Grand Velas Riviera Maya

After a fabulous trip last year on my company's dime, my husband and I decided to return to Grand Velas Riviera Maya for a milestone anniversary. Our second trip was every bit as wonderful as the first. The resort is beautiful, the rooms are spacious and comfortable, and the food...

After a fabulous trip last year on my company's dime, my husband and I decided to return to Grand Velas Riviera Maya for a milestone anniversary. Our second trip was every bit as wonderful as the first. The resort is beautiful, the rooms are spacious and comfortable, and the food was exceptional (and always beautifully presented), but nothing compares to the service provided by the resort. (A special shout-out goes to Yasmine and her colleagues, who set up an extra umbrella next to our cabana on the beach to keep two pasty New Englanders from direct sunlight and then moved the umbrella around us as the sun moved through the sky.) I have heard that the Grand Velas resorts in other locations are equally outstanding, but Grand Velas Riviera Maya has become our happy place. We look forward to visiting again in the future.

Outstanding. Excellent food and service. Large, clean rooms. Enjoyed Grand Class Suites. Best made to order breakfast at Bistro. Beautiful grounds. Would recommend and also come back again. We’ve also been to Grand Velas in Nayarit which was a smaller footprint and enjoyable with exceptional service. These resorts are outstanding...

Outstanding. Excellent food and service. Large, clean rooms. Enjoyed Grand Class Suites. Best made to order breakfast at Bistro. Beautiful grounds. Would recommend and also come back again. We’ve also been to Grand Velas in Nayarit which was a smaller footprint and enjoyable with exceptional service. These resorts are outstanding all inclusives.

I wasn't impressed with Grand Velas Riviera Maya after our 1 week stay. Note, I went during peak season, which was frequently used as an excuse by staff for various issues. But, I also paid a small fortune to go so my expectations were very high (as yours should be...

I wasn't impressed with Grand Velas Riviera Maya after our 1 week stay. Note, I went during peak season, which was frequently used as an excuse by staff for various issues. But, I also paid a small fortune to go so my expectations were very high (as yours should be for this price). My wife and I also frequent high-end all inclusive all over the world so have seen our share of good and bad. Grand Velas isn't BAD, but for 10k+ I expect GREAT and didn't get it. Here's pros and cons: Pros: -The food, especially at dinner. It was as close to perfect as I've had from an all inclusive. Every restaurant was great. Staff was great, though appeared stretched thin in many places. -The drinks were great and they had a good variety. My parents, who traveled with us, loved the mocktails as they don't drink alcohol. They had lots of options including some higher end mixed drinks. -The staff was lovely. Super friendly and nice, just not enough people working (see Cons). -Beautiful beach with soft white sand. Though, a Man-o-War was reported early in our stay so swimming was very limited (not the resort's fault). -Very comfortable bed. Cons: -Place was PACKED. If you want to find a place to sit at the pool without waking up early and putting a towel down, you probably are out of luck. At this price I expect there to be many more chairs than people, which other high-end resorts can manage (yes, during peak season). -The staff was stretched thin. Service at restaurants was spotty, due to no fault of the staff. There just weren't enough of them. To me, it looked like corners were cut to save money which at this price isn't what I expect. -Along the lines of cutting corners - the common spaces weren't kept clean and functional. My wife found nearly every toilet was clogged in the two adjacent pool areas (Grand and Ambassador). Took 30+ minutes for someone to come look at it when we reported. Also, all but one of the treadmills in one of the gyms were broken and non-functioning. We reported early in our 1 week stay and nothing came of it. The plunge pool in our room that I paid extra for was not regularly cleaned and was full of debris, it was freezing cold, and the jets didn't work. -Lots of little things.. which again, if I paid half or even 2/3rds of what I paid would be overlooked. Our shuttle to the property (which I paid for directly to Grand Velas) was late by 45 mins, had to call the property to figure out what was going on. Minibar, which was supposed to be refilled daily, was never refilled unless I asked. Cleaning was late every day, coming in after 4PM which was about the time we came back from dinner. Overall, I don't recommend this place. You can do better for this rate--all of the Pros I mention can be found elsewhere with fewer of the Cons. The one selling point that is fairly rare is the high caliber of food across all restaurants (for dinner - breakfast was so-so and lunch was mixed depending on venue). It's honestly a huge selling point for me as my wife and I love high-end dining experiences, but not enough to overcome all the other issues we saw.