I am hoping to take my 75 year old - and very active - mother to Playa del Carmen along with my 10 year old son. Does anyone have a great recommendation for nice hotels?

Hi: We stayed at the Rui chain, you can use the facilities in both the Rui Yucatan and the Rui Tequeila. Excellent food, close to town, kids club, clean...I would highly recommend. You'll love the beaches, have a great trip.

We haven't been there yet (we're going in Sept) but the Iberostar Tucan/Quetzal has great reviews both on this website and on www.tripadvisor.com
Those are the websites I researched when trying to find a hotel. Hope that helps. HB

Why not stay directly in Playa del Carmen at one of the great smaller hotels? Some of them are Hotel Playa Maya, Mimi del Mar, Riviera del Sol, La Tortuga, plus many more. There are so many great restaurants and shops that are within walking distance of all of these smaller hotels that I doubt you would regret not going all inclusive.
Email me if you would like any Playa del Carmen or Playacar hotel photos sent to you.

I think you would like to stay right in Playa del Carmen as well. Lots of great little hotels with all of the great restaurants in the area you won't regret not staying at an AI. We have stayed at La Tortuga three times before - wonderful place. Lots of other options too - check out www.playadelcarmeninfo.com for info on the area - they also has a very active forum.

Thank you all.

You should check the lodging page on locogringo.com-it's very informative. We stayed at the Riu Palace in Playacar last month and LOVED it! playacar is an exclusive, gated community adjacent to Playa del Carmen. It's an easy 4 minute cab ride to downtown PDC. Next week, we're going back to PDC, but on a tighter budget, so are styaing at Playa Maya. It's small, but right on the beach, gets excellent reviews, and close to restaurants and shopping.