The bad My wife,…read more(Royal Resorts timeshare owner) and I spent the week of May 9th to the 17th. We were very disappointed in the condition of the beach. Erosion has left the beach almost nonexistent compared to our stay 10 years ago. There were giant 10' diameter burlap sandbags across the entire beach area leaving very little swim area. The sargassum seaweed is a problem as well making it undesirable to go in the water. A crew was constantly working with pitchforks fighting a loosing battle to remove the seaweed. Hopefully they will restore the beach to its pre hurricane status. The restaurants are a challenge to reserve a table. We were a party of 6, they had nothing available at Los Murales Mother's Day night. There were 40 percent of the tables empty the whole evening. It took a relative's complaint of an injury and inability to stand and wait for a table before they gave us a table. Tried to reserve a table at the same restaurant the evening before we left. Same issue, nothing available. No help from the owners desk, said the same thing. No tables available, this time for only my wife and I. Concierge Ian helped us out and poof, a table was available. Restaurant was 50-60 percent full at most. My wife and family have been Royal Resorts timeshare owners since the 80's. Sad that owners get this level of service. The good Aside from the poor condition of the beach, the grounds are meticulously maintained, clean and beautifully landscaped. The rooms are cleaned daily. The food in all the restaurants is very good including Los Murales. Pickleball courts and activity trainers are excellent. The pools, swim up bars, and games played in the pool areas are all fun.

A beautiful resort nearby Playa del Carmen. It has two huge swimming pools, four outdoor hot tubs…read moreand a dedicated kiddie pool. Staff is friendly and helpful. The resort offers a free shuttle daily to downtown Playa Del Carmen (drop-off and pickup location is "Silver Traditions" retail store across from Senor Frog's on Quinta Avenida & Calle 22 Norte) which is three miles away and the return shuttle charges 60 pesos or $4 USD per person which is reasonable. Please see my photo of shuttle departure times. The last shuttle leaves Playa del Carmen at 9:00 pm. You pay pesos or USD directly to the return shuttle's driver. Your concierge will need to make shuttle reservations for you in advance. There is no resort shuttle service on Saturdays. Taxi service to and from the resort to downtown Playa del Carmen is a flat $300 pesos or $20 USD. The resort is isolated with a few other resorts here behind a walled compound. It was very safe and you could go for walks on the main road in the compound and to the main entrance in order, to reach 5th Avenue. There is no public bus or collectivo van that comes close to the resort. You can walk down the beach to downtown Playa del Carmen and there are two brief sections where you will need to walk through shallow water (shin deep for short women), but it is a lovely scenic walk. Or you can walk down 5th Avenue to downtown Playa del Carmen instead of the beach route. The TV in our room did not work otherwise, our room was comfortable. The beach area is heavily eroded so you cannot get into the ocean, but the swimming pools were great. You can take the large red ADO coach bus (drop-off is downtown Playa del Carmen's bus station on Juarez Avenue & 5th Avenue) or Maya train (limited departure times and the station is slightly west of downtown) from the Cancun airport to Playa del Carmen then hire a taxi for $300 pesos to get here and back to the airport. Both options are much cheaper than airport shuttle services. There are 39 ADO buses that leave the Cancun Airport and go to Playa Del Carmen daily. You can see the full list of departure times on the ADO website. Once you arrive at the Cancun Airport and leave the customs area, you can purchase ADO tickets at a red ADO booth or a stand on the bus platform. The ADO bus fee is 270 pesos or $17 USD per person and use pesos or no larger than $20 USD bills. Taxi stands are easy to find in downtown Playa del Carmen.

