Catalonia Riviera Maya Resort & Spa

The hotel is located in the relaxed yet adventurous development of Puerto Aventuras, with views of the beautiful Caribbean waters. Taking our first steps into Catalonia RM Hotel you are greeted by the staff with complementary non-alcoholic drinks (which was nice as the kids could enjoy the cool beverage after a hot arrival) and a friendly welcome from front desk. You are then escorted to your hotel room with your luggage delivered by concierge. Fast forward to now being settled in, they have several à la carte restaurants which serve up Mexican, Italian, Spanish and Japanese cuisine, all of which you will need to book in advance. Our favourites were the Bloved (we payed extra for this as we were not on a “privileged” package - this was approx $45 pp but was a 6 course meal) the Japanese and the Steak House. There are two buffet restaurant that serve a range of international favourites, I would recommend El Mercado international buffet restaurant by the Tequila Bar opposed to the other buffet. There’s also a creperie that offers pancakes and frothy milkshakes which are really good! The three male staff at the Tequila Bar on the Yucatan side, Pedro, Francesco and Al (for short) frustratingly I cannot remember his full name, are amazing! They are so friendly and will go above and beyond to make your stay at The Cat relaxed and memorable. The same applies to the staff on front desk, my partner and I searched for two days for an emergency dentist, until we spoke with Alfonso on main desk who was constantly on hand to support us with our questions, queries, advise and even helped us arrange transport there and back. My family and I, of all varied ages, hired a buggy for 24 hours and escaped the hotel for some independent exploring and we were pleasantly surprised of the amount to do in the development. Our favourite place to go is the Marina, particularly Restaurant 081, where you can overlook dolphins playing and swimming whilst enjoying your seafood medley brunch. If you are a lover of seafood like my partner and I, this is the hotspot to be whilst within walking distance of your hotel. Remember, this is a tourist development where you’ll drive or walk past retro or modernised vehicles, docked yachts, a golf course and many restaurants, pharmacies or souvenir shops all within easy reach! Once you’ve refreshed back at the hotel, get ready to spend some unforgettable days in the heart of Riviera Maya or Cancun’s little brother, Playa Del Carmen, where you’ll see the richest parts of Mayan history. We regularly took trips to Playa Del Carmen, where you can rent a vehicle for several days (make sure you barter against other companies to get the best deal), go to a jeweller with special Mayan stones native to Mexico that change colours in natural sun light, go to a fish foot spa for 200peso each, or visit their local Walmart (which is cheap and amazing for medical supplies, presents and self-catering goodies). The hotel was lovely and is perfect for all ages (my nieces are 5 and they loved it), however for me it isn’t an age thing more of a personal preference - if you like exploring the culture not just in the hotel then to leave the resort in can become quite expensive as they match against the dollar not the pound which did restrict us from doing some things. The best Xparks (in my opinion) is Xel-ha, Xcaret and Xplore! The only bad experience out of the whole trip which wasn’t the hotels fault, was the Adventuras Maya excursion, we wanted to explore cenotes and ride ATVs - the value for money is horrendous (charge the same price as the Xplore park for an eighth of the time), we had 10 minutes in the cenotes and was given a faulty ATV that had a blow out whilst on the vehicle, rather than the people checking if we were okay (which they weren’t, my sister has to have surgery) they demanded $500 dollars from us when we already had insurance from any accidents including damage. The excursion states three hours but was actually an hour and the excursion staff followed us back to the hotel demanding money, but the hotel staff and security at The Cat swiftly removed these individuals and sent us to a private medical hospital were we received care and treatment (which is included in the excursion insurance we had). The excursion staff then followed us to the hospital where they were once again removed from the premises. My advise to people coming to Mexico is that it’s a beautiful place, but it can be expensive like anywhere, so do your research before coming. Have a rough idea of what you want to do if you’re explorers like us as it can be pricey if not done “right”, this includes Taxis. On the last day we found out there was a supermarket across the road with TutTuts which were so cheap and really fun!! The people and culture are truely amazing!! All in all, don’t take my opinion, go and see/explore for yourselves, each place is beautiful and wonderful in its own right.

Just 1 year passed and we are here again in catalonia Riviera maya, very pleased to say that if there is any changes over the last year then it's all positive, had a fantastic time last year and an even better one this time, hotel grounds Immaculate as ever, ALL THE STAFF ARE BEYOND words, helpful, polite and always smiling, we are still living the dream until Monday 11th November then returning to reality, thank you everyone for letting our dream continue. Yes we will certainly be returning for another holiday here, so many pluses.

We just returned from another pampered, relaxing 2 weeks at The CAT, our 18th stay and we can’t wait to get back. We can’t say enough about the incredible staff Enrico has assembled. It all started with the bell staff welcoming us home with the opening of the shuttle doors. Check in was fast and easy and our room was perfect. Then the fun started. Seeing old friends and meeting the new members of our Catalonia Family. Everyone we encountered went out of their way to make sure everything was just right, but none more so that Alix and Oscar. What a valuable assets they and some many others are to this resort. The food was excellent and the choices plentiful. It’s hard to go back to reality and not miss all of the variety you get used to choosing from every day. But that’s what makes this special. That and the great people that put in all the hard work to make it possible. There are many places with the same weather, ocean and amenities but we keep coming back for the friendly staff. And we will gladly be back again. Thank you all.