BlueBay Grand Esmeralda
BlueBay Grand Esmeralda Parking Pictures & Reviews (Playa del Carmen, Mexico)
BlueBay Grand Esmeralda
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Booked 7 nights hotel-airfare-transfers from Boston for $1800 for 2 people through TNTVacations (so $3600 for 4 people, 2 rooms). Requested 2 connecting standard rooms for 2 adults and 2 kids, but upon arrival they offered 2 rooms several rooms apart. I insisted that my rooms connect. I THINK that the front desk person told me that the only connecting rooms are combinations of suite-and-regular rooms. So I upgraded to a suite, which was very nice. If connecting rooms are important to you - please verify this before you leave home, I could be wrong.
Odors: depending on wind direction and your location, it can be no problem, or nearly intolerable. It smells like raw sewage, but I think in fact it's decaying organic matter from the water front construction, mixed with smells from the stagnant water of the pockets of mangroves throughout the resort. The insecticide also smells bad, but it's only a real problem for about an hour or so around sun-down.
Beach: The beach itself is OK, it appears that you can walk for miles to the south - you will pass many other nice resorts and several that are under construction. The water, however is brown, and constantly has that sewage smell, but usually it's not that strong an oder. No one swam in the ocean right in front of the hotel - that would have been disgusting. You walk 5 minutes (past the pier next door) and the water will be that nice Caribbean blue-green. Just take a large order of free drinks with you. I did enter the brown water when using the jet ski and sail boat, and that was tolerable.
Rooms: very new, very nice. Temperature control is a cool digital remote control, but it is confusing to operate and there are no instructions for it in the room. You may want to ask someone at the hotel to show you how to set it for your comfort level. I monkeyed with it until it seemed to work, but never did really understand it. Most garden view rooms seemed OK, but if you're unlucky you could get one of the few rooms that faces a dumpster or something as attractive as a dumpster.
"Swim-up" rooms: I never saw anyone use them all week. They don't connect to anything except the neighboring rooms on your floor of the building. One person at a time could do "laps" I guess. I wouldn't pay extra for them.
Food: I thought is was very good. Great variety. Mexican and buffet are semi-open-air (no glass in the windows), so it can be cold, and they allow smoking, even cigars. Room service was fast and 100% correct one night, slow and forgot part of the order the next night. Be sure to get your written reservation confirmation from the concierge, even though the maiter d' almost never asks for it, so you can avoid the problem I describe below.
Service: Most of the staff are very friendly. Roughly 75-80% of the time, they do the job right. But in a true 5-star, that should be much closer to 95-100%. They serve food 24-hours, but won't pack you a box lunch to take on an excursion (the official line is that they do not allow food off the property). Staff routinely show up late to man certain stations, particularly concierge desk, and water sports desk. If they open at 9:00, don't expect to see anyone actually there until 9:20. It's not a big deal in the scheme of things, but it's aggravating to wait there if you've paid for 5-star service. Thanksgiving night they lost the reservation I had made at 7:30 that morning, and the manager did everything he could to make me go away for an hour. There were 35 empty seats in the restaurant, yet he refused to seat the 4 of us! No excuse for that. The water sports guy gave me a hard time about using the sailboat 3 times in one day - he said I only get 1 hour a day and would have to pay to use more than that. This was particularly stupid because the boats sat unused most of the day - when I took one out there was always another one just sitting there! Some people just like to create problems, I guess. Concierge was very nice, but didn't know much, has almost nothing for brochures, and never wanted to use her phone to get info for me - told me to go find a tour operator in the lobby and he would answer my questions. The rooms have zero useful info in them - no hotel map, phone numbers, nothing. So do your research before you leave home.
Great staff members: Gus and Gerry the activities directors; Ricky at the pool bar; Guido at the water sports desk.
Lobby: I don't understand the complaints about the lobby. You spend 10 minutes there over an entire week - who cares? Besides, I think it's attractive and tastefully understated.
