All You Need to Know About the Breakfast
at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda
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Guests1 room, 2 adults, 0 children
C$220
Fully refundable before Fri, Jul 26
C$280
Fully refundable before Thu, Aug 1
Breakfast included
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C$280
C$166
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Breakfast review highlights
... attend and will repeatedly ask for you to attend their free breakfast meeting day after day and if you do attend they will...
... and while giving us some information, invited us to a "free breakfast" our first morning in the VIP area. He had shared with...
... us to the Marriott Courtyard Hotel, provided us with free breakfast at the hotel and meal vounchers for lunch upon our...
Featured breakfast amenities
Breakfast included
Kid-Friendly Buffet
Breakfast Buffet
Breakfast Available
Reviews that mention breakfast
Write a reviewFirst thing first, this is our 5th time going to Playa Del Carmen. We normally go to the RIU resorts. This is our first and last time at BlueBay Esmeralda.
The bellboys, waitstaff and housekeeping are hardworking people and over worked for the few dollars they get paid per day. They are very polite and helpful.
After check in you will be given some type of welcome presentation. They show you where all the reservation restaurants are located. The buffet times, breakfast 7am- 11am. and it reopens at 12pm for lunch. Location of the 4 bars and pools hours which are 7am-7pm. Very nonchalant they make a breakfast meeting for the following day to give you a physical tour and give you gifts...lol. The gifts are a reusable bag, a sombrero charm- not silver and a $150 dollar coupon to use towards the spa or an excursion. Oh and they tell you breakfast is included .... uhm you are in an all-inclusive resort... of course breakfast is included. They also ask you if have a credit card. They ask you to sign a paper confirming the date and time of the breakfast meeting. I asked what happened if we didn’t attend the meeting since it was an early meeting and we were going to have a long night. They told us that they would get points deducted from them that is it. We did not go to the presentation the following day. Although, we did meet a couple who was lured in and regretted attending every minute. So it turns out they DO NOT tell you they take you off grounds and waste over two hours of your vacation time to buy into something like timeshares but they do not call it timeshares. They are extremely pushy if you do not attend and will repeatedly ask for you to attend their free breakfast meeting day after day and if you do attend they will aggressively push for you to buy into it their program starting at $19,000usd.
WiFi does NOT work consistently in your room, in the hallways or practically anywhere. It somewhat works in the lobby and by the pool.
The entire place is outdated, staff keeps it clean but the resort doesn’t do their part very outdated.
The food was just ok not great at all. The buffet has little or no Mexican food other than chips and guacamole. If you want good Mexican food make dinner reservations at the Mexican Restaurant.
For dinner, you must make dinner reservations the day before or else you are sent to the main buffet. The restaurants they have available for dinner are Italian, French, Mexican, Steak, Seafood and Oriental and they do get full. Men are required to wear pants for reservation dinners or else they will not let you in!!! The Oriental restaurant is a joke but not in a funny way. Presentation was somewhat nice but taste would easily be out done by a Chinese fast food restaurant.
Their provided resort map states they have a snack bar open from 10 pm to 1am and they DO NOT!! If you get hungry after 10pm or want to snack while having drinks you have to order room service for an extra fee. The room service is worse than the buffet.
The rooms are extremely outdated. Our first room was in the building in front of the main pool closest to the beach. The A/C was barely working so we asked to be moved. Front desk had us taken to another room but it had someones belongings still in it. We were finally taken to a 3rd room where the AC was at full blast and stuck there. Super cold or off were our choices we didn’t want to give them more of our time so we just kept the room. All this wasted about an hour after dinner.
The rooms have little to no noise privacy. You can hear people talking and walking down the hallways, even through the walls. Some doors have slits in them, if they have the light on at night, you can see in through the hallway.
The bars have horrible drinks, they do not have a measuring system or consistency at all!! You can order a rum and coke (Cuba Libre) at the four bars they have and all four drinks will taste completely different!
The tile in all pools are very sharp. The small pool by building 6 has chunks of tile missing on the stairs. The pools have a shallow section big enough to place a lounge chairs in the water, which kids love to play in. Children were getting their knees and feet cut by the sharp tile and people sitting had their swimsuits ripped including children!!
