Hotel Xcaret Mexico

I rarely write negative reviews, but this experience was disappointing enough that I feel it’s important to share. We chose Hotel Xcaret México expecting a high level of service, especially given the price point and “all-inclusive luxury” positioning. Unfortunately, the service fell far below expectations. Traveling with a child who has special needs requires a certain level of responsiveness and basic support. Instead of feeling accommodated, we found ourselves constantly chasing the staff for even the most basic services. Room service, which is included, consistently took over three hours to arrive. Housekeeping was not proactive—we had to repeatedly request room cleaning, towels, and even basic items like refilling soap dispensers. The minibar was never restocked unless we called daily to remind them. Concierge support was inconsistent and required constant follow-up. Rather than enjoying a relaxing family vacation, we spent a significant amount of time managing and following up on things that should have been handled automatically by the hotel. The property itself is beautiful, but the operational service does not match the standard it advertises. For families, and especially those with special needs, this lack of reliability can significantly impact the overall experience. I hope management takes this feedback seriously and improves both service consistency and staff responsiveness.

I have so much to say about this hotel!! First... Hotel gifts you water bottles so you can use them during your stay and take home as a souvenir. You'll also be gifted a large tote bag. These are really great for stuffing with towels or purchases made while on shopping trips. Inside the room you'll get a fridge with sodas, beer and waters and you'll find candies along with a coffee machine. There is also tooth brushes (2), a loofah, toothpaste (Colgate), razor, shaving cream, shower cap, comb, q-tips, cotton rounds, small nail file, body lotion, mouth wash, shoe shine kit, mini sewing kit, bath salts and bubble bath. The in house shampoo/ conditioner/ body wash are not super concentrated and have a scent of rosemary mint (no name brand). TV is ready to play Netflix, HBO Max, Disney +, just bring your log in info to watch. There are slippers and robes to use. You'll get daily housekeeping with fresh towels and replenish whatever you need. Be aware, most rooms are one king beds with sofa beds, low inventory of double beds. Sofa bed is hard and low to the ground. Housekeeping changes the sheets every 2 days. The food is high quality! The buffet is good but lots of repeat dishes so if you're here for a while you're probably going to want to switch it up a bit. Make dinner reservations for the Brazilian steak house (Las Cuevas), the Asian / hibachi-style (Xin-Gao) and the dinner with a live show (Teatro del Río). We were about to enjoy Teatro del Río without a reservation but I were you, I wouldn't chance it. If you don't get the reservation you can get there when they open to be on a wait list but good luck with that ; ) Depending on how you book this trip will depend on how you make your reservations ahead of your trip. Might be a good idea to send an email as soon as you book because these reservations are no joke! While speaking about dinner, you can always return to Xcaret Park at dinner time to have a wider variety of restaurants as well. In that park each area of the park has a restaurant for a different region or state in Mexico. If you choose to do that you can time it around the big show at the park so the restaurants will most likely be dead. As for the excursion reservations, not needed for Xcaret Park, Xplor or Xenses Park. There are busses that drive in a loop and will drop off and pick up every 20 minutes. Xplor Furgeo isn't a big deal. The park kicks everyone out at 5pm except for Xcaret hotel guests so that's the best time to get on the "rides" with the longest lines. They charge guest separately for the night experience but really it's just a bunch of tiki torches everywhere. Xel‑Há need reservations, one pick up in the morning and return in the afternoon. Xel‑Há and Xcaret are the 2 places you can swim/ interact with dolphins for an extra charge, watching your kid's heart melt...priceless! At Xcaret you can also swim/ interact with sharks. Xcenotes needs reservations ahead of your vacation, don't wait on that one. You can also take the ferry out to Cozumel for a snorkeling or scuba trip or Isla Mujeres for a beach day. The Ferry is free for hotel guests but the taxi to get around will cost you as well as the snorkeling/ scuba trips. The hotel bus will take you to Playa del Carmen and a guide will walk you down to the port where you will skip any line and walk in ahead of everyone else. One at the island you are either on your own or an Xcaret person will be there to show you to your trip if you scheduled with the hotel. FYI, most beaches in Cozumel are private and rocky so go to Isla Mujeres for that. The hotel bus picks up from Playa del Carmen around 7pm I think so if you want to come back sooner you'll grab a taxi with costs us $25 for up to 4 people. Playa del Carmen has lots of shopping and restaurants after getting off the ferry. We didn't have time to do any of the other excursions so I don't have any tips on those. Okay, now onto the hotel and staff. This place is amazing! There is no other resort like it in the world! Staff is so so nice, friendly, approachable and patient! When we arrived, it was late and we were all hungry and tired and check in took very long, over an hour. I think they were having wi-fi issues. I was also a little annoyed to they placed us in 2 separate buildings. We had to have 2 rooms since we are a family of 5 so being next door was very important! They didn't have any rooms with 2 beds available, I really didn't want to have to make any of my kids sleep on a sofa bed but they did because what else was I gonna do?! The young lady at the front desk moved some reservations around and was able to put us side by side rooms so it worked out okay. Everything here is so clean and feels brand new. I saw so many employees cleaning constantly. but I did find restrooms without toilet paper and hand towels by the end of the day. This property is massive, you will likely get lost looking around or for a restaurant or a pool, it's just a rabbit hole after another and before you know it you have no idea where you are. But there's always an employee not too far that will help guide you. So many nooks and crannies to hang out or sun bathe or a hammock to nap in, just not enough time to see and do everything!! All 3 of my teen kids loved this place so much. There were tons of kids their age to meet and hang out with. I just saw huge groups of kids walking around, laughing and having fun at night! It's super safe here! Like I mentioned before, there is always an employee not too far and driving in the resort there is at least 4 check points with security checking everyone going in. there is one thing I was disappointed with was the beach. There is a sandy beach but it looks dangerous and rocky. With this sized property I would imagine a large sandy coastline but no. But like I said before Isla Mujeres is where you can go for the ultimate beach day or go to one of the millions of other bodies of water on the property. There are so many pools! There is also the river that looks like a cenote. On another river you can take a canoe out and there are boats to go on as well. I didn't have time to get the details on those but they were so cute! So pack good water shoes! You will use them most days! Something with a nice sole because most of the walkways are stone or brick or earth. Bring several swimsuits because you will be in them everyday. At night most people dress nicer. Women are wearing dresses with flats, men are in dress shirts with shorts or slacks. Don't see many people in jeans. A light sweater might be needed and possibly a rain coat although the rooms have umbrellas for your use in case they're needed. Bring sunscreen, a water proof phone bag and a hat. Pack your patience and be ready to walk more than you've ever walked before....it was for me at least! Safe travels

