TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Not usually one to complain or review however due to this experience we felt the need so that anyone else booking goes in eyes wide open. The pictures suggests 5 star facilities which is debatable, however the whole place is looking dated and needs a makeover. Generally when you book a 5 star experience you expect the facilities in excellent order and the service to match. In our experience this lacks both parts and for this you should expect 3 to 4 star at the most. check in- After a long and tiring flight this was pretty quick however there was no welcome drinks offered - we did see this happening a week later so maybe the hotel has changed process or its hit and miss. Got to the room and found black out curtain hanging off, so off for something to eat and report it. Got up night to use loo and toilet not working this resulted in having to go down to use the lobby facilities in the middle of night (15 min total walk). Was promised an engineer in 10 mins but this did not materialise until we were at breakfast in the morning Staff - friendly enough however service is poor - Room cleaner - did not clean room properly once and neglected the basics of replenishing sundries on a daily basis - bar service very little interaction from waiters to clear glasses offer further drinks or beer mats resulting in having to queue at bar and getting condensation on the table area getting wet clothes - Buffet staff - often had to go and grab a waiter to get a coffee with breakfast or a cold drink with a meal - pool staff - very lacking in this area and regularly found dead frogs in the pool and animal faeces around the pool only saw the same pool being netted for debris 4 times in 2 week stay and one of those was as we complained about dead frogs in pool. Generally speaking the whole area looked grotty from beds through to the floor hotel cleanliness generally speaking is average at best Food - We ate at the buffet 3 times as well as breakfast daily and although there was plenty of options the food was very bland and tasteless additionally we never saw any food or ice art that have been present at other 5 star resorts we have frequented Obviously food is a personal preferance however our batting order for the al a cartes is as follows: Miso Tepanyaki - went twice and food was excellent on both occasions as well as the cooking show being a fantastic experience mama Mia - went twice and the lasagne was lush as was the fillet steak La fleur - very tasty and well presented meal La vaqueria - this wasnt all that for a steakhouse we found the new york steak was best choice and there are better steaks available at other restaurants Las Olas - the mahi mahi resembled a square block that was breadcrumbed and was dry didnt go back Miso thai - Not great and was lacking flavour and the curry was more like a stew La hacienda - very dissappointed with this as it is mexican in mexico so should be the best however was very bland and non spicy Sports bar - nice easy going lunch or tea and the paninis were lovley - this is the only air con bar on complex La fondue and miso oriental - didnt tickle our fancy so no comment Chill out - cannot comment as didnt use but heard good things Drinks - basic offering however we purchased the platinum band for £335 which allowed us premium drinks, use of the the platinum lounge (this has continental breakfast, finger sandwiches and rolls for lunch and afternoon tea), service of waiter to sunbed for getting drinks, 24 hour room service at no cost and the use of a concierge to assist you - we found this good value when you work it out for 14 days Wild life - now this is good and bad and managed to see - deer, capybara, ratsnake, racoons, spider monkey, geko, iguana and coati. There are also crocodile and turtles in chill out area however we did not see these Now we know and understand that this is there natural habitat however the coati have not been managed very well. So if you expect to eat outdoors forget it as it is impossible. These creatures are everywhere and are i would say a pest. They are constantly bin dipping making rubbish go everywhere (this could easily be solved with coati proof bib=ns that are not open), they will grab food out of your hands even if your hand is still holding it risking injury. They are constantly trying to get your beaker of drink, and if you are in the pool they are up on your bed trying to go through your bag especially if they can scent food. we even saw some baby ones swim over the pool probably by mistake. There is a taco bar and a burger bar by the pools however when we grabbed a burger and went to sit down about 10 coatis leaped into action hissing and fighting each other to get the burger luckily i managed to move my hand away rapidly otherwise i am convinced they would of tasted that as well. other hotel users also mentioned about them trying to get in room however we never witnessed that Hotel shops - as expected massively over priced with a big mark up - save your dollar and catch the hotel bus into playa de carmen to get more realistic price or grab your souveniers while on a day trip Day trips As this is our third time in mexico we did chichan itza with a cenote and this was fabulous and imformative day out - we have done various other trips on previous visits and there is plenty to do and see beach area - this was maintained however if the wind wind blew the wrong way there was a whiff of sewage - i think the sewage outet is to the front of the hotel beach somewhere so glad i didnt swim in the sea overall we had a nice time it is just ashame that it was not fantastic due to alot of the expectations of a 5 star resort not being present. Due to this we would definately not return to this hotel or any princess brand again.