Long walks: I don't understand this complaint either. After I've eaten a 10-pound lunch, a 15-minute walk is just what I need! You can always call for a cart (they respond quite quickly most of the time). And if you prefer a more compact property, there must be 50 to choose from in Playa del Carmen - you know, those U-shaped buildings with all the public stuff in the middle.
Spa: Very nice. It's in the presidential suite, which is a free-standing building with at least 10 rooms in it. Got 2 massages from Victor - he did a very nice job and the prices are reasonable.
Excursions: we are a family of 4, and the rental car was a real blessing. Saved tons of money, and had total control over our schedule. Some of the drivers on route 307 are pretty aggressive - just let them pass you and you're fine. You will encounter speed bumps at strange places on the highway, but eventually you know where to expect them, and there are usually signs announcing them before you reach them. We had no problem finding English guides at the major sites (Coba, Tulum, Chitchen Itza). For example, entrance fee to Chichen Itza is $10 per person, free under 12, parking $5, English guide for 2 hours $60 including tip, half-tank of gas $20. Total for us: $115. I think an organized tour would have been at least $300.
Transportation: Rented a new Nissan Altima at Dollar at Cancun airport for $204 per week (minus $150 for enduring timeshare presentation: $54!). I had reserved a "full size (Taurus or similar)" on Dollar's web site - I argued that Altima isn't full-size, but it was the biggest car Dollar had, and it turned out to be fine anyway. For Chichen Itza, we left hotel at 5:00 a.m., arrived as they opened at 8:00, and the place was EMPTY. We finished tour just as the HUGE throng of tour buses arrived, and a sea of people poured over the place. Get there early and avoid the crowd. Drove highway 307 to highway 10 at
Tulum to highway 180 at Volidolid. All highways were in pretty good shape and felt safe all the way. It's easy to find an English-speaking person wherever we went.
Recommend visiting one or more cenotes, which are large springs or wells - very beautiful, with amazing fish and caves, great snorkeling (rented 2 sets of snorkel equipment from hotel for $10/day). We visited Cenote Azul across 307 from the Barcelo
Maya resort - this cenote is pretty small, but also uncrowded, and cheap at $5 per person.
Sometimes prices are confusing because they use the $ sign to mean pesos as well as US dollars. So if you see a sign saying parking is $45, it means 45 pesos (about $4.50).
Timeshares: DO NOT GO to a timeshare presentation unless you are tough and can tell the hard-sell, lying [--] to get lost. Sorry, but you really do need to be that blunt to get out of there without being robbed. Now, I am that tough, and after sacrificing 3 hours for their "90-minute" presentation, I did get the 4 T-shirts and $150 off my car rental that they promised. More advice: Don't accept their free van service to get from your hotel to the timeshare. When you tell them you're leaving without buying, they will be completely uninterested in getting you home. If you want a timeshare, buy only in the U.S. and buy on the secondary market (from existing owners), NEVER from the over-priced developer. You can easily find a high-quailty week for under $5,000. At my presentation, they started at $45,000/week, and finally went down to $5,000/week - I still said forget it - I'm not agreeing to anything with a company I never heard of in a foreign country with minimal consumer protection laws. Period.
Summary: 5-star buildings, 3-star service. Price is not discounted - it is simply fair and reflects the positives as well as the negatives that you do have to deal with.
Odors: depending on wind direction and your location, it can be no problem, or nearly intolerable. It smells like raw sewage, but I think in fact it's decaying organic matter from the water front construction, mixed with smells from the stagnant water of the pockets of mangroves throughout the resort. The insecticide also smells bad, but it's only a real problem for about an hour or so around sun-down.
Beach: The beach itself is OK, it appears that you can walk for miles to the south - you will pass many other nice resorts and several that are under construction. The water, however is brown, and constantly has that sewage smell, but usually it's not that strong an oder. No one swam in the ocean right in front of the hotel - that would have been disgusting. You walk 5 minutes (past the pier next door) and the water will be that nice Caribbean blue-green. Just take a large order of free drinks with you. I did enter the brown water when using the jet ski and sail boat, and that was tolerable.
