The Reef Coco Beach Resort & Spa- Optional All Inclusive

We enjoyed our stay We have just had two weeks at the Reef Coco Beach: Myself, my husband and our 16-year-old daughter. We enjoyed our stay. We had two comfortable rooms well equipped with toiletries, a fridge, soft drinks and with AC. We mostly enjoyed the pool area, but we did visit the beach occasionally, there were always lots of loungers in sun and in shade. The buffet restaurant was always very well stocked with plentiful choice of food. The puddings and breads in particular were very tasty. Their themes nights were very good, the decor and music all chimed in with the food menu. Our daughter ate lunch often at the snack bar near the pool and was very happy with their choice of nachos, burgers or hotdogs. We tried the Japanese, Mexican and Italian restaurants. The Italian restaurant was very disappointing. I had to return my pasta as it was raw/ uncooked and the puddings were not one jot as described on the menu. However, the Japanese restaurant was plentiful for food and a fun atmosphere. The Mexican restaurant was a favourite with a friendly staff. We must particularly mention the buffet restaurant staff. Deya and Lorena served us so well and always with a smile, constantly refreshing our drinks and checking we were all okay. The lovely Luna, was always smiling, helpful and professional. Poor Luna had to constantly remind guests not to come into the restaurant with dripping wet costumes and to cover up swimwear, which are rules of the hotel. She had to do this very often every day and always did it politely with a smile on her face. Such a shame that Luna had to leave towards the end of our stay, we missed her indeed. Special mention to Alan, our evening waiter in the buffet restaurant. He was a pleasure to be around… smiling and chatting. Always remembering our drinks and always ensuring we had enough of everything we needed. Our daughter and I used the spa. We were lucky to be treated by Nadia, she was very sweet and pleasant. Watch the charging though as I was charged 75GBP for an US$80 treatment. Something amiss there in the currency conversion!!! Just only one bugbear…When we checked in, we were reminded many times during the paperwork process that the hotel is non-smoking, no cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, Vapes. We all agreed and were asked to sign to say we agreed and this wasn’t a problem for us as none of us are smokers. It was a shame then when we saw many smokers (around the pool, beach area, in corridors, on balconies, most everywhere) smoking cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, and Vapes….All in full view of staff. I appreciate it’s tricky for staff to go up to paying customers and point out they shouldn’t be smoking and we didn’t expect the staff to have to do that… but if the hotel isn’t going to enforce the policy, then frankly why bother having it?

Your next visit to Playa Del Carmen should include the Reef Coco Beach. Such an amazing stay… again. This is why we continue to come back to the Reef properties. We definitely feel like VIP guests when we stay here. Make sure and book the all-inclusive package to take advantage of everything the Reef has to offer. Start with arriving and getting your mimosa or your specialty coffee made by Ramon at the lobby bar, settle into one of the beautiful rooms (it’s not a mega resort, so most rooms have beach facing patios), enjoy poolside activities with Boris, who is genuinely so fun, book a Teppanyaki dinner at Samurai or try the Italian restaurant next door… both are excellent, and finish with an evening show at the lobby or the pool. Every restaurant we ate at was fantastic, even the daily buffet in the beachside restaurant. The Reef Coco Beach is a great option for families or couples, especially with the new addition of the elevated Frigata beach club attached to the resort. We had the option of hanging out at the main pool or heading next door to the new Frigata day club, which we chose for day two of our stay and absolutely loved. There’s definitely an exclusive feel to the beach club and you have your choice of pools side, patio or beach side seating. The food, location and service were such an added benefit, and really stood out as our new place to hang out when we visit.

