All You Need to Know About the Children Club
at Dreams Sapphire Resort & Spa
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Breakfast included
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Children Club review highlights
... at Coco café and the pastries. 9yr old daughter loved the kids club and all the activities including bungee trampoline....
... beach, coco cafe, Bordeaux for lunch and the amazing Kids Club which our kids loved! Avoid Preferred club if you have...
... not great but we were very near all the amenities. The Kids club was brilliant with different fun activities every day....
Most popular question about the children club
Is the kids club a chargeable extra or included in the residence?! We are looking at All Inc in October.
Answer from DreamsSapphireRS
May 2022 |
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Featured children club amenities
Children Activities (Kid / Family Friendly)
Kid-Friendly Buffet
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Reviews that mention children club
Write a reviewThe resort is beautiful and very well maintained. Tried all of the restaurants and enjoyed Cibu the most for dinner. Did not like Fresco that much. Market Place Buffet always had something for everyone and the Thanksgiving turkey dinner was good! Loved coffee at Coco café and the pastries. 9yr old daughter loved the kids club and all the activities including bungee trampoline.
Walked on Beach to Puerto Morelos and paid $20/person for snorkeling which was great...corral reefs are beautiful and not very deep...even saw sea turtles which we were told is rare. Great service and friendly staff!
Walked on Beach to Puerto Morelos and paid $20/person for snorkeling which was great...corral reefs are beautiful and not very deep...even saw sea turtles which we were told is rare. Great service and friendly staff!
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from NowSapphireRC, Social Media Coordinator at Dreams Sapphire Resort & Spa
Responded Dec 2, 2014
Dear Guest, We thank you for your sharing your review on Tripadvisor about your recent stay at Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun. We are happy to read you had a great stay at our resort. It is great to know that you found our resort a very beautiful place. Thank you for your comments about the specialty restaurants, Market Café (Buffet), Coco Café and the Explorer’s Club. We very much appreciate your comments that help us to continue improving our facilities and services. We wish to have the privilege to welcome you and your family again very soon. Best regards, Olivia Rodríguez Social media Coordinator Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun info.nosrc@nowresorts.com
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Our trip was fantastic overall. The resort is fantastic, really well maintained overall.
Rooms require some updating with some basic amenities missing like shower gel in some rooms but overall very comfortable.
Highlights were the pool, beach, coco cafe, Bordeaux for lunch and the amazing Kids Club which our kids loved!
Avoid Preferred club if you have kids as you’ll only get access to the preferred club pool which is adults only and the additional breakfast option in the preferred club is just a mini version of the main buffet.
Overall a fantastic stay!
Rooms require some updating with some basic amenities missing like shower gel in some rooms but overall very comfortable.
Highlights were the pool, beach, coco cafe, Bordeaux for lunch and the amazing Kids Club which our kids loved!
Avoid Preferred club if you have kids as you’ll only get access to the preferred club pool which is adults only and the additional breakfast option in the preferred club is just a mini version of the main buffet.
Overall a fantastic stay!
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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
Helpful
Response from Mariana Espinosa, Ventas at Dreams Sapphire Resort & Spa
Responded May 6, 2024
Dear Guest, Thank you very much for choosing us for your recent trip to the Mexican Caribbean beach and for sharing your kind comments with us here on Tripadvisor. We are pleased to know that you thoroughly enjoyed your trip to the beautiful Mexican Caribbean, we are also delighted to read that you enjoyed the special facilities and amenities offered to Club Preferred guests. We are very happy to hear that your stay was most enjoyable and that you were very satisfied with our service. We have strived to provide the most memorable experience for our valued guests. We greatly appreciate your kind comments and have shared them with our team in hopes to continue improving our experience for you and your family. We look forward receiving soon. Best regards, Mariana Espinosa E-concierge Dreams Sapphire Resort & Spa mariana.espinosa@dreamsresorts.com
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We stayed at the Now Sapphire Riviera between 21st December 2016 and 1 January 2017. Overall we really liked the hotel. It is not too big and impersonal, the pools are a nice size and the staff around the pool are very attentive. The food options are good although there is not too much variety. As vegetarians we were well catered for.
We were two adults and two children in a garden view room. The room was a good size and the beds were comfortable. The bathroom was a nice size with a shower over the bathtub. The bathtub was quite difficult to get into however. Our view was not great but we were very near all the amenities.
The Kids club was brilliant with different fun activities every day. Our kids loved going there and the staff were brilliant. They were the people we tipped the most because the kids loved being there and you knew they were safe and well looked after.
I would like to give this a 4.5 ideally but as that is not an option I have gone for a 4.
