Playa del Carmen During Spring Break

[bradford702]

Do to work schedules for the year, the wife and I are thinking about taking a quick vacation for just the two of us. The kids will staying with family. Hence why we have to go while they are on Spring Break and there is no obligation to take them to and from school. Anyway we are looking at the Playa area and I was just curious if anyone had been to a all inclusive resort during spring break. I am sure the towns are full of drunk college kids but what about the resorts? i know someone will ask so I looking to spend around 2k. Were talking 4-5 days. Thanks

 

[THEU]

bradford,
there is a resort area just south of Play del Carmen called Playacar. there are several all inclusives in a row there. My wife and I went there on our honeymoon. The Link That is where we went, which is probably more than you want to spend, but check out the ones surrounding it. There is a strip of resort after resort.

 

[Horny Ringman]

www.shangrilacaribe.net/

Go here. I'm not a big all inclusive mega resort type. I have been here about 10 times. Matter of fact, I leave for Shangri la on feb 15th. It is on the northern end of playa, and shouldn't be any spring breakers. You can totally relax here on the best part of the beach in playa. it is laid out in an old fashioned style with a bunch of little bungalow huts with thatched roofs. if you go, get a beachfront bungalow, or anything in the "Aventura" section. breakfast and dinner is included in rate. It is an easy 10 minute walk down the coolest part of 5th avenue to get into town to rests, etc. you will not be dissapointed.

 

[scottsins]

I think Shagngri-la is being torn down in april.

 

[Horny Ringman]

In reply to:

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[YoLaDu]

THEU..

That resort is pretty pricey. I was thinking about splurging on myself and the wife somewhere though. DId you feel it was worth it?

I tend to go cheap on things, even when i can afford something more expensive. My opinion usually is: just because i can afford a $100 chocolate bar, that doesn't mean i should buy it, especially if a $1 chocolate bar is available.

What's your take? You get what you pay for? This place worth the extra coin? Will i regret going for the middle of the road hotel in Cancun/Playa del Carmen? I have stayed in nice hotels, but i never stayed in NICE hotels. You know what i mean?

Thanks in advance.

 

[THEU]

YoLaDu,
Royal Hideaway is BY FAR the nicest place I have ever stayed. Let me try my best to tell you about my experience there, and see if you think it would be worth it to you. I must say while I have traveled a good bit, I have never stayed anywhere else in Playa del Carmen or Playacar, so I can't compare. I can tell you that our travel agent 'packaged' it for us, which is the way almost every resort does, because they provide transportation from Cancun's Airport down there. So we were in a 15 passenger van with a group of people and the driver dropped all the others off first, and made a comment to my wife and I about our hotel being by far the best place. We went to several others and dropped them off and they walked into their resorts with their luggage.
We had to stop at a gate, and the driver spoke with the guard and told him our names. We were allowed in and we were dropped off being greeted by name and ushered into the foyer to 'register.' There was NO standing at all, but we were brought to over stuffed chairs to hit in and a warm towel and glass of champagne was brought to us upon arrival to check in. We were issued keys to our 'villa.' We had a simple room, but as you can see they are VERY nice. Marble shower, seperate 'head' room, and a walk in closet with safe. The rooms are all in octagonal shaped villas and we saw NO ONE in our villa the entire week. Each villa has it's own concierge.
After we registered we were shown to our room, not touching our luggage. We were shown to our room, and then we met with our concierge to make reservations for our meals. I will say the 2 things that set Royal Hideaway apart for me, were the service, and the food. There are several restaurants and when we were asked to make reservations I figured they would be crowded. WRONG! They make reservations to ensure that you feel almost alone in a restaurant. We ate 2 of the nights at the Asian restaurant, called Azia. It was in Japanese style and our first night we ate in a private room. The kind with the sunken floor, and rice paper sliding walls. We had 2 servers to ourselves. It is all inclusive, so I was able to order plate after plate of sashimi in addition to my main meal. It was great. All of this was for NO extra charge, so if you want that be sure to ask for it. The other night we ate there we sat at the hibachi and had the 'show.'
As far as the other restaurants go, they were very good. My wife said she got tired of 'fancy food.' For instance, she ordered a salad one night as she wasn't that hungry, and she got a nice salad that was standing upright and bound.. think of a bundle of wheat standing up or something. She was just tired from the day and wanted a plain salad.... I thought it was great. I don't remember what the house wines were but the reds were good.
The 'snack bar' was near the beach and it was a bit misaptly named. You could get a 5 course meal at the 'snack bar' for lunch if you wanted. At night this space turned into 'The Grill' or something like that name. They did transform the space well.
One day it was very rainy and we ordered some food in, and we got a movie to watch in our room. It was great to have that option and they return them for you etc.
We also got SCUBA certified there and went on a dive and that was fun. I took SCUBA at UT, and am NAUI certified, but this was PADI.
We spent MOST of our time at the resort. We did go to some ruins, and we took a taxi into playa del carmen a couple times as well. It is definately better if you stay in the resort.. more bang for the buck. So if you want to go out and explore the area more, I would suggest a cheaper place. We did not do any of th spa offerings so I can't comment on those. If you want to know more just let me know.
Overall, I LOVED it, and want to save to go back again sometime.