The beach is not accessible at this time because of the excessive amount of seaweed. It’s not the resorts fault but after the seaweed starts to decompose it stinks like rotten eggs! The beautiful turquoise water now looks like chocolate water. It’s very sad.
The bellboys, waitstaff and housekeeping are hardworking people and over worked for the few dollars they get paid per day. They are very polite and helpful.
After check in you will be given some type of welcome presentation. They show you where all the reservation restaurants are located. The buffet times, breakfast 7am- 11am. and it reopens at 12pm for lunch. Location of the 4 bars and pools hours which are 7am-7pm. Very nonchalant they make a breakfast meeting for the following day to give you a physical tour and give you gifts...lol. The gifts are a reusable bag, a sombrero charm- not silver and a $150 dollar coupon to use towards the spa or an excursion. Oh and they tell you breakfast is included .... uhm you are in an all-inclusive resort... of course breakfast is included. They also ask you if have a credit card. They ask you to sign a paper confirming the date and time of the breakfast meeting. I asked what happened if we didn’t attend the meeting since it was an early meeting and we were going to have a long night. They told us that they would get points deducted from them that is it. We did not go to the presentation the following day. Although, we did meet a couple who was lured in and regretted attending every minute. So it turns out they DO NOT tell you they take you off grounds and waste over two hours of your vacation time to buy into something like timeshares but they do not call it timeshares. They are extremely pushy if you do not attend and will repeatedly ask for you to attend their free breakfast meeting day after day and if you do attend they will aggressively push for you to buy into it their program starting at $19,000usd.
WiFi does NOT work consistently in your room, in the hallways or practically anywhere. It somewhat works in the lobby and by the pool.
The entire place is outdated, staff keeps it clean but the resort doesn’t do their part very outdated.
The food was just ok not great at all. The buffet has little or no Mexican food other than chips and guacamole. If you want good Mexican food make dinner reservations at the Mexican Restaurant.
For dinner, you must make dinner reservations the day before or else you are sent to the main buffet. The restaurants they have available for dinner are Italian, French, Mexican, Steak, Seafood and Oriental and they do get full. Men are required to wear pants for reservation dinners or else they will not let you in!!! The Oriental restaurant is a joke but not in a funny way. Presentation was somewhat nice but taste would easily be out done by a Chinese fast food restaurant.
Their provided resort map states they have a snack bar open from 10 pm to 1am and they DO NOT!! If you get hungry after 10pm or want to snack while having drinks you have to order room service for an extra fee. The room service is worse than the buffet.
The rooms are extremely outdated. Our first room was in the building in front of the main pool closest to the beach. The A/C was barely working so we asked to be moved. Front desk had us taken to another room but it had someones belongings still in it. We were finally taken to a 3rd room where the AC was at full blast and stuck there. Super cold or off were our choices we didn’t want to give them more of our time so we just kept the room. All this wasted about an hour after dinner.
The rooms have little to no noise privacy. You can hear people talking and walking down the hallways, even through the walls. Some doors have slits in them, if they have the light on at night, you can see in through the hallway.
The bars have horrible drinks, they do not have a measuring system or consistency at all!! You can order a rum and coke (Cuba Libre) at the four bars they have and all four drinks will taste completely different!
The tile in all pools are very sharp. The small pool by building 6 has chunks of tile missing on the stairs. The pools have a shallow section big enough to place a lounge chairs in the water, which kids love to play in. Children were getting their knees and feet cut by the sharp tile and people sitting had their swimsuits ripped including children!!
The beach is not accessible at this time because of the excessive amount of seaweed. It’s not the resorts fault but after the seaweed starts to decompose it stinks like rotten eggs! The beautiful turquoise water now looks like chocolate water. It’s very sad.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
Response from JOSE V, Gerente at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda
Responded Jun 9, 2019
Dear Medellin82: On behalf of the management team and our staff at Bluebay Grand Esmeralda, I appreciate the time to write about your recent experience I appreciate your feedback regarding the aspects that did not make your stay as pleasant as it could have been, I apologize if we do not meet your expectations, be assured that our priority is your satisfaction and confort and we will surely start taking steps to correct and improve on the areas that you mention. In the future, we hope to have an opportunity to host you for a stay that truly exceeds your expectations. Kind Regards. Sincerly: Jose Vargas Room Division Manager.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Heads up to travelers going to the east coast of Mexico.....there is a huge issue with seaweed...so much that the beautiful Caribbean Sea water is brown at the shore line.....what a disappointment. If you are expecting the typical gorgeous blue and greens of the Caribbean, this area will not fulfill that expectation.