Best Vacation Ever Best trip ever…..AGAIN The Reef, once again, delivered an amazing vacation. We stay here once or twice a year and always come back. Coco Beach was amazing. I love waking up to our ocean view. BORIS was amazing. He always remembers us and is always very kind and attentive. We had lunch for the first time at the buffet and we have been missing out. OMG. The food is AMAZING. They had a pasta bar and fresh chorizo. Every morning I get a custom made omelette and fresh pastries. The food is always fresh and very authentic. Ramon at the lobby bar, Geraldo at the pool bar and Milton at the pool bar always remembers us and our drinks. They are always very nice. Watch out for Geraldo and his shots. We love and hate them. _ We are at all the restaurants and love everything. Especially the fried rice and food at the Samurai and Italian restaurant. We got a special lobster and steak dinner one night which was AMAZING. And OMG. FRAGATA is amazing. We spent lots of time at the new beach club Fragata. What a great addition to the Reef. It was nice to get away from the kids for a minute and enjoy adult time. The food and service was amazing. Fragata is a great addition to the reef. We can’t wait to go back. All of the rooms at the reef have an awesome view and very nice. We can’t wait to came back. Love you all.

Potential towel scam in progress otherwise reasonable family hotel Am literally here now on the beach typing this as fuming as I just had an argument with staff over towels. I'm staying at sister hotel The Reef 28 and came across yesterday for their holiday club presentation and to use the facilities. As a Reef 28 guest, you are entitled to use their VIP facilities. Upon arrival at the beach hut I was told I had to get a towel card to use a towel - fine - and this was available at reception. Back I go and wait ten minutes as it was obviously a busy time. I was asked to sign for the card but no one told me I had to get a return card when I returned the towel and go back to reception to drop that card off in order to meet their rules or I would be charged. There was something about USD35 but nothing specific about getting a card, heading to reception etc. I just assumed, like at most hotels, you just take the towel back to where you got it and that's it. So upon leaving yesterday I went to the towel place, dropped my towel and told staff I would be snorkelling back to my hotel. No one said anything to me about a card or offered me one. So literally I was none the wiser. I jumped in the water and swam back (have a Strava trace). Today I decided to go back as no beach at the Reef 28 just a pool (which is awesome). I was told I would have to pay UsD35 when I politely asked about towels. I explained the situation and the gent (shorter gent with dark hair - not the tall one) started arguing with me about it. I explained that I had dropped off towels yesterday and swam back but nothing - he kept arguing. Reef 28 guests are allowed to be VIP guests here and this is the way you treat them? There was no way I could physically swim back with a towel but they literally accused me of stealing one of their threadbare blue towels. This has really angered me and is totally unnecessary and avoidable. How about you explain the rules first? I had to sign for a card so just tell me I have to sign to say I've returned it. It's not hard. Or perhaps staff can give you a card once when you return yours and you say you are leaving, without you having to ask because how on earth are you meant to know? They can clearly see that I am a guest of a sister hotel due to the different wristband. Screams of a scam. Other than that the resort itself is ok. Appears to be lots of activities for families, staff work hard and the overall presentation is clean and tidy. The don't seem to say anything however when there are people smoking on the beach or vaping which isn't allowed. The VIP bar and pool area are nice, the beach is good but roped off which I guess for some is a good thing (particularly kids). The buffet was ok, standard fare. Their sister hotel is much much better in every respect but there is a price difference that reflects this.

