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Reviewed May 14, 2015

We spent two weeks at the hotel in February 2015. The pros of the hotel: near the beach, shopping, dining, but a quiet and relaxing atmosphere, yoga daily, excellent dining at the hotel. The staff was excellent. The cons: the rooms are very basic, concrete, and not much space to sit and relax right outside your room. The pools were very cold, and the jacuzzi or small pool was not heated either. They looked nice, but too cold to enjoy. All dining service including beverages ends by 9pm. When we arrived our first night after traveling all day, at 9:05, they wouldn't serve us a drink. We were told it was to maintain quiet for all the guests. Well a few nights later there was a large wedding rehearsal and guess what - they served well after 10. It wasn't quiet that night! I would not go back to the hotel for an extended stay, a week at most, 4 or 5 nights would be better.

Date of stay: February 2015
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
1  Thank Reeniekc
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed May 12, 2015 via mobile

My husband and I decided to do a private ceremony, he's not the publicly affectionate type and it was a compromise from the beginning for us to be able to have this event on our vacation.

I sought out a wedding planner and was able to locate Ann at Aventura. She was very intuitive and responsive to all of my questions. The hotel was just beautiful. It was well accommodated for any lifestyle, from Americana to Mayan. They offered yoga, massage, activities. A pool to swim off the afternoon heat.

We arrived at the hotel for our ceremony and Ann was on vacation. She passed reins to Jimena and without skipping a single beat. I have never felt so special than I did that day, and the comfort of my husband was something I worried about. He was so pleased with the location, the hospitality, they served a delicious meal. My husband had the filet mignon crusted and the Parmesan rice. He smiled from the bottom of his belly after that meal. Gabby was our friendly server, she was very helpful, and kept me company as I waited for my husband to be seated.

This hotel is well worth experiencing. It's a must see. The botanical gardens, were amazing, the soft music was very zen and the people are folks that you won't soon forget.

A huge thanks to this team for helping make this special time a memorable one.

Date of stay: May 2015
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
1  Thank thejessmed
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed May 11, 2015

When on vacation, we consider several factors in choosing a hotel, then rating it afterwards. Reviews by others are very important, and we do our homework. Also considered are location, price, breakfast, communication. Comfort, lighting, bathroom space, water pressure...all things that make a stay or can ruin it. We try and get hotels that have character or a feel for where we are, for the type of trip we are on. In other words, when in Prague, we don't want the Hilton. Exceptions are when we need a place to just sleep while passing thru an area.
This is LONG! (2 reviews included)

When on vacation, we consider several factors in choosing a hotel, then rating it afterwards. Reviews by others are very important, and we do our homework. Also considered are location, price, breakfast, communication. Comfort, lighting, bathroom space, water pressure...all things that make a stay or can ruin it. We try and get hotels that have character or a feel for where we are, for the type of trip we are on. In other words, when in Prague, we don't want the Hilton. Exceptions are when we need a place to just sleep while passing thru an area.

That said, we stayed at this lovely hotel 7years ago and my review from then is at the bottom of this one for the deluxe king pool room.. We enjoyed the hotel I gave a 5* rating back then and we liked it so much we came back for 11 nights, but some things have changed. Playa Del Carmen has changed a lot and as much as we love it here, and the hotel, we will not likely be back a 4th time. We prefer a quieter, less crowded scene, which this used to be. This visit we used PDC as a jumping off point for other activities, not a destination.
This first part of the review makes me sound like a real complainer, but my intent is to show the differences as a whole. IF it had been my first visit, I still would have had fun and not known what I was missing. We still enjoyed ourselves and do recommend the hotel, and much of what I mention may not make a bit of difference to anyone at all. I still think this is a great place to stay.

First of all, I have to say that we requested non-smoking. From the moment we opened the doors we were blown over with the cigarette smell (table and ashtrays are outside). It was very powerful. We called down and told them so they sent a young man up with some ‘lysol’ type spray. I told him to spray the curtains which he did..I think using about 1/3 of a can. 11 night stay but the smell never went away. A definite negative in my book.

Changes:
Hotel- is just as beautiful, and peaceful as ever. Still on the ‘edge’ of the happening area which we prefer, but not for long. Staff is very much the same and just as nice. We did try the restaurant 1 night. Food was OK- my seafood pasta was fishy. The very nice restaurant manager makes an effort to make the guests feel appreciated. Mostly I enjoyed the peace and quiet in the little garden. It is very hard to find a place to eat which isn’t too loud to talk in PDC. It is a good place to sit and relax. We did miss breakfast a few mornings when our schedule had us leaving before 7:00am (at 7:15 we were lucky they let us in). We also returned late a few evenings from a tour and missed a relaxing dinner at the hotel.