While the water issue is no fault of the resort owners, the resort itself is rated Average. Our Concierge greeted us upon arrival and while giving us some information, invited us to a "free breakfast" our first morning in the VIP area. He had shared with us he would be our Concierge for our entire stay...when we declined the "free" breakfast invite, we heard no more from him while visiting. The room was nice and clean....we were located in the building by the jungle so we had various wildlife visit the grounds which was interesting...the Mexican raccoons are fun to watch. The refrigerator was stocked with sodas, beer, water and coffee pot was available.
Food selection was good, but only mediocre in flavor. The pools are nice, the smaller pool tended to be quieter than the main pool which had activities throughout the day. All pools closed at 7:00 pm and guests still in the pools were asked to get out by staff promptly at 7:00. Most staff members were polite, however, many seemed less than enthusiastic about being there. The resort is large so there are carts that come around to different stops to pick you up....there is a wait, so most times, we chose to walk to our destination vs wait. I am not planning to return to this resort in the future.
While the water issue is no fault of the resort owners, the resort itself is rated Average. Our Concierge greeted us upon arrival and while giving us some information, invited us to a "free breakfast" our first morning in the VIP area. He had shared with us he would be our Concierge for our entire stay...when we declined the "free" breakfast invite, we heard no more from him while visiting. The room was nice and clean....we were located in the building by the jungle so we had various wildlife visit the grounds which was interesting...the Mexican raccoons are fun to watch. The refrigerator was stocked with sodas, beer, water and coffee pot was available.
Food selection was good, but only mediocre in flavor. The pools are nice, the smaller pool tended to be quieter than the main pool which had activities throughout the day. All pools closed at 7:00 pm and guests still in the pools were asked to get out by staff promptly at 7:00. Most staff members were polite, however, many seemed less than enthusiastic about being there. The resort is large so there are carts that come around to different stops to pick you up....there is a wait, so most times, we chose to walk to our destination vs wait. I am not planning to return to this resort in the future.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
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Response from JOSE V, Gerente at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda
Responded May 31, 2018
Dear islandlady55 On behalf of the management team and our staffat Bluebay Grand Esmeralda, i appreciate the time to write about your recent exprience. We are deeple regret that your experience was not completely satisfactory , and we are sharing and addressing your commnents to all the areas involved in order to make the necesary adjustments and improvements. We highly appreciate your feedback and concern for our resort. The Bluebay Grand Esmeralda team looks forward to the pleasure of welcoming you back any time soon. Sincerely, Jose Vargas Room Division Manager
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Spending the week prior to March Break was a wise decision. The maintenance staff were scurrying around trying to get everything fixed and ready for the busiest week of the year.
We totally enjoyed ourselves but were frustrated by the saving of chairs around the pool and at the beach. It wouldn't be so bad if the "savers" actually showed up to utilize their spot at some
point during the day. The lack of consideration by other travellers astonishes me sometimes.
We stayed in Tulum 1 and found that it was conveniently located between the front and rear of the resort. Catching the trolley was never a problem if we didn't feel up to walking. The concierge service right at each building is an awesome quality that I wish more resorts would offer. It made staying at this massive resort much easier to cope with.
The service in all of the restaurants and bars exceeded our expectations. It seemed like the staff would do whatever they could to accomodate our desires. We asked for a room change to have a king size bed and although at first the front desk clerk was reluctant, we stayed polite, courteous & friendly and encouraged her to help us out.....which she did. The food at the a la cartes & dinner theatres was beautifully presented and top quality. The entertainment staff were amazing and very well rehearsed.