We were two adults and two children in a garden view room. The room was a good size and the beds were comfortable. The bathroom was a nice size with a shower over the bathtub. The bathtub was quite difficult to get into however. Our view was not great but we were very near all the amenities.
The Kids club was brilliant with different fun activities every day. Our kids loved going there and the staff were brilliant. They were the people we tipped the most because the kids loved being there and you knew they were safe and well looked after.
I would like to give this a 4.5 ideally but as that is not an option I have gone for a 4.
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Room Tip: The views in the garden view rooms are not that nice. It is probably worht paying extra for an...
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Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from NowSapphireRC, Social Media Coordinator at Dreams Sapphire Resort & Spa
Responded Jan 22, 2017
Dear Guest, Thank you for sharing your feedback on Tripadvisor about your stay at Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun. We are delighted to read just how much you enjoyed your Christmas holidays. Thank you for acknowledging the friendliness and attentiveness of our team. It is certainly with great pleasure that we take every opportunity to exceed your expectations. We will share your valuable comments with the entire staff, especially with the Explorer’s Club staff. We look forward to an opportunity to welcoming you back to Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun in the near future. Best regards, Olivia Rodríguez Social Media Coordinator Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun info.nosrc@nowresorts.com
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
+1
Just got back last night; longest review I’ve ever written; did not intend it to be this long just figured it might help a fellow parent/traveler out
RESORT OVERALL
I would say overall, we were pretty happy with it. It was pretty much what we expected. It wasn’t the best all inclusive we have been to but it wasn’t the worst. The staff are very friendly and accommodating, and we had no issues. The resort isn’t super toddler friendly, but that might have been our inexperience in toddler vacations (see below for more). The resort is quite pretty but weirdly there are several areas of dilapidation that just seem out of place. For example, there are a bunch of shower heads on a structure between the pool and the beach that is roped off due to partial collapse. The same is a little further down with like some steps. No one was working on it and it was just roped off. Not sure if there was a storm that passed through recently that damaged it but I hadn’t heard of anything. Same is true in the Bluewater grill restaurant. In the far side where there are no tables, one of the poles holding the safety ropes had fallen, and was just not repaired. In the main complex, there are a series of shallow pools creating water features. Several are clean and beautiful, and several have gross stagnant water in it that just creates an odd mismatch. For example, the shallow pools around the outdoor seating for Lemongrass are empty or with stagnant gross water in it. Not really the setting for a nice meal. I don’t know if a storm came through recently (it wasn’t Ida, cos we were here for it) but it just feels like there has been some damage but there doesn’t seem to be much being done about it. Very odd because the res of the place is quite nice.
ROOM:
We had a tropical view king bed preferred club. Room was fine. Bit tight on draw space, four, but we made it work. Small table and couch in the room as well. Bathroom was adequate. The design of the shower and toilet make it deafening when the water is running. When you are peeing, it sounds like Niagara falls is happening throughout the entire room. Whoever designed it, didn’t take into account acoustics. Shower had adequate water pressure. No major concerns overall beyond acoustics.
POOLS
There are three pools to speak of. The preferred pool, a kids pool, and the main pool.. We never went to the preferred pool as its adults only. It looks nice, and I’ve included pictures in my review. The kids pool is part of the kids club, and we didn’t really use it either as it appeared your kids had to use it as part of the kids club, but it wasn’t really open to the general public in that sense. So, I’ll focus on the main pool which is where we spent 100% of our time. It is a huge pool that never felt crowded. The swim up bar area can get a little crowded and congested. People post up there and don’t leave, which makes it difficult for other people to swim up, get a drink and leave. Maybe they can have a “swim up” area, to give people an avenue for drinks where you don’t have to reach over people sitting at the concrete stools in the water. Water was pretty clean, and other than some leaves and stuff that blow in – we had no concerns about water quality. They are always actively cleaning it too, so its pretty frequent to see someone skimming the water or with a snorkel cleaning the bottom. The pool is surrounded by Bali beds which are reserved for the Preferred club. You book them the day before you need them, and they take reservations at the Pool Concierge beginning at 9am. This stand is located to the right of the dry side of the swim up bar. They go quickly in terms of reservations so you’ll need to line up around 845am to be sure to get one. It’s a god send for anyone with small kids. It was a great place to wrangle my daughter, keep her in the shade, and a place for her to nap. They are about the size of a queen mattress, and are overall pretty comfortable. If you booked one, you have to show up by 10am, or they give it away. Not an issue for people with small kids, but something to keep in mind if you plan a lie in. Not a lot of shade in the main pool so we had to bring a pool float with a canopy for my daughter to keep her out of the sun but in the water. They do pool-side Zumba, dancing, games, and other things which keep it interesting – overall it’s a good vibe at the main pool with enough adults having fun to keep it interesting with kids floating and splashing around nearby. A good family option for sure.