Rooms: very new, very nice. Temperature control is a cool digital remote control, but it is confusing to operate and there are no instructions for it in the room. You may want to ask someone at the hotel to show you how to set it for your comfort level. I monkeyed with it until it seemed to work, but never did really understand it. Most garden view rooms seemed OK, but if you're unlucky you could get one of the few rooms that faces a dumpster or something as attractive as a dumpster.
"Swim-up" rooms: I never saw anyone use them all week. They don't connect to anything except the neighboring rooms on your floor of the building. One person at a time could do "laps" I guess. I wouldn't pay extra for them.
Food: I thought is was very good. Great variety. Mexican and buffet are semi-open-air (no glass in the windows), so it can be cold, and they allow smoking, even cigars. Room service was fast and 100% correct one night, slow and forgot part of the order the next night. Be sure to get your written reservation confirmation from the concierge, even though the maiter d' almost never asks for it, so you can avoid the problem I describe below.
Service: Most of the staff are very friendly. Roughly 75-80% of the time, they do the job right. But in a true 5-star, that should be much closer to 95-100%. They serve food 24-hours, but won't pack you a box lunch to take on an excursion (the official line is that they do not allow food off the property). Staff routinely show up late to man certain stations, particularly concierge desk, and water sports desk. If they open at 9:00, don't expect to see anyone actually there until 9:20. It's not a big deal in the scheme of things, but it's aggravating to wait there if you've paid for 5-star service. Thanksgiving night they lost the reservation I had made at 7:30 that morning, and the manager did everything he could to make me go away for an hour. There were 35 empty seats in the restaurant, yet he refused to seat the 4 of us! No excuse for that. The water sports guy gave me a hard time about using the sailboat 3 times in one day - he said I only get 1 hour a day and would have to pay to use more than that. This was particularly stupid because the boats sat unused most of the day - when I took one out there was always another one just sitting there! Some people just like to create problems, I guess. Concierge was very nice, but didn't know much, has almost nothing for brochures, and never wanted to use her phone to get info for me - told me to go find a tour operator in the lobby and he would answer my questions. The rooms have zero useful info in them - no hotel map, phone numbers, nothing. So do your research before you leave home.
Great staff members: Gus and Gerry the activities directors; Ricky at the pool bar; Guido at the water sports desk.
Lobby: I don't understand the complaints about the lobby. You spend 10 minutes there over an entire week - who cares? Besides, I think it's attractive and tastefully understated.
Long walks: I don't understand this complaint either. After I've eaten a 10-pound lunch, a 15-minute walk is just what I need! You can always call for a cart (they respond quite quickly most of the time). And if you prefer a more compact property, there must be 50 to choose from in Playa del Carmen - you know, those U-shaped buildings with all the public stuff in the middle.
Spa: Very nice. It's in the presidential suite, which is a free-standing building with at least 10 rooms in it. Got 2 massages from Victor - he did a very nice job and the prices are reasonable.
Excursions: we are a family of 4, and the rental car was a real blessing. Saved tons of money, and had total control over our schedule. Some of the drivers on route 307 are pretty aggressive - just let them pass you and you're fine. You will encounter speed bumps at strange places on the highway, but eventually you know where to expect them, and there are usually signs announcing them before you reach them. We had no problem finding English guides at the major sites (Coba, Tulum, Chitchen Itza). For example, entrance fee to Chichen Itza is $10 per person, free under 12, parking $5, English guide for 2 hours $60 including tip, half-tank of gas $20. Total for us: $115. I think an organized tour would have been at least $300.
