I am planning a group trip for December and we want an all-inclusive. One place we have looked at was the Adventura Spa Palace. I have seen decent reviews for this place but the one thing I don't like is they don't have a good beach. Also, it is listed as 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor but for some reason I am skeptical.

Are there any other all-inclusives that are nicer than this place in the same general area (cancun, riviera maya...). Our main criteria are:

1. Good for couples & singles
2. Nice beach and pool
3. decent restaurants

kvball71,
Here's my reply to you from the Caribbean thread (not sure if you saw it there):


We've been to a few Sandals resorts as well as one Couples resort, and both chains are couples only.

We've also been to the Grand Lido resorts several times and Secrets resorts 4 times -- while those are both adults only (& not couples only), they both have mostly couples as guests.

For one of our vacations every year, we go away w/ a group of friends (my husb & I are both 36). In May 2003, we went to Aventura Spa Palace (adults only, all inclusive) south of Playa del Carmen (which is south of Cancun) w/ 6 other couples & we all had a great time there.

It's a huge resort (~1,200 rooms) so you can all do your own thing if you want to & not always be on top of each other. We thought the food was all very good, w/ plenty of restaurant options. The pools (one on the Aventura side & one on the Spa side) were huge & spotless. The resort is built on a man-made lagoon & the ocean is just on the other side of the lagoon. There is no 'real' beach to take long walks on, but we never really missed having that (there is sand that they brought in). All of the rooms there have 2-person jacuzzis, mini-fridges & on-the-wall liquor dispensers; and there is 24 hour included room service. There is a disco as well as nightly entertainment.

Another plus, is that the resort is only about 12 minutes from Playa del Carmen, so you can go into town for a night or two (bars or for dinner), just for some variety (i.e. Carlos & Charlies, Blue Parrot...).

Out of all of the resorts that we've been to, I think that the ASP is one of the best AI, adults only for a group that has a mix of married/non-married ppl.

I have pics of ASP (in folder "Cancun--Aventura Spa Palace--May 2003&quot if you're interested:

http://photos.yahoo.com/jmrperotto


Jackie

Any of the Iberostar resorts would be great. Wonderful service, activites for all levels or just relaxation, great pools and beach, etc.

We just stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Beach/Del Mar and it was the worst vacation of our lives. The food and drinks were terrible, the resort staff was non-responsive, and 27 of the 30 guests in our party fell ill at some point during the week for 2-3 days each. That is 90% of the guests in our party and includes 3 of the 4 members of my immediate family.

Hope this helps.

Wow. We've stayed at the Iberostar Del Mar and have had some of the best vacations of our life.
Jeff, sorry your experience with the IB resort was so bad. Our experiences there have always been wonderful. Especially the staff and the service provided.

once in a while, I hear of an experience like Jeffs, enough to keep me away from an all inclusive. The look nice, but most of them are so darn big...
I have to admit, on my recent trip to Cancun, the LeBlanc looked like one of the best hotels on the strip, and it is all inclusive.