Waterslide pool – there are three of them. Two curved ones and one straight shot. All were fun, and were a good time. There is also a basketball hoop in this pool as well.
BEACH
We went once, for about 15 seconds and then left. But it wasn’t due to seaweed. If anyone hasn’t been to Cancun before, seaweed is unfortunately part of the ecosystem here. It washes up on the beach regularly, and they do a good job cleaning it, but it keeps coming back. It has a quite strong sulfur smell to it as well, but it’s the same throughout Cancun. We knew this, it didn’t bother us, and we just got on with it. The two big reasons we didn’t like the beach were 1) sand and toddlers are a bad combo, but 2) there is a lot of coral underfoot. It makes it hard to even step more than 2-3 ft into the water because of sharp coral underfoot. Again, part of the ecosystem but it made it difficult to carry my daughter out through the surf as I was constantly stepping on millions of rock hard lego block structures. We abandoned it when I almost fell carrying her. Not sure the resort can do much about it but more general advice for other parents when coming here. The surf and water is also pretty churned up so its hard to even dodge them. Just not a good fit for our family, but other people seemed to enjoy it.
RESTAURANTS
Market Café (Buffet) – we frequented here the most due to a) the hours b) solid food options and c) great staff. Moises and Alberto were great to us, and really were patient with my daughter. Top notch service from them. Breakfast opens at 7am and has a nice mix of hot and cold options. There are two omelet/egg stations making custom options. Plenty of pastries and fruit options. Lunch has a great barbecue station with to order cooked meat (chorizo particularly good), and taco station. Otherwise good other options. *** didn’t go for dinner. My only two gripes are minor – one the eating area can get a bit stuffy. There is an inconsistent use of open doors/windows and so it can get rather muggy while eating. A short term annoyance but seems like an easy fix. Second, is they have a chef/waiter/someone serve you hot entrees at both breakfast and lunch (and I presume dinner) on one side of the buffet line but not the other. I don’t understand it. I thought it was for COVID but you are allowed to serve yourself hot food on the other side, and all the cold options… so why one side and why only the hot stuff? Makes no sense. You have to order and ask for food on that side you can barely see but they have little index cards showing you what’s over there. But it’s just hard to see if something looks good or bad, other than basing it purely off an index card description of “meatballs”. Just a clunky system, that is awkward and doesn’t make sense.
CIBU (Preferred only) – opens at 8am for breakfast and 6pm for dinner, and has a rather stuffy atmosphere. Didn’t go for breakfast as the kid was already awake for almost 2 hours by 8am, but went for dinner twice. First time was aborted due to a meltdown but they were gracious enough to package it up for my wife to bring back to the room while I dealt with the little one. Second time was good as well. I had the filet mignon the first time and the chicken alfredo the second. Both were good. The zucchini ravioli we ordered for my daughter were more like veggie wraps – no pasta, and zucchini wrapped up into a square. Interesting idea but menu was a bit misleading, and not great for kids. Dessert options are a bit anemic.
Bluewater Grill – beachside restaurant with good views over the beach and ocean. Very good service (Archie is great). Food is solid but not spectacular. I had the fish tacos and the flank steak burrito on different days, and enjoyed both. Appetizers were a bit meh – nachos were the same across the resort, and the buffalo wings were ok (4 in a portion). Overall, a good lunch spot right next to the pools. The host did go offer to go over to the market to get me pulpo cerviche, which was above and beyond. Service overall at the resort is great.
Coco Café – only went to get coffees in the morning. Both my double espresso and my wife’s iced coffee were very good both times we went. Service was friendly and quick. They had little bites there as well but didn’t get it. It would be a good spot if you don’t want to go the full sit down buffet but want a quick coffee and pastry. Not sure it’s hours
Fresco – doesn’t open until 8pm which is frustrating because anyone with little kids, this starts to get late. I’ll expand upon my frustrations about food and toddlers elsewhere in this review, but we could not visit this place.
Paramour – could not attend as its adults only and we had the little one.
Lemongrass – eclectic menu but overall pretty good. I had a salmon special, my wife had the pad thai which was pretty spicy but standard American Thai food standards. Service was good. Had deep fried ice cream to finish and was very happy. Limited options for the kid here but she tried a bit of the chicken tempura and a bit of rice.
Barefoot grill – Poolside grill serving burgers, hot dogs, pizza, and American style nachos. It’s pretty limited and not particularly varied. Fine for a quick snack between meals but its pretty dull. The lack of variety is disappointing. I did see them clearing several large tables and metal trays of things a couple of times but I’ve no idea what it is or was. I never saw or heard of any discussion about it.
