This resort is just a little off the beaten path of cancun. It has a excellent beach,good food,and very nice surrondings, good entertainment,and a good place for a resort stay. There were only 2 draw backs it had a very hard bed,and its location is about a 15 dollar cab ride from playa del carmen but you could do a minibus for about 2 bucks. But overall pretty nice

Love Sunscape PA!! I diffinately going to go back there.

We loved this resort. It's an all inclusive, no tipping hotel. Everybody that works there speaks english, minus the housekeepers. The grounds are so large, they actually have a little trolley that can transport you around. We actually got lost one night on our way to dinner. This resort offers a HUGE saltwalter pool that goes throughout the whole resort, that has some swim up bars scattered through. It's massive. It has a lazy river, and waterfall area with a jacuzzi inside. There are a ton of restaurants that require a reservation, and a nightly buffet restaurant that you can just walk in to. The resort also offers free water sports and some that you have to pay for, a spa, movie theater, shopping mall, a disco, a playground, tennis courts, basketball courts, sports bar, gift shop, clothing shop, photography center, tons of little bars, a nightly show venue which shows something different each day of the week, hammocks, beach bar, beach volleyball, daily contests, pottery painting, face painting, crafts for sale, a gym, aerobics, and so much more. There are a ton of animals around the resort too. Everyday they walk around an animal and take pictures that you can purchase in the lobby in the evening. Off of the lobby in one of the many water areas, they have Flamingo's and other exotic birds, none of which seem to fly. They also have peacocks, we saw a white one and a green one. They also have turtles. And you will probably see a few lizards, Iguanas, Cats, and Coati running around. The lobby area is great, you can book the various tours there, they have a bar, and a large sitting area. When we checked in an hour early, they didn't have the room we booked ready, so they gave us a free upgrade for a suite, which was awesome! Our room was the farthest from the lobby though, but the beach was right there. Our room was great, very clean. There were no critters or insects. It had marble floors, a king size bed, a safe, a balcony, and awesome bathroom, a refrigerator that was stocked daily with water, soda, and beer, a sitting area, and desk area. There was also an ironing board, iron, and a hair dryer. We felt very safe here, everybody was nice. We never heard anybody else from our room. FYI- the water is safe to drink throughout the resort, we even had ice cubes and we were fine. It was an exceptional vacation. Feel free to check out my Riviera Maya blog for tons of pictures from the resort grounds to get a better idea of how much fun you can have.

In April 2008, we stayed at the Excellence Riviera Cancun (see my hotel review). The Excellence is a top-notch all-inclusive located about 15-20 minutes from the Cancun airport. It is rated as one of the most "romantic" resorts in the Cancun area, probably because it is adults only.

While there, we also visited the Mayan city of Tulum. Tulum is great...definitely worth seeing, but make sure to bring water with you on the visit since walking around is HOT.

During the spring of 2006, we traveled to the Occidental Grand Flamenco Xcaret in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The Occidental Xcaret is a very nice all-inclusive resort located around 40 minutes from the airport in Cancun. (You can see my review of the hotel).

While we were there, we toured the Xcaret archeological park, which is attached to the Occidental resort. Admittance to the park is free with a stay at the Occidental. The archeological park is pretty cool. The most fun thing to do is "float" down the river in the park - the river winds through a slot canyon in the park and goes underground for a portion of its distance. While underground, you can occasionally look up through natural cenotes for a "skylight" view.

The Occidental Xcaret is a very good value all-inclusive. It's not quite as nice as the very top rated resorts in Mexico, but I thought it was excellent for the price. Pool: The pool is fabulous, and winds extensively through the property. There should be no issue finding a pool chair at any time of the day (unless maybe during spring break time). The here are quiet pools, as well as an "active" pool with numerous activities throughout the day. Food: I found all the restaurants satisfactory, and the poolside drink service was adequate. Rooms: Nice, clean, quiet. No problems. The Occidental is right next to the Xcaret archaeological park, and admission to the park is free for guests.