Transportation: Rented a new Nissan Altima at Dollar at Cancun airport for $204 per week (minus $150 for enduring timeshare presentation: $54!). I had reserved a "full size (Taurus or similar)" on Dollar's web site - I argued that Altima isn't full-size, but it was the biggest car Dollar had, and it turned out to be fine anyway. For Chichen Itza, we left hotel at 5:00 a.m., arrived as they opened at 8:00, and the place was EMPTY. We finished tour just as the HUGE throng of tour buses arrived, and a sea of people poured over the place. Get there early and avoid the crowd. Drove highway 307 to highway 10 at
Tulum to highway 180 at Volidolid. All highways were in pretty good shape and felt safe all the way. It's easy to find an English-speaking person wherever we went.
Recommend visiting one or more cenotes, which are large springs or wells - very beautiful, with amazing fish and caves, great snorkeling (rented 2 sets of snorkel equipment from hotel for $10/day). We visited Cenote Azul across 307 from the Barcelo
Maya resort - this cenote is pretty small, but also uncrowded, and cheap at $5 per person.
Sometimes prices are confusing because they use the $ sign to mean pesos as well as US dollars. So if you see a sign saying parking is $45, it means 45 pesos (about $4.50).
Timeshares: DO NOT GO to a timeshare presentation unless you are tough and can tell the hard-sell, lying [--] to get lost. Sorry, but you really do need to be that blunt to get out of there without being robbed. Now, I am that tough, and after sacrificing 3 hours for their "90-minute" presentation, I did get the 4 T-shirts and $150 off my car rental that they promised. More advice: Don't accept their free van service to get from your hotel to the timeshare. When you tell them you're leaving without buying, they will be completely uninterested in getting you home. If you want a timeshare, buy only in the U.S. and buy on the secondary market (from existing owners), NEVER from the over-priced developer. You can easily find a high-quailty week for under $5,000. At my presentation, they started at $45,000/week, and finally went down to $5,000/week - I still said forget it - I'm not agreeing to anything with a company I never heard of in a foreign country with minimal consumer protection laws. Period.
Summary: 5-star buildings, 3-star service. Price is not discounted - it is simply fair and reflects the positives as well as the negatives that you do have to deal with.
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Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Check-in / front desk
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Traveled to Mexico for the first time with my husband for our wedding anniversary and sad to say i couldn't wait to get home. We chose this hotel because our friends who were also celebrating their wedding anniversary were staying here. So here is my break down of likes and dislikes:
Location - only 30 mins from Cancun International Airport but beach is not clear/clean waters. its rocky and filled with seaweed. The entire weekend I was there no one entered the beach, which is a no no for a beachfront resort. Sand was white and pristine an many sun bathed on the beach but the majority were in the pool. so you can imagine how packed it was and frustrating to find 4 chairs. we had to wake up early to hold seats so no rest during "vacation" (Unbelievable!!!) We ended up riding 15 mins south to Playa Del Carmen where it was beautiful and enjoyed some of it but also uncomfortable because it was a locals beach and no chairs were available.
Rooms - We each had ocean view rooms. My husband and i were on the second floor and unfortunately had a roach problem. the first night I found and killed two of them (small) and figured it was the caribbean and expected. then on the second night my husband found one in his glasses case another small one which was on the bedside table. I reported it next morning and they had an exterminator come while we were out. Night #3 #4 and #5 we kept finding them with the last one on the bed! I reported it on night #3 but was done with it by the #5th night. At this point i spoke to the manager and requested a room change. Because of the fear of having them in the luggage we ran out the day before our trip back home to wash our clothes, shook out our luggages and couldn't wait until we were out of there. They should have offered a room exchange but the second time we reported it.
The room they changed us to did not have roaches but the water pressure was weak making it tough to take a quick shower and the hand held shower piece was also broken exposing the inner tube, drain would clog always but i didn't call about it....was at the end of our trip.