Room- Are the floors each different? Had 2nd floor last time, 3rd floor this time. I really loved the open shower and brushed/stamped cement 2nd floor before. This time our room had glazed tile everywhere. VERY slippery when wet, which we were much of the time. The ‘new’ shower design is more closed with a curtain, BUT it has a step over, onto slippery tile, onto a very narrow space, before another step. Too far on a curve to step carefully, especially when we kept forgetting to put down the floor mat which was always hanging out of reach on the only (I mentioned a need for more 7 years ago) towel bar (and the towels were always on the bed as cute animals).
Also, the water pressure was very low and only luke warm when only the hot was turned all the way on. I never felt like I got all the shampoo (didn’t care for their current samples at all but appreciated the ‘after sun’ gel) out of my hair the entire visit. IF that had been an issue last visit I would have mentioned it. I really want pressure and heat. The new shower curtain is useful when the A/C is on but the water isn’t hot.
After the first night I asked for a new pillow which must have come off of a single bed and was much better. I can’t sleep on the big fluffy, lumpy ones which wrap around your face but flatten under your head. The smaller one was better. I still love the typical mexican beds, more firm, but I find them comfortable so once I got a new pillow I was set.
Because we were there so long and couldn’t get a suite (forgot about them), I requested a microwave which was gladly provided. We had to rearrange the room so the MW could be used without unplugging the TV, but it was very useful. I found putting the dirty plates on the bed in the morning got the dishes replaced, but leaving them on the table didn’t. We never had silverware and used 1 plastic fork the entire stay.
We were grateful for the endless supply of drinking water to fill our bottles with.
Stairs are steep, narrow. those up to the 3rd floor are narrower steps than others.
It felt like we were the only guests on the 3rd floor wing (above our other room). Very private.

Pool- we didn’t use it much. It is tiny with only a handful of places to sit. If a group is around, you are out of luck. We dipped in and out after a long hot day, but didn’t linger. Be careful walking around it, very slippery outside pool area.

Tours- We typically plan all our travels without tours or car. We happened to ask about two of the activities we were going to do on our own and were surprised that we got a better deal (transportation included) from the hotel, or slight discount. We still took the collectivos everywhere we ventured.

Beach Club- Hubby HAS to have shade at the beach due to fair skin, otherwise we would just have a towel someplace away from everyone. Beach clubs are the only way to get an umbrella.
Years ago our free ‘beach club’ was Kool. This is one of the reasons we went back-nice beach, front row chairs, short walk. We really enjoyed going there just to relax, read, and swim, watch the water. After we made the hotel reservation, we found out the hotel uses another beach and not Kool (which website says), Zenzie was the free beach. BIG difference. First of all, it is much farther away, past the annoying vendors. The beach was not as nice (given it was April Vs July and seagrass was everywhere, but some areas cleaned it a bit), the water wasn’t either. Boats were tied up and cluttery, not good for swimming, and just not what we had come to expect. I didn’t see any showers, although there may have been. The ‘chairs’ were very uncomfortable and didn’t fully recline. They were up front.
Next, we went to Kool and paid for the $5/2 w/hotel discount. We were given the ‘back’ section where there is no breeze, you can’t see the water, and noisier from the DJ. Also non reclining chairs.
We did not order food or drinks at either so cannot comment. They left us alone which was ok with us.
After that, we just went to other beaches where we happened to be or north up the beach a bit past Mamitas and sat on a towel, never intending to stay very long. One very early Sunday morning we sat in front of the Mamitas on the little edge of sand before it drops 3’. Nobody was there but us. As the club started setting up they moved some beach beds up 20’ so as to be 1’ from the edge of my towel (previous days there was lots of people on towels. They didn’t say anything, and I refused to let them push me out. We stayed another hour as planned, which was when the dj noise started. So much for peace and quiet.

I am not sure why recent reviews wrote that they used Kool. After we made the reservation and saw the change in beach clubs I emailed and we were told to ask for Kool passes closer to arrival, they had a few. When we did, we were told there were not any.

Around the hotel- has developed way too much for us. We found the weekends lightly loud at night from surrounding rooftops (which weren’t there before). At 11pm we could hear the boom boom boom even with the a/c and tv on. Thankfully it was only weekends. The little Taylor shop is gone, as are most of the little local craft shops we liked so much on the back streets. In place is mass construction for tourists, bars, pesky shop owners and sales people. Luckily this little corner is still pretty much untouched, I hope it stays that way.

Lighting was much better this time, and no issues with curtains.
so, now you can see what I wrote last time…and the positives points we loved:

7/25/08
We agree whole heartedly with these previous positive posts as well as those on the hotel site and other discount websites. Wonderful Hotel!!!

My husband researched the hotels in Playa del Carmen (while I worked on Akumal places) and decided on this one after reading the many reviews. I did a little "just in case" checking and found that this hotel appeared to meet all of our needs, AND the actual hotel web price was better than the one my husband found elsewhere.

