Grand Velas Riviera Maya

We are finishing our week long vacation at Grand Velas and have nothing but great things to say. The resort is beautiful and very clean, and the service is wonderful. Everyone here works very hard to make sure the guests are well taken care of. The high-​end restaurants are excellent, particularly if you enjoy trying new flavors. We particularly enjoyed Piaf and Cocina de Autor, but Lucca and Frida were also very good. Our picky 12 and 15 year olds could always find something to enjoy.
The water and beach are not as stunning as some other places in the Caribbean, but we still enjoyed the kayaking and snorkeling offered by the resort. Other water activities were readily available for additional charge, and we took advantage of the parasailing and catamaran ride. Both were very professionally run and safety conscious.
There is not much nightlife, but that wasn’t a concern for us. Our girls enjoyed the games in the teen club, and the gym is clean and well-​equipped. If you are looking to relax and have fun in an upscale, service-​oriented resort, I highly recommend Grand Velas.

We visited Grand Velas Riviera Maya during April 27 – 30, 2016. We got to stay at the Ambassador suites and the suite was well kept, spacious, and with beautiful ocean views.
The overall service at the hotel is wonderful. The hotel is extremely family/​kids friendly but at the same time offers suites, pool and restaurants that are adults only.
We tried several restaurants; Azul, Bistro, Chaka, and Piaf. And we especially enjoyed Piaf for the ambience, food, and service.
We will definitely return with our daughter next time!

The hotel is beautiful. The grounds are impeccably maintained. The beach is pristine. They do a great job of keeping the hotel and rooms in tip top shape. There was not a single scratch on the walls or defect in the room. The staff is incredible. From arrival to departure everyone was attentive, warm, and provided world class service. The pools are huge and love that there is an adult area.
The only reason I did not give this hotel 5 stars is that for as expensive as it is to stay the food was just ok. The portions are quite small but you can order more however there was not a lot of flavor in some of the dishes I had. Surprisingly some of the Mexican food was the most bland of all. The presentation of the food is quite nice and again the service at all the restaurants I tried was excellent. Dinner at the French restaurant was very nice and probably one of the best meals I had.
Perfect place for relaxation.

One of the best all inclusive experiences we’ve had in all of Mexico. The staff, especially Raul at the pool, was attentive and all around helpful. The restaurants are amazing and serve most nights. Highly recommend staying in the ambassador rooms as the Zen rooms don’t get much sun. All in all Riviera Maya is the best kept secret for a mexico getaway!

This place is terrible. 4 stars my ass. 1 star if I’m being generous. Asked for shots army empty bar last night as was told no, too busy. Busy doing what??? No one was asking for anything.
Next every pool is freezing. I mean 65 degrees. Who cares we are paying $ 800 a night to be here. I asked about heating just 1 pool and they looked me like dear in headlights.
Rooms smell like sweaty balls.
Asked for good vodka and they gave me crap. Called them on it and they had none as I stared at grey goose. They acted surprised. Ordered sushi rolls and they served me pieces cut in ¼ pieces. Never seen such small cuts in my life. Rediculous. Not to mention no fish but all cream cheese. Every spicy tuna, salmon, eel roll is no fish and all cream cheese and rice. I defy you to show me fish in the roll. I’m completely miserable here and wish I could get a refund on my time and money. This place is pretty but they give 2 shits about you. 2 star maybe. I would rather stay in a older place where they treated you better any day.

A very beautiful setting. Rafael Ortega is an excellent concierge. Service in the main part of the resort is excellent. The drivers and lobby concierges are very helpful.
The rooms are large but the walls are thin. You can hear your neighbors having sex, singing in the shower. When the neighbor walks in their room it sounds like they are in your room. Freaky.
The pools are huge infinity pools. The swim up bar is fun and can make any drink. The cheeseburgers are really good. Rodrigo at the ambassador pool only wants tips so if you don’t tip enough, you don’t get service. He takes bribes to reserve pool lounges the night before even though it is against the stated resort rules.
I thought tips were included in this all inclusive resort but it doesn’t seem to be.
Got food poisoning from either chakka or lucca. Nice thing is the on call resort doctor. But for these prices, food poisoning should not be happening. Piaf is the best restaurant. Francisco and Pablo are very attentive servers. Azul will do special orders. Lucca is terrible. Don’t eat the sushi or drink the cucumber water in any of the restaurants.
Don’t come during the holidays because it is so crowded and the adult section and restaurants become filled with little kids. The five star service goes down to two stars. There were kids lying about their age to get into the spa. Where are their parents?
The downer is having to make dinner reservations months in advance. You don’t know about their special events. The resort also charges for no shows so don’t take excursion since their end times vary and can be extremely late returning.
The resort has afternoon and evening shows that are entertaining.

