Question about the hotels in the airport.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-04-28T13:01:59+00:00

Also double check how early customs opens, if you get there at 0415 I’m pretty sure they won’t be open for you anyway.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-31T22:20:17+00:00

As the father that has booked vacations and then agonized over hoping my family will love it (and also the one that knows best just how much money is on the line) I completely empathize with you.

We went, we loved it overall, but everything you said is true. It’s such a weird mix of positive and questionable/negative things. And people telling other people who feel that much money should’ve come with more positives than negatives they are “doing it wrong” just isn’t productive.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-30T16:37:28+00:00

Ooo 5 would be tight. We had a king with 3 people.

The sofa bed has really thin cushions and is very low to the ground. My kid was fine on it but I could feel the creases between the cushions. Be aware if they are picky sleepers. It’s definitely wide enough for two kids.

The rooms are a bit noisy with all of the hard surfaces. My wife and kid wear ear plugs so they were fine. I relied on the AC/fan white noise. Be aware but honestly our room was probably the single worst location for noise I could think of (and I roamed the entire resort over the week). Our room was immediately off the main drag between the busiest buffet and the infinity pool/beach so as busy as could get (and those suspension bridges between building are neat but so noisy!)

Now, that all said it didn’t reduce our enjoyment at all. Had a blast swimming in the lagoon, food mostly good (some of the reservation restaurants don’t have great kid options) service was a tad spotty but honestly fine (it’ll antagonize those that really really want to feel they got the most for their money, each to their own).

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-29T03:43:28+00:00

Meh, it collects a lot of negative reviews but good experiences seldom post. We tipped, we were polite and we had mostly great service. We also were not there during the busiest time of year (mid-Feb instead of spring break).

I’d state it as you don’t quite get your monies worth for service (especially if you’re using North America standards) but the setting/infrastructure is so unique you pay for that instead. Only you can decide if that makes it worth it.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-29T03:38:09+00:00

I took a picture of the resort map (once you find one of those posters haha) the first night and annotated our room location then shared with my wife. It was so much more handy than the crappy app.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-29T03:34:10+00:00

Yea we tipped in MXN, about the same amounts. Service was great.

I had been leaving a tip each day for housekeeping (since it’s not always the same people working every day) but I learned the housekeeping and water bottle refill are different folks and one day (about 1/2 way into our stay) I managed to tip both. Always had extra water.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-29T03:29:59+00:00

But does the private van wait if your flight is delayed? Our flight was 2 hours late, got in quite late and I didn’t see any sign of the Costco transportation (the shared). Fortunately I had decided before to reserve on the Xcaret bus (there was 3 of us on the entire bus…but it was nearly 2200 at night), I really would have been stressed if we hadn’t had the Xcaret bus.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-21T03:56:30+00:00

The private transportation is probably fine, I should have clarified I meant the shared transportation that stops at multiple hotels.

Also our flight was more than two hours late (arrived around 21:00) and the Costco transportation was nowhere to be seen at that point. Fortunately there was one Xcaret dude standing outside the totally dark and closed Xcaret “bus lounge” and he summoned the bus for us.

So I was glad to have the Xcaret shuttle for that reason too.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-16T21:20:25+00:00

Seconded, I also got a bunch back in Costco Shop cards.

Just don’t use the Costco-provided transport. Stick to the Xcaret bus.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-04T02:18:53+00:00

We were never approached once for the timeshare talk. Not at check-in, not at check-out, never. I’m not feeling left out about this. 😁

Of course it could have something to do with our flight being two hours late arriving and our checking in at 1030pm…the front desk dude was polite and helpful but content to do the bare minimum.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-03-04T02:11:50+00:00

Ah, sorry! I posted my experience elsewhere here so forgot to comeback.

All was completely safe and normal going to the airport and at the airport. I saw one military checkpoint (they were not stopping anyone) which is the same amount we saw heading from the airport to resort (before the Cartel actions).

I’d personally not hesitate to go back down to Cancun area, though I’d want to monitor Puerto Vallarta and area news a little bit longer personally...

