keep it in the mix.

We're going to be booking in the next couple days/week, so any recommendations you could give would be great!

They are all great resorts.
Secrets Capri is adults only with ala carte dining every night and no dinner reservations necessary. The beach is not the best.
The IB Pariaso Lindo is a family resort with ala carte dining every night and a concierge to make your reservations. BIG beach, great pools.
The Barcelo is a family resort VERY big Good beach with snorkeling right from the beach. I believe you will not have ala carte dinners every night, but not sure how many you get.
Secrets Capri would be the most quiet since it's adults oly and probably has the best food.
You can't really go wrong with any of the three.

We really enjoyed Secrets Capri. It is farther away from the town. The beach is rocky to swim but nice to walk along.

I love to eat outside on a beach and this wasn't really an option. The closest option was the pretty seafood place with balcony on beach. Our fave restaurant there was the Italian.

I loved that they were a la carte restaurants as I'm not a buffet person. I'm fine with breakfast buffets and it's fantastic there. The best part about it was we lived in our bathing suits until dinner. So utterly relaxing and decadent.

I usually do non-AI however and would gladly steer you away if you wish.

Secrets has a new resort on Maroma beach which is closer to Puerto Morelos I believe. The beach there is supposed to be really beautiful.

Barcelo gets consistently great reviews and if you want night life and fun but beach not as quiet, the Royal right in PDC is popular.

I would also lean towards adult only or at least adult only pools.

Trish

Hello! I am also looking into a trip to Riviera Maya in Feb time, just for an extra long weekend. I am hoping you could help me with some suggestions!

It will be me and my boyfriend traveling, we are 27 & 25 yrs. We like nice places but nice has meant an older crowd and stuffiness. We don't really like to party, and we don't love huge crowds (like Atlantis) we don't love tons of kids running around, a few are ok though, but we like it kinda laid back. I have been to Cancun twice - but I'm looking for something different for this trip.

Also, been to Caneel & Little Dix (beautiful but too much of an older crowd feel) we loved Yost Van Dyke. (A sandals resort looks intriguing for the atmosphere)..

So I guess we are looking for a great beach and beautiful place to stay but laid back- is the water warm here? We like clear warm water, snorkeling is a plus, but not necessary. We really want to do an AI just to have some fun with it. We also want something not too too far from the Cancun airport since it will be a short trip. So should we do Riviera Maya, Tulum, and resort suggestions? Or anyone suggest any other locations in Caribbean? (we are coming from Boston)

I really appreciate your input!! Thanks

Thank you guys for your responses.

Schmerl, I look forward to your response on the other post. Thanks for being so helpful!

Trish, were you not able to swim in the water at all? We are leaning towards Secrets as of now due to the rave reviews I've been reading everywhere. I've read mixed reviews on Barcelo. I've read great beach, not good food, and not as comfortable rooms. Let me know if you know differently. Secrets Maroma and Royal PDC were a little more than we wanted to spend. We've found some great deals on Secrets Capri.

Sarah Rae, you'll have to wait for more responses from people who have been there. Questions I can answer from my research though, snorkeling definitely. I've been told you can snorkel off the beach at Barcelo Maya, and there are also many different excursions and snorkeling trips you can take from anywhere. Not sure about water temp. Tulum and Akumal are quieter from what I've read, but farther south from the Cancun airport. You might want to look into Secrets Capri as I've read it's pretty quiet and laidback, adults only, and only 35 min from the airport because it's north of PDC. (most of the others are south) Everyone else fill in I've given any incorrect information!

w351,
You will be fine with the Capri. Yes. Secrets Maroma is on a beach that is a bit nicer, but Capri is fine. They sometimes have "murky" water that is not as blue as some other places, but it's fine for swimming. On some days the water there is clear and beautiful.
If Secrets Maroma is out of your price range, don't worry about it. The Capriu is great. You will have a great time.

SarahRae,
I belive I've responded to some of your other posts. The more quiet areas with great snorkeling off the beach (Akumal, Tulum, etc) are much further from the Cancun airport.
We've been in the Riviera Maya at the end of December and the ocean water temp was fine for swimming. The pools were a bit cool.
Look into the Iberostar Paraiso complex which is about 25 minutes from the airport.
You don't say what type of budget you have. If you are able to go for a bundle...check out Secrets Maroma.\
You may also want to look into the Royal Playa del Carmen which is right in the town of Playa and is also adults only.

