Hotel Xcaret Mexico

We had an incredible stay at Hotel Xcaret México, and it truly delivers a perfect balance of jungly nature and refined luxury. We stayed in a River Suite at Casa Fuego, and the setting—lush, serene, and immersed in nature—was unforgettable. The Casa Fuego butler team made our trip exceptional, and I can’t thank Juan Pablo, Alejandro, and Brandon enough for their warmth, attentiveness, and genuine care. Dining at Fuego was a highlight every time, with outstanding service from Jesus, Christian, and Eduardo, and a warm welcome from Karina at reception. The food was consistently excellent, and we also loved experiencing all the new restaurants in Phase 2. One special shout-out goes to Sebastian, our favorite pool bartender, who makes an amazing mudslide and is incredibly kind and personable. The level of service across the resort made us feel truly looked after from start to finish. If you’re staying at Casa Fuego, I highly recommend requesting this team—they made an already beautiful resort feel like home.

The stag were very friendly - there was a bit of a language barrier with some But most spoke some English and were willing to assist if possible. The whole experience was just incredible from the parks, to the excursions, to the accommodations! I would love to do it again just to visit the parks we didn’t get to before.

On the surface, the property is beautiful but after the first impression you start to peel back the layers of disfunction. This place is just too massive to offer decent service, long waits for everything, reservations for any activity or dining experience which have to be made weeks in advance, any request otherwise…good luck! We paid almost $4000/night and feel like cattle that stayed at a 3 star resort. Everything is in place but the execution lacks. If you value good service and attentiveness then this is definitely not the place. If you’re a large group that needs lots of variety and have someone that plans its all 30 days ahead you MAY enjoy yourself. Otherwise, spend your money elsewhere and get an experience that’s worth it, not smoke and mirrors.

