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This was our 5th time back to GP in Riviera Maya.
Transportation: We booked with Apple Vacations and their packages includes transportation. We’ve used this in the past and it typically takes 2 hours or more to get to the hotel because you have to drop off other people at their hotels. This time we used AGI who Anne has used in the past. Upon arrival there was a lot of people standing outside with peoples names. However, we found AGI quickly with my name on a sign. We only had to wait about 5 minutes for our van to pull up. The van was clean and seemed newer. Our driver, Eelios (sp?), was friendly and nice. It only took about an hour to get to the hotel. On our departure, the driver was at the hotel about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Good thing we were already waiting in the lobby. This van wasn’t as clean or as new but we got to the airport safely.Room: We stayed in Colonial in a junior suite. We thought the bed and pillows were extremely comfortable. The house keeping kept our room clean and we had towel art every day we came back from the beach. We had some loud people staying in our building so every night about 1:30am I could hear them talking and sometimes yelling for other people. Thankfully they didn’t linger long.
Food: For some reason people complain about this and I don’t know why. We never had bad food between the buffets or restaurants. We ate at the Tikal buffet for breakfast every morning. The fresh omelets are delicious. Fruit is always fresh. Lunch we ate at Punta Emilia. We always had their fajitas. We only discovered these the last time we were there. We think the chicken is better than the steak. We had a dinner buffet once. It was good. I can tell they’ve cut back on the number of options they had. Imagine how much food went to waste before? They still have plenty of selections from salad, to fresh meats or fish, pastas etc. We ate dinners at La Adelita, El Dorado, Portofino, and Sumptuori. Our favorite is El Dorado. It seems to be one of the busier restaurants. We stood in line right when they opened at 6pm. They could have sat us right away but we wanted to wait. So we went back around 6:30pm and it was a 40 min wait. They gave us a pager and we sat in the Colonial lobby bar. We also enjoyed the beach bbq. Plenty of sides to choose from from salad, corn, potatoes etc. Meat choices were chicken, pork, steak or ribs. We enjoyed the ribs and chicken. No complaints anywhere with food. Service was always great too.
Chichen Itza: To try and break up our routine, we decided to take a day trip to Chichen Itza to see the ruins. It’s about a 2 1/2hr ride both ways. We had a 1 hour guided tour and 1 hour by our selves. It was neat to see them and hear about the history. One down side is how commercialized it is. I felt like I was at a flea market with all the vendors trying to get my attention. They were everywhere. Next to every ruin and down every path. They all sold the same items. We weren’t looking to buy anything so just kept walking and ignored them when they called out to us. I feel this is sad. I doubt their ancestors would be happy with what they’re doing on their land. Just my thought 🙂
Entertainment: The POP entertainment is great. Even if you don’t like the show, just think of how talented those people are. I wish I could dance like that. They put in long hours between rehearsals and then shows. I’d be beat! haha
Bars: The only bar we spent any time at is the Colonial lobby bar. We’ve become good friends with Valentin who works the night shift there (they start at 5pm). We can not say enough about him! The first day we were there and we were walking up, he greeted us by name and was excited to see us again. When your drink is about half way gone, there’s another one waiting for you. Ask for his scrappy doo shots. They have a melon flavor. Very mild. Santiago and Ricardo are great too.
Our Green Bay Packers played one night when we were there so we got to watch them in the Sports Bar. The updated Sports Bar is great. Everything from the floor, seating, lights, tv’s has been updated.
The updated Colonial Lobby is very nice too. Very modern.
We met a lot of people from Canada and England. My husband loves hockey so he always has a good conversation with people from Canada.
Overall, we have no complaints. Remember, you’re on vacation in paradise so sit back and relax. Would you rather be at home working? Not me! I miss this second home the instant we’re leaving their driveway. As the bellboys said when we arrived “Welcome Home” and it truly feels that way.
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Great report Lindsay! I feel like you as soon as it’s getting close to leaving “home”. SO Sad.
I agree the food has been “streamlined” but quality seems better. My daughter loves the food at Punta Emilia for lunch.
ValenTin is great. Always remembers people and what their preferences are. Always smiling. I once saw a person “yelling” at Valentin for more alcohol and he handled it professionally never losing his smile. I wanted to yell back at that guest.
THANKS FOR SHARING! Any plans to return?
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Hi Anne,
Someone yelling at Valentin?! I would have stepped in and told that person where to go, like swim with the fish in the sea. They deal with not so nice drunk people on the night shift. I wouldn’t be able to keep smiling. They get a lot of credit.No plans to return yet 🙁 I hope so though!!
-Lindsay
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