Two Reviews Of Riviera Maya Hotels

Here are two reviews about hotels I recently stayed in on the Riviera Maya, Mexico, and which I originally posted on TripAdvisor: tripadvisor.com. My next blog will be about utilising TripAdvisor to your best advantage when planning a vacation and how to write your own reviews for them.

The Iberostar Grand Paraiso

We have just returned from our third visit to the Grand Paraiso and it keeps on getting better every time. We didn’t even have to tell the reception staff who we were when we arrived – they greeted us by name as we were crossing the lobby!

Service at this hotel truly is 5 star. When we got to our (free upgraded ocean front) room, our butler Alberto went through our pillow, drink and snack preferences. He had in his hand records of what we had liked most in our mini bar from the previous trip and checked if they still applied. He noted that we had ordered a bottle of champagne before and so this trip, a chilled bottle and glasses turned up every day without asking. He even apologized for the fact they were out of the pistachios we had eaten so often the last time! The staff are so lovely here.

I don’t want to just repeat all the information given by other positive reviewers, so what I will do is address some of the negative comments made by a handful of reviewers in an attempt to help you make the right choices for yourselves. Often people don’t enjoy a place not because it is intrinsically bad, but because they did not do their homework and end up picking somewhere that’s not suitable for their particular desires and interests.

The beach is too rocky: it is true that there are large rocks at the water line at each end of the Grand’s beach, however, the beach is long and all of the middle section offers completely unrestricted access to the sea. You end up with the best of both worlds - a beautiful, long, wide, soft, sandy beach with easy access to the water plus picturesque rocks which are great for snorkeling around. There is no property to the south of The Grand so you can go for a very long walk along a more natural, less manicured beach (take bug spray though as the uncleared seaweed attracts gnats).

It’s not very Mexican: very true – this is not a Mexican themed hotel, it is an extremely upscale international Spanish chain hotel (Iberostar has Grands in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and The Canary Islands). The styling is reminiscent of The Bellagio and Wynn in Las Vegas. If you want Mayan styling you can hang out next door at the Maya (very cool bar in a massive pyramid there). If you want that slightly more rustic and exotic thatched hut in the jungle style than choose a different luxury hotel – possibly El Dorado Royale Seaside Suites.

The food is bad: no, the food at this hotel is fantastic. Occasionally someone is going to have a poor experience at even the best of restaurants and I feel bad for anyone who gets sick through no fault of their own, but you need to put that in perspective. Also, if you don’t like seafood and fancy gourmet food then you won’t like this hotel. If you want to eat TexMex go somewhere else – although they do have great made to order fajitas at the lunch buffet.

You have to cover up your swimwear at the lunch buffet and men have to wear long pants to dinner: err, yeah, this is a 5 star adults only hotel, what do you expect? I do not understand people who want to go somewhere really posh and then complain that they have to dress up when they get there. And we are only talking resort casual, not black tie! Get stocked up at Tommy Bahama before hand or buy some cheaper copies from Sam’s Club. Otherwise, choose a different type of hotel.

The hotel lost my reservation: not good and very frustrating when that happens. Again this is a rare thing and is not going to be the experience of most people at the Grand. Be proactive in trying to prevent this kind of thing from happening. I usually travel to Mexico with Funjet and I always make a point of emailing them prior to the trip to ask them to remind the hotel I am coming and tell them of any preferences.

I am happy to try and answer any questions you may have as I spend a lot of time on the Riviera Maya. Next month I am taking advantage of an extremely cheap deal to the Valentin Maya and will let you know how that compares to The Grand.

The Valentin Imperial Maya

A friend and I just spent a lovely three days at The Valentin Imperial Maya.

The hotel is very attractively appointed in a Spanish Hacienda style and there are pretty plazas, pools and fountains throughout. The beach is impressively long, with a main area and then two quieter, more private coves. Cocktail service on the beach is friendly and efficient. The main pool is massive and boasts two swim up bars.

There is a wide selection of dining options and I was impressed by the variety and quality of the food. I particularly enjoyed the Indonesian restaurant. The service was charming and the food interesting and delicious. I also really liked the Lobster Pot. I cannot believe that there are people on here complaining it is not air conditioned. It’s an outdoor restaurant – do you expect them to air condition the jungle for you?! The menu for the French Restaurant looked extremely appetizing, but as my friend is allergic to dairy, we settled on the Italian which had more cream free options – it was pleasant and the service very friendly. It costs extra to order from the wine list so we just stuck to house wine, which varied between the restaurants and was not bad.

If anyone is considering getting married at the Valentin, I have to say that the chapel is absolutely charming. It is set in the middle of the water gardens and you could just about imagine you are in The Alhambra at Granada, Spain.

However, despite the fact I was impressed and we enjoyed ourselves immensely, the Valentin doesn’t quite warrant five circles. I would give it four and a half if I could. It’s a tough call. Funjet lists this as a five star hotel but other travel sites list it as four. It is definitely not a five star hotel. I have stayed several times at The Iberostar Grand Paraiso and that is five star because of the incredible level of personal service and attention to detail and provision of high end liquor both in room and the bars. I am not penalising the Valentin for not being five stars when it is not supposed to be and bear in mind it is considerably cheaper than The Grand (we only paid $550 each for a three night all inclusive round trip vacation from Dallas, including taxes, got a double room upgrade and a $100 spa credit - so that is an incredible deal).

A few minor irritations brought it down. Service at breakfast and lunch could be a bit hit and miss. Maid service for the room was a little lax – late, not changing face cloths or refreshing toiletries (I had to get shower gel from a cart). Also, something to bear in mind for packing: there is no conditioner, body lotion or shower cap. I would expect an upscale four star hotel to be on top of this kind of thing.

The room itself, a two bed Golden Suite, was very nice but I wish they could have finished it off a little better. Two pictures were missing from the walls and the beautiful big jacuzzi tub had this ugly unfinished concrete space behind it. The biggest downside of the room was the paper thin walls and ceiling. When next door’s alarm clock went off it sounded like it was in the same room, not to mention all the other sounds you didn’t want to hear! The fact that the balconies have only waist high dividing walls doesn’t help either on the privacy/quiet factor.

Something else, and this is not a criticism of the hotel per se, just an FYI. The beach closes at 7pm and is patrolled by a security guard, so romantic moonlit walks along it are not an option. This is probably a good thing as the beach is a turtle nesting site, although I don’t know if that is the hotel’s reason or if they are more concerned about drunk people drowning.

All in all this is a very nice hotel and I highly recommend it, but do not go there expecting it to be a five star experience and do be prepared for the odd annoyance. Bearing that in mind, I think you will have a fantastic time.