ROOM SERVICE
-Very underwhelming. Having a 1-year old, we got trapped in the room regularly with her needing to go to bed at like 6-7pm but weren’t able to make dinner (more on that in the restaurant section)
-First time we ordered it and were quoted 45mins-1hour… it came almost 2 hours later. Very frustrating. Second time were told the same time.. and it came in 35-mins. Just unpredictable. Not sure if were unlucky the first night or lucky the second, but any time you are given – I wouldn’t put much stock in.
-Food quality is very meh. First night I got a club sandwich and my wife got a pizza. My sandwich was ok but fries were stone cold. My wife’s pizza was basically a frozen pizza microwaved, but cold when it arrived. Second time we both got burgers, and it was better.
-Menu is very limited, and you can’t order drinks or re-fills to the mini-bar. So if you get stuck in the room due to the kids, then you are kinda SOL. We had to take it in turns to leave the room, get drinks and come back. I realize its room service and it will have limited options – but it shouldn’t be too hard to order a couple of beers with dinner when it’s delivered.
COVID SPECIFIC
-Masks are required in all covered spaces, bars and restaurants. Once seated, masks can come off. Masks are required for all interactions with the front desk, concierge etc.
-Testing appointment is made the day before you leave, and the results are available later that same day in order to upload to whatever service you need to. There is no charge.
-There was an ok distribution of hand sanitizer but I thought it could have been more readily available. They make you wipe your feet on some wet mat before entering a restaurant. I can’t imagine that’s for COVID cos I’ve no idea what it would do but its more like so you don’t track in sand from the beach.
-The pool bar is the only area where I was a little uncomfortable with the proximity of people
KID (Toddler) SPECIFIC
-They provided a travel crib similar to the one we have back at home. Mattress was a bit eh for it but it sufficed for our stay. My daughter slept well. Overall, happy and wouldn’t bring a travel crib. We did bring our slumber pod, and were very happy for it.
-They have options for kids 3+ to go to a kids club of sorts. It’s also where the children’s pool is. Never used it as we have a 1-year old so can’t speak to that.
-Food was ok for kids. Our toddler is a picky eater but found something at most meal times and we supplemented it with formula, pouches and snacks from home. I wouldn’t expect any toddler to come here and purely survive off the resort food, but it definitely can be a big piece of it. Just bring stuff you know your kid will eat as a back up. As a reference we were Sat-Sat, and brought 30 pouches, 32 packets of formula, and some dry snacks. This was also for the flights/travel day, but it was an appropriate amount for our 1-year old.
-High chairs were available at every restaurant.
-We got a ground level tropical view preferred king room on the basis that ground level would mean no stairs with the little one, and we could climb over the wall to come and go if we needed to without disturbing her sleeping in the room. So, our logic was fine, but I wouldn’t do it again. The tropical views are nice but due to the orientation of our balcony, there was no breeze over it, which made it very muggy and buggy as there is no breeze to drive the mosquitos away. In hindsight, I would do ocean view again if I could for the breeze, or do a tropical view on a higher floor where mosquito concerns are less. When you get stuck in the room from basically 7pm onwards every night, these little things will make a difference. If I were to do it again, I would pay for a better room – we didn’t spend any money on excursions or the spa or anything, so we should have spent that money on a nicer room so my wife and I could have sat out on the balcony with a drink or two while the baby slept. We knew we were going to be room bound at night, but didn’t think we would have to sit in the room the whole time.
-If you are thinking about bringing a baby camera or something, we did as well but didn’t really use it. Because we couldn’t sit on the balcony due to being eaten alive, we opted to sit in the room quietly reading books/surfing the internet. There aren’t unfortunately bars or restaurants close enough to use a baby monitor and still be part of society. Maybe building #1 (by the pool) but who knows. We weren’t using a WiFi based baby camera so I don’t know if that’s different or not.
-We never used the babysitting service. With such a small child, I worried that she would wake up to a stranger and then fully lose her mind. So we thought it best to not use.
PREFERRED CLUB
-I’m not sure my wife, daughter and I got the most out of it if I am honest. We couldn’t use the preferred adults only pool, and only went to the preferred lounge once or twice.
-They do have better alcohol at the preferred lounge (ex. They have Johnny Black whereas everywhere else its Johnny Red) and some small snacks. We only went there to kill time before dinner started
-The biggest benefit was the reserving of Bali Beds by the main pool which is limited to preferred customers only. This was worth it alone to us.
RESORT OVERALL
I would say overall, we were pretty happy with it. It was pretty much what we expected. It wasn’t the best all inclusive we have been to but it wasn’t the worst. The staff are very friendly and accommodating, and we had no issues. The resort isn’t super toddler friendly, but that might have been our inexperience in toddler vacations (see below for more). The resort is quite pretty but weirdly there are several areas of dilapidation that just seem out of place. For example, there are a bunch of shower heads on a structure between the pool and the beach that is roped off due to partial collapse. The same is a little further down with like some steps. No one was working on it and it was just roped off. Not sure if there was a storm that passed through recently that damaged it but I hadn’t heard of anything. Same is true in the Bluewater grill restaurant. In the far side where there are no tables, one of the poles holding the safety ropes had fallen, and was just not repaired. In the main complex, there are a series of shallow pools creating water features. Several are clean and beautiful, and several have gross stagnant water in it that just creates an odd mismatch. For example, the shallow pools around the outdoor seating for Lemongrass are empty or with stagnant gross water in it. Not really the setting for a nice meal. I don’t know if a storm came through recently (it wasn’t Ida, cos we were here for it) but it just feels like there has been some damage but there doesn’t seem to be much being done about it. Very odd because the res of the place is quite nice.
ROOM:
We had a tropical view king bed preferred club. Room was fine. Bit tight on draw space, four, but we made it work. Small table and couch in the room as well. Bathroom was adequate. The design of the shower and toilet make it deafening when the water is running. When you are peeing, it sounds like Niagara falls is happening throughout the entire room. Whoever designed it, didn’t take into account acoustics. Shower had adequate water pressure. No major concerns overall beyond acoustics.
POOLS
There are three pools to speak of. The preferred pool, a kids pool, and the main pool.. We never went to the preferred pool as its adults only. It looks nice, and I’ve included pictures in my review. The kids pool is part of the kids club, and we didn’t really use it either as it appeared your kids had to use it as part of the kids club, but it wasn’t really open to the general public in that sense. So, I’ll focus on the main pool which is where we spent 100% of our time. It is a huge pool that never felt crowded. The swim up bar area can get a little crowded and congested. People post up there and don’t leave, which makes it difficult for other people to swim up, get a drink and leave. Maybe they can have a “swim up” area, to give people an avenue for drinks where you don’t have to reach over people sitting at the concrete stools in the water. Water was pretty clean, and other than some leaves and stuff that blow in – we had no concerns about water quality. They are always actively cleaning it too, so its pretty frequent to see someone skimming the water or with a snorkel cleaning the bottom. The pool is surrounded by Bali beds which are reserved for the Preferred club. You book them the day before you need them, and they take reservations at the Pool Concierge beginning at 9am. This stand is located to the right of the dry side of the swim up bar. They go quickly in terms of reservations so you’ll need to line up around 845am to be sure to get one. It’s a god send for anyone with small kids. It was a great place to wrangle my daughter, keep her in the shade, and a place for her to nap. They are about the size of a queen mattress, and are overall pretty comfortable. If you booked one, you have to show up by 10am, or they give it away. Not an issue for people with small kids, but something to keep in mind if you plan a lie in. Not a lot of shade in the main pool so we had to bring a pool float with a canopy for my daughter to keep her out of the sun but in the water. They do pool-side Zumba, dancing, games, and other things which keep it interesting – overall it’s a good vibe at the main pool with enough adults having fun to keep it interesting with kids floating and splashing around nearby. A good family option for sure.
Waterslide pool – there are three of them. Two curved ones and one straight shot. All were fun, and were a good time. There is also a basketball hoop in this pool as well.
BEACH
We went once, for about 15 seconds and then left. But it wasn’t due to seaweed. If anyone hasn’t been to Cancun before, seaweed is unfortunately part of the ecosystem here. It washes up on the beach regularly, and they do a good job cleaning it, but it keeps coming back. It has a quite strong sulfur smell to it as well, but it’s the same throughout Cancun. We knew this, it didn’t bother us, and we just got on with it. The two big reasons we didn’t like the beach were 1) sand and toddlers are a bad combo, but 2) there is a lot of coral underfoot. It makes it hard to even step more than 2-3 ft into the water because of sharp coral underfoot. Again, part of the ecosystem but it made it difficult to carry my daughter out through the surf as I was constantly stepping on millions of rock hard lego block structures. We abandoned it when I almost fell carrying her. Not sure the resort can do much about it but more general advice for other parents when coming here. The surf and water is also pretty churned up so its hard to even dodge them. Just not a good fit for our family, but other people seemed to enjoy it.
RESTAURANTS
Market Café (Buffet) – we frequented here the most due to a) the hours b) solid food options and c) great staff. Moises and Alberto were great to us, and really were patient with my daughter. Top notch service from them. Breakfast opens at 7am and has a nice mix of hot and cold options. There are two omelet/egg stations making custom options. Plenty of pastries and fruit options. Lunch has a great barbecue station with to order cooked meat (chorizo particularly good), and taco station. Otherwise good other options. *** didn’t go for dinner. My only two gripes are minor – one the eating area can get a bit stuffy. There is an inconsistent use of open doors/windows and so it can get rather muggy while eating. A short term annoyance but seems like an easy fix. Second, is they have a chef/waiter/someone serve you hot entrees at both breakfast and lunch (and I presume dinner) on one side of the buffet line but not the other. I don’t understand it. I thought it was for COVID but you are allowed to serve yourself hot food on the other side, and all the cold options… so why one side and why only the hot stuff? Makes no sense. You have to order and ask for food on that side you can barely see but they have little index cards showing you what’s over there. But it’s just hard to see if something looks good or bad, other than basing it purely off an index card description of “meatballs”. Just a clunky system, that is awkward and doesn’t make sense.
CIBU (Preferred only) – opens at 8am for breakfast and 6pm for dinner, and has a rather stuffy atmosphere. Didn’t go for breakfast as the kid was already awake for almost 2 hours by 8am, but went for dinner twice. First time was aborted due to a meltdown but they were gracious enough to package it up for my wife to bring back to the room while I dealt with the little one. Second time was good as well. I had the filet mignon the first time and the chicken alfredo the second. Both were good. The zucchini ravioli we ordered for my daughter were more like veggie wraps – no pasta, and zucchini wrapped up into a square. Interesting idea but menu was a bit misleading, and not great for kids. Dessert options are a bit anemic.
Bluewater Grill – beachside restaurant with good views over the beach and ocean. Very good service (Archie is great). Food is solid but not spectacular. I had the fish tacos and the flank steak burrito on different days, and enjoyed both. Appetizers were a bit meh – nachos were the same across the resort, and the buffalo wings were ok (4 in a portion). Overall, a good lunch spot right next to the pools. The host did go offer to go over to the market to get me pulpo cerviche, which was above and beyond. Service overall at the resort is great.
Coco Café – only went to get coffees in the morning. Both my double espresso and my wife’s iced coffee were very good both times we went. Service was friendly and quick. They had little bites there as well but didn’t get it. It would be a good spot if you don’t want to go the full sit down buffet but want a quick coffee and pastry. Not sure it’s hours
Fresco – doesn’t open until 8pm which is frustrating because anyone with little kids, this starts to get late. I’ll expand upon my frustrations about food and toddlers elsewhere in this review, but we could not visit this place.
Paramour – could not attend as its adults only and we had the little one.
Lemongrass – eclectic menu but overall pretty good. I had a salmon special, my wife had the pad thai which was pretty spicy but standard American Thai food standards. Service was good. Had deep fried ice cream to finish and was very happy. Limited options for the kid here but she tried a bit of the chicken tempura and a bit of rice.
Barefoot grill – Poolside grill serving burgers, hot dogs, pizza, and American style nachos. It’s pretty limited and not particularly varied. Fine for a quick snack between meals but its pretty dull. The lack of variety is disappointing. I did see them clearing several large tables and metal trays of things a couple of times but I’ve no idea what it is or was. I never saw or heard of any discussion about it.
ROOM SERVICE
-Very underwhelming. Having a 1-year old, we got trapped in the room regularly with her needing to go to bed at like 6-7pm but weren’t able to make dinner (more on that in the restaurant section)
-First time we ordered it and were quoted 45mins-1hour… it came almost 2 hours later. Very frustrating. Second time were told the same time.. and it came in 35-mins. Just unpredictable. Not sure if were unlucky the first night or lucky the second, but any time you are given – I wouldn’t put much stock in.
-Food quality is very meh. First night I got a club sandwich and my wife got a pizza. My sandwich was ok but fries were stone cold. My wife’s pizza was basically a frozen pizza microwaved, but cold when it arrived. Second time we both got burgers, and it was better.
-Menu is very limited, and you can’t order drinks or re-fills to the mini-bar. So if you get stuck in the room due to the kids, then you are kinda SOL. We had to take it in turns to leave the room, get drinks and come back. I realize its room service and it will have limited options – but it shouldn’t be too hard to order a couple of beers with dinner when it’s delivered.
COVID SPECIFIC
-Masks are required in all covered spaces, bars and restaurants. Once seated, masks can come off. Masks are required for all interactions with the front desk, concierge etc.
-Testing appointment is made the day before you leave, and the results are available later that same day in order to upload to whatever service you need to. There is no charge.
-There was an ok distribution of hand sanitizer but I thought it could have been more readily available. They make you wipe your feet on some wet mat before entering a restaurant. I can’t imagine that’s for COVID cos I’ve no idea what it would do but its more like so you don’t track in sand from the beach.
-The pool bar is the only area where I was a little uncomfortable with the proximity of people
KID (Toddler) SPECIFIC
-They provided a travel crib similar to the one we have back at home. Mattress was a bit eh for it but it sufficed for our stay. My daughter slept well. Overall, happy and wouldn’t bring a travel crib. We did bring our slumber pod, and were very happy for it.
-They have options for kids 3+ to go to a kids club of sorts. It’s also where the children’s pool is. Never used it as we have a 1-year old so can’t speak to that.
-Food was ok for kids. Our toddler is a picky eater but found something at most meal times and we supplemented it with formula, pouches and snacks from home. I wouldn’t expect any toddler to come here and purely survive off the resort food, but it definitely can be a big piece of it. Just bring stuff you know your kid will eat as a back up. As a reference we were Sat-Sat, and brought 30 pouches, 32 packets of formula, and some dry snacks. This was also for the flights/travel day, but it was an appropriate amount for our 1-year old.
-High chairs were available at every restaurant.
-We got a ground level tropical view preferred king room on the basis that ground level would mean no stairs with the little one, and we could climb over the wall to come and go if we needed to without disturbing her sleeping in the room. So, our logic was fine, but I wouldn’t do it again. The tropical views are nice but due to the orientation of our balcony, there was no breeze over it, which made it very muggy and buggy as there is no breeze to drive the mosquitos away. In hindsight, I would do ocean view again if I could for the breeze, or do a tropical view on a higher floor where mosquito concerns are less. When you get stuck in the room from basically 7pm onwards every night, these little things will make a difference. If I were to do it again, I would pay for a better room – we didn’t spend any money on excursions or the spa or anything, so we should have spent that money on a nicer room so my wife and I could have sat out on the balcony with a drink or two while the baby slept. We knew we were going to be room bound at night, but didn’t think we would have to sit in the room the whole time.
-If you are thinking about bringing a baby camera or something, we did as well but didn’t really use it. Because we couldn’t sit on the balcony due to being eaten alive, we opted to sit in the room quietly reading books/surfing the internet. There aren’t unfortunately bars or restaurants close enough to use a baby monitor and still be part of society. Maybe building #1 (by the pool) but who knows. We weren’t using a WiFi based baby camera so I don’t know if that’s different or not.
-We never used the babysitting service. With such a small child, I worried that she would wake up to a stranger and then fully lose her mind. So we thought it best to not use.
PREFERRED CLUB
-I’m not sure my wife, daughter and I got the most out of it if I am honest. We couldn’t use the preferred adults only pool, and only went to the preferred lounge once or twice.
-They do have better alcohol at the preferred lounge (ex. They have Johnny Black whereas everywhere else its Johnny Red) and some small snacks. We only went there to kill time before dinner started
-The biggest benefit was the reserving of Bali Beds by the main pool which is limited to preferred customers only. This was worth it alone to us.
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Room Tip: Ground floor rooms can be noisy; the tropical view can be buggy
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from Olivia Rodriguez, Sales at Dreams Sapphire Resort & Spa
Responded Sep 6, 2021
Dear Guest, Thanks for taking the time to share your very detailed review regarding your stay at the Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun. We are so glad to receive your very positive comments. We will be share your feedback with the Operations Committee and we will make sure to review the details you mentioned in order to improve the opportunity areas. We really appreciate your review and we hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back in the near future. With kind regards, Olivia Rodriguez Social Media Coordinator Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun info.nosrc@nowresorts.com
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Stayed at Now Sapphire for 5 days and couldn't wait to get out of there. Yes, the pictures of the hotel look beautiful but had too many negative experiences to never want to go back. First, if you are traveling with teenagers, be aware that they do serve alcohol to minors. My friend's 15 year old son managed to have a blast at their night club and got drunk there as well as the pool bar. Never asked for age or ID.
RESTAURANTS: They claim you do not need reservations but when we tried to have dinner at CIBU, the hostess told us there were 7 tables ahead of us (she refused to give a wait time). There was nobody there waiting except for us and when a couple was exiting we noticed there were a few empty tables. We asked her and she said those were reserved "chefs tables" and we could have it for a purchase of a US$80 bottle of wine. So we went to BLUEWATER GRILL, again, hostess said there were 5 tables ahead of us (approx. 30 minute wait), so I pretended to go in to use the bathroom and noticed about 6 vacant tables. I confronted her and her answer was that they needed to be clean. Seriously?!? 30 minutes to clean a table? Bottom line, they try to get extra money from you or you are stuck at the buffet where you get free sweat over your food, Yes, NO A/C.
PREFFERED- Dont waste your money, the adult pool that is supposed to be reserved for preferred guests has many entryways and no attendant to see who's preferred or not.
PUSHY SALES PEOPLE: DO NOT FALL for their "amazing deals", Do not waste your vacation time with promises they do not keep,
STAFF- Very mixed, some are very nice, others really bad. I got to the hotel around noon. my room was ready by 4pm but the bellman could not deliver my lugggage until after 8pm and over a dozen calls to the front desk. Luggage pick up for check out took over an hour.
POOL- The main pool is very nice but they close the bar at 5pm
KIDS CLUB staff was very friendly
ROOMS are outdated but clean
RESTAURANTS: They claim you do not need reservations but when we tried to have dinner at CIBU, the hostess told us there were 7 tables ahead of us (she refused to give a wait time). There was nobody there waiting except for us and when a couple was exiting we noticed there were a few empty tables. We asked her and she said those were reserved "chefs tables" and we could have it for a purchase of a US$80 bottle of wine. So we went to BLUEWATER GRILL, again, hostess said there were 5 tables ahead of us (approx. 30 minute wait), so I pretended to go in to use the bathroom and noticed about 6 vacant tables. I confronted her and her answer was that they needed to be clean. Seriously?!? 30 minutes to clean a table? Bottom line, they try to get extra money from you or you are stuck at the buffet where you get free sweat over your food, Yes, NO A/C.
PREFFERED- Dont waste your money, the adult pool that is supposed to be reserved for preferred guests has many entryways and no attendant to see who's preferred or not.
PUSHY SALES PEOPLE: DO NOT FALL for their "amazing deals", Do not waste your vacation time with promises they do not keep,
STAFF- Very mixed, some are very nice, others really bad. I got to the hotel around noon. my room was ready by 4pm but the bellman could not deliver my lugggage until after 8pm and over a dozen calls to the front desk. Luggage pick up for check out took over an hour.
POOL- The main pool is very nice but they close the bar at 5pm
KIDS CLUB staff was very friendly
ROOMS are outdated but clean
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Room Tip: Do not waste money on Preferred
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
3 Helpful votes
Helpful
Response from NowSapphireRC, Social Media Coordinator at Dreams Sapphire Resort & Spa
Responded Aug 20, 2018
Dear Guest, Thank you for sharing your experience on Tripadvisor about your stay at our resort. We were sorry to learn of some of the disappointing aspects of your stay. We assure you, that we share all reviews with our team, and whilst never pleasant, such feedback provides the opportunity for improvements. We will share your feedback, with the Operations Committee and the UVC supervisors to let them know your thoughts. We very much appreciate your comments that help us to continue improving our facilitie and services. We hope you give us another opportunity to host you again to regain your confidence with our service. Sincerely yours, Olivia Rodríguez Social Media Coordinator
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Questions & answers about the children club
Answer from DreamsSapphireRS
May 2022 |
Dear Guest,
Thank you for contacting us. It will be a pleasure to welcome you soon.
The Explorer's Club is for kids from 3 to 12 years and has dialy activities from 9am to 10pm. (no charge)
Thank you very much,
Warmest regards,
Olivia Rodriguez
Social Media Coordinator
Answer from DreamsSapphireRS
Nov 2021 |
Dear Guest
Thank you for contacting us. it will be a pleasure to welcome you soon.
We hope your question is already answered by our entertainment team.
Have a great day,
Regards,
Olivia Rodriguez
social media coordinator
Answer from DreamsSapphireRS
Jul 2021 |
Dear Guest,
Thank you for contacting us. It will be a pleasure to welcome you soon.
The Explorer's Club is for kids from 3 to 12 years, Kids are supervised by trained staff.
Thank you very much,
Olivia Rodríguez
Social Media Coordinator
Answer from DreamsSapphireRS
Feb 2021 |
Dear Guest,
Thank you for contacting us. It will be a pleasure to welcome you soon.
The Explorer's Club is for kids from 3 to 14 years. Please email us at info nosrc at nowresorts com (please put dots) to give you more information in detail.
Warmest regards,
Olivia Rodriguez
Social Media Coordinator
Answer from DreamsSapphireRS
Nov 2020 |
Dear Guest,
Thank you for contacting us.
The Explorer's Club is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
See you soon.
Regards
Olivia Rodríguez
Social Media Coordinator
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