Transportation around the property - Both my husband and one of our friends had serious knee problems which made it very hard to move to/from lobby and main dining halls. Lobby desk said we could always call for a club car which on occasion they showed in less than 5 mins but the last few days they left us waiting for more than 20-30 mins all the while the concierge at the building were were at (building 5) never bothered to say its on its way or it will be delayed, etc. so most of the time we ended up having to walk all the way to the lobby area which was about a five minute walk. pretty long for people with knee problems. The worst was on thursday night after a long day of travel to Cozumel (11 hours) when we arrived to the hotel at 10:30pm we asked the lobby desk for a club car and they requested but left us waiting for more than 30 mins with a club car right in front of us and more than enough personnel at the lobby. When i went back in to check all they said was that it was coming but never picked up a walkie to check. When i asked why they couldn't get someone sooner being there were so many of them they totally ignored me and when i turned away they laughed. I am sending a letter to the manager tomorrow on this. All the lobby staff never tried to make the guests comfortable or happy. And when an answer is demanded they talk back arguing the point. As a customer service rep myself that is completely unacceptable, All that money we spent on their hotel and they do nothing to accommodate in small as well as large requests leaves me with my mouth open.
Staff - as mentioned the lobby desk were the most offensive with their back talk, etc. one thing i forgot to mention is that any time i called the desk about roach problem they didn't show any concern. when i tried to establish a conversation about it they literally repeated they were sending a fumigator and good night. As if i never said anything! Very rude!
Food & Restaurants - Food over all was ok. Burgers by the pool had flavor was very good and food at both the main dining room and the dining room by the beach were good as well.
4 Restaurants available for reservations - Steak House, Italian, French and Mexican
Steak House - thin steaks were very dry and desserts not good.
Italian - not good at all
French - appetizers good with lots of flavor / main course i had the chicken with blueberry glaze and risotto. It was ok but risotto was dry like just plain rice / Desserts not good at all. we all ordered different dishes and we all left it on the table.
Booking a restaurant - you can only book the day before and in the morning. two nights i tried booking the one of the concierge attendant was not helpful and always said there was no room without checking the list (I've never in my years of travel experienced this). The next morning i would check there were many available tables.
SPA - AMAZING!!!!!! i absolutely loved it and recommend everyone use it if they can. It made up for most of the frustration. The staff was wonderful, helpful, accommodating, etc. there are 8 pools all different some warm and others cold and had jacuzzi, pressured water, etc for every inch of the body. Truly relaxing! They also had sauna and steam rooms as well. they also had beds all around where you can leave your things and when ready just relax and take a nap. I hope to find a spa like that at another resort.
Parking - we rented a car and found out parking was horrible as well. We had to park very far from the lobby (close to the exit gate of the property) where we needed to wait for a car ride back to the hotel.
Rental cars - be ware and do not rent via web for any car service. My friend booked via BookIt.com with Dollar Rent a Car for $25 a day but when we got there they wanted to charge or hold $4,000 (USD) on a credit card (unheard of) and kept emphasizing if the car gets stolen we are not covered. We ended up taking a taxi back to the airport because they cannot call a taxi to pick you up at car rental location and get a taxi there.
When we got to the hotel and saw how horrible the beach waters were we had no choice but to book get a rental car at the hotel. price there was better, only paid $408 for 5 days and credit hold for $800 (USD). oh and the only car left was a manual (stick shift) so be sure to always ask what type of car you are getting.
WiFi - Fee but horrible. would go in and out constantly. their business center not internet was slow as well.
TimeShare Pressure - make sure you DO NOT buy anything from them until you have a few days there so you can explore the property and services. they always try to get you when you arrive right after check-in by the staff taking you to your room (Hector) and will be promised $100 per couple (its not cash) of attending which you will get but you will be stressed out to the max when you sit with the timeshare rep. Its not worth it. DON'T DO IT. They are nice at the beginning but they get upset when you tell them NO and then leave you sitting there as part of their tactic to get you to change your mind and three more reps (manager and person who is supposed to sign you out) to speak to you again and force deal on you. its not worth it, it steals more than 90mins of your day, DON'T DO IT!!!
