TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Amazing staff! Great place and wonderful vacation! We felt safe the whole time and my boys are 6 and 13 years old. The Playroom is my 6 year olds favorite place. The staff running it are awesome. He asked to go everyday giving me time to myself!

My husband and I spent 5 nights at Playacar. We were glad we did not bring our kids as we do not think they would have enjoyed it. Service all-around was excellent. There is one large pool but we received outstanding pool service from Isabel, Ricardo and Marvin. The entertainment staff at the pool did an absolute wonderful job. Thank you Roderigo, Jorge, and Rogelio for making each day at the pool so much fun. Unfortunately, we were at the pool because the beach was full of seaweed and the water was filthy. We were not able to enjoy the beach at all. My husband indicated the water and beach are so dirty that he did not dare get in the water because "he wants to be able to see the shark if it attacks him." The location of the hotel next to 5th Avenue and the city of Playa Del Carmen was great. The food at the buffet was okay, we ate there for breakfast mostly and had lunch at the pool. We really enjoyed the food in the Italian and Asian restaurants (we ate at the Italian restaurant twice). The Mexican restaurant was a 10-course meal that we found a bit lacking. The hotel could definitely use a little love and updating in the common areas. Many of the couches and chairs had stuffing coming out of them. The drinks at the bars could also use a little love and updating. It was a real miss when we started ordering drinks the next day at the pool and the lobby bar and they had no flavor or alcohol (tasted like watered down slushees). We eventually found drinks that the bartenders could make correctly and stuck to those drinks all week. All and all - I give it a four star for the excellent service and location. If we didn't want to go to the beach, we would probably go back for another 5 night stay.

Fantastic place to stay with the family! Safe, close to shopping, great food, swim up bar and a lot of fun! We went with another family and had a great time. We will definitely stay again next time we go to Playa Del Carmen!

My husband and I booked the Governor Suite. It was beautiful and perfect for us. The air conditioner was freezing cold and wouldn’t shut off or adjust but maintenance came within 30 minutes to fix it. The food was of good quality and service was fast and efficient. Andrea and Nacho, the pool concierges were very attentive to our needs everyday. Silvia at the pool was an excellent server. Marianna our diamond concierge was excellent and very personable. Flavia at the spa was a great masseuse. Mercedes gave me the best facial I have ever had. It was called Diamond Energy. Daniel at Bocelli’s helped us to pick out a great wine for dinner. Domingo was our Shabu shabu server and did an excellent job, if you haven’t tried it, do so. Jonathan was our chef for the teppanyaki and we were the only couple at 6:00. Private show and dinner was really good and not so long and drawn out like normal. The 10 course dinner at Lahana was not to my liking but the presentation was awesome and I am sure if you like the authentic Mexican it was very good. Overall the resort was clean and the employees in the lobby were very friendly. Even though the resort was full it didn’t seem that way for dinner or at the pool.

Family of 9 (2 couples, 4 “kids” ages 15 to 21 and grandma) 6 nights in 5 rooms. Property - smaller property than many we’ve stayed at in the area - generally well maintained - 2 bars - pool bar and lobby bar (I think there’s a club that was under construction while we were there) - nice gym, rarely used - resort credit is basically not useful. Lots of things you can’t use it for and still need to pay significant taxes in order to use. Rooms - Honeymoon room 439 - pretty standard room, great view of both pool and beach/ocean, small balcony, minor lights to help you move around in the dark were much appreciated, loud birds in the morning chirping away, despite thick curtains the light still comes through (consider packing an eye mask) - standard king room looked pretty much like ours but smaller tub and more open bathroom area - rooms have a set up of alcohol - run, tequila, whiskey, and something else (you can supposedly have it locked) - construction happening on property including right above our room. Recommendation: ask where your room is compared to construction. Also heard construction down by pool but not too loud. Food - as noted in other reviews, food is quite good - only 4 restaurants (plus pool-side) so you will eat the same place multiple times - we made reservations for most nights the day we arrived and were able to get close to what we wanted even with a party of 9 - Mayan restaurant - only has tables of 2 but tables are set up in pairs so easy to enjoy time with another couple if desired. 18+ only. Definitely worth going. - Italian restaurant had great ambiance. Piano in the middle that they would let people play, which was nice. Staff was friendly and attentive. Pool - finally a pool in Mexico that isn’t freezing to get into!! I’m sure it’s not heated but it was small enough that it got warm. Major plus!! - nice variety of pool chair options (with tables!). Staff moved umbrellas around upon request which was great. Didn’t notice a shortage of chairs but grabbed some around 8:30 each morning. - Tip: you probably don’t need chairs for everyone in your group. For instance, 4-6 for our group of 9 was usually plenty. - wait staff was excellent- regularly checking in. Marvin and Ricardo were particularly good. Ocean & Beach - mostly flat beach - walkable but not long, a good amount of dried seaweed but not smelly. Ocean water was warm and it didn’t take long to get past seaweed in water. Had access to beach beds but didn’t use them so can’t speak to service on the beach. Activities / Shows - beach volleyball 2x a day at 11 and 4. Strong players while we were there (but fun, no shaming). Play continued afterwards sometimes. - evening shows entertained but not so good you need to organize your schedule around them - plenty of other activities if interested;water volleyball, water aerobics, blackjack in the pool) - entertainment staff had great energy. Loved the volleyball crew especially!!! - 2 pool tables available. Really nice to have before & after dinner. Not high quality tables but still appreciated. Transportation - since we were a group of 9, we booked private transport. Got a better rate from USA Transfers - Helpful with booking taxi to Xplor. Manuel suggested a taxi as the best means, told us how much it would be and pre-scheduled it for us proactively - advice for the Ferry was NOT sufficient (did not make note of who we spoke to). Some issues they might not have known about (cash only, orange one couldn’t accept US dollars) but they could have told us we needed masks so we didn’t have to buy them for $1 each. Cozumel Palace - went over one day. Not sure it was worth it thanks to ferry logistics issues. Ferry takes about 45 min + 20 min walk. Snorkeling was fine but not special. Wait was long for paddle boards. Dock to jump into ocean was nice. Pool was nice. Seemed to have food shortage.