Location
Riviera Maya - BeachProperty Information
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Resort Details
Hotel Advisories
General Policies & Fine Print
Convention Policy - Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.
Hotel Spring Break Policy - This hotel cannot guarantee a spring-break-free environment.
Transfer Policy - A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.
General Information - Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price. Minimum night stay restrictions may apply. Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
Customer Ratings & Reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
5753 reviews
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Dec 08, 2024Still my favourite all inclusive resort in Mexico
This was our 8th stay at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya, and we have also been fortunate enough to stay at the other Grand Velas Properties as well. The Grand Velas Riviera Maya is a very special place for many reasons, but none more important than the staff here. They are universally superb at this resort, and always come across as eager to please and will happily take care of your every need. In my opinion the service levels generally even beat many of the uber luxury non-all inclusive resorts around Mexico, such as Four Seasons Punta Mita and Waldorf Pedregal, especially around the pool and beach which is such an important part of the day at these resorts. Our concierge Jorge was excellent and very attentive. The pool servers at Ambassador and Zen were again outstanding, and special mention to Gabriel, Oscar, Orlando, Luis and Tayde who are true assets to Grand Velas and work tireless to give their guests the best of times. They are a large part of the reason I keep returning here. The restaurants remain great, although I would say the standard of food has fallen a bit since we first started coming in 2015. Its still very good though, just some cost cutting. The biggest disappointment for this most recent trip was the breakfast and lunch at Azul, which is noticeably scaled back compared to previous visits. Little things like individual handmade Yoghurt parfaits had been replaced with regular supermarket yoghurts as an example, and it just overall felt below par for the resort. I really hope this improves again for our next trip. Karaoke bar remains great fun and we enjoyed some superb cocktails here and great service from the waitresses. The Karaoke equipment really needs an update though, as the microphones are poor and could also do much better than using Youtube. Tiny detail though. The staff couldn't do more for us when we visited. I really enjoyed the live music outside near the Karaoke bar - they could definitely afford to have a bit more entertainment in the evenings though without changing the atmosphere. Koi bar is also very nice, although often completely empty. I truly think they could play better music here to bring more people in than the random dance tunes, but thankfully the DJ was more than happy to take requests. I would like to give a very special shout out to Orlando, who is far and away the most knowledgable and friendly mixologist of any of the Grand Velas resorts, and makes outstanding cocktails that would be at home in any top city bar. He is a huge asset to this resort. He also ran some superb classes on Gin tasting and Tiki cocktails which all the guests really enjoyed. Bravo! Room in the Zen section are nice although have become a bit dated, and could use a renovation like the Ambassador rooms. Need more outlets etc. for charging gadgets. Huge new 4K TVs though, and Apple TVs too. The internet was fast and reliable, and it was easy to watch streamed movies in the room - this is far from a given at many similar resorts, and we really appreciated this. Housekeeping service was flawless, and our room was spotless 2x a day. I have 2 negatives about the resort and our current stay. The first is how much the resort changes when there is a big Wedding or convention during the say. Our first few days were blissful and service was top notch. At the end of the week a large wedding group arrived, and it 100% has a negative impact on all the guests who are not part of the group. Service gets slower, lunch at Bistro took over 2 hours one day, pools became crowded, Karaoke bar was so full of just people from the wedding that there were no seats at all. Having large groups of people hanging out together totally changes the vibe of a place, and I am pretty sure that all couples and families would find this a big negative. If you are not part of 'the party', it just feels a bit weird. The Zen pool ended up being closed for the private events 2 whole days during our stay - I am never okay was hotel facilities being taken away from paying guests without notice, and it leaves a bit of a bad taste with me. Makes the regular guests feel less of a priority. I know its a business decision for the resort as weddings are lucrative - but just be aware that there is a downside to this that does make me consider where I'd stay in future. The second is that the pools aren't heated properly at this time of year (first week December), which is why I never plan our family trip here during this month. The middle pool and toddler pool of the Ambassador section were the only places where the water was vaguely comfortable (and to be fair the Toddler pool was pretty warm, but of no use if you didn't have young kids). Grand class was much cooler, as were all of the Zen pools. Its a shame as in February I have previously found the pools much warmer, and the weather is almost the same. The main Zen pool in particular used to be delightfully warm in February, almost like a a bath. Its just cold now. It'd be okay (and its 'fine when you are in' as they say), but there are not hot tubs either at this resort. As a comparison I've stayed at Le Blanc and Hyatt Ziva Cancun in Nov/Dec and the pools were much warmer. As always the biggest pool in Ambassador with the swim up bar is freezing cold - all the guests were commenting. Basically means the resort doesn't have a useful swim up bar in the family section, has always seemed odd to me. Some of the loungers around Ambassador and Zen are worn out and need to replaced, as well as some of the cushions. Easy fix. That all said - I love this resort. It has a special vibe and wonderful staff. I love the Zen section the best. If they could sort out the pools and better manage the impact of large groups, I don't believe there is a better all inclusive anywhere in the world.