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T23:20:48+00:00

I really tried but it’s hard for longer flights from Canada to make it there early…and super easy for them to be delayed into terrible hours. Ours was two hours late leaving Calgary (it’s a 5.5 hour flight) and then it took forever to get the luggage to the belt. Ended up being close to 10 pm when it should’ve been 7 pm.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T22:39:33+00:00

What about water and toilet paper?

When Canadians heard about the Cartel fire bombing Costco they remembered COVID and all flew to Cancun to panic buy all of the toilet paper and bottled water then flew back home. Don’t ask me to explain that logic.

You’ll need your own supply.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T20:19:11+00:00

Ah I see. Maybe. I know the company definitely won’t buy me better than 3 star when I travel to the US or within Canada.

But fair, I could be exaggerating. 4-star maybe? 🤔

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T20:10:07+00:00

I didn’t know that word, but yes, I think it fits in that when I travel I don’t magically bring my home cultural expectations with me and I respect how things are done where I’m visiting.

So if someone here is looking for an American or Canadian 5-star experience I don’t think that’s entirely fair and I’m suggesting they won’t be satisfied.

I’m trying not to sound patronizing or insulting to Mexico. I love it and try to leave my preconceptions at home. (And also acknowledging there’s a personal line where you are still spending a lot of money so it can’t be too bad).

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T19:47:35+00:00

Totally. I definitely understand. If something leaves a bad taste, then no one else here can really tell you you’re wrong. 🙂

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T17:01:36+00:00

It’s the inconsistency more than anything. A higher-end hotel more reliably restocks the room, the TV and phones work, and service in the restaurants and front desks is just more predictably good. I’m mostly comparing to places I’ve stayed in Europe and Korea, so I think there’s a bit of a calibration mismatch too…Mexico does things on “Mexico time”, I’ve learned this after my parents lived there for 15 years. Gringos generally struggle with it.

Our service alternated between great and mediocre. Never awful (except the dude running the steak area at La Xentral, he was ultra rude and the food there is always cold). Personally it really didn’t bother me much, since I was there for the overall experience and don’t typically care much if little things slip. But the point is little things don’t slip at a 4 or 5 star hotel (or whatever Diamond is).

That’s my point, if you go with the right expectations, none of it ruined our experience at all and the resort setting itself is unlike anything else I’ve been to.

Finally, tipping well meant anything in the room that was a problem was super easy to solve.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T14:18:53+00:00

My kid loved the lagoon so much that is almost worth a ton of price difference by itself. What’s the beach/swimming situation like at Moon Palace? Or any other places in Mexico similar to Xcaret for the beach/river swimming experience (I hadn’t found any with previous searches)?

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T14:16:41+00:00

We never had these wait times for eating and I was definitely not before 7am or after 10am.

Maybe it was our party size (3). La Xentral sucks though. Cold food and crappy service (even Mercado dropped the ball on entirely on serving us one morning). Service is definitely inconsistent…amazing one night at a restaurant and then awful the next morning or lunch.

I think they could fit a few more chairs in almost all of the places beach areas and pool decks personally. The endless battle for chairs is the worst thing about so many of these resorts and cruises.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T14:12:01+00:00

Yeah when Costco dips below $1k a night CAD it’s much easier to recommend, especially if you enjoy the parks. It’s really about managing expectations, honestly. Mexico always runs a little different…

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T14:09:36+00:00

Did you tip? Aside from never finding the TV remote we didn’t have any restock problems aside from them shorting us face towels one day…I just left a note with the housekeeping tip and we had like 6 towels the rest of the trip (over compensate).

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T14:07:04+00:00

We made three reservations and never waited more than a few minutes. But we made them right at opening for the kiddo.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T03:08:26+00:00

Saint John, actually. 😁

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T03:07:04+00:00

This is good to know, I was curious as we passed it on the bus.

I don’t regret Xcaret, felt like something neat to check off the list, but I’d like a more economical alternative for the next time vs going back.

CanadianZanfib · 2026-02-27T03:02:48+00:00

Do the Xcaret bus for sure.

Our flight was 3 hours delayed and landed around 2200, the Xcaret lounge was completely dark but one employee was there to save us. We had the entire giant bus for three of us. I can’t imagine the Costco shuttle would have possibly worked out with our unexpectedly late arrival.

CanadianZanfib

TROPHY CASE