Ava Resort Cancun - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

1463 reviews

• 

  Our experience at this resort was extremely disappointing from the moment we arrived.

  Check-In & Arrival Check-in was abysmal. Instead of a lobby, we were met in a random area of the hotel and escorted into what looked like a makeshift ballroom check-in. At the end of the process, we asked if we would receive a tour of the property and were told no—and that we were simply expected to find our own way around. We were also told they would not take our bags to our room, which we later discovered was untrue, they actually do provide that service. To make things worse, we were put on a golf cart and dropped off at the complete opposite end of where our room was located, essentially in a back alley. Not exactly a great first impression. Reservations & Guest Services Trying to make dinner reservations was incredibly frustrating. We called multiple times with no answer. When someone finally picked up, we were told the person who handles reservations was at lunch and to call back later. The employees also informed us that the app, where the resort encourages guests to make reservations, “doesn’t really work.” As a result, we ended up without reservations on several nights, which is unacceptable for an all-inclusive resort. Departure & Luggage Coordination Every other all-inclusive we’ve visited has coordinated bag pickup for departure, giving clear times to leave luggage outside the room. Not here. No communication, no pickup—we had to wait with all our bags ourselves. Food The restaurants we were able to book had very good food. This was one of the few bright spots. Activities & Amenities The activity structure at this resort was extremely limiting and poorly executed. Waterpark – Great for kids 6 and under; not suited for teenagers at all. Adventure Park / Inflatable Obstacle Course – Hard-to-get reservations, and each session was only 20 minutes. To even secure a spot, we had to line up at 8:00 AM. On top of that, everyone was required to wear life jackets, even though it was in the same pool we were freely swimming in without them. Kayaks & Paddle boards – Restricted to ages 13+ and required advanced reservations, making them inaccessible or inconvenient for many families. Pool Experience – There were no games or activities led by staff at the pool, which made the atmosphere noticeably flat compared to other all-inclusive resorts that offer entertainment, music, or organized fun throughout the day. Beach & Water If you’re expecting turquoise water and sandy beaches, this is not the resort for you. The water is brown, rocky, and filled with vegetation. You can barely even see the water from the resort grounds. Final Impression When we were leaving, we told the staff member at checkout that we wouldn’t be returning. His response was simply, “That’s understandable.” That alone speaks volumes about the overall experience.

  Dec 03, 2025
• 

  Stay away

  have never stayed at a hotel where the answer to almost everything was “no.” The service throughout the property was shockingly unprofessional. There were multiple staff members standing around doing nothing, yet basic requests were constantly forgotten. It took 45 minutes just to get a drink at the pool. By midday, the pool consistently ran out of towels, and many of the chairs were covered in bird droppings with no effort to clean or reset the area. Housekeeping was equally unreliable—only 2 out of our 5 days did anyone come to clean our room or restock the minibar. The final straw was when our toilet broke in the middle of the night. We called repeatedly and no one came until 10 a.m., only to be told it couldn’t be fixed and that we should use the bathroom in the lobby. Instead of offering another room, they simply shrugged it off. This property may look beautiful on Instagram, but in reality it’s a Vegas-style hotel with terrible service and mediocre food. Absolutely not worth the stay.if someone told me it was free I still wouldn't go back

