Maybe someone can fill me in on the details, but when did The Reef resorts become all-inclusive optional?? I’m thinking it must have been a couple of years ago when this company left my resort radar…regardless, if you are looking for an all-inclusive option for your next vacation, let’s do a quick rundown of The Reef Playacar to see if this may be the right one for you.
I actually wanted to find a video of how the new resorts are doing which are planning on opening within the next month, but as is typical of this area and new resort info there is not much out there–it’s like resort companies believe they are selling state secrets by giving away some teaser info.
No, I didn’t already recently post about this AI-optional resort–that was the Krystal Cancun. This is its family-friendly “sister resort” right next door to the north and it’s called Krystal Grand Punta Cancun. It has also been known in the past as Reflect, while some third party wholesalers may currently list this resort as Krystal Grand Cancun, or even “Altitude By Krystal Grand Punta Cancun” which refers to certain upgraded room types (Altitude rooms). It’s all the same resort, but it can be confusing.
Here’s another all-inclusive optional resort to highlight–Grand Residences Riviera Cancun near Puerto Morelos in the Riviera Maya. This one is an all-inclusive optional surprise since it’s a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. Most highly acclaimed resorts in this area of Mexico are totally outside the all-inclusive market, were originally an all-inclusive resort, or have fully moved over to the all-inclusive market. If you want to know its specific location, it is just south of the Puerto Morelos Marina and Now Jade resort with easy access to excursions leaving from the marina.
Krystal Cancun Hotel is a family-friendly all-inclusive optional resort right in the heart of the Hotel Zone at Punta Cancun and across from Cancun’s convention center. Fortunately (or unfortunately–it depends on how you look at it), the resort is situated a stone’s throw from Cancun’s famous clubs so the sound and activity level can go up a notch or two late in the evenings. The closest club is Mandalay, so their Tuesday night beach party can go until 3:30 a.m. Guests staying in Tower B should be forewarned that you will get the brunt of Mandalay and party zone noise.
Here’s a newcomer to the Puerto Morelos hotel market–The Fives Oceanfront is an all-inclusive optional, family-friendly luxury boutique hotel located on the outskirts of Puerto Morelos in the Riviera Maya. There are several “The Fives” resorts, so be careful if you decide to book since you may wind up staying at the wrong hotel/resort. It became kind of confusing when Karisma removed their name brand from Azul Fives Resort a couple of years ago (that resort is now rebranded as a “The Fives” resort), but that’s a different blog post.
If you’re interested in how CCM looks these days now that it’s been open for a bit, take a look at the video below. Meanwhile, here’s a few facts about this resort: Continue reading
I’ve decided my next solo trip will include a stay at Catalonia Royal Tulum which is located an hour drive south of the Cancun airport. It is a bit south of Barcelo Maya Grand resort, if readers know where that mega-resort is located in the Riviera Maya. CRT is a smaller adults-only all-inclusive with a great beach which was the deciding factor for me and my next Mexico vacation. I may do Planet Hollywood Cancun later on in the year, but am still on the fence about that resort since I think it would be a much better resort experience without COVID affecting amenity limits/closures.
I thought this was an unusual amenity, so I decided to post a quick video I found which highlights both the Grotto Bar and the Lazy River at the brand new Planet Hollywood Cancun. I’ve only run across one other resort grotto bar and that was at Dreams Playa Mujeres. This one looks like you can float right up to the bar in your lazy river flotation device! That will come in handy during Cancun’s hot summer months where you literally want to live in the water while on vacation.
Repeat guests to Breathless Riviera Cancun will notice that some parts of the resort are no longer available to them…what used to be the more quiet Xhale section on the south end of Breathless has now become the new Secrets Riviera Cancun with 164 suites, one private restaurant, Rosewater, which serves “Gourmet International Cuisine”, and a private pool and beach section. Secrets guests have unrestricted use of the entire property, while Breathless guests cannot cross over to the Secrets section. There are now two separate check-in areas given the new property setup. I do appreciate the fact that one can now directly book all oceanfront swim-up suites throughout this resort; before the Secrets addition it was not clear how to do so in certain resort sections.