Grand Riviera Princess Hotel

We have just returned from a 2 week stay (14th to the 28th) at the Grand Riviera / Sunset Princess Resort. In total we were a group of nine people spread over three rooms. Group make-up consisted of myself and my Wife and our 13 year old Son in one room; My Brother, his Wife and their two small children in another room; and finally my Father and Mother in the third room. Rooms: Upon our arrival late in the afternoon we were provided with three Jr. Suite rooms on the Sunset (south) side of the complex. These rooms were fully functioning with the exception of my Parents room’s plumbing, one of the sinks had no pipes below it and drained to the floor, and the toilet would not re-fill. The second sink (there are two in each bathroom) functioned normally and the toilet started working adequately after we fiddled with the internals a bit. A call was placed to the front desk to register the problems and request repairs, I can’t quite remember (it was two weeks and many tequilas ago) but I believe someone was sent around that was not qualified to fix the sink, as this would have taken some more advance plumbing expertise, but who was able to further improve the operation of the toilet. First night found everyone resting comfortably after a night-swim in the amazing looking pools. I, having slept soundly on the plane, decided to stay up and read on the balcony for a while. This proved to be a bit of a mistake as my legs were well covered in mosquito bites the next morning. This was my error, as there were insect repellent wipes provided in the bathroom but I didn’t think to use them. Inside our room I didn’t detect any Mosquitoes. During our tour-operator orientation meeting the following morning my Wife mentioned to our representative José (“please pronounce the “J” I’m French not Spanish”) that we had been given Jr. Suites and we had Jr. Deluxe Suites booked. Our TranSat Representative spoke to the Hotel and the following morning we were offered three Jr. Deluxe Suites on the Riviera (north) side of the resort. We accepted this move with the exception of my Brother and his Family as the floor-plan and quieter room (further from the action of the pools) was a better fit with the two small children. Truth be told, the only real difference between the Jr. and the Jr. Deluxe is the Jacuzzi tub (which we never actually used). Also we did end up having a partial ocean view in the Deluxe Suites. The new rooms functioned perfectly well; the AC was fully functioning but we immediately turned it off as the room cooled to a pleasant 22-24 degrees Celsius each night with just the fan on. If we wanted to be cold at night we would have stayed in Canada. Oh, I should mention that our TV never worked as it had not been connected beyond having the power cord plugged in. We have an informal “no TV when in paradise” rule anyway so we never bothered to register it’s non-working status with the hotel. My parents said that they tried theirs and it seemed to work fine. Service: All the staff had obviously been trained in the proper way of doing things; however it is evident that the levels of experience vary a great deal from staff member to staff member. Over our two week stay it was interesting to watch as the less experienced personnel began to catch on to the intricacies of relating to an international customer base. Almost everyone was very friendly, and you could tell that the hotel was going through a teething process whereby some of the Wait-Staff would be moving up to Lobby Bartender and perhaps others down to Dish Washer. Beach & Pool: Crucial elements of any tropical holiday, the beach was large and very clean, with fantastic soft sand. The first few days we were there the waves were quite big as the out-of-season hurricane Olga had just blown through. This was fantastic fun on the Boogie-boards and the Kayaks as the waves were just of sufficient size that they could be comfortably ridden even by land locked Canadian’s such as us. After the first few days the waves calmed down and most days the water was almost flat. This revealed lovely shallow swimming waters that stretched out quite a distance. With pretty decent snorkeling for being so close to shore. We saw many different types of colorful fish as well as skates. There was a good selection of equipment to sign-out and use right from our first day there, but around mid-stay they received a shipment of even more all new equipment. The whole family had a great time on the beach and I especially had a great time playing volleyball, thanks to all my playmates! The Pools were spectacular and vast, though I personally didn’t spend all that much time around them until nearer the end of out visit when I played a few games of “water-polo” (closer to water-rugby) and Tequila Volley-ball. The temperature was always pleasant and the water always clean. The in-pool bars were plentiful and popular. Food: Okay, I love food! I’m a bit of a food fixated guy I guess, I try not to be, but that is just the way it is. The selection at the buffets was great and not overly repetitive, always a large selection of fish, poultry and red-meat dishes with an equally diverse presentation of hot and cold vegetable dishes. The only way I could understand that someone would have the complaint of “not enough choices” would be if they only ever selected from the “American Food” section. This section seemed