Absolutely amazing experience all around. Incredible resort with unbelievable amenities! I would plan more resort days in future as it’s like its own park! So much to explore and discover!

This is our second time visiting the property. We first attended before the pandemic and before the expansion of the Xcaret Mexico property. I rates things in the order below from best to worst:) 5/5 Location, room, cleanliness and servers/ housekeeping (not management) The property is beautiful- the pictures don’t do it justice. The food is incredible - buffets can be a hit or miss but the homemade tacos and freshly made tortillas are bomb (from SD so that says something). 5/5Lifeguard staff also need a special shoutout my boys loved the lifeguard managing their slides and how interactive one they were at all the parks. 5/5 xenses park - so so so cool’s highly recommend this park. You need a reservation for this one, but you don’t, we just walked in with our bracelets. Very neat immersive experiences. LOVED this park. 4/5 Xenhai and Xcaret park. Very beautiful parks and lots of cool history and things for all ages. It’s gets a lower rating again for long lines for things (even a butfet). 2/5 when we first visited, no long lines for buffet or to do anything. Maybe for waiting for a bus that was it. This time, breakfast, lunch and dinner was a wait. Waited 2 hours to eat at Mercado. This is no reflection of the hard working servers and cleaning staff- wow they were so kind and incredible. You can tell they are the job of 3 people and overworked. Please hire more people or move people from sales to help during peak periods. 0:5 Reservation system (lack their of) you can NOT get reservations anywhere unless you want to be on hold for hours or if attend their timeshare talk you 🎉magically have reservations open up! It was a bummer to pay the price we did and not be able to do all the parks. All the restaurants that require reservations - same thing there is no clear system, called multiple times and emailed months in advance and nothing- didn’t hear back 0/5 check in and check out: took 2 Hours to checkin:/ we were aware of the timeshare and said just to skip and it still took an hour to wait in line and another hour to wait for other people to talk to us. There is an option to check out on the TV- do NOT use it. It’s pointless. As we were getting into our car - they said we had to go stand in line to finish checkout- after waiting there for 30 minutes, no one mentioned that to us. Long story short- many other people were in the same position as us, it was very stressful and we were accused on not attending things we made reservations for -and then was told “well someone has to pay for this”. I had to write down how we attempted to make reservations and would have loved to attend the parks/restaurants where reservations were made but not communicate to us. It seems like a massive scam. Only one person was managing the check out line, I counted 14 people standing around that work for the timeshare part of their company , I could tell the girl was almost in tears checking people out. It used to be worth the value, would recommend to stay off property and just buy entrances to the parks you want to go. Anticipate to return next year but rot stay at the hotel, it isn’t worth the price to me unless you only want to stay on property, fine with buffet the entire time and flexible to wait at least an hour for food (room service took about 2 hours - our friends and I each ordered it once). Still a beautiful trip- ended on a sour note:/

Hotel Xcaret in Playa del Carmen delivers a stay that feels both relaxing and energizing, thanks to its mix of natural scenery, thoughtful design, and access to all the Xcaret parks. The property blends rivers, jungle paths, and ocean views in a way that makes every corner feel like part of the experience, and the service stays consistently warm without being overwhelming. Rooms are spacious and modern, the food options are varied enough for any mood, and the ease of getting to the parks makes the whole trip feel seamless. It’s the kind of place where you can spend the morning exploring and still come back to a quiet, comfortable space that feels like a retreat.