Playa del Carmen has long been my family's favorite town in Mexico. After traveling from Cozumel to…read moreOaxaca, and Cabo to Cancun, they finally settled on this stretch of beach as our go-to. For years, we stayed at all-inclusive resorts, but recently turned in favor of more off-the-beaten path properties that afford you the chance to explore the city a little bit more, since meals aren't available 24/7. We found a nice house on VRBO that ended up being managed by Playacar Vacation Rentals. You'll find it on their website as Casa Stavola / F8. It was a perfect beachfront property located in Playcar Phase I that housed six of us! With a pool, full kitchen, large living room and lots of amenities, I couldn't have asked for anything more. Our place was well situated to the rest of town but felt very quiet the second you entered the Phase I complex. We arranged our own transportation from the airport but upon arriving to the house, I had to make my way to the vacation rental office to pick up the key. Citlaly was so welcoming and willing to help with whatever we needed. From excursions to taxi pickups, they can do it all. We used them to rent a boat one afternoon and everything went flawlessly. The properties themselves are very well managed. There is cleaning service every other day, they provide big jugs of drinking water regularly, staff is around to take care of anything that may break and, all in all, it feels very safe. We are hoping to make this a yearly trip and I imagine us returning to the same exact spot! Really wouldn't change a thing.

We used Playacar Vacation Rentals to book Casa Stavola F8 ll. The staff was great and super…read morehelpful. Whenever we wanted a taxi all we had to do was call them - early or late - and they would get one for us. The property was described well and it was better than we expected. I would definitely use them again!

Jason has proven time and time again to me his professionalism, strong knowledge of Mexican real…read moreestate, including market analytics, seller/buyer representation, and transactional requirements and process. He's powerfully in communication in all of my dealings with him, he's always transparent, and has great integrity. My go to for real estate in Mexico, whether buying or selling.

Update: Irene does not work there anymore and my last experience with her actually wasn't good. I…read morenow use Tracy Beitz or Jason Waller at Playa Real Estate Group.- Both of which are awesome and highly recommend!

The Villa is just breathtakingly beautiful and so was the apartment It's like in paradise, even…read moremore beautiful than on the pictures. It sits right next to the green and the jungle, there are deers everyday at the garden, as well as many birds, and tropical animals. The pool is beautiful, you can literally jump into the pool from the living room. The architecture is outstanding, the main house is super cool, not for kids though many sharp edges. The apartment is very modern, the location could not be better, situated in the most prestige area of Playa del Carmen, near a golf course and tropical forest with many animals. The lively street 5th Avenue is in 5-10 min walking. The beach is in walking distance (10 min) and we saw a lot of amazing wildlife and even Maya ruins on our way there.

I had them manage my condo and found them to be haphazard and demanding for payments. I didn't…read morelike them at all.

Top notch property managers. Prices are reasonable. Service is dependable. Very nice people who are…read morecommunicative and reliable. And they have excellent tradesmen to do work, repairs, and even remodeling. Definitely and "Easy Button"

DO NOT USE BRIC THEY ARE HORRIBLE…read more I had used Bric as my property manager for several years and recently fired them due to numerous issues including gross incompetence. Many internal thefts over the years but worse was this August when they rented my unit to 3 people that were using fake ID's and credit cards. No follow up that the person had said they were from the UK but had Germany ID and US credit cards and 4 cell phone numbers. Bric failed to realize these were the same 3 people that were renting another unit in same building using different names because they never followed up and went to meet the renters in person. Bric is supposed to meet with the renters and check ID's this was not done. Security in the building alerted Bric that the same people moved from one unit to my unit, still Bric did nothing until the fake credit card was back charged. Then they went to the unit after 1 full week. The renters broke into my locked owners closet and stole over 4,000.00 worth of clothes, scuba gear and toiletries. Bric was told before the renters left by the little girl in the group that daddy had opened all the closets with a special tool. Bric still let them leave without any questions or calling the police and even helped the thief's carry the stolen items downstairs for cab pickup. They had plastic bags, wicker baskets even two bottles of laundry detergent, its unbelievable the amount of items taken that were clearly not normal luggage and that this was allowed. Bric staff was on site when the items were removed from my unit and taken away. The did nothing!! Plus Bric's quality of management has dropped severely the past few years as the owners are US based and no longer bother to travel to Mexico to check things. Every time I come for a visit I find the place dirty, things not working or broken. Always some excuse, we forgot to tell, you it just happened. I have also heard from some of my renters about calls not returned and no follow up on important questions. I would not use them ever again and would be very concerned about my security in their rentals, they just do not care, they only want the money.