 

[YoLaDu]

Thanks THEU. I appreciate your time on that.

 

[THEU]

YoLaDu,
Feel free to message me if you have any other questions about our stay at Royal Hideaway. It is NOT cheap, but was memorable for sure.

 

[scottsins]

got a quote from shangri-la. the lack of bathtub is likely a dealbreaker for us.

it is looking like we will be booking hotel la tortuga. so excited about not actually doing an AI this time. we have done el dorado royale and excellence resorts and the food is ******* not good. it was like cruise ship food, which sucks.

the issue is that they try to cut corners and still present 5 star dishes, which come out like ****.

i ahve been researching more good local places in playa and getting some good info. I REALLY want to eat many times at one of the little metal taco sheds you see outside of town at the roadside. those will be eons better than any meal I've had at an AI.

THEU, I am not arguing with you, since I have never been to a Royal resort, which may be way better than what I have experienced.

 

[THEU]

scottsins,
It is what it is. I can't say that any all inclusive place is going to be like a truly great restaurant all the time. I also went before the last hurricane and rebuild. I can tell you that I had some dishes there I didn't think were that good.. Namely, they have a Mexican heritage type night with dinner and a show...the dinner was ok... but a buffet... it was the show that was really bad. The food was better than a cruise. I have been on 5 cruises, so I feel I can speak with some comparative authourity. I can also say I have had better food at some restaurants....
You pay for WAY better food than most all inclusives, and for service. I stand by that assessment.

 

[scottsins]

^

One other thing is that our rooms at the AI resorts were just gorgeous and all he boutique hotels seem a little more "rustic". I know what will really put cost over the edge is the damn alcohol.

 

[Horny Ringman]

We went in La Tortuga one time and looked around. Its fine. But not being on the beach is a dealbreaker for me. Yes you can go to a beachclub and sit on top of 500 italian guidos smoking cigs, wearing bannana hammocks while their leathery skinned chicks show off their tits. That aint relaxing on the beach to me. Much more quieter at Shangrila.....If you can survive with just a shower instead of a tub.

Anyway, y'all enjoy. I'll be at shangrila in 16 days!!!!!

 

[scottsins]

Ended up booking tortuga. the beach thing kinda sucks, but the past 4 trips down to mexico, we never make the beach, except for some nice strolls along the surf. We always end up lounging by the pool getting drunk all day and just enjoying ourselves.

We DID manage to get the only room at tortuga that has a private pool garden only accessible by the suite. it has a jacuzzi in the room, which is must for us. Looking forward to dining at local joints and just hanging out for a week.