to consist of burgers and fries and Hot-Dogs every night. I suppose this would indeed be boring, I never tried the burgers or Hot-dogs but I did have the fries one lunchtime just for a change and even they were quite delicious. It should be noted that even with eating every type of food offered and using the tap water for tooth brushing no member of my extended family suffered any sort of gastric difficulty (how’s that for polite!) with the exception of my Sister-in-Law who had a couple of “off nights” towards the end. Entertainment: The Animation crew seemed to be one of the groups with the most previous experience. The Princess resort people must have pillaged the other resorts for people, and the technique worked well. A high energy crew working hard all day, it is obviously difficult to organize group activities when the huge resort is only half full and people are spread all over. There always seemed to be something fun going on if that was what you were looking for. My Son had a great time and felt very included in the goings-on of the resort. Towards the end of our stay the Animation Crew would be shouting his name across the resort to get him to come join them for some game or another. That my friends, is to me the epitome of fantastic service, and gratuities were given at the end of our stay accordingly. The evening shows consisted of about 4 nights a week of the in-house Animation Dance troupe doing various shows; American Popular Music, Cats, Copacabana and International Dance styles. The other three nights a week outside entertainment troupes come in; Mayan Traditional, Mexican Traditional, & a variety show. The in-house team is very talented and over the two weeks they were becoming more and more polished. I thought that some of the numbers would have benefited from them not trying to lip-synch to the lyrics and instead just dancing, but that is just a personal preference. The performance troupes that were brought in were quite good as well with the exception of the Animal act that was included in the variety show. I’m not a huge animal-rights activist but the poodle in a suit routine does nothing for me. My Wife was very impressed by the Gymnasts acts. The Hotel also provided some additional entertainment in the center compound most nights, including some spectacular fire dancing, dragon dancers and some others. Other facilities: The Gym was well equipped and large, though I only made it in for a workout twice. The Spa was apparently having water filter problems, but was able to provide services such as massages and mani/pedi-cures. The Spa was incredibly beautiful inside. The Platinum Club facilities seemed very nice (though perhaps a little silly) they had a roped off section of the beach with wooden instead of plastic beach beds as well as small “private” pools with the same sort of beds. I suppose that once the resort is full these facilities will become more advantageous as in theory it will be easier to find a spot. However with the resort only half full… I guess I really shouldn’t say anything as in truth I’m not someone for whom the connection of the terms “Platinum & Club” as a marketing ploy has much appeal. I’m quite happy being one of the hoi-polloi. The Grounds were beautiful and wonderfully manicured, with their climate if should only be a matter of months before everything is filled in and lush. We have stayed in all inclusive resorts before including another Princess resort (in Dominican) and this was without a doubt the most beautiful. Excursions: I should make mention of the two excursions we took. The Catamaya was a catamaran and snorkeling combination tour that was loads of fun, very beautiful and also included a great lunch. The “Morning Glory Snorkeling Tour” was also very nice and we were fortunate to see large rays, a nurse shark, parrot fish and a 5 foot Barracuda (Yipe!). Summary: Over all we had a very good time, we had braced ourselves somewhat as we knew that the resort was opening just 4 days before our arrival and we had lowered our expectations accordingly. Happily this proved to be unnecessary as the stay was nearly trouble free. We did hear many a horror story similar to the ones outlined in the other reviews. However I’m not sure if it was just dumb luck or what but we had almost no complaints, in-fact it almost got to be a bit embarrassing as some people couldn’t wait to launch in to a conversation about how horrible their experience was/is. The only negative things I can think to mention were the mosquito bites I got the first night (didn’t get bit much after that) and now that we are home and unpacked it does appear that our bipod wall charger was stolen from our room. I had suspected that we had just misplaced it in our luggage somewhere, and rather than waste valuable time searching for it we replaced it for $25 at the Wal-Mart in Playa Del Carmen when we were in town. This was strange as the cleaning staff seemed to be reluctant even to pick up the money we left out as a tip unless it was accompanied by a “Gracias!” note. We recommend the resort, if you are paying full “5 star” type prices perhaps give it another few months until everything is perfected. Meanwhile it is still a fantastic place to stay. I will be posting a few photographs, please enjoy and feel free to comment. If you have any specific questions I believe I can be contacted through my profile. Regards, Jeff, Calgary.