As good as it gets on the Riviera Maya, the Grand Velas always does the trick for me. It’s a beautiful hotel with a refined modern Mexican décor, and highly attentive, great service. The service is so consistent and warm, one has no other choice than to chill and relax. Food is quite spectacularly good for an all inclusive, too. If you’re there for more than a few days, the concierge will book you into several on-​site restaurants – Piaf and Frida are excellent.
The actual facility is so large that, even on a crowded day, the experience feels private. The Ambassador pool is really the only place where you’ll sense a bigger crowd.
An all around great place for the family, with a beautiful beach, too. Try the hotel’s cool «Zen» area, a two minute ride from the beach, as the pool and poolside service are fantastic.

We invited 35 of our closest family and friends to share this amazing moment in our lives. The entire staff made sure our guest wanted for nothing. Every single person in the hotel greeted us every single time we passed by. The Concierge staff is of the highest level (ours was Roberto in Grand Class) and the Wedding Coordinator (Claudia) held our hands every step of the way. From the moment we checked in Roberto and Claudia were there to greet us and ensure our guest were all being attended to. The day of the wedding Claudia made sure every special touch was taken care of and made sure we had little to no stress. Our guest said to us many times they have never seen a hotel staff so attentive before in all of their travels!
If you are just thinking of doing a quick get away or planning the biggest day of your life, Grand Velas Riviera Maya is one of the best places on Earth to do so!

Resort is beautiful. Our first room had leak in the ceiling. Had to insist on a new room. Fell on path at night beware there are no lights in a lot of the area! Trip was ruined. No one seemed to Wang to be bothered and they were b there as attentive as I thought they should be.
Got home, x-​rays show a nasty crushed bone in my foot. Terrible time because of this I didn’t get to do much.

A wonderful, all-​inclusive resort with warm, carrying staff. Was at the hotel for a few days and enjoyed everything tremendously — awesome views, large pools, the various hotel buildings have each their own personality. The rooms are large with great beds, efficient air conditioning, and as an all-​inclusive, 5-​star resort it was great for kids.
The only minor item that deducted the star was Frida — the on-​premise, «Mexican» restaurant. I place «Mexican» in quotes because given the wonderful flavors and food culture of Mexico the restaurant was a poor representation of that. Now, service was great as everywhere else and the food was fine but it lack soul, flavor, seasoning.

Amazing place. The rooms are spectacular with individual plunge pools– staying at the Adults– only Grand Class. The service is impeccable. Have been to three of the restaurants — Sing Ling, Piaf and Cocina de Autor. All three have been absolutely fabulous– food /​service/​décor. Truly not what I expected from an All Inclusive at all.
Service /​rooms /​food more what I expect at the Four Seasons.

Great place to stay. The place is beautiful, clean and the service is outstanding. The restaurants and the food is top notch. Nothing to envy a Four Seasons or a Ritz. If you can afford it, stay close to the Ambassador Building. The Asian restaurant and Frida (Mexican Restaurant) were awesome.

This resort was the best of the best of the best! My wife and I went there mid May for our honeymoon. The staff and service was top notch! We stayed in the Grand Class and the plunge pool was amazing. The adult only pool was great too, you got to love a swim up bar. The restaurants were great. Basically as I write this review all I can think of how this resort was the best I’ve ever been too and I’ve been to quite a lot around the world so I might sound like a promo commercial for them.
If you are going to do an excursion, obviously you must go see the Mayan ruins. But to be honest, I could of laid around the beach and in our room the whole trip. The spa is nice, but it was obvious from day 1, this resort caters to women. That is good, but I think they need a little sports bar or something for the men to hangout while the women are doing their spa treatments. Between the amazing room service and nonstop all inclusive food and booze, you really can’t get better than this. I also loved that they keep the kids out of the Grand Class, I didn’t want to hear any screaming from spoiled kids. The ONLY advice that I would suggest would to make sure to wear sunscreen. I might of had one too many and decided that my skin was invulnerable. Needless to say when I arrived back home in NYC, I peeled like a snake, it was gross and painful.
I will definitely be back! Maybe for our 10^th anniversary, hell, maybe our 5^th anniversary, but we’ll definitely be back. Oh, all inclusive means you definitely don’t have to tip, but on the 3^rd night I wish I brought at least $ 100 in $ 5 bills because the New Yorker in me started feeling like a cheapskate. It’s not required or even expected, but hell, your paying $ 1200 a night and can’t tip a pool boy $ 5, that’s just silly.
Great job Grand Velas Riviera Maya, you all are the best Mexico has to offer!

