Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda All Inclusive

Excellant Place

Great vacation and accomodations, food, liquor quality and service were fantastic. Rooms and pool were very good...only drawback is the beach water was full of seaweed in early November, otherwise perfect.

I like it.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda is great, except the sea bottom on the beach.

Beautiful Place, Great Food, Service is OK

If anyone asks you if you’ve been to Playa del Carmen or Mexico say Yes even iv you’ve never been there otherwise they’ll hound you the entire time your their and try to sell you a timeshare.

would go back !

Simply put, hotel was extremely clean, food was excellent at all restaurants, could always find something great to eat, especially the Mexican , only problem we had was with some of the staff. Had said that we would go to the short (90 minute) thing about time share, and decided that we had rather not go, due to it being a lovely morning and we wanted to spend it in the sun instead, it was OUR vacation, employee physically followed me and my wife as we was walking to breakfast questioning us every step of the way asking a thousand questions as to WHY we had changed our minds and he was extremely rude, until I turned around and physically confronted him (he started backing up and going the other way), after that he left us alone. Also, we went to the gift shop and bought some post cards to send back home, took them to the front lobby to ask if we could get them mailed for us, the girl said "yes", asked her how much it would cost, she said no cost, they do it as a free service, as of today (16 days later) no one has recieved these cards), guess that is why it was free. Resort was beautiful, peaceful and quiet, on a couple of days the lovely blue water moved ashore, most all employees were extremely nice, would go back.

Very nice

If you’re looking to have a quiet, relaxing vacation, this resort is perfect. There isn’t a whole lot of night life nearby- you would have to take transportation to downtown Playa Del Carmen. We weren’t looking for any night life, we just wanted to relax by the pool & beach and it was great! We went during "slow season" in October and practically had the place to ourselves for the first few days! Hotel grounds are beautiful, food was pretty good, beach was a little rocky, but it was totally worth it.

mid-October

Excellent value for the price!

This was our second trip to the Mayan this year. We had stayed at a much more expensive resort the first time, and enjoyed it so much that when we had an unexpected week off of work, we got a last minute deal. We were at the Grand Blue Bay Esmeralda in their off-season, just following hurricane season, so they were feverishly making repairs and upgrades during our stay. They did their best not to inconvenience the guests, which we appreciated. Our room was nice and clean, and we found it very comfortable. The outstanding feature of this resort is definitely their pool. Huge and beautiful! The resort normally has 1600 guests in-season, there were only 600 guests there in off-season. We liked the quieter atmosphere. The food was good for an all-inclusive. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

If you go to the Mayan Riviera in October/ November, it is their off-season, and resorts are less full, also you pay less. The temperatures are the same as in January!

Nice weekend getaway

Beautiful grounds, spacious room, relaxing days by pool. The pool was nice and large plenty of chairs for everyone. The entertainment staff around the pool was fun with games but not too intrusive if you did not want to partake. The beach directly in front of the pool had a lot of seaweed. Facing the ocean walk left 100 yards and it clears up. The water was quite pleasent and shallow - you could walk out a ways. The food in the buffet was pretty good, the specialty dinners were exceptional. Enjoy the theater production every night. Like some other reviews stated plan on walking a lot. The buildings for dinner, shops, and pool are spread out on the property. Must - sit at the swing bar everyday for a drink. A shady place to cool off, drink and meet people from all over. Overall, this was perfect for a 4 day quick trip. If you are looking for a low key place try Blue Bay. If you are looking for the party stay on the Cancun strip or directly in Playa Del Carmen.

Beautiful Property

We were in a beautifully lanscaped area with lots of mangroves. The pool was amazing, very beautiful with areas for lounges in the water. Restaurants were very nice with linens and style. Food was also very good in both buffet & restaurants.. Buffet offered a hugh variety and very tasty. Wait staff was usually good, always a few that probably are burned out. Bartenders were great and never minded when our granddaughter asked for two Shirley Temples every 30 minutes or so. Very accomodating staff.. Had a small malfunction near our room our first night but we were moved to an upgraded room. It was one with the pool in front and those are really nice. Could not see the benefit from the brochures but with two grandchildren age 6 & 9 it worked out well. Beach is nice but water gets stirred up from the waves and it is not aways the clear blue you expect in the Caribbean. I have heard that the hurricanes have taken away much sand and that this is somewhat common in the area. They are working on beach restoration. SPA is amazing and very reasonable. We would definitely frequent Blue Bay Resorts in the future. Basically we had to do nothing but relax. It was great for our grandchildren as they could safely explore and there were lots of activities for them.

Take lots of $1 & $5 bill and get your money exchanged to pesos either at your hotel or in town. Never was sure what I was paying

Can’t wait to go back!!!

2nd time this year at Blue Bay Grand Esmerelda, OMG take it from me ignore negative comments. There has yet to be anything I can say negative about this resort. Food, rooms, service, entertainment staff, dancers, bar staff all wonderful! If ya can’t find enough food to suit your taste, I can’t imagine what you must eat at home! All the staff are very friendly and will treat you like friends. They enjoy their jobs and it’s obvious. They are very gracious and even thou gratuities are supposedly included...just remember a small american dollar goes along way in their pocket and they are very appreciative. The downtown area of playa del carmen is safe and clean...it’s old town and a very fun place to shop and don’t worry about eating, we’ve never gotten sick. We will be heading back in May 2010, no doubt in my mind.