  Dec 02, 2025
• 

  GREAT EXPERIENCE AT AVA RESORT

  Group of 5 spent a great week (12-19 NOV) at AVA. This resort is one of the Hard Rock Legendary All-Inclusive Resorts. We went to AVA in August 2024 during the Soft Opening and it's really come a long way over the past year. One of the great things about this resort is it's close proximity to the airport, only 15 minutes. Axel - with Guest Services made check-in a breeze. We are Hall of Fame members with Legendary and our Butlers (Manuel and Tharvin) did a good job during our stay. The Lagoon Pool is amazing with options to kayak and paddle board. There are family pools and areas for kids to play on various water slides and so forth. They have opened an Adult Pool and Members-only pools as well so there are plenty of options. The staff around the pools was very attentive to any requests. Restaurants: Veranda - Italian - Jorge. Outstanding!!! Best waiter we’ve ever had in 20+ years as a member of Hard Rock Resorts. Our food on our first visit was great, but Jorge set us up with a Special Group Dinner in a separate room. Chefs – Balazar and Aranza - created a special meal for us and it exceeded all expectations. Caprese, Capaccio ham, Salad with prosciutto, bruchetta, Salad with fruit and sweet nuts, special bread with mushroom and cream cheese, fried Calamari, shrimp &, veggies. Caribbean shrimp, squid and salmon were the main course. Dessert was a myriad of tasty treats - Tiramisu, Panicota, Limoncello ice, Gellato, Cannoli and chocolate decadence. Black Iron Steak House - 2nd favorite Each restaurant had their own specialty drinks and these were very good Good grilled romaine Beef soup very good Ribeye - excellent, so juicy Tenderloin - great flavor Caribbean shrimp. - excellent Copal - Mexican Food and Service was very good, but not excellent. The Butcher - Private Member-only Disappointing - Meals were OK, but all the food was luke-warm at best. Really expected more. Che Moi - French Very Disappointing Food was OK, but nothing special Service mediocre Asked our waiter to put in Appetizer order and we’d decide what we wanted for entre’ and he said we couldn’t do that. Everything had to be placed at once. Asked for bread and butter, but said we didn’t get bread until our order was placed. Room Service Dinner We had a dinner in our Friends and Family Suite and the food was very good. Sampled a variety of entrees, apps and desserts. Spa and Gym We had 2 massages and used the gym on 2 different days. Plenty of equipment and group lessons in the gym. Spa is Outstanding! This was really done right. We had 2 massages during our stay and Laura Avelia stood out as my favorite masseuse. Golf The Riviera Cancun Golf Club is only 5-10 minutes from the resort and is a great course. A couple of the holes overlook the ocean. Signage around resort could be better Tequila Tasting - Edgar did a great job, but the location was not the best for the size of the group. He had to flow through 2 rooms to talk with everyone. Entertainment: The Theater is open, and a couple of the shows really stood out: The Magic Show and Music Stars Impressions. The entertainment schedule still needs some work as there were duplicate performances on a couple of nights. Highly recommend giving AVA a try. Rooms are great, spa and gym are excellent and the pools shine. Golf is excellent and sooo close.

  Dec 02, 2025
• 

  Friends Getaway

  Strengths: ocean view rooms, beverage service, top shelf liquor, grab n go food and drinks options, plenty of loungers at the pool, options for kids and teens entertainment, pool is unique. Weakness: ocean is unsuitable for swimming ( including a gator warning), very limited shade at pool and beach ( unless upsold a bali bed $70), beach is an afterthought, do not serve booze until 11 a.m. and closed most bars by 11 p.m., extremely hard to get dinner reservations ( again unless upsold legendary status), buffet extremely overcrowded ( extra seating in hallway) due to limited a la carte reservations, the size of the resort ( over 1 km long) made for long walks, all restaurants seating is indoors, very loud at restaurants and bars, sales pitches for time share or legendary memberships

  Dec 02, 2025
• 

  No Beach

  If you are looking for a “beach” vacation with palm trees clear water and Pina coladas on the beach …wrong place! Water is dirty, smelly, and there are no umbrellas or palm trees. This was very disappointing as the hotel website and other reviews failed to mention this. I suspect the hotel gets the terrible beach reviews removed somehow. Pools are nice but the largest pool is a designated kayak, and paddle board pool. It is underused and a waste of what would be a great swimming space . The rooms are clean the food is good and our assistant Israel was amazing. The best day of our family vacation was the day we took a ferry to isla Mujeres and spent the day on a fabulous Beach.

  Dec 02, 2025