Help any suggestions. I realize the first is in rivera maya and the second is in playa del carmen, but which is cleanest, newest, has the best beach, pools and food?
thanks

They are both clean. The beach at the Riu Palace has suffered some severe erosion, so the IBerostar Del Mar would win for the beach. The Iberostar Del Mar also has an amazing pool system. Food is subjective...we never went hungry at the Del Mar.
For great information on the Iberostars, go to this site:

http://www.iberostar-board.com/boards/index.php

hello schmerl- you will be happy to know - that thanks to your advice we booked at the del mar- building 15- pool view
now can you give me specifics
where should we do a la carte dining
and what are the must do's?
We have a 2 and 4 year old- and my 57year old parents are coming with us.
I do enjoy good beaches, snorkeling and diving
did you check out there sister resort in cozumel?

Copngratulatios!
For a seven night stay you are guaranteed three ala carte dinner reservaitons at the Del Mar/Beach.
Again..food is so subjective. We liked the Mediterranean which is mainly seafood (any of the restaurants will bring you pasta or some such thing for your children). We also enjoyed the Japanese restaurants where they cook the food right at the table.
If you go to the site I mentioned above, you can access the menus for the restaurants.
Make your ala carte dinner reservations for the week as soon as you get there. There will be a table in the lobby where you can do that. With little ones it may be easier to just do the buffet.
For breakfast the buffet in the lobby area is WAY better than the one by the pool. Much bigger selection.
We are beach people and spent all day on the beach so we just grabbed lunch at the beach grill. Again there is a bigger selection at the main buffets.
Make sure you take advantage of the extra eateries at the Commercial center---there is a burger place, a yummy taco place, a creperie and a tapasa place. There are also shops and the disco and spa there.
We did not check out the sister resort. To get to Cozumel you would have to take the shuttle to Playa and then the ferry to Cozumel and then a taxi to the IB Cozumel.
It would be easier to check out the IB Tucan/Quetzl which is close to Playa.
Again, for all the info you could ever want, go to the site I mentioned in my above post.
When are you going?

OH..how could I have forgottten to mention the ice cream?! There is an ice cream bar at the pool. GREAT ice cream. I love the coconut ice cream and if you really want a treat have them pour some Kahlua over it--YUM!

Thanks for all the great info- did you check out the IB Tucan?
We are going the last week of april
Did you rent a car?
What excursions have you done?
Do you have a favorite beach?
how much is the ferry to cozumel?
thanks

If a beach is important to you at the resort, I would not worry about getting to the IB Cozumel. It is extremely rocky, so much so you cannot enter the water on the beach. You have to walk down the pier to get in. I think the beaches would be much nicer in Playa. However, we did enjoy exploring Cozumel and had fun at Chankanaab Park. Have a good trip!