UNICO 20N 87W - Riviera Maya

Amazing place! Just the place you want to go for elevated and serene resort experience. Spend your day at the pool without blaring music and enjoy the personable poolside service. An upscale hotel with the added bonus of all-inclusive perks. Food was amazing and à la cart or made to order if you wanted something more specific. Loved the afternoon water aerobics with Abigail and Nataly; fun and upbeat. So fun! Eugene, Gabriel, Angel just to name a few of the servers in the restaurants - THANK YOU!

An excellent hotel. The help of our local host, Eduardo, made all the difference to our stay. We would recommend the quiet pool during the day and the food in the restaurants was lovely.

We chose Unico Riviera Maya expecting a premium, luxury adults-only experience. What we found instead was a good, comfortable resort that doesn’t deliver the elevated experience its pricing and branding suggest. This is a solid all-inclusive — but at its current cost, it’s overpriced for what you get. Arrival set the tone. Check-in was slow and disjointed, with multiple staff handoffs and waiting between each step. One of the early conversations focused on a “non-timeshare” presentation and additional benefits for members or guests who booked directly, which didn’t feel like the welcome you expect at a high-end resort. The rooms are modern, quiet, and comfortable. The bed was excellent, climate control worked perfectly, and housekeeping was one of the strongest aspects of the stay — thorough, prompt, and consistent every day. That said, the details didn’t fully meet a luxury standard. We noticed dust in less-visible areas, minor maintenance wear, and slow-draining sinks and showers. Also important: lower-floor ocean-view rooms may have the view blocked by mangroves, so requesting a higher floor is essential if the view matters. Where Unico truly performs well is the beach and pool experience. 🌴 Chairs are plentiful, cushioned, and in excellent condition, with umbrellas and tables readily available. We never had trouble finding space, and drink service at both the pools and beach was friendly and consistent. The beach itself was a highlight — soft sand, minimal seaweed, and a calm, relaxing atmosphere. There are three pools with distinct vibes. 🍹 One is a high-energy party pool, one starts relaxed but becomes livelier as the day goes on, and a third quiet pool offers a peaceful escape. Overall, the atmosphere leans more social than serene, especially with the number of wedding groups and large parties on property. Dining was consistently good, but not memorable. 🍽️ Nothing was bad, and service was generally strong, but the food lacked the elevated quality expected at this price level. Prime dinner reservations were difficult to secure, and the number of restaurant options felt limited for a resort positioned as luxury. The bar program was another miss. Included wine selections are basic, liquor availability was inconsistent, and the overall experience felt mid-tier rather than premium. Evenings are quiet and somewhat underwhelming. Most nights revolve around live music in the lobby bar, with limited variety and little sense of curated nightlife. The biggest gap — and the main reason this resort falls behind true luxury competitors — is the Local Host program. At this price level, personalized butler-style service is often what separates a premium stay from a standard one. The Local Host at Unico did not provide that experience. Communication was limited to daily activity messages unless we reached out first. There were no proactive check-ins, no personalization, no follow-up on issues, and no recognition when we saw them around the property. In practice, the service added little value beyond what the front desk or concierge could provide. Frontline staff — servers, pool attendants, and beach staff — were warm and excellent. But the overall service culture felt reactive rather than proactive, and the lack of meaningful personalized support makes the resort feel behind others in its price category. Activities are available and organized without being pushy, though the schedule is repetitive. One standout perk was the complimentary custom-painted beach hats by local artists — a unique and memorable touch. Operationally, the resort runs smoothly. WiFi is strong throughout the property, the layout is easy to navigate (though signage is limited), and smoking is well managed with designated areas that don’t impact non-smokers. The property never felt overcrowded and always felt safe. The location — about an hour from Cancun airport — is convenient and benefits from being outside the main hotel zone, meaning no beach vendors. ✨ Best for: wedding groups, social travelers, or guests looking for a comfortable all-inclusive without high luxury expectations. ⚠️ Not ideal for: couples seeking a romantic or special-occasion atmosphere, travelers expecting personalized service, or anyone paying a premium for a true luxury-level experience. Bottom line: Unico Riviera Maya is a good resort with a beautiful beach, comfortable rooms, and strong frontline staff. But the lack of true personalized service — especially the underwhelming Local Host experience — combined with mid-tier dining, drinks, and entertainment makes it difficult to justify the premium price. A pleasant stay overall, but not one we would choose again at this cost.

