Bel Air Collection Xpu Ha Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen Centro

Although our stay at Xpu-ha Palace spanned April 17-29 I am writing this review on Memorial Day weekend. My wife and I and our two teenagers who are 14 and 18 decided to splurge on an all inclusive vacation. We were no strangers to the Yucatan and took many vacations here, staying at small hotels on the beautiful Xpu-ha beach just to the south of the resort. On those trips my wife and I would take walks to the north end of the beach where the Xpu-ha Palace began and wandered the paths along the rocky shore and the beautiful freshwater lagoon that emptied in to the sea. So when we were looking for an all inclusive. this very special place came immediately to mind. We stayed in a ground level room surrounded by huge leafy palms and dense mangroves. At first I thought there might be a problem with mosquitoes but found that our spacious deck had a hammock and an overhead fan. We rearranged the hammock for greater length and turned on the fan which effectively kept any mosquitoes at bay. Even when it was turned off bugs were not a problem. The staff was wonderful and we got to know all of them over the course of our stay. The entertainment staff, Jesus, Baxter, Renalfo, Daniel and others; for our kids there was never a dull moment. I can't say enough about the food. Breakfast and Lunch were a sumptuous buffet and the dinner an a la carte affair where we were waited on by highly skilled and attentive staff. As and example of the fantastic service I asked one day at lunch if aside from the other delicious flavors of gelato-like ice cream, they could sometime produce coconut ice cream, a popular flavor in the Yucatan and my favorite. The waiter ran to the kitche and one of the kitchen staff returned to assure me that in a few minutes I could have my ice cream; and sure enough in about 15 minutes they served me wonderful coconut ice cream which they prepared on the spot. One day I inquired why there were no mangoes among the papaya, pineapples, oranges and other tropical fruits. The next day at breakfast this same waiter brought my son and me a beautifully sliced mango for each of us. Your every culinary whim will be catered to. The wines were of very good quality and the desserts to die for. We made extensive use of our ability to visit and avail ourselves of the other Palace hotels. This is a wonderful feature that enables you to travel to Cozumel, Cancun or Playa del Carmen without concerning yourself with finding a place to eat or drink. You won't find any better restaurant than the Palace hotel and you can relax in the pool and sip expertly made drinks to your heart's content. I suppose one of the high points was swimming with a wild manatee in the beautiful cenote. What beautiful peaceful creatures and what a privilege to share their environment. We would love to return for another vacation. We hope that the Palace organization will summon the wisdom to bring in the federal militia to kick out the vigilantes who prohibit guests from walking the shore south to where they can enjoy the extraordinary beauty of Xpu-ha Beach. That is the only thing lacking. And I hope the resort is spared any damage from future storms. Ojala! Many thanks again to all the staff who made our stay so pleasant; Jesus, Baxter, Renalfo, Daniel, Karime, Yellety, Juan, Ismael, Alfredo, Efrem, Patricia, Reyna, Betty, and of course, El Gato Volador.

My wife, my 9 year old son, and I were joined by my friend, his wife and 3 kids, 12, 9 and 5 year old. For starters the restaurants did not have all of the menu items. The tours were all booked and you would have to take the lower class tours they had that were not so appealing. The transportation within the complex was so bad we found ourselves using the trams only when it was to hot and after putting up with the long 30 to 45 instead of the 15 minutes posted. Sometimes after waiting the 30 minutes or more, by the time they get to you, specially if your bungalow is located in the middle of point A and point B of this huge resort the trams were already full. Walking for blocks under the burning sun was not always fun. During 2 days of hard rainy days, my friends family had a leak on their bungalow so they spent the night in ours, we made it fun for the kids. There were no apologies from management to any of our complaints. The night before our trip back to Los Angeles we had dinner at one of the restaurants, we all order spaghetti with shrimps except for our two wives, they ordered chicken. By midnight about an hour or so later after dinner, our wives were taking care of all of us, who got so ill from apparently the Shrimp. Next day imaging us leaving with luggage and no sleep back to the Airport, my nine year old was still not feeling well, I told to grab a towel just in case he had to use it (hand towel), but just as we were entering the bus, one of the employee ask for the towel back, when I explain to him the situation,he said to keep it, but there would be a charge on my credit card for it. During and on my return, I called AAA Club here in the City of Valencia Ca. To report to them that they had send all of us to Hell. AAA send me 3 vouchers for $25,00 each (WOW!!) to be used with the same company they used for my just finish trip. I almost forgot the best part of my story. During a pool day with the kids we realized the little one Maxie the 5 year old, my friends daughter, was walking funny. As we approached her to asked her if she was okey. We realized she was given a virgin pina colada that contained alcohol. Another complained that went unanswered. I hope you enjoyed my story and please have a great time on your next trip. Too tired to check for misspelled words. Did I mispelled misspelled, oh Well.

Food was fantastic as well as the service. Ismael for the dinner as our waiter always made sure apetizers and drinks were on the way as soon as we entered the restaurant. Lorenzo is a fantastic bartender, Ranulfo our entertainment director always had plenty lined up for us to do. All of the staff were great but these employee's really stood out. The guides conducting the tours were so knowledgable and had a passion for the work they do with the animals - Eduardo and we wish we could remember the other guides name as he was awesome too. The rooms were extremely clean and very nice. The location was absolutely the best part - in an ecological park. Can't beat getting to see all the animals. We cant wait to go back next year!!!!