GENERALIZATIONS: - This was the best resort ever, and we would not hesitate to return. - Rating the Xcaret staff, one would have to use the word “outstanding”. It became apparent that they valued tourism presence, sincerely wanted guests to have a fabulous time and appreciated interacting with guest. Having said that, some of the information received as a result of questions turned out to be incorrect, so it’s important to ensure the staff member you are speaking with fully understands what the questions are! - Our family always felt very safe in both the Resort and Xcaret Park. - We also always felt comfortable and very welcome. - No pressure to join the “membership club” was ever experienced. - Our 8 days of weather was outstanding – with only a few warm showers. - Xcaret Concierge staff were very helpful – especially during departure arrangements. - We never hesitated to tip the staff for service, which was appreciated but never expected. - A decent amount of Christmas decorations was present on the grounds but it became apparent that Christmas is more of a religious celebration in Mexico. Regardless, we felt this was a great location to spend our first Christmas in another Country. - It is important to emphasize that any of the inconsistencies or criticisms mentioned did not negatively affect our stay (to any significant amount) at Xcaret Mexico. A request for each of our seven family members to rate this stay resulted in the same response – 10/10! TRAVEL AGENT (TA) – In spite of the fact that I have prepared itineraries for a number of vacations in the past, I chose to use a travel consultant for this one. Best decision ever! I chose Kaleidoscope Travel (a local company), and was pleased to have them assist with this somewhat complicated vacation (7 persons in three separate family units). Our TA dealt with all details of our Mexico vacation in a timely and detailed manner – leaving no questions unanswered. Her responses to the occasional (at times frequent!) questions from me were always prompt – often requiring some research on her part. The fact that we had such a great vacation is credited to our TA’s knowledge, professionalism and dedication to her craft. I cannot recommend using a TA enough to anyone seeking assistance with their travel plans. ARRIVAL– Landed at Cancun Airport at @ 4:30PM. Immigration/Customers interaction uneventful. Xcaret Lounge area/representative located with little difficulty. Approx. 30-minute wait for our bus. Bus proceeded to make other stops at the airport (including returning to the one where we were picked up at) before departing for the Resort. Arrival time at Resort approx. 730PM. There was heavy traffic on route from the Airport! REGISTRATION – Very slow process – attendant had great difficulty in locating rooms for us, and insisted on dealing with our four rooms separately. Attendant spent some time trying to get us to upgrade our room, which I declined repeatedly. Two rooms were in Bldg. 3, while two were in Bldg. 5. The buildings are not far and being in different buildings did not create an issue. We could all communicate with each other, as the WiFi on site was good. Our room designated as a Riverview room, however only small portion of river could be viewed and only from one area of the balcony. All members of the family were comfortable with the room locations. Rooms – Overall, extremely impressed with rooms. They are well-designed for comfort and efficiency. Beds extremely comfortable. Showers were outstanding – although waiting for hot water took a few minutes. The balcony is equipped with a hammock (very comfortable). Coffee machine and safe in room. Bottled water present, as well as pop and a few beers in bar fridge. (Note, in spite of requesting to have additional bottles of water placed in room on five separate occasions (to different departments), this never happened! HOUSEKEEPING – somewhat inconsistent. My requests in writing (Spanish) for extra water went unanswered. Rooms were cleaned at various times during the day and turn down service was provided each evening. No real complaints in this area. Tipped daily. HOTEL GROUNDS - This is a large resort with two lobbies (due to expansion). The grounds are kept immaculate and a pleasure to walk through. There are numerous swimming pools present (as well as river pools) and in spite of the fact that this resort was filled to capacity, we often found ourselves the only persons at a pool! At those locations, bar staff are attentive, kind and helpful. A generous supply of towels is available at all pool and waterslide locations. This resort consists of hundreds of acres in size, and includes an extensive river-system through the grounds as well as caves, caverns and jungle. It is not uncommon to see a monkey, lizards, iguanas, agoutis, coati or a raccoon and to hear the cries of jungle birds. Bugs and snakes were, for our trip, non-existent. PARKS – The only one we visited was Xcaret Park – either travelling by the Xcaret boat service or by walking (the path is paved and it takes less than 15 minutes – less time than waiting and travelling by boat! We discovered new things to see each trip – with the highlights being the Papantla Flyers performance, the Butterfly exhibit, the Aviary, the reconstructed Mayan Village, the Coral Reef Aquarium/Sea Turtle Sanctuary/Nurse Shark enclosure, the Panther Jaguar zoo exhibit, the ocean views, the Scenic Tower, the dolphin educational interaction program (attended to by our daughter and grandchildren) and the Raft ride through the caves of the Serene Paradise River. RESTAURANTS - La Trajinera was our regular meeting location for breakfast. Staff were amazing we were always warmly welcomed (Thank you Renee!!). Omelet station available, as well as some in-house specialties. No reservations required for breakfast. We will miss this place. - Mercato de la Merced was our favorite Buffet restaurant with a very wide and diverse choice of foods (including traditional Mexican dishes). No reservations required. Line-ups can look intimidating but move fast. - La Xentral was another (newer) Buffet restaurant which features Mexican and International dishes, as well as a very neat Cafeteca. This building is also the terminal for buses which provide transportation to parks and tours. No reservations required. - Chibali was the third Buffet restaurant we visited a couple of times. Great hamburgers, fried shrimp and desserts. No reservations required. - Las Playas was our first family-attended dinner restaurant. It is in a beautiful location (near river system) and open-air. Service was somewhat inconsistent with main courses arriving far in advance of appetizers and sides. Food was rated as average. Dinner Reservation was required. As a group, we felt this rated a 4/10. - La Silla was our second family-dinner restaurant. It is located in the new part of the Resort and focuses on authentic Northern Mexicant (Norteno) cuisine. We were fortunate to be served by Raoul, who seemed to be totally focused on ensuring our group of 7 had the best meal ever. He offered (and we accepted) to have him order for us – and we were not disappointed. From flambeed cheese to charro beans to grilled ribeye steaks to an outstanding dessert, this was an amazing culinary experience. Dinner Reservation was required. As a group, we felt this rated a 10/10. - Tama-mon (Teppanyaki) was our third family-dinner restaurant – and located in the same building as Lobby 2. It was great entertainment to have a talented chef prepare the meal on iron griddles in front of our group. Our meal started with a small bowl of coconut soup, and proceeded with excellent fried rice, Teppanyaki-cooked steak, chicken, lobster and vegetables. Dessert followed. Dinner Reservation was required. Rated as 8/10. - Las Cuevas was our fourth family-dinner restaurant. It is located inside a huge cave and is similar to a Brazilian steak house (with waiters walking around with skewers of bbq meats and vegetables etc). Full buffet is also available for dining pleasure. Great selection and the food was very good. Dinner Reservation required. Rated at 8.5/10 - Teatro Del Rio (Dinner and Show) was our last family-dinner restaurant. The meal began before the show started and consisted of five courses – most of which was somewhat underwhelming. As we attended on a Friday, the show was Caribbean- based (history) and we were impressed with the musical/dancing/singing ability of the performers. Dinner rated as 4/10, while the performance was 8/10.

Costero is an underrated dining experience in the new phase of Xcaret Mexico for sure! We walked in one night after having already eaten, just to check out the vibe and see if we wanted to return. We were met by Roberto who enthusiastically explained in English how exciting the menu was. There was no one in there and you don’t need a reservation! We knew we would be back! We came back for dinner and the menu is so unique and complicated we decided to just go ahead and order every one of the small plates. The crab tostada and the shrimp tacos were the standouts, but everything was delicious! We visited it again for lunch, which was a buffet. Roberto was working and so I asked him what we should have and he took it upon himself to have the chefs prepare amazing fish tacos and the most incredible ceviche we had on the entire trip. The service, the food, the decor (you MUST see the bathrooms) and no need for a reservation is what makes this place our favorite new restaurant in Mexico.