Location - only 30 mins from Cancun International Airport but beach is not clear/clean waters. its rocky and filled with seaweed. The entire weekend I was there no one entered the beach, which is a no no for a beachfront resort. Sand was white and pristine an many sun bathed on the beach but the majority were in the pool. so you can imagine how packed it was and frustrating to find 4 chairs. we had to wake up early to hold seats so no rest during "vacation" (Unbelievable!!!) We ended up riding 15 mins south to Playa Del Carmen where it was beautiful and enjoyed some of it but also uncomfortable because it was a locals beach and no chairs were available.
Rooms - We each had ocean view rooms. My husband and i were on the second floor and unfortunately had a roach problem. the first night I found and killed two of them (small) and figured it was the caribbean and expected. then on the second night my husband found one in his glasses case another small one which was on the bedside table. I reported it next morning and they had an exterminator come while we were out. Night #3 #4 and #5 we kept finding them with the last one on the bed! I reported it on night #3 but was done with it by the #5th night. At this point i spoke to the manager and requested a room change. Because of the fear of having them in the luggage we ran out the day before our trip back home to wash our clothes, shook out our luggages and couldn't wait until we were out of there. They should have offered a room exchange but the second time we reported it.
The room they changed us to did not have roaches but the water pressure was weak making it tough to take a quick shower and the hand held shower piece was also broken exposing the inner tube, drain would clog always but i didn't call about it....was at the end of our trip.
Transportation around the property - Both my husband and one of our friends had serious knee problems which made it very hard to move to/from lobby and main dining halls. Lobby desk said we could always call for a club car which on occasion they showed in less than 5 mins but the last few days they left us waiting for more than 20-30 mins all the while the concierge at the building were were at (building 5) never bothered to say its on its way or it will be delayed, etc. so most of the time we ended up having to walk all the way to the lobby area which was about a five minute walk. pretty long for people with knee problems. The worst was on thursday night after a long day of travel to Cozumel (11 hours) when we arrived to the hotel at 10:30pm we asked the lobby desk for a club car and they requested but left us waiting for more than 30 mins with a club car right in front of us and more than enough personnel at the lobby. When i went back in to check all they said was that it was coming but never picked up a walkie to check. When i asked why they couldn't get someone sooner being there were so many of them they totally ignored me and when i turned away they laughed. I am sending a letter to the manager tomorrow on this. All the lobby staff never tried to make the guests comfortable or happy. And when an answer is demanded they talk back arguing the point. As a customer service rep myself that is completely unacceptable, All that money we spent on their hotel and they do nothing to accommodate in small as well as large requests leaves me with my mouth open.
Staff - as mentioned the lobby desk were the most offensive with their back talk, etc. one thing i forgot to mention is that any time i called the desk about roach problem they didn't show any concern. when i tried to establish a conversation about it they literally repeated they were sending a fumigator and good night. As if i never said anything! Very rude!
Food & Restaurants - Food over all was ok. Burgers by the pool had flavor was very good and food at both the main dining room and the dining room by the beach were good as well.
4 Restaurants available for reservations - Steak House, Italian, French and Mexican
Steak House - thin steaks were very dry and desserts not good.
Italian - not good at all
French - appetizers good with lots of flavor / main course i had the chicken with blueberry glaze and risotto. It was ok but risotto was dry like just plain rice / Desserts not good at all. we all ordered different dishes and we all left it on the table.
Booking a restaurant - you can only book the day before and in the morning. two nights i tried booking the one of the concierge attendant was not helpful and always said there was no room without checking the list (I've never in my years of travel experienced this). The next morning i would check there were many available tables.
SPA - AMAZING!!!!!! i absolutely loved it and recommend everyone use it if they can. It made up for most of the frustration. The staff was wonderful, helpful, accommodating, etc. there are 8 pools all different some warm and others cold and had jacuzzi, pressured water, etc for every inch of the body. Truly relaxing! They also had sauna and steam rooms as well. they also had beds all around where you can leave your things and when ready just relax and take a nap. I hope to find a spa like that at another resort.