Let me start by saying that I have been to 25 All-Inclusive hotels in the Riviera Maya and Cancun (I own a travel agency) and I recently did a site inspection of this property and stayed there one day. I did not have any service problems what so ever and found the wiatstaff in the restaurants to be exceprtional, as well as the bar staff and the front desk. Let me also start off by saying that someone should have advised many guests what to expect while staying at any resort the first few months following a soft opening. The rooms are highly discounted for a reason and I would suggest that you wait until at least Feb. before staying at this property. Everything will be at 100% by then, as I was told. Pricing will also be at 100% by the end of the summer, I am sure, so if you are on a budget you may consider that as well. With all that said, according to the staff member hosting my inspection, things have improved dramatically already. I would have to agree based on the reviews I read and what I actually saw, they are night and day. I had no problems what so ever and everything was pretty much functioning as it should. The rooms are all georgeous, food fantastic, drinks made well and the beach is wonderful and large. There is a 24 hour sports bar for late night snaking and cocktails and many food and drink establishments to choose from. The Villas are nice if you want an area where children are not permitted and the outside shower adds a really nice touch. The platinum suites are closer to the ocean and have a private check-in and butler srevice.Even the standard Jr. Suite is very lux in comparison to other resorts in the area. The extensive pool system allows the property to never feel crowded, even though there were 1,000 guests on my stay (approx. 50% capasity) There were ample chairs and beds by the pool, and you don't have to get up at 6 am to claim one. This hotel will be fine at 100% as it is very large and has more swimming and dinning options than most all-inclusive resorts. The grounds are already really nice and when all of the plants amture it will be breathtaking. They really went the extra mile when planting hundreds of mature palm trees and filling the resort with a nice mix of new growth and matured plant life. There is no differance between the Grand Sunset and the Grand Riviera, except they have two seperate lobbies, both with exceptional attention to detail, even the furnishings are stylish yet extremly comfortable and the sculptures are well placed. I was very impressed by this resort and have posted some of the pics I took while inspecting the property. This is a 5 star resort, by any standards, but no resort is going to be anywhere near 100% the first month of operation, I don't care what they tell you, so please keep that in mind when making any future travel arrangements. If you have booked this hotel from Feb. on, I think you are in for a real treat and are most likely getting a fab. deal for a 5 star all- inclusive. Don't wait too long, though, I see this placing getting pretty pricey in about six months. Please email me with any questions and have a great vacation!

People are too picky! My wife and stayed here opening week Dec 13-20th and loved the resort! Sure there are a few start up problems - thats why the price was discounted 50% for startup week. But in return for a few minor incoveniences that the resort will eventually work out, we got: - amazingly attentive and friendly staff; - an awesome room - we were upgraded to the Junior Suite Deluxe room with pool access - I highly recommend these first floor rooms , you just swim out into the pool from your patio; - very good to excellent food in the a la carte restaurants, particularly the Italian and Japanese restaurants. - beautiful, sandy beach front; - fantastic surroundings, - great bars with short waits for drinks so leave your bubba kegs at home; What can I say. A weeek in paradise! The lowlights: - the dive shop was not there for the first week. It may be there now though. - buffet food is just average in general, although there usually was one or two entrees that were really good. The a la carte restaurants were better. - mosquitos - some rooms/people seen to have had it worse than others - I had no problems but my wife got a few bites. Bring calomine lotion with you. Personally I don't really like the toxic chems that they fumigate with and would rather suffer a few bites. Bottom line. Good choice for a resort which will get better each week. Chill out, have a cerveza on the beach and enjoy your vacation. Hola!

The hotel had just opened for the first week. Anybody going there should have been expecting minor glitches. The overall experience was fantastic and I highly recommend this hotel. The price was so low for December simply because there were some cosmetic detals that were not yet completed. If the people complaining truely wanted a perfect hotel they should have paid the $2500 each and went there. This hotel was beyond my expectations and I highly recommend it!!!