Just leaving from a 2 week stay her. Firstly a special shout out to the staff at the chill out, Javier, Fernando, Jimmy, marisol and isobel! Could not do more for you. Exceptional service, friendly, kind , beautiful people. The food and service here is second to none . We spent the whole 2nd week down there . The beach is paradise.we loved our stay here and will be returning. Thankyou x

The Grand Riviera Princess in Playa Del Carmen is definitely not a 4 star hotel even 3 star is generous. Rooms The rooms are very dated and in need of serious renovation. Much of the furniture is damaged, TVs look to be well over 10 years old, and the general upkeep and cleanliness is seriously lacking including: • Strong smell of damp; • Only a few coat hangers available; • veneer peeling away from sideboard; • cupboard doors unable to be closed unless a drawer is opened; • curtains with holes in them; • no screens on windows to allow them to be open but stop bugs/animals intruding; • sockets lobsided on the walls appearing loose; • pitting on bathroom mirrors – which made them look like they were never cleaned; • deterioration of tiles in bathroom; • showerhead rail did not allow for different positions of showerhead; • veranda not clean – walls and edges of floor had accumulation of dirt. • Unable to dry clothes on veranda due to coatis in area which would drag any clothes (had to throw some items away when this happened). Contacting reception was useless. They didn’t respond to initial contact regarding small and lack of cleaning. When we told them about the abundance of mosquitos in the room, they said they would fumigate that day and to stay out of the room for a couple of hours but they never turned up. Toileteries were never restocked even when requested and the minibar only had one of each soft drink so not enough for two in the room. Yes, we could go to the bar but that was a 15 minute walk from the room and would need to be consumed there not in the room as we wanted. Food The food in the buffet restaurants was repetitive and cold - probably the worst I have encountered. Food would run out and not be replenished even if it was early in the sitting. Even drinks – beer and coffee that were through a machine would run out and the staff were unable to restock even though there was a bar literally next door. Some foods required extra payment which I have never seen in an all inclusive resort. The buffet restaurants would be advertised to be open at certain times and then they would suddenly close them, even with people inside and the room half empty. It would then suddenly open up half an hour later for no reason. To eat at one of the speciality restaurants, you needed to book through the app. It would also only allow you to book for the people in your room so as all of us wanted to go, we had to open the app on different devices and book simultaneously to ensure we all got to eat together. The speciality restaurants, although a step up on the buffet restaurants, still served lukewarm food. Pools There were multiple pools on site and access to a beach. However, they lacked shade. This is a very hot country and shade in the form of umbrellas or permanent standing structures should have been available to all. Instead, around each pool there were about 4 or 5 standing structures that accommodated 10 sunbeds in total. Everyone else was left in the blazing sun. If you tried to get limited shade from the limited surrounding vegetation, which would last for a short time each day, you were constantly on your guard for the coatis that roamed wild and basically attacked any bags or beds and we had been warned could attack people as well. The lack of shade was a health hazard. We ended up limiting our time at the pool considerably as a result with little else to do on those days but sit in the shabby rooms. In addition, the tiles in the pool were missing or coming away while standing on them. The pool areas were not cleaned. Spills of drinks from previous days, including fruit placed in the drinks, could still be found around the pools from when we arrived at 8am (no drinks were available until 10am) until we left at lunchtime.

TUI ( Absaloutley not ) Please stay away from this hotel please If you have young children you have to pay to use the children facilities slide kids club THEY HAVE NO KIDS FOOD in any restaurant my husband was really sick off the raw chicken in a so called alcarte MAMAMIA DONT DO IT There are drunk people Absaloutley everywhere in every pool you got get served for a drink as you can’t get to the bar and with a child and even without a child this is so Fustrating as the bar staff are so interested in them and constantly getting tipped they forget about us who havnt even had the chance. The coaties are Absaloutley everywhere people were getting bit AND SENT TO HOSPITAL to have a rabies shot we wasn’t made away of this with tui got here and had to sign a waver after a 9 hour flight if we didn’t we can’t stay here ?????????? The pools had sick in them my daughter has eye infection from the swimming pools which we asked to see a DOCTOR still nothing after 4 days We’ve reached out to tui several times after 4 days said we can move you to a different better hotel but it’s going to COST £1450 !!!!! When we paid 5 to come here ?? Absaloutley discusting literally left us in the lurch there’s so many other issues PLEASE STAY CLEAR of this hotel the staff are lovely ( most of them ) The loungers are Absaloutley filthy the drinks are like water you don’t even get a glass at night time it’s a sharp dirty plastic cup how is this supposed to be a 5 star . My shoes were stolen from the beach area we told the concierge how ever you spell it and not herd anything since ) Our friends left sun cream for us in the lobby and when asking reception to get it for us they were asking how many bottles do you need ??? As if it was there’s ! The food is Absaloutley terrible Tui just do not care and do not want to know and have no safety net for little family’s like us be so careful !! :( not a good experience what so ever x

The hotel is beautiful, but mainly the restaurant called las olas was absolutely phenomenal, some of the best sea food I have had in a long time extremely fresh and cooked to perfection from the starters to the main and desert, and lastly the service was perfect our waiter Freddy couldn’t help us enough from bringing everything we needed to us and recommending meals he made the experience so much greater