Been there in Oct and May, was hotter in May and rained one day in October

Can’t wait to visit this Hotel again

Beautiful and very Clean Hotel. I travel alot and this resort was one of the Best i ever stayed in with my family

Traveler's tip on dining

Very Good Food and would recommand it to anyone

great experience

clean, friendly, relaxing

Awesome resort

Staff was incredibly friendly and helpful.

Ended up being worth it!!

This was my families first trip in years, so I wanted everything to be perfect!! I narrowed it down & debated many resorts! In the end we picked Blue Bay, disregarding the bad reviews it had! (Im a BIG review reader; so I was a bit scared) Once we arrived it was just what I expected! The resort is awesome!!!! The rooms looked just like they look in the pictures and the beds were very comfortable! I was expected rock hard beds since thats what all the review had said. The food was very good, except seafood night. But then again everyone has different tastes in food! The pool was very relaxing. The beach was beautiful when the sun was at its brightest but the water was not swimmable becasue the floor felt so dirty & weird! Also one thing i didnt like was that there was not enough signs to get around. every corner looked similar so we got lost plenty of times! Those were minor things but overall the resort was soo worth going to! I would diffently go back!!!

Traveler's tip on shopping

Playa Del Carmen 5th avenue is kinda pricey. You really get the best deals in Downtown Cancun! Not hard to get too at all. There are signs everwhere that would lead your way around!

Staff Stole Our Money

My sister & I stayed here in July of 2009. On our last morning there, we went to breakfast, leaving our luggage & purses in our locked room with the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. We were out of the room for 45 minutes. After breakfast we collected our belongings, checked out and boarded the shuttle for the airport. Once in the shuttle we discovered that all of our cash had been removed from both of our wallets. We immediately returned to the hotel to report the theft to the Security Supervisor. She informed us that their investigation would take quite a while, so it would best for us to go to the airport & catch our flight. She assured us that we could handle everything via email with the concierge Gabriella. I have traded multiple emails with Gabriella about the situation. I requested she send me a report showing when our door was opened - which she did. The report clearly shows that someone unlocked our door while we were at breakfast. However, Gabriella says they have no evidence that anyone entered our room while we were at breakfast. I have asked Gabriella numerous times for contact information for someone in the public relations department at their parent company, and for the contact info for her supervisor, but Gabriella will not respond to the emails. Be warned: there are thieves working at this resort, and management will do nothing to assist you in the event you are a victim of their staff.

Do not stay in this hotel - they will steal your money!

Not so great service

Service is bad, you really need to make an effort to find someone that can help you, the beach is bad too,

Traveler's tip on dining

Dont make reservation for the restaurants, buffet is way better

Very disappointed

The infrastructure of the hotel was fine, but the service was awful. they had very few waiters in the pool area and in the restaurants, so if you want a drink you better go look for it yourself. In the restaurants, specially in the buffet one, the waiters were in a very bad mood so the treatment to the client was not nice, you better like to eat your dessert with all the dinner plates because no one remove the dishes from the table. No eating in the pool area, so forget eating your nachos comfortably in the pool bed. Also, because the hotel is surrounded by springs, its roots reach the beach, so the water is not blue but more brownish and you can feel the roots in the sea.

Totally Relaxing

We went here for our honeymoon and absolutely loved it. It was extremely relaxing and the service was great. The buffets for breakfast and lunch were decent for buffets but the plated dinners were awesome. We really enjoyed the snorkeling and I would definitely reccomend this. Also go to the shows at night they are cute and entertaining. We can’t wait to go back.

Traveler's tip on saving a few bucks

Bring 1 dollar bills with you. The gratuity is included but it is nice and worth it to tip the bartenders, servers, etc. The exchange rate you get from American dollars to Pesos is not great so bring ones and you’ll be all set.

If you want to be yelled at.. go to Blue Bay

I went with two other couple of friends. We were really happy with the facilities and over all look of the hotel. But the service was terrible, there was no flexibility in the decision making of the staff. Restaurants were empty and they would still reject people because they had no reservation. Plates would pile up on the table because the waiters would not take them. The little carts that took of all around the hotel would take forever to get to pick us up. For us an all inclusive hotel that does not serve snacks at the pool, or closes the restaurant at 5 and makes you go eat to the other part of the hotel is no good.

Load up on mosquitoe repelent... it was reaaaallly bad.

First All Inclusive

My wife and I were a little aprehensive with "All Inclusive" but it was fine. The food was very good and we particularly liked the ability to choose different A La Carte Theme resturants each evening with very good service. The required dress code was a plus. The room was very nice, spacious, clean and comfortable. The walls were a little thin and the ceiling fan a little unpredictable but all in all very good. The resort was not crowded being "low season".