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Dec 08, 2024Beautiful resort but fell short
This is my fourth time to Riveria Maya and I have stayed at many 5 star resorts. I had hoped for a more comprehensive review when I was looking so I hope this will be helpful! FIRST OF ALL- CHECK YOUR TIPS AT THE END and keep a log of what you are giving. We left a $2 USD tip on room service for our kids and the staff member added an extra 0. When we contested it, they pulled out the copy of the invoice and the 0 was obviously added in. For a resort of this caliber this is completely unacceptable. Now for the rest…. The beach was stunning, but beach service was inconsistent on several days. Sometimes it would take them 5 minutes to come to you and sometimes almost an hour or you would have to hunt someone down. The staff throughout the resort were incredibly warm and welcoming, making us feel at home. A special shoutout to our concierge, Aaron, who was absolutely fantastic and went above and beyond to assist us! The Kids Club and the girls there were phenomenal, keeping my children engaged and happy. The food was tasty, but the service during busy times left much to be desired, with long waits and inattentive staff. I decided to upgrade to a room with a pool, but it wasn't worth it. Unfortunately, the water was left dirty throughout our stay and wasn’t cleaned, which was disappointing. The pool water is also very cold, definitely not an upgrade that is worth it! I used the babysitting service three times but received different caregivers each time, despite being promised consistency. I was told they would all have phones in case we need to contact them but only one babysitter had a phone for communication. One night we had our end time 2 hours after we started but came back 20 min late and we were charged for an extra hour. Our delay was because the restaurant seated us about 30 min into our reservation time and it’s hard to predict the exact time you’ll be back. I probably would not recommend the babysitter service, or don’t come depending on it. Overall, there is great potential and a beautiful setting, but improvements in service consistency and communication are needed to truly reach a 5-star experience.
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Dec 07, 2024
Grand Class service!
Best bartenders ever at the swim up tiki bar by the Grand Class pool. These guys make it fun and love what they do. These guys anticipate your needs and will have you laughing the whole time.. Left with new friends :) Thanks Benjamin, Raul, Damian, Luis and the rest of this awesome crew!
