Outstandng Resort by Emma UK

[Anne]

Outstanding resort!

Created By: Emma R UK on Friday, July 17th, 2015

This was our first visit to Mexico and we were so impressed with this resort – it is perfect for what we wanted from our holiday. The receptionist who checked us in was very helpful in explaining the layout of the vast resort, where our room was located, where the pools, restaurants etc. were and giving us a map to keep. It came in very handy for the first couple of days! It might be more helpful to break the review down into sections to properly do it justice:

ROOM
We were placed on the Kantenah side of the resort (there are several lobbies; Colonial, Kantenah, White Sands, Riviera and the exclusive Royal Suites Yucatan which is a bit further away). Our room was on the third floor which we found was perfect for us as we wanted to escape the mosquitoes as much as possible, however there are no lifts so people who have mobility issues would be better placed on the ground floor. Our room was massive; two double beds, a large flat-screen TV, minibar stocked with lots of bottles of water, soft drinks, plus some alcoholic beverages – we don’t drink much alcohol and so didn’t have many of these but the water was certainly welcome! The minibar is restocked daily and the maid service is also daily. The balcony was a nice size however ours overlooked the dense trees rather than a pool – the resort is surrounded by jungle after all! The bathroom was lovely and spacious with a large bath/shower combined, and complimentary shampoo/body wash/soap etc. provided. We were pleased to find out that the safety deposit box was free to use as many hotels we have visited around Europe in the past have required payment, so it was good that we were able to use it straight away at no extra cost. There is plenty of room to store tablets, phones, money, travel documents etc. inside. The storage space was also very good, we had a large wardrobe and several drawers around the room. The air conditioning was a huge plus as well – it felt amazing coming back from a long day out in the sun to a nice cool room.

GROUNDS/FACILITIES
The grounds at this resort are huge – and that isn’t an overstatement! Fortunately there are carts that can be caught at each of the lobbies or called from your room to take you around the resort and drop you off nearer to where you need to be. There are flamingoes that live at a pond near the Colonial lobby, plus lots of other wildlife to enjoy – including birds, some cheeky coatis and the occasional raccoon! There is a giant lake in the middle of the grounds with lots of fish – feeding tables are dotted around the place so you can feed them if you want to after midday, which we thought was a nice touch. There is also a boat that takes you around the lake and runs for several hours each day if you wanted to have a look around the resort that way.

There are several pools, and you don’t have to go far to stumble across one, and the main lagoon pool has a swim-up bar and jacuzzi plus plenty of sun loungers – we never struggled to find a lounger as there are so many of them and plenty of pools if one got particularly busy. The hotel gives each person a towel card that you must hand in to get a towel – presumably to prevent people reserving loungers with their own personal towels at the beginning of the day then going off elsewhere. You then hand them back when you’re done and get your card back for the next time. All pools we went to were spotlessly clean, and one day we saw some maintenance staff testing the water to ensure it was safe so we knew that they were properly maintaining the pools for everyone’s safety.

As previously mentioned, the hotel is surrounded by jungle and there are jungle trails you can walk down within the resort if you wanted to explore them, and to get around there are wooden walkways which go across some of the mangroves – we liked how considerate they are of the environment and had signs up about each of the different species of wildlife/trees etc. to make it educational.

The beach was lovely, although as others have said, there is some trouble with seaweed washing up on the sand – but the staff do try their best to keep it to a minimum by bagging it up each day – it cannot be helped and we still really enjoyed our time spent by the sea. There are plenty of toilet facilities on the beach too so you don’t have to walk far, and self-serve drink dispensers. Further up there was also an inlet where you can go snorkelling to look at the fish etc.

RESTAURANTS/BARS
There are many bars and restaurants at this resort, and we visited many of them during our two weeks here. We were told that the Japanese show-cooking had to be reserved in advance when we checked in, however we fell very very lucky and managed to get to see it on our first night without a reservation – and it was definitely worth seeing! We also visited many of the other restaurants on offer, including the Italian restaurant, which was my personal favourite – loved their lasagne! Each restaurant is al a carte and all the ones we visited had a self-serve salad bar with lots of options as well. You also get a welcome drink when you first go in which you can try. Dessert options are shown to you on a cart so you know exactly what you’re getting.

There are also buffet restaurants open for breakfast, lunch and dinner (the al a carte restaurants are only open for dinner). We mainly visited for breakfast and lunch – each time spoilt for choice, there is so much there! I particularly liked the made-to-order grilled ham and cheeses and pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast, and lunch options changed daily but there is something for everyone. We were never disappointed with any of the food, it was all great quality considering how many people there were to cook for and every time we left full.

SERVICE
All staff we encountered at the resort were very friendly and helpful. We were always impressed with how clean our room was (we also had some great towel sculptures!) and the staff in the restaurants were very efficient and keen to get our feedback on the service they provided. We tried to tip as often as possible as the service was excellent from all.

SPA
The spa is 10 USD each to enter (free for Royal Suites guests) and was fantastic. There was a lazy river, jacuzzis, sauna, vapor room, massage therapy (at additional cost), pool with water fountain amongst other things. When we went it was quite quiet and often had the jacuzzi to ourselves – very relaxing! It is definitely worth a visit.

ENTERTAINMENT
We didn’t visit any of the hotel’s shows, but there is an extensive range of activities available that changes daily. There are plenty of information boards up, particularly in the lobbies to find out what is going on each day. We did have a look at the sports activities and took part in the rifle shooting, but there are tennis courts, football, swimming pool, archery activities etc. as well.

OVERALL
This resort is fantastic, if we come to Mexico again I would love to stay here once more, the rooms, facilities, food, activities, and service were all great and I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone!

Stayed June 2015, traveled as a couple

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