Overall we enjoyed this resort and would consider returning on a future trip. We have previously traveled to Sandals, Couples & Secrets resorts at various islands and in Meixco. We spent the week at the quiet pool, and were often early to bed. The good stuff: 1. Overall they handled my wife's gluten allergy fairly well. The amount of tailored food varied by restaurant - for example the French Restaurant ("Avec") was amazing, where they customized every course (i.e. french onion soup with GF bread on top), while other restaurants (Mi Carisa - Italian) - had GF pasta but declared much of the menu unavailable due to gluten. There was a small gf bakery section at the coffee shop and the buffet!! 2. We NEVER had to line up for anything the entire week (even dinner reservations were handled by someone through whatsapp). I loved this part. 3. Drinks/food brought to us poolside... we really liked the "quiet pool".  Day drinking, eating, relaxing, swimming. 4. A guest brought a bluetooth speaker to the quiet pool and started playing music. Very much appreciated when a staff member asked them to turn it off. 5. You still have to do the chair reservation game in the morning, but it was always easy to get seats with an umbrella at the quiet pool. 6. Food & drinks were very good overall. Some of the beef/steak was a bit tough, but lots of delicious choices and variety. 7. Staff was cheerful, friendly, helpful. 8.We used the 24/7 room service on the morning of our departure home and it worked flawlessly. 9. Our room was nice (pool facing). I think the rooms are starting to show their age a bit, but still high end. Cleaning staff did a great job. 10. Gym was decent. Got a bit busy but no problem getting a workout in. The "not so good" stuff 1. Awkward timeshare sales push when checking in. They were polite but persistent - at the fourth "no" they relented. 2. Shuttle is long when there are many stops along the way. It took us 2.5 hours including 30 minutes waiting outside at the airport for the bus. 3. Beach was nice enough, but they were battling seaweed - I think this is a problem all along that area. 4. Spa pricing is absurd. A few other things: 1. We tried the a la carte breakfast once. it was decent, but we preferred the buffet for variety and speed of service. 2. We really enjoyed the Japanese restaurant and went there twice. 3. We only had evening turndown service for about half of our trip. Not a deal breaker for us, but just odd. 4. We left a note for the cleaner to restock the room fridge as we were running out of water, and they did it immediately. 5. The exchange rate from US -> pesos at the airport was worse than at the resort.

Avoid this property! As a family who travels frequently, this is by far the WORST travel experience we've ever had. Unico canceled our booking on the night before our flight from Toronto to Cancun yesterday. We didn't see the cancelation notice until the morning of our trip as we were heading to the airport. They completely ruined our vacation and left us scrambling to find an alternative. We'd booked our stay in Unico several months ago through Paradise Pass and we paid an additional fee for for this property. The purpose of our vacation was to celebrate our daughter's 25th birthday. She was very excited as this would be her first adult only resort experience. After weeks of planning every detail, including making our room selections, all restaurant reservations made and we had booked spa treatments etc., we could not believe that they canceled our booking on the night before our arrival. They gave us absolutely no explanation. We didn't even know it was possible for a resort to do this to their guests. The agent who booked our trip was equally shocked. Our daughter is completely devastated and we were left scrambling to find an alternative on the morning of our vacation. We have traveled all over Mexico and stayed in many amazing resorts and this is the WORST experience we've ever had. Please do not book this resort. They have absolutely no regard for their guests and they will ruin your vacation experience.