I am very picky about where I stay. It must be clean, comfortable, and a good atmosphere, not crowded. We come from tourist country and I prefer to escape from it. Aventura Mexicana met all those needs. We stayed in the basic King room with a small fridge which was important for keeping all the water cold that we kept buying. (There may be differences between that room and the double bed rooms in the other section). I liked the nice cool pretty cement floors. Carpets in hotels are sometimes a bit creepy to me. The bed was very comfortable. Water pressure was acceptable but that can depend on what one is used to. A/C and room fan were needed and made our room nice to be in after a long hot day outside. No street or neighbor noises, very quiet. We also appreciated having the safe for our money and passports. The locking patio door was nice as well. No way housekeeping could walk in unexpectedly. Actually it was kind of like a cruise....how do they know when you have left the room? We stepped out for just a few minutes and came back expecting nothing different and presto....clean sheets, towels, and a cute little towel animal on the bed. I even watched the door from breakfast and didn't see them go in!

We found the courtyards very pleasant to meander thru (they would be even nicer in bloom) and the pools were refreshing. We appreciated the considerate guests that swam quietly during sleeping hours. Never got up to the sundeck. Too hot. I planned to see if there was a view....

Continental breakfast wasn't much, but adequate. If you hit the baked goods early they were fabulous. None of that gooey sticky packaged stuff. Just nice. Orange juice was very good. IF we had a long day ahead without lunch we ordered additional from the menu. We did not eat other meals here.

All of the staff was very friendly and helpful. Front desk was always available to help us out. Do your homework on your extra activities ahead of time. This hotel doesn't have the promotional brochures. We appreciated the use of the one free internet computer in the lobby to do an occasional check with kids not with us and to look up a tour or two. I think everyone was considerate and waited patiently while others quickly finished up their business. Early AM was always available.

The hotel was only about 3 blocks to the beach, although it seemed more. We took advantage of the thick hotel beach towels and the Kool club pass which allowed us the all day use of chaise lounges with an umbrella, bathrooms, pool, shower for $?4/adult.(Hubby paid) Didn't order any food from the very friendly staff but many of those around us did. This spot on the beach was one of the nicest. More crowded on weekends. Weekday, we were the only ones there at 8am and never got full till about 1pm, they close about 5pm, far different than Orange County, Ca. beaches! Farthur north along the beach it is less crowded, but I think the Kool area is the cleanest and nicest. We walked both directions. Definately safe for kids, some lifeguards.

I found a great taylor next door to the hotel who made me a beautiful custom (just by measurements quickly taken) linen vietnamese top- overnight. It fit perfectly with no adjustments. I can't get that with store bought clothes! Reasonable price.

Try walking away from the "tourist" zone for restaurants. Better prices, real culture.

We didn't have a car. Public buses to other areas are easy, cheap, and very nice. We only used taxis when necessary. We walked everywhere in the city.

Possible Negatives: The king room is like an open master bedroom in a home. Several windows...which really is nice compared to a typical hotel with 1 window and heavy drape. Drapes could be a few inches wider. Bring a clothes pin to clip the patio door drapes closed in the center (I always carry a few anyway). Others had to be shifed creatively.We managed just fine and could deal with that small issue. One person mentioned lighting over the sink being not enough...this is when the curtains are closed. I have found that to be the case in many hotels and it is a bit frustrating especially for someone who can't see without glasses. In this case...It wasn't too bad because I had passed on makeup. You just sweat or swim it off anyway. A few more towel bars would be nice, but they refresh daily so you could put them on the floor, although I don't.

Would I stay here again? You Bet!
One of the nicest, most pleasant, cozy hotels we have ever stayed in. I kept a close eye out for others we had looked into and we chose right, for us. No doubt.
Liked — WE got what we expected. No disappointments, only higher than expected. All round pleasant.
Disliked — Nothing at all to not like!
Stayed July 2008, traveled as a couple

Room Tip: ask for the stamped cement floor rather than the glazed slippery tile one.

Room tip: ask for the stamped cement floor rather than the glazed slippery tile one.
Date of stay: April 2015
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
    • Sleep Quality
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
2  Thank Billie R
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed May 10, 2015

I just returned home from my third, and certainly not my last stay at Aventura Mexicana. The property is beautiful with the tropical feel; clean, comfortable rooms, and the best staff. Everyone remembered me from my previous stays. Special thanks to Antonio at Reception, Christine, Luiz, Chris and the rest of the Bistro staff. See you in the fall!

Date of stay: April 2015
  • Trip type: Travelled solo
    • Location
    • Sleep Quality
    • Service
4  Thank Thomas W
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed May 5, 2015 via mobile

Myself and two friends stayed at Aventura Mexicana and had a fabulous time! We had booked the all inclusive package which we were very happy with.

The staff working in the Mayan Bistro restaurant were all lovely and accommodating - Chris always had some great food recommendations for us! The reception staff were always helpful and friendly whenever we had questions, and we were also treated to a massage which was superb. The hotel is also a hop & skip to 5th Avenue (main street). The hotel is away from the busy and loud hustle & bustle which was great. I highly recommend Aventura Mexicana to anyone traveling to Playa del Carmen!

Date of stay: April 2015
Trip type: Travelled with friends
3  Thank JuliaMareeI
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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