Stayed at the Excellence Riviera in April of 2008. This all-inclusive is located relatively close to Cancun and has a very nice beach. According to Trip Advisor, it is one of the best all-inclusives in Mexico. Overall, I would definitely visit the Excellence Riviera again. Food: I'm not a food-snob but I thought all the food was great. The oriental restaurant had great sushi! The morning buffet was also very good, though the variety could be a little better. You do not need to make reservations for any of the restaurants. Room: The room was very comfortable, and the bathroom and shower were great. No concerns here. Pool: The pool is very nice, and winds through the property and around the Spa. There are plenty of pool chairs, though you do need to reserve yours a bit early if you want a prime spot near the pool bar. Alcohol: What's not to like? ;)

This hotel is not ready to be open. There is construction going on all over it and the Oceanfront "Preferred Club" Suites are not even built on the inside. The BIG problem was they were selling the rooms to people that were not even complete. Service was Poor all around. Housekeeping didn't clean the room until after 4 pm almost every day. Everyone there wanted to offer you service but when it came time to actually do what you asked it consistently fell through. Example: Asked the concierge for bottled water in the room, 2 days later the morning mini bar restocker finally gave us water. The breakfast in Bed, as part of our package, was ordered for 9:30 and finally arrived at 10:15. It was a fruit plate, two glasses of champagne, and a bread basket. Service overall was poor and we had to follow up multiple times on each request. Food was small portions and just ok in quality. This hotel is just not ready and will not be ready for 4 to 6 more months.

I went to Riviera Maya, Mexico in June, and it was beautiful!  The only problem I had was my hair in that humidity. Ick.  The resort I stayed at was fantastic and a lot of people who stayed there didn't like the food, but I loved it.  They had a great variety of food, mostly American style at the buffets.  Although their pizza tasted way too familiar, something like Ellio's frozen pizza.  I stayed at the Occidental Grand Xcaret in case anyone was wondering.  They had big iguanas running around everywhere, they were so cool! I wanted to take one home with me.  I think I chased them more than anything else on my vacation.  I love, love, love animals!  I caught up to one just to pet it, soo cute.  I got to take a picture with a monkey, very cool.  I am happy I went there instead of Cancun, because I'm not into that whole party scene.  Plus I went with my boyfriend, so it was much more of a relaxing getaway.  My resort was attatched to the Xcaret, which is a beautiful archaeological park with tons of exotic animals, water activities, and Mexican culture.  Unfortunatley I didn't get to go because I didn't stay there long enough.  Five days just isn't enough to explore the beauty of Mexico!

The only reason I wanted to go to Mexico was to see Chichen Itza.  It was recenlty named on of the New Seven Wonders of the World.  We booked our Mexico trip through Liberty Travel, so we booked our Chichen Itza tour then too.  The tour we took was through Olympus Tours, and everything I am about to write was included in the price of the trip.  They do expect tips at the end of the tour.  There are 4 people on the tour, the driver, the food/beverage guy, and the 2 tour guides (1 talks to CI, one talks from, and also, while at CI, they split you into English and Spanish speaking groups.)

They picked us up at our resort at 7:30am.  We went on a very nice tour bus, and they served us breakfast, fruit, snacks, beverages including beer and tequila, to and from.  It takes about 3 hours to arrive at Chichen Itza, but we did stop a huge Mexican Store that sells any souvenir you can think of.  I think we were there for 35 minutes?? 

Once we got to Chichen Itza, we actually got a narrated tour of the grounds.  They split the group up into English and Spanish.  It was really hot, so they gave everybody water.  It was really hard to concentrate on everything they were telling us do to the heat and hot sun, after the tour, they gave us and hour and a half to go around the grounds ourselves, so we could take pictures and what not.  We were there for a total of 3 hours.  You are no longer allowed to climb up or in anything.  It is illegal, due to the idiots that were writing so and so was here, on the inside of the pyramid, and from the people that were using the pyramid as a toilet.  Thanks a lot guys. 

After Chichen Itza, we all boarded the bus and went to a buffet restaurant for dinner.  The food wasn't bad, not the greatest I have had either.  After dinner, they took us to a cenote that we could swim in.  They are natural holes of water in the ground.  I think they said they were limestone??  Anyway, there is a long staired cave you walk through to get to it.  It's really cool though.  The water is very blue.  There are vine thingys that hang down everywhere, and water is falling from above too.  They have stairs built on the side of the cenote so you have a platform you can jump off of, into the water.  I would say it's about 35 feet from the highest point.  It's scary once you are up there, but it's fun, I actually went twice.   The water is 150 feet deep, and it's about 75 degrees, so it's pretty cold, but after the sweltering heat at Chichen Itza, it felt great.  There are fish in the water too, and they are supposedly blind. 