Parking - we rented a car and found out parking was horrible as well. We had to park very far from the lobby (close to the exit gate of the property) where we needed to wait for a car ride back to the hotel.
Rental cars - be ware and do not rent via web for any car service. My friend booked via BookIt.com with Dollar Rent a Car for $25 a day but when we got there they wanted to charge or hold $4,000 (USD) on a credit card (unheard of) and kept emphasizing if the car gets stolen we are not covered. We ended up taking a taxi back to the airport because they cannot call a taxi to pick you up at car rental location and get a taxi there.
When we got to the hotel and saw how horrible the beach waters were we had no choice but to book get a rental car at the hotel. price there was better, only paid $408 for 5 days and credit hold for $800 (USD). oh and the only car left was a manual (stick shift) so be sure to always ask what type of car you are getting.
WiFi - Fee but horrible. would go in and out constantly. their business center not internet was slow as well.
TimeShare Pressure - make sure you DO NOT buy anything from them until you have a few days there so you can explore the property and services. they always try to get you when you arrive right after check-in by the staff taking you to your room (Hector) and will be promised $100 per couple (its not cash) of attending which you will get but you will be stressed out to the max when you sit with the timeshare rep. Its not worth it. DON'T DO IT. They are nice at the beginning but they get upset when you tell them NO and then leave you sitting there as part of their tactic to get you to change your mind and three more reps (manager and person who is supposed to sign you out) to speak to you again and force deal on you. its not worth it, it steals more than 90mins of your day, DON'T DO IT!!!
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Room Tip: -Ask for high floor rooms, no roaches.
-Car rental - do not book via any online site. call them...
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
My wife and I stayed at the BBGE the 3rd week in April 2011. It was our first trip to the Cancun and Mayan Riveria area.
We booked through www.CheapCarribean.com. They provided consistent service both over the phone and on the ground at the BBGE. However, the BBGE did not meet our expectations.
My wife and I really enjoyed the hospitality of their servers. They had helpful spirits. It was reflected in the overall good condition of the property. The property also seemed reasonably organized to handle all their guests arriving from various travel services. The nightly entertainment was a bit cheesy, but it held our attention while we checked work email at night.
The community was too busy for us. Most the day all the pool chairs were full with a few predictively open along the beach. Overall there was just too many guests for us.
The dinning setup was frusterating. In order to eat at one of their 4 restaurants (instead of their buffet) you had to book time a day in advance. Unless you could do it before 8:30 am, there was not enough room. After being there 2 days, it became clear to us that not everyone was using their reservations. One morning we couldn't reserve a table for the following evening because they were 100% full. Regardless, we headed down to the steak and fish house to see if they could slip us in. Even though half the restaurant was empty they couldn't make a table for us. We're use to going to restaurants where they try to make things work. It just didn't make sense why they couldn't have accomodate us due to the obvious space.
Regarding our room, it was smoky each day despite a smoking ban. Our bed had 2 huge depressions in it from frequent use. The beds hurt our back each night as we slept. The linen was also rough due a small thread count.
My wife and I were also put off by their pushy time share focus. The front desk staff, consierge, parking attendent, and unit manager all seemed very aware of selling us. We had to constently explain why we didn't want their spa treatment and breakfast meeting. At one point, our taxi driver actually backed up the driveway to tell the parking attendant where we were going once he found out our destination was a competing hotel.
We want better food than they provided. It's not bad food and certainly good enough for many.
My take on the BBGE is they make their money through volume. They pump a lot of people through their resort. As a result, you are a number, but they do it reasonably well. Just don't expect any luxuries.
We won't return. Next time we'll pay more for something better. We work hard through out the year, so we want a personalized and quality experience when we travel.
We booked through www.CheapCarribean.com. They provided consistent service both over the phone and on the ground at the BBGE. However, the BBGE did not meet our expectations.
