Wonderful trip tp GP Riviera Maya

[Anne]

Rhonda reports

“We just returned from Grand Palladium Riviera Maya (July 27-Aug 3). We are a family of 4 with 17 yo and 13 yo boys. Our original plans were a Caribbean cruise but when it looked like that was not going to happen, we started looking at alternative vacation spots. We did a ton of research and GP Riviera Maya had all that we were looking for, both for us and the boys. As our trip got closer and the negative reviews kept coming, I got nervous and even started looking at other resorts. We are so glad we did not. Here is our very honest and detailed review:

Registration: yes it is slow and our check in day came at the end of a long travel day. We left our home at 5 am, traveled through 2 airports, 3 hr layover at 1st airport, 1 hr + wait to get through immigration in Cancun, followed by 1.5 hr drive to the resort. We were tired and hungry so any wait would have been too long. It probably took about 45 min – 1 hr to get checked in. As previously mentioned, there was only 1 person getting everyone to their rooms. Once through the line, the lady at the desk was beyond nice and had accommodated our request that our rooms be in the same building. Registration process took no time at all. Day 1 issue was that our son’s room dock lock did not work. We called and the front desk sent someone out while we grabbed a bite of dinner from Hacienda. They replaced the battery in the door and it still didn’t work. We told the maintenance guy, that they could come back tomorrow but he insisted on fixing correctly. He replaced the entire lock at that time. Guest services followed up the next day and even sent room service to our boys during the week to ensure we were happy.

Food and bars: We were able to use the app for dinner reservations on our first day. We could only get it to book 1 restaurant at a time. We then went to the reservation line in the main lobby. Again only 1 person working, and we waited about 45 min. We were about to try again another time, when a person in front of us just started yelling at the gentleman making the reservations. He was absolutely horrible to him and my husband and I decided to continue to wait just so the man knew that not everyone acted that way. We waited another 10 or so min and were able to book the remaining meals through Sunday. He told us that the new schedules come out on Sun so that is why. We booked two other meals on the app without difficulty. We ate at El Dorado, Sumptuori, La Adelita, Portofino, Bahia e Brasa, and Poseidon. We love food and trying new things. Our favs were Bahia e Brasa and Sumptuori. We did not enjoy Hacienda on night one but it was late in the evening and buffet food is not at it’s best after sitting. We ate breakfast and lunch at La Dahlia, Tikal, and El Gran Azul and enjoyed them all. GP does a great job catering to international tastes. One of the complaints that we kept seeing was “watered down drinks”. We did not experience this, but we also are not people who can drink all day and night. Our youngest loved that he could get a pina colada without alcohol, whenever he wanted. House white wine is a Sauvignon Blanc which is actually pretty good. House red is a very mild pinot again very tasty. We loved trying all the different flavors of Mojitos.

Entertainment: the POP staff are awesome! They are always trying to engage guests into whatever activity that is up next. On our second day, Janka (POP member) was “working” as guest relations (his words not ours) and surveying guests about likes and dislikes. We told him about night one with the wait and not enough employees. He totally agreed and said that is the information that he wanted to share with GP. So while yes the wait was a pain, they really are trying to do better.

The beach: yes the sargassum was bad but every day they are working constantly to get it cleaned up. We were only able to swim in our water one day. That is no fault of GP. You can’t help what mother nature throws your way.

Off site tours/adventures: Because the seaweed was bad we went to Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel. We took a taxi then the ferry and taxi back. DO NOT buy a ferry ticket from the booth people. We were warned not to but arrived close to 10 min until the next ferry left and the guy insisted that he could get us on it. We were gullible and ended up paying about 40% more for the tickets and still had to wait for the next ferry. It still bothers me that I was that dumb but hey, we were in Mexico and it is still beautiful. Mr. Sanchos is great for active teens. We had been there before, and the boys loved it so we went back. It’s on the west side of the island so we got crystal blue Caribbean sea!!

Our other adventure was swimming with whale sharks off the coast of Cancun. We booked through Dan Palka (VIP Riviera Maya) and were taken out by DC Explorers. We chose Mexico because we wanted to take our boys on this tour. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! I can’t describe how amazing it was to be swimming beside then quickly behind these beautiful animals. We all loved it and are already talking about how we can do it again.

General take aways: We loved the GP. This was our first all-inclusive but it will definitely not be our last. The Mexican people are probably one of the nicest group of people that we have met. We did not encounter an unhappy person our entire trip. The GP staff went above and beyond to assure that our visit was a positive one! Mexico especially the Riviera Maya is absolutely beautiful. Will we come back? Yes. Will it be the GP? Who knows, there are a bunch of resorts that we want to try. Will we recommend this resort to others? ABSOLUTELY!
Thanks for reading and we can answer any questions you all have! Happy traveling!!!

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