Hotel BlueBay Grand Esmeralda

This was our 4th time at this hotel, and it was perfect for my wife and I. We stayed from Dec. 28 - Jan 6. My wife likes to sit on the beach and read and the weather was perfect for her. I like to play volleyball, and it seemed there was always a game going on. I enjoyed the dinners involving steaks (French, Mexican, Steakhouse) the most. The Italian was a pleasant surprise. Since my wife is Italian, we are usually disappointed going to Italian restaurants. We weren't this time. (In the 4 years, this was our first visit to the Italian restaurant). Just avoid the pizza as the crust wasn't very good. It's a good 12 minute walk from Building 8 to the beach, but the grounds are well-maintained and hey, a little exercise is good for you. After dinner we go to the Black and White bar to play some scrabble and have a few drinks. The band is really good. Usually I have found that the shows are just ok....but the Michael Jackson show was excellent. There was a band and real singing. New Years Eve down at the beach was a blast with the music and the fireworks and the partying, although it was difficult to stay there too long after a full day in the sun. We will definitely be back next December.

So all in all we had a wonderful stay at this resort. I will try to break it down as best I can without forgetting anything. The staff are fantastic. Out of anything they are what make the resort shine. The bartenders and the service staff at the restaurant and buffets go above and beyond. They are always friendly and they work very hard. This being said.... TIP please. Don't use the you can't get change excuse. Plan ahead. We are from Canada and I was able to order hundreds of 1$ American bills that they are happy to accept in lieu of pesos. So however you do it.... Just tip! The a la carte restaurants. Italian: We had ravioli (choice of cream and meat based sauces we had meat/marinara) and a pizza. The pizzas at this resort are borderline inedible (I say that with deep regret but it's true). We weren't overly hungry this day so I can't attest to the desserts. The Italian was under whelming in our opinion but the ravioli wasn't bad. The Steakhouse: I would lean toward this being my least favorite of the a la cartes. The steaks were decent but we had better at other a la cartes at this resort. The tenderloin was covered in gravy not demi glaze. The striploin is a huge portion so come hungry but again not our favorite of the steaks. The carrot soup was quite tasty. I had a chocolate cake for dessert that was nice. The Seafood: Unlike other reviews, I actually really enjoyed this restaurant. The scallops were delicious and a huge portion. There were so many scallops on my plate I couldn't even finish them, again missing dessert. The clam chowder to start wasn't chunky but it had nice flavor. My husband's steak was absolutely delicious at this restaurant. He thoroughly enjoyed it. It was probably his favorite steak of the trip. Very tender. Mexican: saved the best two for last. The salad bar (all a la cartes had salad bar to start) also had a table of empanadas, tamales and taquitos. They were so good! I could have filled up on those exclusively. Luckily we came hungry to this meal. We had the ceviche and the poblano soup. Both were excellent. For mains we had the chicken fajitas and the steak. The Fajitas were great and the steak was super tender with an amazing tamarind sauce. We had the 3 milk cake and the corn souffle for dessert. Both were excellent. Of course have a margarita. Delicious. The service staff were also outstanding here and were clear they wanted to know our overall impressions of everything. We were absolutely thrilled. Lastly the Oriental: this restaurant is outstanding. Like top knotch. The service staff are enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Both the miss were tasty (sour and regular) and had a little vermicelli noodles in them. I paired up with wine with sushi to start. The sushi was lovely. My husband had the salmon spring roll. It is a very large roll and very tasty. I ate half for him haha. Main course my husband had the Tuna and it is the best Tuna he has ever had he said. Mind you it is well done. He prefers fish meat that is cooked quite well so this was right to his liking. I had the mixed brochettes prawn, steak and fish. I was hoping to have a little extra sauce to dip in. I asked for one and our lovely waiter brought me all 3 instead which was wonderful. We shared the fried banana for dessert and it was to die for. The buffet: we found the buffet food to be quite good. There was always something new to find for food. If you can go on the Oriental night I would highly sugges. It a nice change of pace as they put out a bunch of Chinese food that is quite good. The service staff will get to know you and what you like. They are very attentive. The only real downfalls are the pizza bar (which I discussed before is borderline inedible) and the snack bar. Unless you are absolutely smashed drunk at night you aren't going to find too many options on the snack bar. The hamburgers and hotdogs are pretty gross looking. There are always some chips and guac, french fries or salad to nibble on though so you won't starve. All in all we found the food very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The drinks are all fantastic and not watered down. I am pretty sure my blood ran in parts percentile of tequila by the time I left. The beach: as others have said it isn't spectacular but it's nice enough and they keep it tidy. You could not swim at all when we were there as the water was too rough but it you walk out to the beach you can take a left down to the lagoon and it's lovely for swimming. I can't attest to any tours as we went in a rented car to do some sight seeing. You can rent them right in the lobby for around 75$ a day I believe. The Chichen Itza ruins in Coba are a must see and the Los Ojos underground Cenote is amazing. Getting around the property didn't seem quite as vast as people made it out to be. We were in building 8 on the main floor. We liked it because it backed into the forest. It was close walking to all the restaurant except JaHaal (seafood/steakhouse) which is down by the main pool. The cart guys come around often enough to catch a ride sometimes when you are walking if you need a break now and then. They deserve a tip too! If you have mobility issues I could definitely see there being some issues getting around but for the average person I really didn't find the walk that far. It always seemed to go by quick and the grounds are lovely to look at. There is always some sort of wildlife running around which makes it interesting as well. The maids kept the room very tidy everyday. Our fridge was missed twice but I believe it is a different crew that stocks the fridges so I am sure this can happen. It was no big deal. We wanted a few beers stocked on one of those 2 days so we just called front desk and they had someone send some over. Easy peasy nothing to get your panties in a bunch about. This resort is definitely worth checking out. Don't come in expecting 5 star. It has its quirks but we found it to be a really lovely stay overall. Thanks Bluebay! Will try to revise a shorter review for Google with more pictures of the menus and such for a la cartes.