Very rude , wont return calls. Personal items moved/missing. When I asked if there was any things…read moregone missing I was told , it happens all the time and it was my fault

Horrible hotel. As soon as we got here I knew it was going to be terrible. The "lobby" it's just…read moreone lady on a tiny laptop in the corner table. When you get to the hotel it also smells like red Fish. The rooms were so so hot. My first night here was more stressful than if I had just stayed home. I had to move rooms because the temp in our room was 85. The pool just like any pool nothing spectacular. It was kind of dirty. Oh and the Beach!! What beach??! There was no beach. It was just boats on the water and no beach. It was black muddy and dirty. Oh when I complained about the a/c Felipe morales the guy that was working, didn't even try to help us. He didn't even wanted to talk to us. He was rude, degraded us. Acted as if I owed him something. Anyway manager will be here in the morning and believe me she will have an ear full and I will request a refund for the first night.

We were sent here after Imperial Condohotel said they had to evacuate the building due to a "gas…read moreleak". I dont know if they translated correctly, but we got stuck in La Playa for 3 days. The staff was beyond nice, actually, everyone in Mexico was surprisingly nice. The staff cleaned, fixed the broken toilet, negotiated with taxi drivers for us, and did not steal our stuff. So that was cool. The condo was at the very end of 5th Ave strip where things start to look sketchy. I'm sure they're still building their way down the street but it has not reached La Playa yet. Walking home through crumbled and graffitied walls late at night was a little unnerving. It was also a very long walk back if you're hanging out on 5th Ave. Wifi was free but not consistent. We had to sit in the kitchen area to be able to connect to wifi. There was a rooftop pool where you can sort of see the beach, but the water was murky. No thanks. Showers were old, kitchen was clean, AC was cold, no elevators. You get to experience Playa del Carmen like a local here. :] the front desk staff were also kind hot.

DO NOT USE PLAYA MOMENTS. Scam city, overpriced, and terrible customer service. Hardly "luxury"…read moreeven for playa. My first TWO nights were spent with no duvet and I had to sleep under towels despite me reaching out multiple times. Gave me the wrong key and locked out my cat sitter. Hot tub was filthy when I came in. Never responded to anything I needed when things were broken like the cable. Not to mention- kept my $500 deposit after trying to blame me for furniture that was already damaged. All around scammy, would NOT recommend. Way better vacation rental companies out there.

Just horrible. We rented a condo from they for a week while our place was being renovated and it…read morewas filthy. Smelled horrible. They were very rude. Never again.

