Family All inclusive Riviera Maya

Old Jun 27th, 2017, 05:07 AM
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Family All inclusive Riviera Maya

Please recommend a family all inclusive in Riviera Maya. We will be going in early/mid august with our 11 and 13 year old. Hope to keep the budget around $4,000/$5,000 including air from Boston for 6 nights. Seem to many deals out there, have been looking at the Dreams and Palladium resorts but would love some recommendations on specific properties. Thanks.
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Old Jun 28th, 2017, 03:17 AM
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It would really help to know what you look for in a resort. Do you spend most of the time at the pool or the beach? Do you care if you have to make dinner reservations?
We really like the Iberostar Paraiso Complex. There are five resorts there, but one is adults only. Of the four remaining I would recommend the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo or Maya since all the restaurants are air conditioned and you have a concierge in your building to make your dinner reservations for you.
There are plenty of activities for your family or you can just sit back and relax.
GREAT pools, very big beach, great service.
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Old Jun 28th, 2017, 06:04 AM
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Thanks for your reply. We are definitely looking for a nice beach and pools as we will plan to spend a lot of time there, but are also looking for other activities for the kids. Also, hoping to do some excursions if it's not too hot. I don't care if I have to make dinner reservations. I'll take at look at the resorts you mentioned.
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Old Jun 28th, 2017, 09:25 AM
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Haven't stayed at the Palladium but it has unlimited a la cartes with no reservations (with two exceptions). There are more than one Dreams, which one?
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Old Jun 28th, 2017, 02:51 PM
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Look at the Iberostar as said above (the Paraiso complex is comprised of 4 with the Beach/del Mar the lower 2 end, the Lindo and then the Maya. If you are at the Maya you get use of all 4 and then Lindo the 2 under it). I think the Lindo is great.
Or the Palladium which is a very large resort made up of 4 and you can use all 4 resorts in one. It has unlimited a la cartes and no reservations.
The BArcelo is also made up of 4 and they are stay at one play at 4 as well. It has the best beach of all of these and good snorkeling as well. It is the best of the 3 IMO.
The Dreams are great, but I think they will come in at a higher price.
If you are looking to do excursions, my choice is to stay south of Playa (Barceló, Palladium, Bahia is another great option and stay at the Akumal there so you have access to all 3). If you stay south you spend less time during your holiday traveling to/from places like Xel Ha, Tulum, Coba. Colectivos are cheap and easy to take to get around.
Enjoy
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Old Jun 30th, 2017, 10:07 AM
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Another vote for Barcelo complex. Been 3 times. best beaches and snorkeling.
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Old Jul 5th, 2017, 04:49 AM
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We just got back ( three days ago ) from the Palladium. Our second visit. We brought our 11 yr old with us this time ( first time we brought our older kids 17-26).

He had a blast and we enjoyed ourselves too.

We stayed in the Kantenah Section.

We are beach people and loved the beach in front of the Kantenah section. Our 11 yr old played in the pools a bit, but found them too warm( they are very warm since its very hot there now) so mostly he played in sea.( which was also warm, but just perfect)

Our son loved the beach bar , being able to grab a soda or snack when he wanted .

We loved the ala carte system, no reservations and unlimited . We have stayed at two other resorts, and have decided that the resorts that have the reservation system is not for us on holiday. Some days you spend longer at beach or pool, or out on a daytrip, then its no fun to rush to get ready for a dinner time.

There are two places that require reservations, but we didnt bother with them, one was the Japanese show table, ( you can eat at the japanese place without a reservation, but not at the show table) . We lucked out, arrived early for dinner one night and they they offered us a seat at the show table, so we took it.. son loved it.. and we loved it too. Food was so good.

We also loved the steakhouse, but we were not wild about the Brazilan meat place .

The Ribs and more restaurant was our least favortie.. and the Thai restaurant tied with the Japanese as our favorites.