I'll start off by saying that we had a good time. If you have already booked this hotel, you will probably be alright if you get a room where someone else has already dealt with the rooms problems and they are fixed. If you get a new room, then you'll waste time trying to get stuff done. If you haven't booked yet, then I'd suggest going somewhere else until this resort is really ready. It is a shame to waste vacation time trying to fix problems that should have already been fixed. We booked platinum, when we got to our room, it was ground floor, double beds (we asked for king size), regular tv (should have been a plasma), refrigerator not plugged in or stocked (they gave us a bottle of premium rum (very good), and stocked the mini bar that night (after we complained and wouldn't leave them alone), the toilet leaked from behind (clean water, but leaked all over the floor, you needed shoes on), the shower drain was plugged, water went into the bathroom. The second day the water from all taps (hot) ran yellow with what appeared to be rust. The next day they moved us to a 1st floor room with a king bed, and an ocean view. That room I loved. A plasma tv showed up eventually too. Our main problem, was the mosquitoes. They are bad, due to standing water, hydraulic pumps not turned on to the center pond, and walkway area. We spoke management, and they did offer to move us to a lagoona villa, which we turned down, since we liked our room and our friends in a villa where have more problems than we were at that point. (their room smelled from the lagoon, no maid service, shorted a top sheet when they got one, etc) After speaking with Julia the manger (she came over from Princess in Spain and is trying hard to get things done, but communication below her level is slow at best). She did have 2 electrical mosquito units and sray cans of raid delivered to every platinum suite within an hour. That helped, but because staff leave doors open when they clean, etc, you get mosquitoes inside all over again. The deck was just covered in them. Some things to mention, is that you don't want to make a long distance call from the resort, 30 second call cost $40. If you make a reservation through the platinum lounge office, make sure you get the little piece of paper. Twice our reservations weren't made and we didn't know till we showed up at the restaurant. The swiss/french restaurant isn't ready to be used. The staff there is slow, and over all we preferred the main buffet. The second to last day we were there, they had the platinum area on the beach set up with nice loungers. They do need to add more umbrellas until the tree fronds can grow out more. Also our last day, the same loungers (wood with thick pads), showed up on our deck of the suite. Now this would be nice, but the deck isn't really built for all that stuff. We had a jaquizzi, small table and two chairs and now two loungers, which means, no room to walk or stand on the deck. Sometimes the service is slow, not always but sometimes, and one day no matter where I ordered a drink, it didn't show up. I think that was just a weird day. Also if you have any issues with walking, then be aware that you will walk and walk and walk some more. It's a large resort and carts are not offered at this time on a regular basis. One day this might be a nice resort, but at the moment it has issues and everything runs on mexican time, which means that a moment or within 20 minutes, could mean today, or it could mean tomorrow.

My husband and I stayed in the Villa Suites from December 15-22 and we had a really great vacation. The first night we did have to stay in a platinum suite but that wasn't a big deal because we arrived late and would not have been able to enjoy any of the Villa ammenities at that hour anyway. We really enjoyed meeting a lot of the staff. Renee (the butler) in the Villa pool area was amazing, as were all of the other staff in this area. As well, the Villa concierge ladies were amazing, if we had any requests we just asked them and it was taking care of ASAP. Our room was really beautiful and we had no problems with it. Our room staff was also really excellent and attended to any needs we had quickly and efficiently. There were also some lovely surprises for us in our room every couple of days during our stay such as champagne, chocolate tuxedo strawberries, a beautiful flower arrangement, hats, t-shirts, etc. The restaurants were all very nice in our experience and the staff were all very polite and attentive, the buffet food was a nice selection and was lovely and fresh in both its quality and presentation; we were never disappointed with a meal. (If anyone is going to get sick on the food at a hotel, it would be me, and I had NO problems whatsoever.) We have stayed at many, many hotels all over, and this was a great experience for us, we knew that they were just opening before we left, but we didn't have any real inconveniences due to this. We are even considering going back in February with some friends!

Just got back from the Gr. Riviera Princess last night. I stayed there with my boyfriend and another couple and we all had a great time. Although, the other couple we were with didn't like the first room they got, that same night we all got moved to a beautiful deluxe room right by the beach, with no problems. Yes, the hotel is a bit disorganized, but by the time we left we could already see that all the small problems would be fixed in no time. The food was good, although they need a little more selection. The restuarants were also very good, and the Japanese Teppanyaki was actually amazing. The shrimp fajitas are very good at the Mexican restaurant. The sand is white and the beach is wide, there are some rocks in the water, but otherise the water is great. Lots of bars, yummy drinks and a wide selection, tons of pool loungers, great pools and very friendly staff. All I can say is that the hotel is a gorgeous property and yes, it will need a few months to be perfect, but for the price that we paid, it was better then expected. Would go back there anytime. If you dont stress about the little stuff too much and really go tthere to enjoy sun, sand, and pina coloda's you will have an awesome time. This advice is coming from someone who has been on atleast 12 all inclusive trips.

