TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I have been this trip for 18 months, we upgraded directly with the hotel to Enclave section. The first couple of days we had jet lag so we managed to get some Loungers in the Enclave section upstairs, Chala. The food option opened at 12.30pm, and folks went to sit down to eat, however for the amount of enclave rooms we felt that there wasn’t enough loungers or places to be seated to eat upstairs. The vibe was nice the first couple of days, however we ended up using the main pool with the swim up bar as it was more cooling in the heat, rather than a 3ft jacuzzi pools in the Chala area. The Enclave bar was a good option for a cool drink and snacks, we even had breakfast there one day, which was nice because it meant that we didn’t have to stand waiting for a table in the main buffet. The cafe Azulinda was good for an ice lattes which my teenagers enjoyed, however my main gripe was there was a lack of ice cream around the property. Hotel guests should not have to get dressed and leave the pool area to go into the lobby to get an ice cream. Ice cream should be available around the pool areas both downstairs and upstairs at Chala. The main buffet wasn’t up to much, the Brazilian meat evening was cheap grisly meat that was hard to chew. What was good was the La Luce Italian restaurant, which we visited twice and the had two nice meals and chose from the wine list, quality of wines at additional costs were nice and we enjoyed them. The steakhouse was a nice experience, however there was only a skirt steak available at no extra cost, if you wanted another piece of meat you had to pay for it and they started from $60 each, we laughed at the irony, and skirt steak is not a quick frying steak, it should be cooked over a long period of time, completely inappropriate option. We also left a tip for the server and were not made aware that an additional serving cost for pouring the wine from the wine menu would be added to the final bill when we checked out, naughty. The room was kept clean, we left a tip every day so that we could have coffee pods for our morning coffee. You should not have to do this the price you pay, also we had to leave money in the minibar to have a selection of drinks each day. The room service was a plus, we ordered breakfast and evening meals after a long day out. The beach was ok, full of seaweed however the best part of the whole holiday was watching the turtles come in each night to lay their eggs. I used the spa, had a pedicure which was fine, it was a nice experience. The taxi situation really annoyed us, we could t get an Uber from the hotel lobby, we were charged $70 dollars round trip to go to the La Isla Mall which is three miles away. We had dinner reservations in Cancun one evening and we actually worked to the bottom of the hill and ordered an Uber which costed $25. Walk over to the seven eleven shop for reasonable prices. All in all a holiday which had some positives, but after travelling 10 hours from the UK we were a little disappointed, tipping and prices of Cancun on a par with Orlando. We have also been spoilt by travelling to 5/6 star hotels in Europe so this hotel just didn’t make the grade. It would probably be passable if you were going for 3/4 days, but it’s not a long haul hotel for folks coming from Europe.

PROS: Food options were great, staff was friendly and helpful, and there was a family-friendly event every night! I came here a year and a half ago and I was happy to see some familiar faces (Bruno on the entertainment team) and some fabulous new ones as well (Rain was a joy!). They made the stay so fun with all of the activities provided and my 5 yr old had fun at the events every night. The Glow Party was our favorite!! I signed up for the Aqua Strong class 2 days out of my 5 day stay and I honestly wish I did more. The instructor, Luis, was very patient and its clear that he cares about helping people achieve their fitness goals. CONS: I wish that the instructor for the Aqua Strong class had a mic because it was hard to hear him over the party music being played at the pool next to us. I also wish that there was a better system in place for booking dinner reservations at the restaurants on site. It felt like playing the lottery every day and most of the places were completely booked. One of the nights I had no choice but to take a 10pm reservation at the steakhouse and we didn't actually get served until 11pm. That's just not acceptable for people travelling with littles like me. TBH, the steakhouse was overrated (the food at the Vela buffet was better) and I wish I didn't waste my time going there. I think that this is a great choice overall for the quality of service and amenities you get for the price, but I think that there is still room for improvement in some areas. I look forward to coming back and I hope that they will have made some changes by then!

Nice resort, but DO NOT waste your money on the upgrade to enclave. A standard room is fine, and you'll have to set your own reservations My enclave experience: you get access to the chala sky bar. It's over run with families not watching their kids, and the service at the bar and grill is not nearly as good as the adults only area, which is already standard. Our first day the Chala was closed, they failed to tell us that until after running our card. We were also promised access to the cabanas. Not true, you can only get cabanas at the chala bar, and again, over run by families putting a shoe on a lounger at 6 in the morning, small plunge pools full of kids. Like FULL. And I like kids, but it's a LOT of them and I thought I was paying for a quieter/upscale experience. You get access to the enclave lounge near the lobby, ok, but not so grand that you'd want to spend extra on it. Your dinner reservations are made for you. Nice, but you can do it yourself too. You get a hydro therapy spa experience. Guess what? Everyone who pays for the enclave upgrade gets it, we went and it was a big group of kids, so not a relaxing spa experience they sell you. You are with lots of other guests doing the same spa experience. My point? Come here! It's really nice!! But don't pay the extra, it's not worth it at all. Go with a standard room and find a nice shady spot at the big pool, make your own reservations, hit the lobby bar. Save $$$'s of bucks - you aren't getting anything exclusive with the enclave fees. Some musts: do the classes, Guac class, wine tasting, martini classes. All very fun and not exclusive to the enclave, just register early in the day on your app.

BEWARE of them trying to sell add ons when you’re at dinner. We had dinner at Noriku for a birthday and agreed to buy a bottle of sake for $140 usd. The server was enthusiastic about us buying the bottle and started to set up sake bombs (beer + sake). At no point did he let us know the beer was an additional cost. When we got the bill it was over $200 because he charged us $80 for beer. I repeatedly said he never told us the beer was additional but he berated me into signing the check and said too bad. I decided to sign and would talk to the front desk at check out. However this was a mistake since I brought it up to multiple managers and they refused to remove the beer charge. The pool staff however were friendly and helpful. Leo at the pool was very attentive and definitely helped make our stay better. Ultimately do not think I would return, especially with a large group.

I had a facial done by Leisey, it was amazing!! She did a great job, my face felt fabulous afterwards. I would definitely recommend getting a facial at the spa while you are at the hotel.