Riviera Maya...where to stay? (1 Viewer)

[Michael_K_Sr]

Thinking of heading down to Riviera Maya in late April-early May and have no idea where to stay down there. Anyone that's been down there have any opinions on what resorts I should look at and/or which resorts I should avoid? Pluses/minuses of the recommended places? Thanks ahead of time for the input.

 

[SethH]

My wife and I honeymooned at the Grand Palladium in May 2005. At that time it had two sections: Palladium and Kantennah. Now they've added on two additional sections to it.

It was absolutely fantastic. It was significantly less expensive than the Secrets. We found the food to be very good and really did not see any reason to leave the resort.

The one day we did go out, we went to Xel-Ha which was phenomenal and Tulum to see some Mayan ruins. No matter where you stay down there, definitely go to Xel-Ha and do some snorkeling -- it's unbelievable.

Let me know if you want more information about the Grand Palladium.

Oh, and BTW, one thing to keep in mind when visiting the Riviera Maya -- it takes a while to get there. If you go through a group such as Apple Vacations there will be a bus from the airport that drops people at several different resorts. It can take as much as 1.5-2 hours to get from the Cancun airport down to some of the resorts in the Riviera Maya. Some people on our bus didn't realize this and were getting pissed off. Just be prepared for it, or put up the $50-$75 to get a cab from the airport.

 

[DaveF]

When I was looking for honeymoon options, I believe it was Dreams Tulum that was my first choice. However, budget and hurrican concerns took us to a less expensive option in Cabo.

Check out the "Dreams" resorts; I recall they looked great.

 

[Chris Dias]

My wife and I just went there in October for our honeymoon and we stayed in on of the Casita rooms at the El Dorado Royale. It was amazing. The food was all gourmet and all the restaurants were a la carte. It was more expensive than some of the other resorts we were looking at, but we figured we'd splurge since it was our honeymoon.

BUt what type of place are you looking for though? That will make a big difference. The El Dorado Royale isn't a party type of resort as most of the people there were couples and lots of them were on the'r honeymoon. SO are you looking more for a singles resort? A family resort? or what?

I would also highly recomend going to Xel-Ha and doing some snorkeling. It was an unbelievable experience. I've been scuba diving before in Mexico and Cuba, but I saw more aquatic life at Xel-Ha than in any of those other places. Highly recommended.

Also, I used this website when helping me decide where to go.
http://www.debbiescaribbeanresortreviews.com/

Have fun, and let us know what you decide.

Chris