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Dec 07, 2024
Amazing resort on all fronts...just be prepared for the lounge chair hunger games
We loved Grand Velas! What sets GV apart from other resorts is the service and food. The resort is beautiful and very well kept, but many resorts are too. It's just a notch above any other all inclusive with the people and the food. Our concierge, Braulio was beyond amazing. He was attentive to every question and made sure we had everything we needed. His level of responsiveness and customer service is unmatched. We chose GV due to some medically required food needs for one of my kids. Braulio communicated this to all of the chefs and was so helpful. He was so kind and we enjoyed chatting with him when he would come by to check on us. The restaurants were all very attentive and careful of my son's food needs. In Azul, where we ate breakfasts and some lunches (and ordered lunch to take the pool for my son), Gabriela was amazing and so helpful at every meal. She was delightful and clearly takes pride in excellent customer service. Chef Victor in the mornings came right over to ask what my son wanted for breakfast as soon as he saw us walk in. Chef Miguel at lunch had his food prepared specially every day and checked which desserts he could eat. My one major caution here though is that the desserts are prepared in a separate pastry kitchen, and there were a couple of times there was a miscommunication and some items were labeled incorrectly which is an issue, but we learned quickly to reconfirm if the signs were correct. Chef Miguel was happy to call the kitchen for us to reconfirm the safety of each item! The pool staff was very attentive in helping us move umbrellas for shade and asking if they could bring us drinks and food. The food was excellent - in the restaurants for dinner, in the buffets for breakfast and lunch, and we loved that they had different buffets set up at the pool each day so there was always something different and easily accessible. We loved the special events they had on the beach for lunches and dinner too, but this may have just been for the holiday week. Also a shout out to Nicolas, who ran all of the activities by the pool, was the guide for the bike tour and worked in the teens club in the evenings. He has limitless energy and enthusiasm for his job and always had a smile. You can tell he really loves his job and enjoys making sure the kids (and adults) are having a blast. Our only big drawback is the chair situation at the pool. We were there on one of their busiest weeks, so we expected crowds but it was almost impossible to find chairs. Thankfully the pool attendants were very helpful. The resort has a policy that you can't hold chairs for more than 60 or 90 minutes if you're not there, but it's really hard for them to enforce. Many people would still come down super early, throw a flip flop and a bottle of sunblock on the chairs then not come back for many many hours. The guys at the pool were hesitant to move their belongings so would put down a sign with a reminder of the policy, but people continue to do it. We saw it all week. I think the hotel either needs to scrap the policy and just let it be hunger games for chairs, or better yet keep the policy and truly enforce it as I've seen others do. It's not fair for the people who respect the rules and come down still relatively early, 8/9am ready to enjoy the day and find empty pool chairs reserved for hours with no one in sight. It's a tough one, but they can do better here.
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Dec 05, 2024
Perfect family vacation
I dont usually write reviews, but we had such an incredible stay at the resort at the end of November and this resort deserves accolades (the trip was so good that we are considering coming back next month for my husbands birthday) We took the trip to celebrate our kids birthdays (we are a family of 5; 9 y/o and twin 7 y/o). We have been to a number of all inclusive resorts around the world and I can say without hesitation that Grand Velas is far and away the best of the best. From the moment we arrived, we were given a warm welcome and gracious hospitality that lasted throughout our stay. Our concierge, Jorge was amazing. He organized everything, made sure we felt at home, and was always asking what he could do, or any special requests. Jorge made himself available - stopping by during the day to say hi - and was always quick text away. The concierge service is invaluable. We stayed at the Zen gardens (LOVED it). The kids thought it was amazing to stay in what felt like a tropical jungle. The resort is family friendly so you feel comfortable there with kids, and there is PLENTY to do. We usually started our day at the ambassador pool and the beach (shout out to Miguel!). The activity coordinator at the ambassador pool, Nicolas, was enthusiastic and fun - my kids loved him (especially our son Nico, his tocayo). We tended to end every day at the Zen pool and we always looked forward to seeing Ernesto (the best!) he was so good with the kids, always excellent service. The food is one of the highlights of the resort. My husband is a foodie, and he was blown away by the quality of the meals (we always did buffets for breakfast and lunch). Our dinners were fantastic. We didn't have a bad meal. We dined as a family all 5 nights - we did Sen Lin, Frida, Lucca, Chaka, and one night a dinner and show (a circus show my kids were mesmerized by). The entire guest experience is extremely well thought out. The staff that we interacted with were always going above and beyond (to the point that there was always someone to open a door when one of my kids was taking a plate of food outside). This was a relaxing and fun family vacation. It checked all of the boxes of what we were looking for. Highly recommend. And big thanks to the staff for making this such a memorable trip.