TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This place was very disappointing. We paid for an upgrade to “poolside”, when we arrived we were told there are no poolside only “closer” to the pool. Room was dirty and very outdated. Tub was “supposed” to be for two people when it was actually a single. It was old, scratched up with tons of caulking, all around it. The toilet seat was crooked, and although requested a repair, it was never done. The majority of the staff only spoke Spanish, which made it difficult to communicate. Room service was wrong every time we ordered specifically due to language translation. Restaurant food was decent at best. Pools were the nicest thing they had. Would not recommend. See pictures posted.

Just spent 2 weeks in the Colonial here and I can honestly say that the table staff in the Colonial lobby bar are the best I have had the pleasure of meeting. They went above and beyond especially Wendy who is my favourite, my tequila lady. Please try this hotel, you will not be disappointed.

Ricardo Ávila Is an amazing server. He really went out of his way to make us feel special and was so attentive. He was on point the whole time we were there for breakfast and did not skip a beat, as soon as we needed something he was right by our side, while taking care of those around him as well, we highly recommend his section while dinning for he makes it very comfortable and pleasant

A couple of issues during our stay…The carts that transport the guests don’t seem to stop and pick people up… instead an empty cart will drive past you. I had to walk back to our room late at night in the rain which is quite a walk away and several empty carts just bypassed me.

Firstly, please ignore any bad reviews as I can honestly say we didn’t experience any issues at all during our stay. The closure of White Sands pool area didn’t affect our holiday in the slightest. The resort is absolutely huge and we really didn’t feel like we were missing out on anything. The Colonial pool on a daily basis was never over crowded and with plenty of sun loungers available. There was no need at all for reserving them and we didn’t witness this either. The pool is the biggest we’ve used and not cold either. It’s virtually the same depth throughout except for a couple of small shallow end areas. The kids pool looked great too for kids. Swim up bar was a nice touch and bar staff here and surrounding bars were friendly and quick to serve you. In the early afternoon there is fresh food served by the pool, sometimes live cooking, and live music played. This was something we’ve never had before and it was a really nice change from the usual pool scene. Our room (Villa 6 room 1614) was lovely in what seemed like typical Mexican decor. The ceiling in the bathroom looked a little tired but it didn’t bother us. The maids cleaned daily, although we would have liked the floor swept daily, and the minibar was restocked regularly too. Minibar had soft drinks, water, beer, and chocolate. The beds were comfortable and the air con along with the ceiling fan worked a treat. Check in was great. Carlos explained a few things to us, gave us some refreshing cucumber water, and advised us that we could still catch the evening buffet if we wanted to. The bell bit took our luggage and us via a golf cart to our room. He insisted we did not carry anything at all to our room. He even carried both our heavy suitcases at the same time up 4 flights of stairs to our room. Because he loved the exercise lol. As I said this resort is huge with some really nice walkways running through the grounds where you can spot wildlife of all kinds. There’s lots of Coatis (raccoon looking animals), Agoutis (a cross between a squirrel and a large rodent thing), Iguanas, monkeys, and a large Boa Constrictor was even spotted. There’s also Flamingos at the Kantenah lobby area too. If you don’t want to walk there’s golf carts ferrying you around the resort. When we were walking we had lots of them stop and offer us a lift but we were generally happy to walk. Bell boys at any of the lobby’s can arrange a cart for you or just look on the huge screen which tracks them telling you how long to the next one. There are also little shelters dotted around the site for you to sit and wait for one to arrive. All of the bars were great with lovely staff members serving you. They were really quick at getting people served too. Some of the ladies walking around the seating areas were lovely and would sometimes get drinks for you if needed. The Sports bar was great. It is 24hrs with loads of screens showing different sports. There’s pastries and little filled rolls outside of meal times available with a coffee machine and popcorn machine too. Food is available to order from a menu from midday which was not bad at all. Sometimes it took a while to arrive and sometimes a touch on the cold side. Once saw that there was just 1 person cooking for the whole bar on their own we had to feel sorry for them instead of complaining as it must be tough to do alone. Churchills cocktail bar was our favourite spot of a night time just because Jediael the bar man was truly amazing. His cocktails were incredible and enjoyed even more so when we found out he is self taught through YouTube in between his day job learning to be an architect. Jediael was so friendly and you could tell he loved his job and loved making you cocktails based on flavours you like etc. Some of his own inventions were amazing. Again he is on his own and a huge credit to him in getting everyone a drink when it became busy. The buffet restaurants were good with lots of choice available. There is definitely something for everyone there to choose from. As mentioned in some other reviews the food isn’t piping hot. It’s not cold either. The a la carte restaurants really surprised me at how good some of them were. We tried them all with the exception of 2. Poseidon (seafood) was booked but as it’s on the beach and raining, we went elsewhere instead. We went to Portifino (Italian) instead and they very kindly let us in without a reservation. El dorado (steakhouse) was the other one we missed due to renovations at White Sands. Our favourites were Bahia e brasa (Brazilian), La Paisana (Argentinian), Sumptouri (Japanese), and Portofino (Italian). The meat at the Brazilian really took us by surprise at how nice it was. We had eaten in a similar restaurant in the UK and didn’t really enjoy it. This was really tasty food here. On our 2nd visit at the Argentinian, the steak was very fatty. Our waiter Jhonatan was incredibly apologetic, offering us extra food etc even though we didn’t complain. He went above and beyond in my opinion and we haven’t really been treated with this kindness before at any restaurant before. Bearing in mind we weren’t paying for the meal, it’s part of the all inclusive. Our waiter at Hipolito at Portofino was another great guy. He was so helpful with advice on the menu and was a lovely character. I’d recommend visiting Sumptouri twice. One for show table with a great show from the cooking table and one for a regular table. Regular table has a different menu to show table. The food is great at either table but we enjoyed food at regular table more so. The huge fillet steak we got served was incredible, and free remember! Booking these restaurants through concierge was a breeze and we found all concierge staff to be really friendly and helpful. I must say we never had any luck booking restaurants through the app. We didn’t visit Bravo or Chic for the cabaret dinner as we’d heard mixed reviews and chose to pay for a dinner show at Xcaret park instead. We heard the Bingo party was really good and entertaining. The evening shows had great dancers but for us it was just that, a bit of dancing. There was no real entertainment for us, no comedy, no fun, just dancing or miming to songs. The silent disco was great to watch and we heard the karaoke was fun too. I wouldn’t hesitate in booking this hotel. I can truly say we had a fantastic time here and honestly didn’t want to come home. I think if you approach any staff members at any hotel with a polite, friendly, a warm approach, you’ll get the same in return if not more.