There was lots to do.. our son would meet other kids he had met during the day at the teen club after dinner at the teen club and play video games or play pool. This gave us an hour or two on our own. I think one day he also spent about two hours there in middle of the day.. which because of the heat was a good thing.. its hot in mexico in the summer.. whew.. we normally have gone in November and found the heat something else( being from pacific northwest we are not used to those temps).. but being by the beach really helped because at least there , there as a nice ocean breeze. The pool area was sweltering as its sheltered.

We would recommend the palladium to other families, its a big resort, set in the jungle, the kids love seeing all the critters about.. the huge pools, beautiful ocean and lots to do make it a family winner.
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Old Jul 6th, 2017, 10:26 AM
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I've always wanted to try the Palladium to see how it compares to Barcelo. Unfortunately I'm always overruled by the rest of the fam.
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Old Jul 6th, 2017, 12:10 PM
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We've been on the fence too.. we want to try the Barcelo.. but there is one thing that holds us back more than others. The quality of food and the a la carte system at Barcelo. We like no reservations and unlimited ala cartes . Weve been to the Bahia resort twice and last time we said we were done with the reservations and limited access to a la carts. Unless you are staying in the Palace section ( which I understand is better however prices reflect that)

We've heard the snorkeling is superior at Barcelo however and we like snorkeling as much as we like good food. So its been a toss up.

This last trip I almost booked Barcelo.. but since this time we were taking a child I didn't like all the extra fees for things I know the child would want to do.. like the water park, and night bowling,etc we like All Inclusives that have a minimum of nickel and diming.

We also like room service, its not a huge menu and hours are only 11 am to 11pm in most sections of the Palladium ( they also have a premium section that has 24 room service ) but I dont think Barcelo offers room service free to all the sections do they? We found we'd have a big breakfast.. and snack on beach bar food/icecream at lunch, then retire to room around 3-4 to get out of heat, shower etc and nap sometimes, so a plate of chicken wings and some other snacks hit the tide us over till dinner time spot.
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Old Jul 7th, 2017, 08:34 AM
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I have stayed at both a few times and they each have their benefits.
Barceló: much better kids club, much better beach, much better snorkeling, IMO a better set up for beach snacks (larger selection as well), much better pools (the Palladiums are so deep and cold that I can barely touch in places), has elevators which is nice if you have mobility issues or have a stroller.

Palladium: more jungly and walking paths I liked, no reservations/unlimited a la cartes (however in high season, the wait could be 1 1/2 hours which is no fun with kids), room service (but it's painfully slow).

Food was about the same at both, service at both, location at both.
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Old Jul 7th, 2017, 12:39 PM
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married.. the pool temp is dependent on time of year.. the pools in June were disgustingly hot.. we couldn't use them.. it was like having a hot bath on a hot day. Plus apparently they now have heated the pools ( they didnt 2 years ago , so its new_)

Its not high season that determines your wait.. its the time you go to dinner.. if you go at 7 oclock you will wait.. but they do give you a pager so you can go for a drink. We always went before 7 and never waited more than a few minutes.. however when we cam out around 7;30-8 oclock we would find the lobby full of those waiting.
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Old Jul 7th, 2017, 03:28 PM
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I've been to the Mayan over 20 times. The pools at the Palladium are freezing no matter what time because they are so deep. I've been in Jan and Oct. They are about 5 feet deep for the most part.
The dinners were early as we had little kids, so in high season, all times were busy. The wait times in October were hardly busy because It was low season.
of course in June they would be hot, but like I said, having been to the Mayan about 20 plus times, pretty sure I understand the seasons.
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Old Jul 7th, 2017, 09:10 PM
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The pools were hot when we were there.. I was there also in November( we have been in november, May , June, this was our 5th visit ) and were were cooler then , but as I just told you, the main pool is now heated in winter,, they were not heated when you were there, as that is a new feature.

Also , you evidently haven't been to all the pools, the Whitesands pool and the Rinochito pool are not as deep as the main Colonial/Kantenah pool.

You've been to the Palladuim 20 times.. wow.. you must love it .
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