Hotel Xcaret Mexico

Such a shame as beautiful location and staff try their Best but they have expanded without enough places or staff to cater for guests. No water was provided, no one answers phones, can’t get reservations anywhere so as consequence you don’t get to eat without waiting hours then food is gone.

Hotel Xcaret Mexico looks impressive, but the service is among the worst I’ve experienced at a 5 star resort. Restaurant management is completely dysfunctional. We waited up to two hours to be seated for dinner. On another occasion, we were told to wait at least 30 minutes for a table at a half-empty buffet restaurant. A 30 minute queue to enter the breakfast buffet is also standard. Housekeeping was inconsistent - rooms were cleaned intermittently. Reception is overwhelmed and inefficient. There are huge queues at the front desk, and calling doesn’t help. I waited 30 minutes on hold with both reception and room service on separate occasions and gave up when no one answered. Staff generally and management in particular are indifferent to guest frustration. The resort is visually impressive, but that does not compensate for the poor organization and lack of basic service. For the price being charged, this level of service is unacceptable.

If you are willing to spend $7k and eat in a buffet all the time then this is the hotel for you! We went from 12/18-12/22 and stayed in Ocean Front Xcaret Mexico for our nieces birthday and we could not eat in any restaurant. The day we arrived 12/18 we spoke to the Concierge and requested to make reservations for dinner and were told none were available which is beyond ridiculous!!! We were told the Japanese (Xingao) was booked the entire month of December and that reservations have to made prior too coming. When we booked our stay we were never notified of this policy. We approached some of the restaurants and asked and were told by some staff that recently they had changed this policy to require reservations and they did not even know this. We have stayed here multiple times in this hotel, in Arte and in Casa de la Playa and this was not the experience we had before. We had to eat in the buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We sometimes had lunch at the tobagones rooftop which is tacos, salads and chicken tenders which were good but otherwise in the buffet. The hotel was super packed with guests!!! Every morning the line to get into the buffet would be till outside the restaurant horrible!!!! If you ordered room service the times to deliver were told from 1 hour to an hour and a half, which is outrageous for 2 pizzas and chicken tenders for our kids. On Sunday for our nieces birthday we even had to reserve at an outside restaurant to go have dinner to celebrate, we took a taxi and left the hotel to eat, which is completely disrespectful and upsetting. We told the lobby staff and at check out and all they could say was we are sorry but didn't offer any additional help or even call a manager. Buses and buses of people continuously arriving at the lobby to the point that it was so busy you cannot barely walk there. Honestly, for the amount of money we paid $7k, for 2 adults and 2 children it is beyond ridiculous. We will not be going back..... honestly sad to see how this place declined in both quality and service. They built so many new buildings and not enough restaurants to eat..... Do not waste your time find a different hotel!!!!

The restaurant reservation system really needs to change. We got tired of eating at the buffet, especially since every night there were lines of 20–30 people. Trajinera was a 2/10 (the only good thing was the pizza, and they stopped making it). Costero had only four servers for the entire restaurant, and the food was maybe a 3/10 at best. Cantina Los Faroles was also a 2/10. When we booked the hotel, it said that Azul Nogoa and Monarca didn’t require reservations, but that policy was changed without any notice. We were so disappointed with the food overall that we ended up leaving the hotel to eat at restaurants on the beach. Room service took over an hour and a half, the food arrived cold, and several times the order was wrong. For the first time in all of our visits, the staff looked tired, overworked, and honestly just over it. Xcaret has always stood out for its amazing service, but this time it was obvious the staff was exhausted, and it really showed in the experience. One moment that really stood out was when we went to Mercado de la Merced at 4:25 pm (they close at 5:00 pm) trying to find something our four-year-old nephew could eat. The staff clearly wasn’t happy to let us in so close to closing time. No one even offered us water, and the servers just looked at us like, “Why are you here so late?” It made us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. On top of everything else, the pools were very cold — even the Octopus pool, which is supposed to be for children. We’ve traveled to Mexico many times, stayed at Arte multiple times, and once at Casa de la Playa. We even got married in Mexico in April 2022. After this stay, though, we won’t be coming back. The quality that once made Xcaret special has really gone downhill. I would not return or recommend it to anyone. Spanish: El sistema de reservaciones de los restaurantes necesita cambiar urgentemente. Nos cansamos de comer en el buffet; además, todas las noches había filas de más de 20–30 personas. La comida de Trajinera fue un 2/10 (lo único rescatable eran las pizzas, y dejaron de hacerlas). En Costero había solo 4 meseros para todo el restaurante y la comida no pasaba de un 3/10. Cantina Los Faroles, comida 2/10. Al momento de reservar el hotel se indicaba que los restaurantes Azul Nogoa y Monarca no requerían reservación, pero ustedes decidieron cambiar esa política sin avisar a nadie. Debido a lo decepcionados que quedamos con la comida del hotel, terminamos saliendo a cenar a restaurantes fuera, en la playa. El room service tardaba más de hora y media, la comida llegaba fría y en varias ocasiones la orden venía incorrecta. Por primera vez en todas nuestras visitas, el personal se veía cansado, sobrecargado de trabajo y claramente desmotivado. Siempre habíamos destacado el excelente servicio de Xcaret, pero esta vez fue evidente que el personal estaba agotado y “ya harto” de la situación, lo cual impactó directamente la experiencia. Un ejemplo claro de esto ocurrió cuando visitamos Mercado de la Merced a las 4:25 pm (cierran a las 5:00 pm), buscando algo que mi sobrino de cuatro años pudiera comer. El personal mostró evidente molestia por dejarnos entrar a esa hora; no solo no nos ofrecieron ni siquiera agua, sino que los meseros simplemente nos miraban con una expresión de “¿por qué están aquí tan tarde?”, haciéndonos sentir incómodos y no bienvenidos. Hemos ido muchas veces a México, a Arte y una vez a Casa de la Playa; incluso nos casamos en México en abril de 2022. Sin embargo, después de esta estadía, no regresaremos. La calidad que siempre distinguió a Xcaret se ha ido al piso. Nunca más volvería ni lo recomendaría a nadie.

1. There was no shampoo in my room, and no one answered the service phone. I had to go to the front desk in person to request shampoo. It was finally delivered at 2:15 a.m. — yes, a.m. 2. I arrived at the hotel at 4:00 p.m. but did not get into my room until 5:30 p.m. My luggage did not arrive until 6:30 p.m. I later found it sitting unattended in the lobby. Nothing had been scheduled, and I had to ask a bellboy for assistance. In total, it took 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete check-in and receive my luggage. On another night around 9:00 p.m., I went to the front desk and overheard several guests complaining that they had already been waiting in line for over 30 minutes. At that time, there were only 6–7 families in line. We have stayed at this hotel every year since the pandemic, and the quality of service has declined year after year. This year was by far the worst. One employee mentioned that the hotel is experiencing staff shortages, which may explain the situation, but it does not excuse the experience. Even at 9:40 p.m., trying to grab dinner meant waiting in a line of about 30 people. There were many empty seats, but not enough staff to serve guests. This is not the kind of experience most guests would expect or want We are still staying at the hotel and will provide further updates if anything changes.