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Just returned from Riviera Grand Mayan. It was my second trip to that resort, having stayed on the Riviera Maya side only a year ago.
It is a fabulous resort in terms of quality of accommodations and service, but it has several problems from my perspective:
1) It is somewhat isolated. You have to drive at least 15-20 minutes to get anywhere (Playa del Carmen or Puerto Morelos being the closest towns) so you can get the feeling of being a little trapped there.
2) It is pretty spendy to do anything at the resort. Meals for a family of 4 are going to cost you $60 no matter what, unless you eat burgers all the time and don't order drinks. Spa and exercise facilities are extra. And tips are built in so even when our waiter didn't show up for 25 minutes one night, we were obligated to tip him.
3) The place is expansive, to the max! Depending upon you, and the particular room you get, you can literally be 20 to 30 minutes away from the pool, restaurants, shops, beach ... everything. We are in our fifties and pretty fit, and we could hustle on down to the pool in about 12 minutes at a good clip from our building (#11) and we weren't even in the furthest facility. They do have internal transportation but you grow old waiting on it sometimes.
4) The beach sucked. There was plenty of sand, but if you wanted to go in the ocean you were better of walking a quarter mile down the beach to enter the water. Embedded rocks and coral everywhere.
All in all, it isn't the kind of place I will go back to. We returned this time because we got a 2-bedroom trade and we like to go to Cancun for diving. But we won't return to that facility. I'd rather be in Playa somewhere, or even in Cancun, with all its hubbub. At least you can walk to places easily in town. We found ourselves returning to our room at dusk, and staying put because it was so far to go to eat or hang at the bar or anything. The kids (teens) even stayed in rather than go down for evening activities around the pool. We were able to park close to our room, so we found ourselves driving into Playa and spending time on that beach rather than using the resort itself.
I would recommend it highly for families with young kids who have no intention of straying from the resort, but even then don't forget anything in your room or you'll be 45 minutes going and getting in and returning if you're in the further buildings - and believe me, as an exchange person, that's liable to be where you're put.
It is a fabulous resort in terms of quality of accommodations and service, but it has several problems from my perspective:
1) It is somewhat isolated. You have to drive at least 15-20 minutes to get anywhere (Playa del Carmen or Puerto Morelos being the closest towns) so you can get the feeling of being a little trapped there.
2) It is pretty spendy to do anything at the resort. Meals for a family of 4 are going to cost you $60 no matter what, unless you eat burgers all the time and don't order drinks. Spa and exercise facilities are extra. And tips are built in so even when our waiter didn't show up for 25 minutes one night, we were obligated to tip him.
3) The place is expansive, to the max! Depending upon you, and the particular room you get, you can literally be 20 to 30 minutes away from the pool, restaurants, shops, beach ... everything. We are in our fifties and pretty fit, and we could hustle on down to the pool in about 12 minutes at a good clip from our building (#11) and we weren't even in the furthest facility. They do have internal transportation but you grow old waiting on it sometimes.
4) The beach sucked. There was plenty of sand, but if you wanted to go in the ocean you were better of walking a quarter mile down the beach to enter the water. Embedded rocks and coral everywhere.
All in all, it isn't the kind of place I will go back to. We returned this time because we got a 2-bedroom trade and we like to go to Cancun for diving. But we won't return to that facility. I'd rather be in Playa somewhere, or even in Cancun, with all its hubbub. At least you can walk to places easily in town. We found ourselves returning to our room at dusk, and staying put because it was so far to go to eat or hang at the bar or anything. The kids (teens) even stayed in rather than go down for evening activities around the pool. We were able to park close to our room, so we found ourselves driving into Playa and spending time on that beach rather than using the resort itself.
I would recommend it highly for families with young kids who have no intention of straying from the resort, but even then don't forget anything in your room or you'll be 45 minutes going and getting in and returning if you're in the further buildings - and believe me, as an exchange person, that's liable to be where you're put.
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