Thanks for all the info!

Barcelo Tropical/Colonial, Barcelo Maya Palace, or Iberostar Grand or Iberostar Paraiso are all sure bets. You cannot have a bad vacation at these resorts in my opinion.

Hi Schmerl,
Thank you so much for your advice! I am undecided between Royal Playa Del Carmen and Secrets Maroma..The Secrets Maroma seems a little closer to the airport and a much better beach, but it is also more expensive and seems like the hotel may not be as exotic as the Royal Playa Del Carmen? The Royal is also closer to the town, which may give us more to do...I am going back and forth on these 2! Does anyone have any advice that may be a deal breaker? Also, is it possible to walk along the beach from Royal Playa to Secrets Maroma beach? I would really love to see this beautiful beach everyone talks about, but I'm not sure I'll love the hotel part of it

Sarah0807
,
The Royal PDC and Secrets Maroma are both fantastic resorts.
Secrets is newer and I would think a bit more quiet than the Royal (not that the Royal is wild).
Secrets is basically on it's own beach. They Royal is right in the town of Playa. The beaches in Mexico are all public, so the beach at the Royal can be a bit crowded at times.
It would be auite a LONG hike to walk the beach from the Royal to Secrets Maroma.
YOu can't really go wrong with either one.
Have you read trip reports on these resorts on Trip Advisor? They both get great reviews.
If you want to venture into teh town of Playa, then stay at the Royal for convenience. If you want to veg out at a gorgeous resort with a fantastic beach, then go to Secrets Maromoa.
As I said, you can't go wrong with either one.
Enjoy!!!

When I said it would be a long hike from the Royal to Secrets I didn't mean that you could actually walk it. It is about a twenty minute ride from Secrets Maroma to Playa, so that would not be a good walk in the heat.I'm not sure of the distance,and I also don't think beach conditions would allow walking the entire way as theere has been some bad erosion in the Playacar area.

Thanks for letting me know! Do you know if I would be able to visit the Maroma beach even though I wasn't staying there? If I took a taxi

You really are a great help!

I'm not sure how you would access the beach wihtout going through the resort.
You could always contact the resort and tell them you are interested in staying there for your next trip and would like a tour. Some resorts offer day passes, but I don't know if Secrets is one of them. It's worth looking into though.

Let us know what you decide and then we want a report when you return!!

I definitely will, I will be going the first week of March.

I looked at videos for Royal Playa Del Carmen, and the grounds look boring...I liked the way La Tortuga & Maroma Resort & Spa, but both aren't AI..El Dorado Seaside suites looked interesting, but the beach didn't look that nice...

Do you have any suggestions for a more exotic resort..like hidden hammocks or hot tubs, lush/tropical looking..out door showers sounded nice, cute little bed huts on the beach - I like different things that you can't find any where else!

The problem is that the type of resort you describe usually are not all inclusives. Is there a reason you have to go with an all inclusive?

I was thinking AI because whenever we go away my boyfriend is held back from spending money and I like the idea of having everything be care free, BUT I was thinking we split the trip between 2 hotels to get the best of both worlds! The more places I look at the more I realize the things I am looking for are not found at just 1 place

So to get the nice beach, interesting grounds, AI experiences, I might do 1 or 2 nights at a different hotel. I was considering some at Tulum...and everywhere in between lol. I have been looking at different hotels for like 3 days straight because i get so excited to see new places!

by tulum look at: http://www.anayjose.com/
the opposite of the all inlcusives you're looking at.
or for more europeon/modern feel: http://www.mezzanine.com.mx/hotel/index.html

Thanks! I looked at both of these and they are a very different feel than the large AI's in PDC. I am going to split up the trip between PDC Large AI & Tulum rustic/exotic. Any suggestions on best beaches to visit while in Tulum or Akumal? When I decide where we will stay I'll let you know!

Thanks for all the help!

here's an aerial view of the main beach in akumal: http://www.locogringo.com/maps/tour/ak-cent-t.html

this next view is where the road to the beach from tulum pueblo splits. if you click the double arrows at the top of the page to the right you'll see the beach in front of mezzanine. to the left the beach in front of ana & jose's: http://www.locogringo.com/maps/tour/034-t.html