Hotel Xcaret Mexico

We were really looking forward to this family trip, and unfortunately, we came away disappointed. My family of five booked two rooms for seven nights through a travel agent. She confirmed our wishlist reservations a month out, but in the week before our trip, the resort told her they had to shuffle things around. We'd only requested one dinner reservation and one park (Xel-Ha), but even that small change threw off the flow we'd intentionally planned around helping our autistic child succeed. Our agent had a hard time getting anyone to respond as she tried to sort it out, but she assured us communication would be better once we were on-site. It wasn't. Check-in alone took over an hour. We were then shown to a room that didn't have enough beds, so we had to be moved. Our bellman was great, to his credit. We ate at the Mercado buffet that first night, and by the time we got back to the room, my kids were exhausted and ready for bed — except there was nothing to make up the futon for my six-year-old but a scratchy blanket. I called the concierge repeatedly and it just rang and rang. Eventually I gave up and went to my mother-in-law's room to borrow her blanket so we'd at least have two. That night, my son got sick from something he'd eaten at dinner, so I spent our first night cleaning up vomit with bath towels. The next morning, our room keys had stopped working, so it was back to the front desk to get them reprogrammed. That evening we had a 6:00 dinner reservation at Tama-Mon. We arrived on time and waited in a long line, only to be told our reservation was actually for 6:30 — it wasn't; I had the confirmation in hand. That kind of mix-up is a minor annoyance for most people, but with an autistic child who struggles with unexpected waiting, it made things much harder. Dinner itself was slow and overly salty. You stand around a hibachi grill and watch your food get thrown on — not the lively Benihana-style show, just standing around waiting. Not what we'd call a five-star dining experience. I hate to complain — staying somewhere this beautiful is a real privilege, and I don't take that for granted. But it wasn't what the resort advertises itself to be, and for the price, it just wasn't worth it. This didn't feel like a luxury resort when it came to service or food. **What we loved** • The resort itself is stunning, genuinely beautiful everywhere you look.. • The robes and slippers were a nice touch (though housekeeping took ours on day five, presumably to clean, and never replaced them).. • The beach bag/tote they provide is handy and doubles as a nice souvenir.. • Plenty of pool options and things for kids to do, though pools close at 9pm — my son was hoping for a night swim at 9:30 and that wasn't an option.. • Bottled water comes in glass instead of plastic, though actually getting water delivered to the room was hit or miss.. • The inlet/lazy river is lovely to float in, even with some algae, seaweed, and bird droppings (not much they can do about that). Life jackets are provided everywhere, which we appreciated.. • Turndown service includes a small basket of treats that made great take-home souvenirs.. **Where it fell short** *Food and illness.* The food was disappointing, and it made all of us sick. My mother-in-law was stuck in her room with it for two days; my husband and I got hit too. We avoided raw seafood and were careful at the buffets, but got sick anyway — it lingered for days and worked its way through nearly everyone in our group, which made me suspect norovirus. The only restaurants we genuinely enjoyed were Bio, Las Playas, and Costero, all for breakfast. La Xentral was the one solid dinner we had, likely because it was cooked fresh. It's hard to avoid the buffets when so many of the sit-down restaurants require reservations. Vegetarian and gluten-free options were limited across the board, and the à la carte restaurants didn't offer simple kids' menu items — my autistic son eats a pretty limited range of foods, and there was often nothing for him. *Room service.* Three out of four times we ordered, it took over ninety minutes and arrived missing items or just wrong. In-room snacks were minimal and rarely restocked. *Noise.* We stayed in Casa Viento, and on three nights there were pool/river-area events with music blasting until 11pm right below our balcony. Even our white noise machine couldn't cover it. Hallway noise carried into the room as well. *Size and logistics.* The property is massive, which makes getting anywhere exhausting. There's limited grab-and-go food options (at one place), and with room service unreliable, you're often stuck trekking across the resort to find a meal after a long day at the parks. *Bedding.* The sheets and pillowcases had an odd, almost plastic-like feel, the mattress wasn't comfortable, and the extra blanket provided for my son was thin and scratchy. *Concierge and communication.* This was probably our biggest frustration. Reaching anyone by phone was consistently difficult. When I asked the concierge to book a hydrotherapy session, he just handed me a phone that rang unanswered, then told me if no one picked up, I'd need to walk to the spa myself to book it. After my travel agent complained multiple times, someone came to speak with us, but it felt like lip service — I asked for our minibar and water to be restocked (it hadn't been in three days), was told it would be done before we got back from dinner, and hours later it still wasn't. I had to call again to get it handled. That was the pattern all week: ask repeatedly, and maybe eventually get service. *Environmental claims.* The resort markets itself as eco-conscious, but pool bars use plastic cups and aluminum cans with no recycling in sight anywhere on property. *The app/map.* The resort app is buggy and the map is incomplete. The "take me there" feature doesn't provide a route, it just shows you a pin. Signs around the property are limited and not well placed. Traveling with neurodivergent kids already takes a lot of planning and flexibility on our part, and we'd hoped a luxury all-inclusive would make things easier. Unfortunately, at Xcaret, it didn't. I share all this not to take away from how beautiful the property is, but because I think other families deserve to know what to expect before they book. This was no an insignificant cost for a vacation and unfortunately it was not worth it.

Excellent property too Bad service at the front desk for members is horrible , they don’t care if you are waiting 2 hours at the lobby . Be ready to wait at least 2 hours just for check in and please do not buy the membership don’t please 🙏. Service is much better when you are not a member trust me . Guadalupe A . July 4th 2026 12:53 pm

Excelent service, beautiful place, Great people, delicious food. Great amenities! Love this place!! Love the All Fun Inclusive!! You have a million options to have fun!!

Remarkable resort. Very friendly staffed that seemed truly happy to be there.

This is our first time coming to Xcaret Mexico and we were completely impressed with the quality of food, exceptional service and everyone’s willingness to stop what they are doing to guide you to where you need to go.