Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda

I had the worst hotel experience here. My boyfriend and I stayed here for a friend’s wedding that took place not too far from this hotel. While the hotel premises and food are okay for the price, everything else was pretty awful.
Their first strike was that on our first night there, some friends who were there for the wedding as well and us hung out and caught up since all of us live in different countries and cities. We had a few drinks and chatted until 4am at the sports bar which is a ²⁴⁄₇ bar. When we left there was nobody else left besides us and the staff. I realized on our way to our hotel room that I forgot my expensive Northface jacket at the bar. I went back for it (maybe it took me 5 minutes?) and when I got there the jacket wasn’t there anymore. A bunch of them were looking for it and we asked the staff and they said they hadn’t seen anything. I knew it was stolen, but I also know it was my fault for forgetting it in the first place so I didn’t make a big deal. But I still think people should be honest and no steal from their guests.
Their second strike was that they double booked our hotel room. I was alone in our room getting ready for the wedding while my boyfriend was out and about. I had just gotten out of the shower and was only wearing a towel when I got out of the bathroom to get my stuff from the room, and there was a random man standing in my room with his bags and all. Of course I freaked out and asked him what he was doing there and to please exit the room (it looked like he had been there for some time since he had put his bags away, despite the fact that he saw our bags and clothes on the bed). He apologized and looked confused and exited the room. I changed and went out to have a conversation with him and he said they had given him that room and his friends the room right next to us, they we also confused. I walked to the front desk with the little time we had left before the wedding and I didn’t have enough time to finish getting ready because of this hotel mistake. I asked them to change us rooms and they said they couldn’t, so I asked them to switch our keys since other people now had access to our room. They said they would, but couldn’t do it right then (what is more important than fixing a serious mistake like that in a hotel where customer service is a huge thing?!). They said they would give us the new keys when we got back from the wedding, since 20 minutes was not enough time for them to do the switch right then and there.
Their third strike, was when we finally got back from the hotel at around 3 am, I went to the front desk and asked for the new keys. The man «helping» us said that there were no notes of our keys being changed. I explained the whole situation that took about 15 minutes (keep in mind it was after 3am and we were exhausted). He kept saying that there was no change, which was infuriating since that made us think other people had had access to our room all day, and then he told us to go try our keys. We went to our room which took over 15 minutes (the hotel is pretty big) and when we got there, our keys didn’t work. So we had to walk all the way back (again, tired since it was late and wearing heels from the wedding). When we got there, the same incompetent man kept saying that there was no note about our keys being changed. It wasn’t until I got frustrated and asked to talk to a supervisor that he went ahead and doubled checked and found out that «oh wait, there are another set of keys for that room». We were finally able to get back to our room at around 4:15. Over an hour after we had arrived. I want to point out that while we live in the US because of our jobs, both my boyfriend and I are Mexican and grew up in Mexico so we speak perfect Spanish, as it is our first language. So the problem was not a language barrier, just HORRIBLE customer service.
The next morning I could not find my seeing glasses and a small traveling bag. We looked and we looked and we couldn’t find it. Either they were stolen by the random man with our room key or the cleaning service. Either way it was on the hotel. I went to talk to someone about their awful customer service and their many mistakes right after this, and they would not do anything to solve the problem. We asked them to either give us a free night or something… anything. They refused and said they would give us a free night on out next visit. I told them we would never stay at their hotels again and they said «well that’s too bad» and offered us 10 dlls off the spa.
We were thinking of extending our stay since we had another 6 days left in Playa del Carme, but needless to say, our experience was so awful that we left the hotel and went and stayed at another place (Fiesta Americana Condesa in Cancun), which was wonderful.
Do yourself a favor and never stay at Blue Bay Esmeralda. Even if you have to pay a little more, it’s probably worth it. This hotel is the most unpleasant hotel we have ever stayed at.

