Catalonia Riviera Maya Resort and Spa All Inclusive

No sound proof The bed is ok, the room outdated, scratches on the furniture, which is forgivable. The real issue is the sound proof. Our room had a door closed to the neighbours which had no sound insulation, you could literally hear as they talk in bed, and they were not shouting, brushing their teeth. It put us in a very awkward position. This was really annoying as kept us awake through the night, or definitely had woken us up when they got to the room. That is basically what you want in vacation, in your room to have privacy and be able to sleep. So, the rest is insignificant.

A disappointing Resort - Not much of a beach, too much rock, have to wear water shoes to get in out of the water to keep the feet from being torn apart by the rocks and very shallow - Not adult friendly, mostly set up for kids. - The closet doors in our room were jammed and couldn’t use them - The Mexican restaurant on the premises had the worst food, couldn’t eat it, even smelt bad, very little effort was made in their dishes and very little ingredients, bare minimum. The chicken enchilada (pictured here) had only chicken and nothing else in a corn tortilla that was stale and the sauce was rancid and bitter, not sure what it was. The shrimp tacos was also just as bad. - The buffet food was substandard, greasy, the same menu every day, lacking variety - My son took the introductory scuba course at the Pro Dive Shop on the resort premises. During the pool session of the introductory course, the kids were jumping on the divers and swimming into them. Apparently, according to the dive shop, the resort will not secure a portion of the pool for the scuba shop or even put up warning signs. The resort’s reasoning is that they don’t want to restriction guests from wanting to use the pool. This is a safety issue when kids are jumping into the water on top of the divers, kids and divers will get hurt, maybe seriously. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. The resort has the responsibility to ensure the safety of ALL their guests and by allowing the dive shop to operate within their premises then the resort is responsible for what happens within their borders. This is completely and utterly unacceptable and irresponsible. - Apparently, the resort doesn’t provide a shuttle into Playa del Carmen, they suggested that we take a taxi into the city. The day before making the trip into Playa del Carmen, I had asked the bellboy at the front desk what the cost is for a taxi, he said $500 pesos one way, $25US, according to the cost table posted on their wall. On the morning of the trip into the city, I asked the bellboy to call us a taxi, we had put aside $50US for the trip there and back. The taxi driver offered to pick us up in the after for the return to the resort and said not to pay him until them. When he dropped us off he wanted $80us, I had told him we were told it was $50us. He refused to let out of the cab until we gave him $80us. We reluctantly complied and left his cab. I asked the bellboy, a different person, why we were told it was $25us and he said it wasn’t, it was $35us, not $25us ($500 pecos equals to $25us). I told him, and my adult kids were witness, that the previous day we were told it was $25us. He accused me of not understanding because of the language barrier and that he has no control of what the taxi drivers charge. I told him that the taxi cost table posted on his wall means nothing and it’s a contradiction to what the taxi drivers charge. When I mentioned that this is the first resort I’ve ever been to that didn’t provide a shuttle and he stated that there is a shuttle, just across the way on the resort but is operated by a different company. When I had first arrived at the resort, I had asked if there was a shuttle available to go to the city and they said no. There is certainly a communication issue but that lies with the resort and their lack of transparency to their guests. We were robbed of $30us and I suspected that the bellboy was accepting kickbacks from the taxi drivers. - The spa located in the Catalonia Riveria Maya resort next door doesn’t have qualified staff and is ill suited to give services. My daughter needed a broken manicured nail fixed at their spa. After an hour, all they did was put more polish on the nail, they never fixed it and had the nerve to charge $5us for the polish. I argued with them that they never fixed the nail, they are suppose to match the other nails but they refused to listen and still charged my daughter for the polish. My son had a deep tissue massage appointment with them the next day. After his session, he was in a lot of pain, stating that the masseuse didn’t massage properly and put too much pressure and emphasis around his shoulders and neck and not on his back. He was hurting for days. My son sees a regular masseuse back home in Ottawa Canada so he is experienced with what to expect.

Wonderful hotel with lovely staff Before arriving I had read some bad reviews about this hotel, commenting on rooms, staff, food and the beach. We considered changing hotels based on this. So happy that we didn’t change. We loved the hotel. The staff were all extremely pleasant and incredibly helpful. The room could do with a make over, but it was very clean and had a lovely view. The food was fine and we had no problems with the booking system. Only comment on food would be the burger bar, which truly was not very nice. The pan cake house in the afternoon was brilliant. We very much hope to be back again

Condition of the rooms The actual condition of the rooms does not correspond to what I saw in the commercial and the photo provided by the hotel. The food at the hotel was excellent. The staff tries their best and is very hardworking. It may be worth adding some animation to the hotel.

Should be 2.5 stars We arrived on the 24th October. The rooms are advertised as rustic but they are in major need of refurbishment . The paint is peeling off the doors. The house keeping and reception staff are happy and helpful but the waiters and bar staff are lazy and anti-English, often rude or dismissive. Least impressed with the bar staff. They have bad attitudes. Not impressed with the entertainment provided, very shabby. The food is not food at all. Expected fresh sea food and nice quality tasty dishes, although edible it is reconstituted food and the same on offer every day. They have restaurants you can book into but they get booked up 5 mins after booking opens. Best to eat out locally for food that actually tastes of something. Very very bland. Overall I’m very disappointed, we booked this holiday as our first family holiday in 10 years and sadly have not been impressed.