We were offered an upgrade to a different hotel towards the end of our stay because the hotel was overbooked for the arrival of the March Breakers. Although initially hesitant to make a move, we jumped at it when we realized that it was an upgrade to the Blue Diamond (an affiliate of Blue Bay and only a few hotels down the beach). We were blown away by the amenities and service when we moved. Please see my review of that if you are interested in a true luxury high-end vacation. We did go back to BBGE for dinner on our final day and were damn happy to have left because it was jammed with people being the 2nd day of March Break.
Travelling through WestJet Vacations was a pleasure even though our homeward bound flight was cancelled due to the grounds crew making a huge boo boo and hitting the plane with a large piece of equipment while we were boarding. Not able to confirm that the dent in the fuselage wouldn't impair the flight, WestJet transported us to the Marriott Courtyard Hotel, provided us with free breakfast at the hotel and meal vounchers for lunch upon our arrival at the airport a second time.
We were impressed by everything....beach was as expected and it was too windy most days to use it anyway. We'd go back.
We totally enjoyed ourselves but were frustrated by the saving of chairs around the pool and at the beach. It wouldn't be so bad if the "savers" actually showed up to utilize their spot at some
point during the day. The lack of consideration by other travellers astonishes me sometimes.
We stayed in Tulum 1 and found that it was conveniently located between the front and rear of the resort. Catching the trolley was never a problem if we didn't feel up to walking. The concierge service right at each building is an awesome quality that I wish more resorts would offer. It made staying at this massive resort much easier to cope with.
The service in all of the restaurants and bars exceeded our expectations. It seemed like the staff would do whatever they could to accomodate our desires. We asked for a room change to have a king size bed and although at first the front desk clerk was reluctant, we stayed polite, courteous & friendly and encouraged her to help us out.....which she did. The food at the a la cartes & dinner theatres was beautifully presented and top quality. The entertainment staff were amazing and very well rehearsed.
We were offered an upgrade to a different hotel towards the end of our stay because the hotel was overbooked for the arrival of the March Breakers. Although initially hesitant to make a move, we jumped at it when we realized that it was an upgrade to the Blue Diamond (an affiliate of Blue Bay and only a few hotels down the beach). We were blown away by the amenities and service when we moved. Please see my review of that if you are interested in a true luxury high-end vacation. We did go back to BBGE for dinner on our final day and were damn happy to have left because it was jammed with people being the 2nd day of March Break.
Travelling through WestJet Vacations was a pleasure even though our homeward bound flight was cancelled due to the grounds crew making a huge boo boo and hitting the plane with a large piece of equipment while we were boarding. Not able to confirm that the dent in the fuselage wouldn't impair the flight, WestJet transported us to the Marriott Courtyard Hotel, provided us with free breakfast at the hotel and meal vounchers for lunch upon our arrival at the airport a second time.
We were impressed by everything....beach was as expected and it was too windy most days to use it anyway. We'd go back.
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Room Tip: Ask for Tulum 1, 3rd floor at the end of the hallway...away from elevator.
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Just got back.
This isn’t a 4 star property. This is a 3 star property and one that is unimpressive at that rating.
Lobby- very underwhelming. Doesn’t look nice and begins the impression that they don’t care. Very slow and long lines as check in staff are limited.
Beach- has a literal pile 4 feet wide by 2-3 feet high of seaweed which truly runs the entire coastline. Water looks brown and the entire beach smells terrible. Like rotten eggs terrible. Not hyperbole.
Rooms- beds are very hard and old. Rooms are on a 3 star- low end hotel level. If you’re fine with that you’ll be fine with it. Lack of caring for details is abundant.
Golf carts- the staff fly golf carts down all the walkways of the resort, taking guests from one place to the next. They drive recklessly and too fast, and while I was on one two days ago they nearly crashed into a family. They beep at anyone and everyone who is in the way. It seems rude and it isn’t done with a smile.
Food- slightly below average and underwhelming presentation. 1 of 10 servers in the restaurant festival was friendly. The others didn’t smile or say hello.
Do not come here if you like a resort to be 4 star. If you don’t care then by all means find a way to enjoy.