This is a monstrosity of a resort. BlueBay is an all inclusive hotel 40 minutes Cancun airport, and 15 minutes from 5 ave in Playa Del Carmen. As soon as you pull up you realize the epic proportions of this resort, and the excellent service. Every person (as in employees) greets you with a big smile and an «hola». BlueBay consists of 7 different restaurants all of different culinary appeal. My favorite one was the Mexican, it was lively, and entertaining. The others were good as well but the Mexican one stood out the most. Along with those 7 there are 2 buffet style that serve breakfast lunch and dinner as well. Among the restaurants they manages to sprinkle in 7 bars as well. The beauty of this is it’s all inclusive so you are drunk and eating all day. From beer to a maitiai, from a surf n turf to a hotdog it was all there. The spa here is amazingly beautiful and out in the open its serenity is something some people up north only dream of. Our room was very spacious with a California king bed a mini bar (all inlcusive too) and an ample sized shower. This resort is roughly on 20 acres or so maybe more, and they use every inch of it. From swing bars (like actual swinging chairs) to a pool the size of a lake. The views here are breathtaking and the life is utterly a dream. This is an amazing place to sit back relax and literally live your own Corona commercial. Speaking of beer the beer they have on tap is Dos XX which is better than other resorts. The only thing I was not thrilled about at BlueBay was the actual beach, we did have a northeast wind so the water was murky and dirty but it was not aww inspiring. Luckily you are 15 minutes from a breathtaking at Playa. This is an amazing resort with amazing people that work extremely hard and long and get paid very little to make your vacation memorable and I must say they do an excellent job! I recommend BlueBay to anyone.

One of the most beautiful hotels I have ever stayed in. Located about 40 minutes from Cancun International airport and about 20 minutes from Playa del Carmen, this one of kind resort is not only immense in size, but It is all inclusive as well. After about a minute of driving up to the hotel lobby grand entrance, you are immediately greeted by the friendly staff that is eager to help you with your bags. The entrance in itself if spectacular with huge fountains and a great open rotunda type reception area.
After our bags were taken, my boyfriend and I headed immediately for the nearest bar which was the sports bar. This bar is directly located to the right of the reception and this is also where the dinner and a show takes place every night. This is also one of the few areas in the hotel that you can get FREE WiFi without paying $ 5 bucks every hour.
Now as for the rooms, they are a bit of hike away from the reception lobby, but they are so worth the walk. Extremely spacious and all single rooms include a California kind bed, FREE mini beer bar that is stocked with beer and soda (this is also replenished everyday) and a huge shower with a rain shower head. I also forgot to mention that this resort is one of the few in Mexico that is completely GREEN. This means that all of the lighting in the rooms can only be turned by putting your room key in a slot by the front door. The lights will shut off once you remove your key. These keys are extremely sensitive to sun and water so keep them in a dry area (we got locked out twice because the card got too hot.)
One of the best features of this hotel is the pool area. Blue Bay has about 5 different pools that are all connected to one another. Lounge chairs are pretty tricky to get here because you have to wake up at the crack of ass in order to «reserve» your chair. So wake up early to avoid searching for a non exist ant chair around 11am-​4pm. The pool area has has two bars on either end. One is a great round swing bar that actually has swings around it. This by far was my favorite bar just because of the chairs. There is also another bar behind the steakhouse on the beach that is for VI P’s from 10am-​5pm, but if you get lucky like we did you can sneak in if there is no watch guard. This bar has the top shelf liquor and the best bartender! Ask for Wilbert he will hook you up.
The food was pretty good for an all inclusive resort. Blue Bay Esmeralda has 6 restaurants which include Mexican, Oriental, a Steakhouse, Italian and Seafood. In addition to these they have two buffets and the sports bar. The best one was hands down the Mexican restaurant. It had a great atmosphere and the food was delicious. The buffet for breakfast is great. They have everything from huevos rancheros cooked right in front of you to something as plain as yogurt. There is definitely something for every ones taste.
Another amazing treat at this resort is the amazing staff. These workers work 12 hour shifts and still manage to keep a smile on their face. They are truly what makes this experience so wonderful. I recommend tipping at least $ 3 because to them that goes a long way. Unfortunately most of the hotel guests were not as gracious with their tip giving.
If you have the extra cash, I recommend spending it in the spa. This spa is truly a dream. It is completely outdoors, and has pools, saunas and massage rooms. The massages are a bit pricey about $ 160 for the cheapest one hour massage to be exact, but again if you have the flow definitely come here and get a massage. If you only want to use the facilities it is $ 30 for all day.
This resort is something out of a dream and I cannot recommend this place enough. If you’re thinking about staying in the Riviera Maya definitely stay here you will not regret it.