I stayed here with family over Christmas and the resort itself is amazing. It’s beautiful and the atmosphere is so easy to fall into, and all of the workers are wonderful (we’ve never had waitstaff adopt us like we did here, it was awesome and the entertainment staff are fun.) The activities are varied- there’s arts and crafts each day (the painting workshops- think Bob Ross but with acrylic paint- are so much fun but make sure you arrive at least 15 minutes early- the 11 am craft and the afternoon art/tasting/experience fill up way before the start time and they’re limited to only 20-30 people), daily pool fitness sessions (don’t worry, they’re very much at a beginner level but still fun) and other things like blackjack (don’t try to make sense of the rules, the only rules that exist are the ones you come up with) and bingo.
The beach and pool are beautiful- there always seemed to be enough chairs and palapas for everyone and the beach staff- all of them, including the guys that were raking sargassum all day, and especially the waitstaff, were friendly and helpful. The sand is gorgeous and once you get in the water it isn’t rocky like other places- no need for water shoes to protect your feet here.
Our swim up pool was awesome- it’s nearly 5 feet deep! And was cleaned more frequently than any other resort we’ve been to. You can tell everyone who works here takes pride in their work and the resort and it shows.
We were so impressed with everything that the one shortcoming this resort has seemed extra short compared to everything else. That shortcoming is the food. We went to most of the restaurants for dinner (we missed a couple because of Christmas dinner- more on that later- and a couple of late nights at the beach) the buffet for breakfast, Barefoot Grill for lunch and ordered room service a couple of times. The buffet is good- there’s a lot of options and a couple of stations for made to order things, I have nothing bad to say about the buffet. Room service is also good- the flavor was good and everything I ordered came way before the quoted time (breakfast was supposed to come in 45 minutes and actually arrived in less than 20), just beware that, at the time of our stay, you couldn’t order on the app, you had to call them on the phone to order. Barefoot grill for lunch? Sad. It’s food- it’s not terrible but considering the caliber of everything else it falls flat, the flavor just wasn’t there and some things one the menu are not as advertised (the chicken wrap? Not an actual wrap, it was basically a tiny gas station caliber burrito. The burger? Messy but flavorless. The pizza? Typical resort pizza- needed 3 times the cheese, but otherwise ok. Fish and chips? Ours were soggy and cold.) The actual restaurants? Not great. Really, not great. The appetizers were always good but when it came to main courses? Half the time they were terrible- at the steakhouse (Seaside Grill) my first steak was basically shoe leather and after I got a replacement it was still overcooked (nearing well done when I ordered medium), Portofino was underwhelming (the steak was again overcooked and the carbonara was ok but tasted like Alfredo with bacon, that was all that was there- pasta, Alfredo sauce and bacon.) Tierra and El Patio were decent (don’t order the fritter at El Patio for desert, it was made ahead of time and tasted stale, the other desserts are great, the fajita was awesome but come hungry if you order that- it will definitely feed 2 people.)
We were there for the “fancy” Christmas Gala meal that you had to sign up for beforehand. That meal was terrible. For being the “fancy” meal it was just sad. We’ve been to other resorts for Christmas and they all usually have amazing buffets- lobster made to order, steak, fish, pasta, fancy meats, weird and wonderful cheeses, literal towers of desserts, etc. This one? Set menu everywhere, and you had to make a reservation. The roll was good, the little ball (croquet they called it) was basic but tasty. After that? The salad was too sweet- everything was sweet- cold baked apple pieces, candied nuts, a quarter of a stewed fig (I think it was fig) and one piece of endive lettuce with a sweet vinaigrette- it needed goat cheese or red onion or lemon, something to cut the unrelenting sweetness. The prawns were either terribly small and bland or a couple of people at out table had ones that were raw (raw, as in someone touched their prawn and their fingers stank of raw seafood that soap couldn’t make go away afterwards raw.) And the turkey main (yes, turkey was the main course of this supposedly magnificent Christmas Gala dinner.) Dry as sawdust- seriously, even my mother, who likes her meat to be nearly jerky (she’s weird) said it was too dry for her. Not even the gravy could save it (Dad said afterward that if he burped he’d just burp up powder) plus it was lukewarm at best with the sweet potato it was served on top of being cold. The only other thing that was served was dessert- the chocolate magic mushroom- not sure why it was magic, but it was tasty. A huge disappointment considering what a normal Christmas meal at a resort is.
Tl;dr? The resort itself is amazing, all the staff we interacted with were wonderful (seriously, cannot say enough good things about them), the activities were varied and engaging for all of us (maybe skip The Greatest Showman, as former theatre kids and lovers of modern circus it was just sad) and the drinks are plentiful. The food is edible but not nearly up to the caliber of the rest of the resort which makes it seem more awful than it is, but it can still be pretty awful.