Beautiful Property, But Room for Improvement…read more My family and I stayed at Occidental at Xcaret Destination for seven days in Building 12, Room 12123. Overall, this resort has a beautiful natural setting and plenty to offer, but several issues kept it from being a 4- or 5-star experience for us. Arrival & Room: The bell staff greeted us and took our luggage right away, which was appreciated. Check-in, however, was confusing because there was little signage directing guests to the appropriate lines. The lobby had flavored water and champagne, although we were told we had to ask the front desk to open the champagne. Since we arrived before the 3 PM check-in time, Guest Services directed us to an area where we could change into swimwear and enjoy the resort while waiting. Our room was clean and spacious, but the beds were advertised as queen-size and were actually full-size, which was uncomfortable for two adults. The room also had a moldy/musty smell. Building 12 is conveniently located near the lobby, making it easy to access many amenities. Food & Restaurants: As a foodie, this was probably my biggest disappointment. The specialty restaurants require reservations through Guest Services, and we could only book one day at a time. We tried the Hacienda, taco, and Italian restaurants, but the food was average at best and not significantly better than the buffet. I would not consider these fine dining experiences. We were so underwhelmed that we skipped the Asian restaurant. The main buffet had a good variety for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but I was disappointed by the limited selection of authentic Mexican cuisine. When visiting Mexico, experiencing the local food is a major part of the trip, so I expected more. The dining staff, however, were consistently friendly and accommodating. The beverage selection was also disappointing. Many of the juices tasted artificial and left an unpleasant aftertaste. I mostly stuck with Pepsi, pineapple juice, and water. Wildlife & Cleanliness: I loved how the resort is built into its natural surroundings. We saw coatis, monkeys, iguanas, and other wildlife throughout the property. However, this also created some cleanliness issues. There was a noticeable smell of animal feces around one pool near the snack bar. A large iguana even defecated in the pool while we were swimming, and we didn't return to that pool afterward. At another pool, iguanas left feces on the deck, and during an entire day there, I didn't see it being cleaned up. I understand wildlife is part of the resort's charm, but management needs to do a better job cleaning up animal waste, especially around pools and food areas. The beach area was beautiful and had a buffet/bar overlooking the water. Don't leave your food unattended, though, the wild birds will quickly help themselves! Property & Entertainment: The property itself is beautiful, with Mayan ruins, great photo opportunities, and wonderful sunrise and sunset views. The beach was another highlight. The evening entertainment was one of my favorite parts. The theater had a different themed show each night. A special shout-out to Marlo, the lobby musician, who made the evenings fun with live singing, song requests, and karaoke. The adults-only nightclub/discotheque, open from approximately 10:30 PM into the early morning, was also a great feature. It was nice being able to enjoy nightlife without leaving the resort. Overall: I give Occidental at Xcaret Destination 3 out of 5 stars. The beautiful natural surroundings, wildlife, Mayan ruins, beach, entertainment, nightlife, friendly staff, and buffet variety were all positives. However, the resort lost points for the incorrect bed-size advertising, moldy/musty room smell, lack of cleanup after wildlife, disappointing food quality and authenticity, inconvenient restaurant reservations, and underwhelming beverages. Beautiful property with a lot of potential, but there are definitely areas where management could improve the overall guest experience.

3.5 Stars Occidental…read moreat Xcaret: Honest Review The Good The setting is what sets this resort apart. It's beautifully maintained and full of wildlife. We regularly spotted monkeys and coatis, and the walking trails even wind past Mayan ruins. It gave the whole trip a unique, immersive feel you don't get at a typical beach resort. The pools were clean, warm, and never crowded, and we had no trouble finding chairs. The beach and lagoon area was equally enjoyable, with calm water and plenty of fish to see. Breakfast at the beach buffet was a standout, especially the omelet station, along with fresh coffee, juice, fruit, and yogurt. We were also pleasantly surprised by Paco's Tacos and La Piazza, both sit down spots that exceeded expectations. D'Oriental and La Hacienda were solid as well, with good service and enjoyable meals. Staff were friendly and attentive across the resort. Roman at the pool snack bar deserves a special shoutout for how engaging and attentive he was with our family. The Barcelo airport transportation was also excellent both ways: punctual, clean, and professionally handled. Room for Improvement Concierge Level upgrades weren't quite worth the added cost for us. The perks were modest, and our specific room request wasn't fulfilled, so it didn't feel like a meaningful step up. The Turnaround By day two, things clicked. Once we settled into the rhythm of the resort, the grounds, the pools, better meals, the beach, we started to really appreciate what makes this place special. Bottom Line This is a resort that rewards a little patience. The setting, wildlife, pools, and overall atmosphere are genuinely excellent, and the food, while inconsistent, has some real highlights once you find them. We'd recommend it to families who value nature and space over gourmet dining, and we'd happily return, likely opting for Royal Level next time, and skipping Concierge Level.