Happily Stay Here Again Just got back from a 2 week stay here and would happily return to the same place! Room- was clean and spacious when we arrived, no issues, had 2 double beds, air con was lovely and cold, bathroom lovely with towels, hand wash and shower gel. TV had a good range of channels, some of which could be swapped to English. Mini fridge and safety box included, also a water jug with 2 glasses in the room for you to fill up at many of the fountains on the resort. We only had our room cleaned a few times during our stay, we tried to leave a tip for the cleaners but they didn’t take it, room was cleaned well however unsure on how often the towels and bedding are replaced as we started to notice marks on our towels that we had made prior to the room being cleaned. Pool- Big and mostly well kept, the pool would warm up rather quickly so don’t expect to jump into cold water, some of the tiles do come out from the pool floor but never any issues or cuts. Lots of leaves fall from the trees but no harm to anyone. Food & Drink- we never used the lobby bar, the pool bar was used heavily, Luis our barman was lovely and always fast with our drinks. A large range of cocktails, spirits and mixers, however the top shelf alcohol is only for premium bracelet holders, we chose not to upgrade as the price wasn’t worth having a few more drink options and access to a little bit more, they have a cheaper alternative to most of the top shelf alcohol anyway. The snack bar open next to the pool is open during the day and then opens again at night until 2am, the do fries, burgers, pizzas, hot dogs, nachos and burritos and food was lovely there. The main restaurant for breakfast lunch and dinner was nice! It can feel repetitive of 2 weeks, there is an air conned side and an open side which is kept cool by sea breeze and fans. Most nights the dinner is themed eg Mexican, Japanese, Italian, always a large salad bar, fruit platters, charcuterie section, bread section, then the trays of hot food- these change throughout the meal time, so if once a tray of chicken, could then be brought out a tray of veg and the labels weren’t always correct. My advice is try whatever looks nice, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice some of the food was. They have a cooking counter where chefs would have a special to do by order but I never really had This, to the right of that there’s always a small kids section that has pizza, pasta, crisps etc, and always a big selection of desserts. Breakfast became boring as it never changed, same hot food, omelettes can be made and are very nice, pancakes, pastries, cereal etc. lunch would be lighter to dinner and more pasta and rice dishes. To break up the repetitiveness there are 3 restaurants, a Mexican, Italian and Japanese. You have to book these on the day before 5pm and most book in the morning for the time they want, we only tried the Italian but it was lovely and definently would have gone back, had we tried it out earlier. The waiter Alan is lovely in there! We wish we had tried the Mexican but ran out of time and the Japanese you have to pay entry (not sure if you have to pay if premium). The Sky bar and lounge next to the main restaurant is small but nice, open til late, the barman in there was so friendly, quick to make drinks and always smiling. The outside table and chairs overlooking the sea is cool in the evening, sometimes busy but a good chance to talk to other guests. Hotel & Amenities- staff are so lovely and friendly, always happy to help and speak with you, the hotel itself is beautiful and public toilets were clean. There is a jewellery shop and a little boutique in the hotel which sold nice bits, spa and gym downstairs, my mum used the spa and said it was amazing. The excursions we booked through the hotel were some of the best we’ve ever been on, Eddie was really helpful and friendly with booking those. We did whale shark dive, xcaret, ATV and cenote in the jungle and a catamaran boat day. The daytime entertainment and activities team were fun! Aqua aerobics, usually a quiz or bingo, volleyball and another game later in the day, music played by the pool. Evening entertainment was ok, we watched a fire show, an acrobat show, a disco but the entertainment lacked. We didn’t tend to watch it and it usually starts at 9 and lasts an hour. Do not loose pool towels as you need to swap this for a card after use, if you do not return those cards at checkout you are charged. We would swap our towels over for clean ones whenever we wanted to. Pool and ping pong table are good to use but always being used. The water fountains are clean with fresh cold water, located all around the hotel. The sunbeds and daybeds are fine, usually all reserved by 9am but throughout the day they always become free. The part of the beach owned by the hotel has a net around the sea to prevent sargasm, which you see builds up on either side, water is very warm but quite clear, past the net there are a lot of boats which is a disappointing view from the beach but if you walk along for a nice view it’s not bad. There is a dive shop next to the sky bar which does daily scuba driving training in the pool and paddleboards we never used them but I’m sure they do snorkelling and scuba driving trips for an extra cost which we wish we did. Other Points- you can spend the day at the other reef hotels, there is a bus transfer in the morning to the reef 28 (rooftop pool) and playa del car, we didn’t use this so not sure if this is a premium inclusion but those that we spoke to said the reef coco beach had the biggest pool and best choice for food, the reef 28 isn’t great, playa del car has a smaller pool but bigger part of the beach and is a bit more in the jungle. Just outside the hotel is a 7 eleven and pharmacy if you need medicine, suncream, snacks or drinks 10 min walk is 5th avenue full of bars, restaurants and entertainment- we loved how close the hotel was to here. There is a golf course which is free to use, just ask for the equipment by the pool towels desk Lots of animals, lizards, birds, butterflies and coatis in the resort- lovely to see. They have eagles walked around daily to scare away the birds eating food. Overall a lovely stay, Mexico is beautiful, playa del carmen is an amazing place and the reef coco beach we would happily stay in again. Thank you for one of our best holidays!