My wife and I really enjoyed the hospitality of their servers. They had helpful spirits. It was reflected in the overall good condition of the property. The property also seemed reasonably organized to handle all their guests arriving from various travel services. The nightly entertainment was a bit cheesy, but it held our attention while we checked work email at night.
The community was too busy for us. Most the day all the pool chairs were full with a few predictively open along the beach. Overall there was just too many guests for us.
The dinning setup was frusterating. In order to eat at one of their 4 restaurants (instead of their buffet) you had to book time a day in advance. Unless you could do it before 8:30 am, there was not enough room. After being there 2 days, it became clear to us that not everyone was using their reservations. One morning we couldn't reserve a table for the following evening because they were 100% full. Regardless, we headed down to the steak and fish house to see if they could slip us in. Even though half the restaurant was empty they couldn't make a table for us. We're use to going to restaurants where they try to make things work. It just didn't make sense why they couldn't have accomodate us due to the obvious space.
Regarding our room, it was smoky each day despite a smoking ban. Our bed had 2 huge depressions in it from frequent use. The beds hurt our back each night as we slept. The linen was also rough due a small thread count.
My wife and I were also put off by their pushy time share focus. The front desk staff, consierge, parking attendent, and unit manager all seemed very aware of selling us. We had to constently explain why we didn't want their spa treatment and breakfast meeting. At one point, our taxi driver actually backed up the driveway to tell the parking attendant where we were going once he found out our destination was a competing hotel.
We want better food than they provided. It's not bad food and certainly good enough for many.
My take on the BBGE is they make their money through volume. They pump a lot of people through their resort. As a result, you are a number, but they do it reasonably well. Just don't expect any luxuries.
We won't return. Next time we'll pay more for something better. We work hard through out the year, so we want a personalized and quality experience when we travel.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
This is an old hotel, needs major renovations. Roofs are covered with tarps, things are falling on your head. Hotel smells like a toilet, not kidding!
The beach is horrible, it’s a parking spot for boats.
The bar is gross, dirty, broken.
Power outages at night, AC stops working.
Ridiculous!
Do not go here, do yourself a favour!
The beach is horrible, it’s a parking spot for boats.
The bar is gross, dirty, broken.
Power outages at night, AC stops working.
Ridiculous!
Do not go here, do yourself a favour!
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Response from DIRECTOR GENERAL, Director General at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda
Responded Dec 25, 2022
Dear Friends:
We appreciate all comments and we are truly very sorry that there were aspects that you did not enjoy on this vacation at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda. We apologize for not reaching your expectations during your stay., your opinions, as well as all of our guests, are very important to us as it brings us improvement opportunities. Thank you again and we hope to welcome you again at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda Hotel in a future. Sincerely.
Bluebay Family.
We appreciate all comments and we are truly very sorry that there were aspects that you did not enjoy on this vacation at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda. We apologize for not reaching your expectations during your stay., your opinions, as well as all of our guests, are very important to us as it brings us improvement opportunities. Thank you again and we hope to welcome you again at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda Hotel in a future. Sincerely.
Bluebay Family.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Just got home from the Blue Bay in Playa Del Carmen and it was a dissapointment. This was our second stay near Cancun and Playa Del Carmen and the resort is a 2.5 star on a good day. We drove up to the hotel and opened our trunk to remove our bags and a bell hop came up and asked us to move our car. The lobby was hot (100+ and I know it is July in Mexico but it was very uncomfortable and unfriendly) and I felt like finding my car for the AC. The resort is way too spread out and they have golf carts to transport people from the lobby to your room. Good luck getting a cart! Everyone had the same experience that we met. The long walk from the restaurants/lobby is known as mesquito alley for a reason. We got attacked pretty bad on both trips down the sidewalk. The drinks are all in old pastic cups and well and dosXX is your only option. The food is 4 out of 10 and we were excited to leave a day early to drive to Cancun to check into the Omni. Save your money and skip this hotel all together! PS-Our car parking spot to our room was a 20 minute walk..... Horrible!
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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