Also timeshares. I literally had front desk staff try to get me to come to a free breakfast and “see the world” for free. No thanks.
The reviews are real the place is truly run down.
This isn’t a 4 star property. This is a 3 star property and one that is unimpressive at that rating.
Lobby- very underwhelming. Doesn’t look nice and begins the impression that they don’t care. Very slow and long lines as check in staff are limited.
Beach- has a literal pile 4 feet wide by 2-3 feet high of seaweed which truly runs the entire coastline. Water looks brown and the entire beach smells terrible. Like rotten eggs terrible. Not hyperbole.
Rooms- beds are very hard and old. Rooms are on a 3 star- low end hotel level. If you’re fine with that you’ll be fine with it. Lack of caring for details is abundant.
Golf carts- the staff fly golf carts down all the walkways of the resort, taking guests from one place to the next. They drive recklessly and too fast, and while I was on one two days ago they nearly crashed into a family. They beep at anyone and everyone who is in the way. It seems rude and it isn’t done with a smile.
Food- slightly below average and underwhelming presentation. 1 of 10 servers in the restaurant festival was friendly. The others didn’t smile or say hello.
Do not come here if you like a resort to be 4 star. If you don’t care then by all means find a way to enjoy.
Also timeshares. I literally had front desk staff try to get me to come to a free breakfast and “see the world” for free. No thanks.
The reviews are real the place is truly run down.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
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Response from DIRECTOR GENERAL, Director General at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda
Responded Feb 25, 2023
Dear Friends: I wish to thank you for your feedback and for your preference. We regret that your experience with us was not at the level of their expectations, we will share your comments with our executive team to improve our service and our resort. We are at your service anytime and thank you again for your comments, Best Regards, Bluebay Family.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I traveled to this resort June 2011 with my husband. This is the second year we had been to Mexico and we wanted to stay out of Cancun. We wanted to experience more of the REAL MEXICO.
This resort is very large and beautifully landscaped. The workers are constantly maintaining the grounds. All of the staff was very friendly. Tips for new travelers do not get sucked into the FREE BREAKFAST deal it is not worth your time to visit time share places when you could be doing activities or chilling on the beach.
The rooms were large and clean. Very comfortable beds and very spacious bathrooms. We just didn't have any problems. A plus for us was the safe. This was the kind you could key in your own code. I just felt like my belongings were safer than other places we have stayed.
The Restaurants are all good. Actually we found that the buffet was just as good as the a la carts. The drinks we also good with nice amounts of alcohol.
The Beach was not as pretty compared to most beaches in Mexico there is a lot of seaweed. However, for us all beaches are different and all have their own beauty. So overall it was still nice.
My husband and I are definitely adventurous so we do not stick around the hotels that much so as far as activities that are available I am not sure. I am sure you can find something that would interest you.
LOVE THE COATIS!
Would I come back probably not unless there was a deal you couldn't miss. There are so many places to stay in Mexico we enjoy the experience of trying new things. In conclusion Blue Bay is beautiful and worth visiting. Give them a try :)
This resort is very large and beautifully landscaped. The workers are constantly maintaining the grounds. All of the staff was very friendly. Tips for new travelers do not get sucked into the FREE BREAKFAST deal it is not worth your time to visit time share places when you could be doing activities or chilling on the beach.
The rooms were large and clean. Very comfortable beds and very spacious bathrooms. We just didn't have any problems. A plus for us was the safe. This was the kind you could key in your own code. I just felt like my belongings were safer than other places we have stayed.
The Restaurants are all good. Actually we found that the buffet was just as good as the a la carts. The drinks we also good with nice amounts of alcohol.
The Beach was not as pretty compared to most beaches in Mexico there is a lot of seaweed. However, for us all beaches are different and all have their own beauty. So overall it was still nice.
My husband and I are definitely adventurous so we do not stick around the hotels that much so as far as activities that are available I am not sure. I am sure you can find something that would interest you.
LOVE THE COATIS!
Would I come back probably not unless there was a deal you couldn't miss. There are so many places to stay in Mexico we enjoy the experience of trying new things. In conclusion Blue Bay is beautiful and worth visiting. Give them a try :)
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Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful