Hotel Xcaret Mexico - All Parks & Tours / All Inclusive

The property is beautiful and very well maintained. The garden suite was spacious and perfect for our family of 3. Housekeeping came to turn down the room several times a day which we were happy about. Mini bar was stocked with drinks (though they never refilled them) and there were some snacks in the room (also never replenished). The primary selling point of this place is how kid friendly it is. There is an abundance of stuff to do for kids, all the parks are included in the price. We visited the Xcaret park and xplore, which my husband and daughter loved. Transport was a breeze, the shuttles run every 15-20 mins from the hotel. The parks are superb when the weather isnt ideal for lounging by the pools/beach. I read a lot of scary reviews about staff accosting you with sales pitches and being nasty but thankfully we didnt experience this. I actually thought the staff was pretty friendly and helpful. I did notice many sales people treating families to breakfast or whatever (which Im not sure why since all food is included) but I surmise its a pitch to someone not staying at the hotel? Concierge does get a little salesy at times but nothing too terrible. They would ask us if we plan on returning, in an attempt to sell the loyalty program, we politely declined and that was the end of it. Concierge was always helpful and answered all our questions. I also read some really bad reviews from others about the check in process but again, we found it pretty easy. We arrived after a long flight, were greeted with smiles and a helpful bellhop and breezed through check in. They even let us check into our room early even though check in isnt until 3. Restaurants were always busy but we never had to wait more than 20 mins or so. Each restaurant has very pretty decor and ambience but I was not a fan of the food at all. This was a total let down since I have been to Tulum and food there is sensational. All the buffets hot foods were always cold.

There are some major flaws, starting with the customer service representative who emailed me a VERY nasty email 30 days out telling me my credit card could not be processed and the reservation would be cancelled and that accounting will not run a card twice. Of course I freaked out because we had this trip booked for months and its new years holiday and we paid already like $4000 for flights for my whole family. I called Amex and the hotel never actually tried to run the card. I guess this is some automated email? I dont know, but their system of sending a payment link 30 days out and having some agent robotically tell me over and over my reservation would be cancelled within 24 hours was horrible to say the least. Thankfully I was able to resolve this but the stress it caused me is beyond words due to the countless incomprehensible emails and back and forth with a representative who does not speak good English. Second, the food was not very good. We managed to get by but with difficulty. My daughter is 12 and she survived on the spaghetti for 4 days. Third, the property is not actually on the beach. There is a tiny man made beach area but the chairs by pool and the manmade beach are very limited, especially during busy holiday time. Be prepared to get up early and claim a chair! Fourth, the walls are paper thin. At night you hear every door slam and chair drag across the floor and voice in the hallway. We were lucky that our garden suite was further away from main areas, but I have NO idea how people survive the trip with a room that walks out to lobby or pool. Its quite noisy with all the kids and families. If youre looking for a romantic couples getaway, I wouldnt recommend this hotel. Its perfect for families and travelers with kids. If it wasnt to take my daughter for winter break, I would definitely not come back. Its quite expensive for what you get.