Grand Riviera Princess All Suites and Spa Resort

We stayed at this resort as a family of 4 (infant + 2 year old), Jan 15 - 22, 2020 in a "Deluxe" Suite. Whether you'll like this hotel will depend on what you're looking for during your stay. Great: 1. Beautiful well maintained gardens and area 2. Very good beach, no seaweed when we were there, very little rocks 3. Had 2 cribs in the room with no issues 4. Plenty of food options in the main buffet restaurant, food was OK depending on how you eat, a lot of stuff was overcooked (steak, salmon etc.) 5. Service at buffet restaurants was pretty quick and good 6. Shows (we watched only 1 though) 7. Price we paid Average: 1. Rooms are a bit dated but well kept by very kind ladies 2. Considerable number of people on the beach so it was at times difficult to find sun loungers 3. Pools look dated as well but it was easier to find spots Poor: 1. We had a really bad experience with almost all A La Cart Restaurants. Why? Food didn't stand out at all from what you could get at buffet (with exception to a couple of deserts) and the service was absolutely terrible. Servers were nice for the most part but us and others would literally sit for an hour in between appetizers, main course and desert. Once you ordered something, it would take a long time to get and it was difficult to get a server for something else. Some people walked out due to long wait time and being ignored. And then we have 2 small kids who don't want to sit... Portion sizes at a la cart was unacceptable as well. We and others often went to the buffet right after at 9pm! We were baffled about how poor the a la cart experience was. 2. Although we didn't mind it that much, there are some pushy reps on the property that make things awkward/uncomfortable 3. Multiple other reps on every corner asking us if we want massage or a photo. We didn't mind it that much but we must have been asked 20 or 25 times if we wanted a massage... lol. People want to relax and enjoy the surroundings no? 4. Large resort with too many people. The biggest issue with that was not the walking for us but when it came to dinner time at buffet. They would close 1 of the 2 buffet restaurants so all of the people in the resort would come to 1 that was open. So there were lineups to get in the buffet. Then you have people and servers running around in total chaos, line ups to get food etc. Not good for kids or anyone else. 5. Check-in was slow for some reason 6. You can book A la cart restaurants for only 3 days in advance so you have to keep on visiting the lobby Would we visit again, likely not as other places offer a much better service

This resort has a lot to offer, close to Playa del Carmen, day trips are not too far. The rooms were clean but food was too Americanized for us. Not enough of local produce, fish and seafood. The food was ok but not as good as the Riu in PdC or the Paradisus in Cancun. Too many stews and deep fried crap. If you like calm beaches, stay closer to PdC. Restaurants and pools were very clean. Restaurants were too over-air conditioned. It wasn't 35C or even close and evenings were cooler, around 22-24C when we stayed.

Spent a total of three nights in October, Resort is really big with a lot of options for swimming. I only ate at the buffets and on the beach side for bar food such as burgers and hot dogs. We spent a entire day at the kids pool as we took my 2 year old brother with us. He enjoyed the mini slides in the pool along with the slides on the grass. I do wish to be back with a bigger group and for longer period. Over all a nice resort with entertainment at the theater every night.

I will keep this short. Resort: massive - expect to walk a lot (also shuttles available), beautiful nature/animals, well-kept, every amenity you could ask for. Great staff. Drinks: US name brands standard, not watered down, very good. Food: meh, good, not great. Comparable to any other all-inclusive I’ve gone to. Rooms: I was in platinum, so that was great. I hear the other rooms were also fine. Wedding: went very well, beautiful venue for a wedding. The coordinator Emma was very nice to deal with. I initially dealt with someone else and that person’s English wasn’t as strong, which resulted in some minor confusion/annoyance in the planning phase. Emma was great though. **however** if you’re a bride- (or groom-) zilla, a destination wedding probably isn’t for you. There will be small things that won’t go as planned, since there isn’t rly any rehearsal, etc. Dinner also isn’t private and there’s really no where to do speeches (we did it in the restaurant, no mic, nobody could hear but us). With that said, if you’re low maintenance and don’t want to go through the insane planning involved with a normal wedding, I highly recommend. Don’t take the shopping tour, but I never book tours on the resort.

We have been returning to this resort for many years now - probably 14 times. Our experience has always been excellent. If you can pay the extra - I would recommend Platinum. Private pools and impeccable service. Every morning we had breakfast at the "Chill out" right on the ocean with a view of the cruise ships and Cozumel. The staff are always happy and very welcoming.