girlonthego

HI this place looks interesting when I am checking out vacation spots for my family. Which one is a great family resort(not concerned with kids clubs-my kids are older 11 and 12 range). Which one is more upscale, better food, rooms,etc... and the big question or fear of mine... Has anyone gotten sick from the water? Can you drink the frozen drinks? ice cubes? all foods? I went to Cancun once and absolutely avoided all water as much as possible.(unless bottled). I was extremely careful. I did not get sick. I also did not think I would ever go back to Mexico because of the water issue, BUT these resorts look beautiful and they are very reasonably priced. Do they all have their own water filteration systems? Thanks for any info.

zootsi

We were in Playa del Carmen and Akumal a few months ago and were fine. A few must do's as far as water: We only drank bottled water, even brushing teeth was done with bottled water. One of the hotels we stayed at supplies each room with it's own 5 gallon jug of bottled water. Eating out, we stuck with beer and bottled drinks. Many of the restaurants now do a disinfectant rinse of all fruits and vegetables, and print this on their menus.

Davelw

I was in Playa del Carmen a couple of years ago with my family. Our kids were 9 and 11 at the time. We stayed at the Gala Resort, which is one of the many Playacar resorts adjacent to Playa del Carmen. Gala was recommended as a great family place, and we were very pleased with the decision. Like you, we didn't think we would use kids clubs, but Gala has a teens club that our kids really enjoyed. In fact, they were disappointed one evening when we picked them up early!

Gala is on a beautiful stretch of beach, has several restaurants including two upscale ones, and is very well maintained. Highly recommended!

As far as water goes, we did everything possible to avoid drinking tap water or using untreated ice in drinks. The only trouble we had was that my daughter and I had very slight upset stomachs for a couple of days - could just have been travelers nervousness!

Dave

Little_Man

I've never gotten sick in the hotel zone in Cancun (the bigger hotels usually have purified water), but did get a little upset in PDC, but bought some antibiotics at the local pharmacy, and all was well!
If you want a big resort and must have an all inclusive (yuck), the Iberostars look the nicest, if you want to be in PDC, the Riu Palace is the most upscale that will still take kids...
The newest Iberostar the Iberostar Maya.
Don't obsess on the water! Mexico is great!

girlonthego

Thank you for all of your responses! I will be mulling over our choices.
Thanks again.

jb1923

hi, i just returned yesterday from pdc and i did not get sick once. i only drank bottled water, but i did drink frozen drinks and drinks with ice in it. the hotel we stayed at had bags of ice delivered every morning and the ice came from a company that sells bottled water. we also ate every where, at first i was alittle nervous about food being rinsed with tap water, but i finally just started eating everything and felt fine. Have fun.

Len3

I need some ideas on places to stay in Playa del Carmen. Just 2 adults going without children. We really don't enjoy the all inclusive idea. Any help would be appreciated.

Little_Man

Len, it would be helpful to know your budget -- there are hotels in this area that are very economical, and hotels that are luxury!