Excellent resort. Very friendly and and five-​star all the way. I could not have been happier for the week I vacationed there last November. It was the best 5 star all inclusive resort. The food was all gourmet and there was lots of attention to detail. This is a true foodie’s paradise resort.

This place is paradise !!! Unbelievable, amazing ! The customer service is above and beyond our expectations. This place
Is gorgeous ! It is carved out of a jungle. The beach is on the other side Of this massive resort !

I consider myself pretty well traveled with over 20 countries under my belt. We came to this resort for a work trip expecting your normal Mexico experience and wow were we impressed! This place might be my new favorite tropic get away, even more than anywhere in Hawaii, Fiji, ect. The service is amazing, the food is superb, the rooms are gorgeous, and there is so much to do! You get the same service at a resort that you would if you were paying for everything and there is a vast variety of places to relax, enjoy some drinks and eat some great food!
We came here with our 3 year old and 6 month old and they went out of thier way to please, my only wish would be selfishly to let potty trained 3 year old to go to the kids camp unattended, but oh well :) If your looking for an amazing family vacation, this is your spot!

Beautiful Family Vacation Turned Nightmare
We visited the resort from Feb. 11−19^th. We visited with three families. All in all we were happy with the service, amenities and accommodations. That is until my friend noticed that her $ 60k engagement ring and cash had been stolen from her room.
The series of events are as follows:
· My friend arrived on Feb. 11^th wearing her ring.
· Two days later she noticed that her safe was broken. The hotel seemed very safe and secure so she hide her ring deep within her luggage along with cash.
· A day or two later she noticed that her sliding glass door was slightly open when she and her family returned from the room. They found it odd but didn’t think much about it as the room appeared to be in order and again the resort seemed very secure. They thought that it could just have been housekeeping that accidentally left the door open.
· Feb. 19^th, departure day, my friend is packing up and looking to wear her ring home. When she noticed the ring missing as well as the cash. At that point she immediately contacted security. Security was completely unsympathetic. They said that they would question everyone who had been in their room over the course of their stay and follow up with them. My friends have not heard from hotel management since.
It seems like quite the coincidence that her safe just happened to brake. This smells like an inside job. Like someone on staff left the sliding glass door open to let someone in to steal her ring. Whomever stole the ring knew exactly what they were looking for.
Bottom line, this resort is a nice place to stay until something goes wrong. Needless to say we will not be returning next year and would not recommend the resort to friends. It’s a shame really.

This place is everything. From the minute you are welcomed with cool, refreshing, scented towels and berry iced tea on arrival, everything about this place is excellent. My friends and I spent weeks painstakingly researching all-​inclusive options and decided to bite the bullet and pay a lot more than expected to stay here. Well worth it.
The food is unbelievable for all-​inclusive. Make sure to eat a lot and get your money’s worth haha. Ceviche by the pool every day — octopus, white fish and shrimp. Aguachile at Bistro was outstanding.
Make sure to eat at Piaf and Frida. Antonio at Frida was our favorite server of the week.
Beach is clean and beautiful. Pool is everything you want and need.
You don’t need to lift a finger at this place. I absolutely loved it and will be saving up to come back.

Beautiful resort!
My fav is the gran class section of the resort, which is private & adults only. We had a private mini pool/​tub on our patio! And in the concierge area there’s a Mexican raccoon that comes to visit for his cookies daily… he was so cute! Best food was Frieda & pilaf of all the restaurants. The basque restaurant was very off & not really good… and I got sick from it. Everyone was so nice & hospitable.
Huge resort where you can easily get lost in a good way!

Me and my family have been coming for 3 straight years and are coming again next year! We love this place! The staff is amazing, awesome activities, sweet pool, and great rooms. Please, if you are coming to playa del carmen for vacation, COME HERE!!!