Hotel BlueBay Grand Esmeralda

The room was decent, the food was good, and the servers were amazing. The a la carte restaurants were difficult to book...you had to be at the concierge in the main building at 7 am to stand in line, or you won't get a reservation. We did manage to get a late reservation to the Mexican and Italian, and they were awesome. The buffet seemed to always have a crazy line up, so we had to get there early. There was a small beach, but it wasn't very nice. The water was very dirty. If you walk down the beach a bit, there are some nicer spots, but nothing like the white sand beaches we found in Playa del Carmen and Cozumel. We were somehow suckered into attending a timeshare presentation. Not even sure how that happened, but at least we got a discounted excursion out of it. For the price, I would recommend this resort. I think I will try some others next time though.

Came here for our honeymoon in February. Can honestly say we had the best time ever! We didn't like our first room but they moved us no problem, we had a room in block 8 which is near the smaller pool but walked over to large pool daily. We would go put some towels down around 8am then head to the buffet restaurant for breakfast! We had omelette nearly every day, fresh cooked with a choice of fillings and crispy bacon to die for lol. We didn't really eat lunch but if we did get peckish the black and white bar has pizza and cakes etc so would go have a game of pool a little pizza. The entertainment in the day was really good with all different pool games and shooting, crossbow, darts etc. The pool side swing bar was a favourite to get a little drink out of the sun. The bar men are fantastic and make everyone feel welcome always. Samuel was a firm favourite, you can have waiter service round the pool if you like ( take plenty 1 dollar notes to tip) We ate in the italian, the french, the steakhouse and the seafood restaurant twice. Aaron at the seafood was amazing, felt like we knew him on first meeting! Always a full glass and even got me chocolate cake as i didn't like the desert menu. You have to book the restaurants a day in advance at reception but we did this on our way to the pool. I would deffo recommend the restaurants they were all so good but the salmon in the seafood restaurant was out of this world. We booked a trip to coco bongo and OMG AMAZING honestly even if it's the only thing you do it's a must. We booked gold package consist of travel from hotel and security escort from bus to venue, walked straight in with wristbands and had shots on the entrance. Once inside we thought we had rubbish seats as was up the steps at the side but once the show starts we had the best view ever. We had a waiter who made sure we never had an empty glass he got me up on stage a couple of times with others and then at the end got us bottles of water for the way home. It also included a return bus journey. The evening entertainment was a different show every night or a karaoke disco in the black and white bar. It got very busy every night so an early seat is recommended. We had waiter service every time for a dollar or so. Last but not least the wildlife is beautiful the gardens are extremely well looked after and the little animals would make a show during the day. Couple of recommendations You can get a communal taxi from the hotel to playa del carmen for around £3 each. They love 1 dollar notes for tips. Do not rely on hotel for money exchange as it is expensive. To book the french restaurant be at reception for 7am but others can usually still book at 8am. Ask for premium drinks smirnoff, absolute, bacardi, gordons etc not just vodka, gin, whisky as they will happily serve them on request. You can book a bell boy via reception to taxi you around the resort. Take a cap/hat as the sun is extremely hot and they are very expensive to buy. Don't be afraid to ask for certain items aslong as you tip ;). please feel free to ask any questions.