We returned from the hotel on december 22. We got a great price for a new hotel, and set our expectations accordingly. We booked a regular Jr suite. We got in the room and it was obviously not ready yet, we got moved to a Jr suite deluxe without a question, Rooms : this was the weakest part of the hotel in my opinion. The jacuzzi looked like it was not cleaned after installation. Our fridge was only filled once. LCD tv was delivered during the week. Deluxe room looked basically as the regular room, but as a jacuzzi and is much more near the beach. Mosquitoes: they appeared to hide from the sun in the room area. Maid leaves the rooms door open when cleaning them, and mosquitoes sneak in the rooms, very annoying. Elsewhere in the resort, mosquitoes were not a problem, even at night. Food : simply very good. The only exception was the mexican restaurant we did not like. The staff is great and service is excellent Beach : pretty nice and wide. It however gets a bit rocky a couple of meters down in the water. We walked down south at the next resort (sandos caracol) and the water there was full of rocks. The beach at Princess is by far better. Resort : large and very nice, as you can see on pictures. Walking across the pools is very nice, so the lack of transportation from beach to lobby did not bother us at all.

Too many issues to mention. But in a nutshell, this resort should not have opened. They are not fully up and ready. For example, little basic items like "Do not disturb" cards for the doors are not made so cleaning staff knock on every door. We are definitely not coming back and Princess should be ashamed too have signed off on this. When you have nearby competition from Bahia Principe, Eldorado, Riu, Ibero, etc. you better be ready to "play" and show your best face - this resort did not. Boy, did they not. I'll tell one of our many stories that summarizes how bad it is. On Friday, the staff did not clean our room. That's bad enough but to mke matters worse - they still took the tip money left on the bed. Lovely. Stay away...Some may argue, give them 1 year. I say give them NONE. Like I said above, if you want to be on the Rivieria Maya - be ready to show your best. Princess chain - shame on you.

We stayed at the Mayan Riviera Princess hotel from Dec 13 -20. The resort itself is beautiful. Room: We stayed in a room that exited right into the pool in building 6 (junior deluxe suites). We had virtually no problems with our room. The air conditioner didn't work the first night, but by the next morning, it was up and working. Our shower doesn't really drain properly...so we had to put towels down to soak up the water; or else it'll flood. There are SO MANY mosquitos in the room. It is ridiculous!!! They'll eat you alive!! BRING bug spray. Food: There were 5 a la carte restaurants. At the moment, you are allowed as many reservations as you want. We had been to 3 of the 6 (Mexican, Japanese, Grilled house). The food in the a la carte restaurants were ok. I have to say that the buffet is WAY better. There were so many selections and the food was good, although by the end, the food was getting a bit repetitive. The service started off great, but as they got busy, the service got a bit worse. A lot of the times, we would order our drinks, and the waiter would never come back with them and we would have to re-order the drinks. Drinks: Drinks were really good. There were many selections. Even martini like drinks!!! We had been having drinks in the lobby area at night, and there was a live band that played every night. Pool/Beach: There were many different pool areas. The beach was nice and sandy. There was a problem with the beach though. There were only a few umbrellas, and apparently they belonged to the hotel next door. We were told that we could put our stuff underneath the umbrella, but we could not put our lounge chairs beside them. We didn't quite understand the concept! If you want to go the beach, bring your own umbrellas because it is HOT underneath the sun!!! Service: Overall, the service was ok. Not a 5-star! Internet: There was wireless internet available in the Sunset side of the lobby. I think there is a business center, but we were told that it was not ready. Shows: The shows were ok. Most were a bit cheesy! Overall...we think the hotel has GREAT potential. Hopefully, they'll continue to improve. Eventually, it'll be a 5 star!! With that said...we have had heard some horror stories. People not having hot or cold water in their rooms. Flooding from the shower into the rooms. etc etc!