My wife and I stayed at Xpu-Ha Palace for our honeymoon. I didn't know what to expect as our transport from the Cancun airport pulled off of a main highway into what appeared to be the jungle. But what opened up before us was one of the most charming, peaceful resorts I have ever seen. We were met with smiling faces, and were handed wet scented towels and a chilled fruit cocktail to cool ourselves from our long trip in the van. From there, the trip got better and better each day. We took a kayak around the crystal clear lagoon, toured the animal exibits and enjoyed our time by the pool. I almost was sad to go on excursions during the day because there was so much left to do at the resort. The food was great. At night, the staff always had something exciting for us to do. We made some great friends --Gerardo (Pes Gato) the bartender, Guillermo and others. I would recommend this resort to anyone. It was the trip of a lifetime.

We just came back from Xpu-Ha Palace and we went on our honeymoon and it was phenomenal. The service was amazing from the waiters, bartenders, entertainment staff, and everyone else. It is the friendliest place that I have ever been to. Xpu-Ha got hit hard in the hurricanes so it is a little smaller and it is peaceful but we really enjoyed that aspect of it. We were able to get a chair at the pool everyday and our drinks and food came very fast. This particular palace resort does not have as many restaurants as the others but Aventura Spa Palace is 5 minutes down the road (and was included in our all inclusive package) and they have 9 restaurants so we did go there a few nights for dinner but I wouldn’t of changed where we stayed. The animals were amazing and I thought that was a very cool part of it all. I would go back in heartbeat!

THIS TRIP WAS VERY PLEASING AND JOYFUL. THE SERVICE WAS GREAT AND ONE OF THE FEMALE EMPLOYEES THAT WORK AT THE SNORKLE AND KYAK SECTION AT THE RESORT IS VERY FRIENDLY AND BEUTIFUL TOO. =)

The resort is exquisitely beautiful, so well-maintained, like living in a jungle of flowers, trees, plants and animals with 5-star service. Wonderful lovely people work there, everyone says yes no matter what you ask or need--they will do their best for you and they are so nice. It is quiet, intimate and everyone gets to know you. There is so much to explore, families with three and four generations come together and all find fun, relaxtion, good food, and activity or no activity depending on what you prefer. The 2-story huts are like living in a tree-house with all the amenities of the best hotel. The pool is fabulous. The beach is not yet completely restored. There is a nice beach sitting/sunning area with palapas for shade but to swim you need to walk down the shore a bit to the neighboring beach to enter the water. We visited several of the other Palace hotels and had no trouble with the exchange privileges but we came back to Xpu-Ha even more happy that we stayed there.

We spent 5 nights at Xpu-Ha in April 2007. Absolutely beautiful resort. The Pool is awsome and the rooms are great. We loved having breafast on our pattio. Their beach got wiped out by Hurricane Katrina, but they have 24/7 access to the beach at a neighbor resort and a shuttle every 20 minutes to and from. It was beautiful and we got to take advantage of the all inclusive restraunt and pool and shopping at the neighbor resort also. strictly family resort and a bit rustic. If eguanas and bugs freak you out dont go there. My daughter named he little eguana that lived under the stairs of our room, "Stair master". He would always come out to greet us. If you like birds & animals, this is your place. No huge party atmosphere found here, but each evening in the main lobby bar there is great family entertainment. downfall, if you dont want to wait for the next shuttle to the pool or restraunt, you need to walk or ride a bike. I did get some much needed exercise though in some beautiful atmosphere.

We knew that the resort had been hit hard by the hurricanes, but didn't realize that the resort was now about 1/3 the size that it once was - no more lagoon snorkeling for example (you can snorkel in the Estuary, but you'll get bored rather quickly - not many different types of fish, and Estuary is small). The food in the Italian restaurant was a little off, but the Mexican restaurant was always a good choice. After several meals, you may want to try Club Tulum next door (they provide regular shuttle service, and you have all inclusive priviliges there as well) for variety - they serve up an awesome seafood buffet at least once a week... The service @ Xpu-Ha was great. The staff will do anything for you. There were times during our stay, where my wife & I were the only ones around the pool - or on the beach - or sitting in the lobby bar - extremly quiet & relaxing ... The beach is poor, but they mention that in the listings, so it is no surprise (the beach @ Club Tulum is awesome). Xpu-Ha is apparently in negotiations with the land owners of the adjacent property (where the rest of the Xpu-Ha used to be before the storms). Once this property is purchased by Palace Resorts, and is renovated to the same level as the current property, this resort will be 'dynamite' ! Still a good value today - but it needs the new property, to live up to the expectations of those who remember what it used to be like before 2006. We will go back, but not until the property issue has been resolved ....

We stayed at this resort Feb. '07. Our room had sticky floors, when we ordered a bottle of wine to be delivered to our rooms it was opened and half empty, there were mouse turds on the vanity, ants crawling on vanities, the jacuzzi in the bedroom was fine but the bathroom was VERY small, they never changed our sheets after we requested it, the food at the restaurant was poor to average and we ate many of our meals at Aventura or club Talum, the beach was extremely small. The employees, I must say, were very friendly, in paticular Lucy, the waitress at the pool.The front desk was unreasonable about an extra charge on our bill at check out.Watch out. I am not a fussy traveler. Still,I would never recommend a stay at this resort. There are much nicer places on this strip. We have traveled to Spain, the Bahamas, Bermuda,taken cruises to the Caribbean, and seen much of the U.S.including Hawaii. This trip I will not recommend or do again.