Traveler's tip on local attractions

Xcaret was a fun excursion for a day as was a trip into Playa Del Carmen. We found shuttle service from the airport and for trips very good and recommend "Best Day" for these arrangements.

Great Hotel, ok beach......

We decided to stay at Blue Bay due to the ratings the hotel had received. We had read that the beach in the area was not the best but figured that we’d give it a shot. The hotel was great, food was good considering the deverse group of people it is made for and the room was awesome. We had ocean view and were on the beach!! Service was very good except at the buffet by the lobby but all other restuarants and buffets we good! Drinks were also good if you asked for the good stuff and the hotel had enough activities in case you didn’t want to leave. Only downfall is the beach and location for Playa, lots of sea weed and very unactractive water, there is a private beach area for people who want to pay to join their "time share" or pay per person per day, this beach was clean but water wasn’t any different. It is a good 20 minutes from Playa Del Carmen so ride back and forth can get pricey. All in all it was a good experiance but I think next time I will try another hotel with a better beach, water and closer to the city.

Traveler's tip on saving a few bucks

If you want a massage the spa is nice but you can get a couples massage for a great price in Playa del Carmen on 5th ave. The price is great at Magic Hands and the massage was fantastic, I was skeptical at first but after another couple did it and recommended it we went for it I wish we didn’t wait till the last day! I would have went back if we had time!

In our top two all inclusives in Mexico

Wow, what a beautiful resort! We loved it! Nice rooms, big bathroom! Wonderful food, we had great dinners at at least five resturants! Nice pools, nice beach, great service! We will be back! Rest, relaxation and pampering, just what we were looking for. If you are looking for nightlife I would stay in Cancun. We’ll be back!

Convenient Location

Great location between Playa del Carmen and Puerto Morales, $15 taxi ride to Playa del Carmen. The animation (pool activities, shows..) and service staff was very friendly. The hotel was nice and secure. It had a nice pool, the beach was quiet and relaxing but not as nice (wide) as beaches further south on the Riveria Maya. The room was cleaned (towels, bed...) every other day, not a big deal since air conditioning dried towels. The air conditioner was fairly noisy, I was able to sleep after a couple of nights. The bathroom sink drained very slow.

Wow!

Very impressed with this property. My wife and I had a great week here. Location is perfect being close to some of the ruins, Playa del Carmen & Cozumel. Food was great for a property of this size and being all inclusive. Rooms are awesome! Only thing we could have changed is the excessively loud activities at the pool. We just wanted to relax and that made it hard. It didn’t last all day but definately longer than we would have liked. Also, don’t go if you are not okay with being around kids. This is a family friendly resort, so if you are after quiet time, look for couples only. We were able to navigate our way around these things fairly well and certainly wouldn’t stop us from going back.

Great Resort - especially for the family. I wouldn’t mind to go there again.

I’m 23 years old from NY. I went there with my gf for a week at the end of August which is obviously off-season . Had a great time and definitely recommend this resort to anybody. Room was great although I didn’t spend there much time, really nice bathroom tho. There are two swimming pools. One is far from the ocean, smaller and more private. The other which I was close by is really big and really nice. Food was ok. I personally work in fine dinning restaurant so I couldn’t really judge but there is always something eatable either in the buffet or in the restaurant. Drinks are good, they’ll hook you up, just ask them. There is a bar open 24/7 :-). What I didn’t like: 1. Not enough young people, I guess you have to go to Cancun for that. 2. There is some music at the beach but it’s only till 1 a.m. so if you wanna go party you need to go to the city. 3. The city itself is kinda far from the hotel. Perhaps 15 min. by the cab. 4. Stuff was really nice, sometimes people at the bar would have attitude. They see you and they still make you wait 10 min. to order your drink. 5. There is some dark flora at the bottom of the ocean so I couldn’t really enjoy it. As I walked along the beach I saw some hotels don’t have it. I guess other hotels were removing it... 6. There weren’t many Americans in the Hotel. Most of the people were either local or from Europe.

Traveler's tip on recreational activities

If you wanna PARTY go to CANCUN :-). This is great place for families and people in their 30’s, 40’s, definitely not 20’s. Tip your servers, bartenders and other stuff. They make no money!!! once you tip them good they’ll remember you and hook you up. If you cannot make a reservation with the concierge, go talk to restaurant manager, give him $5 he’ll find a table for you. Use sunscreen, sun is burning ;-) Besides that forget all the problems and enjoy your vacation ;-)

Great first time experience!!

This was our first trip to Playa Del Carmen. When we found out we weren’t close to the beach, we were upgraded and moved closer. Which was AWESOME because this resort is huge! The food was great! The Mexican restaurant was the best!! The entertainment staff is funny, cheesy but funny. The poolside burger bar was super convenient. Highly suggest the excursions to Xel-Ha/Tulum. And the 1/2 day snorkling trip was great. Steak and lobster, open bar, awesome. Parasailing was amazing. You can literally book it poolside!! Overall we had a great time here and would definitely go back!

Traveler's tip on getting the most out of your stay

Bring small bills for tipping. Service is a little quicker when you do. Make time for the excursions they really made our trip memorable.