After the cenote swim, it was finally back to the resort.  We got dropped off at around 8pm, so it was a long day, but it was totally worth it.  I have wanted to see that pyramid for a long time.   I totally recommend this trip. 

My hubby took me to Mexico for my 30th birthday.  My birthday was in May, but with our jobs, this was the best time for us to go.  We were a little nervous the week before, it looked like Hurricane Gustav might ruin our trip, but everything turned out great.  The day we got there, was the day Gustav passed by Mexico, so the waves were huge, and all ocean activities were prohibited, and it rained a couple of times for like 5 minutes.  The rest of the day and the following days were HOT and sunny. 

We stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Del Mar.  We really liked it there a lot.  It is an all inclusive resort.  It's absolutely huge, they actually have a little trolley that runs, to take you around the resort.  There are a ton of activities, restaurants, a movie theater, a mall, and more.  They have the largest pool I have ever seen, as well as a lazy river thrown in.  It's a saltwater pool, so that was a little new to me.  I will be writing a review on the hotel at some point. 

We had a great time, my husband wants to go back.

Had a great time here. The staff was VERY friendly. Drink service at the pool was prompt and attentive. No reservations for dinners at the a la carte restaurants is a huge bonus. We never had an issue getting in. There was a little trouble (sometimes) finding a decent seat by the pool. The towel game is in effect here, and pool chairs with available shade seemed to go very quickly. I cannot stress the fabulous service here enough. Waiters that we had repeatedly started to recognize us after two or three days. One evening spent in the lobby bar had our bartender showing off making us new and exciting drinks (and doing shots of silky smooth tequila). A little on the pricey side, but definitely worth the money.

Been here twice. The Royal Club upgrade is totally worth it, even just for the lack of towel card alone. The pools are great. If you're a beach person, this is probably not for you as while it's nice and clean, it's very small and man-made. Room was clean. Small, finishing details in construction/painting are a little sloppy if that kind of thing bothers you. Food was much better than I was expecting from an all-inclusive.

Hello every body!!! I recommend to everybody how stays in one of that All Inclusive resort to don’t use the bracelet, off al inclusive, when you are out of the hotel. This is because like that every body knows you are a tourist and you are there for holidays…. and is impossible to haggle in the markets because they can see you are in an all inclusive resort. In think this recommendation can help you to negotiate a good price for your souvenirs.

From the moment we arrived, we were treated like royalty. Our honeymoon package was booked incorrectly by our travel agent, and the staff at the desk immediately made the upgrade, congratulating us the whole time. When our first room had no hammock on the balcony, they graciously moved us to one that did, overlooking one of the countless, gorgeous gardens. The double jacuzzi in each room is bliss, and the bathrooms are modern with massive, glass-enclosed shower. Room service available at ANY hour and in-room mini-bar are part of the all-inclusive package, besides the several indoor and outdoor bars and gourmet restaurants. Although we did not pay visit to the discotech in the south lobby building, it seemed incredibly lively as we strolled by. Several pools - all with either swim-up or adjacent out-of-water bars - are available, within a quick walk from any room. One is an oval track with cross-current for strength/endurance swimming; there is another next to a smoothie bar that is set into a covered veranda with whirlpools attached. We did not use the gym or exercise room, but we both enjoyed the luxury of wonderfully professional spa treatments on our own before meeting back up for a couples massage in a quiet, romantic, over-water palapa. In this setting, we were able to hear the Caribbean waves tumbling into the rock barrier beyond the group of palapas, which soothed us both nearly to sleep while our muscles were put to rest, too. The staff at the breakfast buffet took pride in remembering our married name and was happy to seat and serve us every morning! As our surname is lengthy and difficult to pronounce, the hostesses challenged one another endearingly to give it a try each day. Our lunches were fairly casual by choice, and our dinners were absolutely fantastic! Each of the seven(?) restaurants has its own theme/culture/menu, and every place had impeccable service and tasty offerings. Presentation of each plate was as exquisite as the service and setting, and the waiters and management seemed thrilled with the chance to be creative to suit our vegetarian diets! I cannot recommend enough to EVERYONE this area, as well as this particular resort! We stayed at another Palace Resort, Cozumel Palace, for the second half of our honeymoon - there, the facilitiy, amenities, beachfront, and dining remained top-notch, but the solid service there paled in comparison to the over-the-top attentiveness of the staff at Aventura Spa Palace. We WILL return... and hope to quite soon!