r/CancunTravelGuide

Take my mum to visit Cancun🥰🏝️

Currently at Haven Riviera Cancun, located at the south end of Cancun (south of Moon Palace). Overall the stay has been great. Beautiful room, awesome pool with a swim up bar, decent food for an AI. We’re foodies so in the future will prioritize food when choosing the AI. The hotel room doesn’t have a smart tv so we couldn’t connect to our streaming services (Netflix or Prime Video). The resort is very remote, not near anything within walking distance, so definitely a good place to disconnect from reality.

We did an excursion to see Mayan ruins, cenotes, and swim with turtles in Akumal. It was a long day with many hours spent in the shuttle van. We booked through Amstar onsite at the resort, and feel like we could’ve gotten a better deal if we booked directly through Cancun Adventures in advance.

I also wanted to share about the current sargassum situation here. It’s bad! The excursion guide said it’s now bad almost year-round, with a week here and there of no seaweed.

Last time I visited this resort was in 2021 and I'd heard some pretty divided opinions lately so I went back for a full week to see for myself. Here's my honest take.

Secrets The Vine Cancun is adults only, which I already knew and loved. That part hasn't changed. No kids, calm vibe, mostly couples and people celebrating something. The hotel zone location is convenient, you're right in the middle of everything and can walk to shops and feel the energy of Cancun around you without being stuck inside a massive sprawling property. That compact high-rise layout works for me but I know it's not for everyone who wants lush tropical grounds. 

The rooms are showing their age a bit more than I remembered. Nothing broken or dirty, the place is clean, but the furniture and finishes feel dated compared to some newer resorts in the area. Definitely not the wow factor I had on my first stay.

We did Preferred Club this time. The butler on our floor reachable via WhatsApp was legitimately useful, check in happened upstairs away from any lobby line which started things off on the right foot. The rooftop pool stays quieter than the main pools downstairs which was a big deal for us. The main pool areas fill up fast and chair-saving starts embarrassingly early in the morning. That part was frustrating.

Food is where Secrets The Vine really holds its own. The Bluewater Grill was probably my best meal of the entire trip, the steak there is not typical resort food. Olio for Italian was solid too. No-reservations dining means you just show up which removes a lot of stress. The wine program is a real thing here, not just branding. There's a wine wall in the lobby and actual sommelier-led tastings. If you care about wine even a little you'll appreciate it.

The bars were good overall. Plenty of options around the pools and beach, service was attentive most of the time. We never waited too long for a drink which sounds small but after a few bad experiences at other resorts it matters. The beach bar was my favorite spot in the late afternoon.

The beach itself is not the widest and sargassum can show up depending on when you go. We had a few good days and one day where the cleanup crew was working hard. Not the resort's fault but worth knowing before you go.

One thing that bothered me was the nightclub smell one evening, there was a sewer odor that was noticeable enough to cut the night short. Hopefully a one-off but I'm including it.

The spa voucher situation also felt a bit misleading when we got there. I'd just recommend asking very specific questions before you commit to anything.

Overall Secrets The Vine Cancun is still a solid pick for couples who care about food and wine more than having a massive resort layout. Not perfect, and the rooms could use some refreshing, but for what you pay it's genuinely good value. There are better resorts out there, I won't pretend otherwise, but those places also cost significantly more. For the price point Secrets The Vine sits at it's hard to complain too much.

El pase anual solo pueden adquirirlo residentes de Quintana Roo por 3750 pesos, tiene muchos beneficios entre los cuales tendrás acceso al parque Xcaret durante un año, no incluye alimentos ni bebidas pero tienes descuento en todo el parque y a tus invitados puedes darles un descuento cuando visiten el parque

We just got back from 6 nights at Grand Velas Riviera Maya with our two kids and one teenager and honestly I've been meaning to write this up since the flight home. I see a lot of posts here that are either pure hype or just complaints, so here's what it was actually like for a family of five.

The Room

We stayed in the two-bedroom Ambassador suite which was genuinely massive. King in one room, two queens in the other, two full bathrooms, a terrace with a plunge pool overlooking the ocean, and a living area in the middle. The five of us had more space than we do at home. The room comes loaded, minibar refilled every day, coffee machine, nice toiletries, and the kids got a welcome package when we arrived which they went crazy for.

The Three Areas of the Resort

Before you book this place you really need to understand how it's set up because nobody explains it well. The resort is split into three separate areas. There's Zen Grand which is back in the jungle and feels super private and peaceful. There's Ambassador which is the family zone closest to the beach and pools. And there's Grand Class which is more adults-oriented, oceanfront, and quieter. We were in Ambassador and for a family with kids it's the right call. Zen Grand looks amazing in photos but you're taking a golf cart every time you want to hit the beach and with kids that gets exhausting fast. Grand Class is beautiful but it's not designed with families in mind.

The Food

The food is where this resort genuinely earns its price tag. Eight restaurants all included, and we didn't have a bad meal the whole trip.

Cocina de Autor is the one everyone talks about and the hype is real. It has a Michelin star, which it's held for two years now, and it also just won some kind of national service award this year. It's a long tasting menu, elegant dress code, no kids under 16, and the whole thing takes about three hours. We went without the kids one night and it was one of the best meals either of us has had anywhere, not just at an all-inclusive, just anywhere.

Piaf is the French restaurant and it was our personal favorite of the trip. The vibe is incredible and the food matched it.

The other restaurants cover everything from Japanese to Italian to Mexican and they're all genuinely solid. The main buffet called Azul is the only one you can walk into without a reservation and it does the job when you just want something quick and easy. We also did a couple of lunches at the casual spots by the pools which were surprisingly good for poolside food.

One thing I cannot stress enough: book your restaurant reservations the second you check in. We waited until day two our first evening and half the good time slots were already gone. The resort doesn't look busy but the restaurants fill up fast.

The Bars

The bars are solid, premium spirits all included, and the pool bar service is actually good. The main lobby bar gets social in the evenings which we liked.

The Pools

Three pools and they're all different. The Ambassador pool is the big lively one with a swim-up bar and it's where most families end up. You need to get there early in the morning during busy periods or you're fighting for loungers, which is annoying. The Zen Grand pool is much more chill and shaded. The Grand Class pool is adults-preferred and has its own food situation over there that's worth checking out even if you're not staying in that section.

Kids and Teens

The kids club was recently redone and it shows. Our younger two actually wanted to go, which if you're a parent you know is not always the case. It's a good space, keeps them busy, and it's open late enough that we could do a proper dinner without stressing. Our teenager basically lived in the teens club. It has gaming, a cinema setup, all kinds of stuff. He gave it a 10 out of 10 which from a 14-year-old is basically a miracle.

The Spa

The spa is something else. It's built into a natural cenote which means the whole thing feels like you're underground in the jungle. You do a water ceremony before your treatment that goes through different temperatures and sensations and it sounds gimmicky but it's genuinely incredible. My wife said it was the best spa experience she's ever had. Go early, take your time, don't rush it.

One thing about the spa that caught us off guard: couples don't go through the water ceremony together. It's split by gender. We were expecting to experience it side by side and that wasn't how it works. Not a dealbreaker but worth knowing in advance.

The Beach

The beach was clean the whole time we were there. They actively manage the seaweed situation which is a real issue up and down the coast, and it showed. We were there in the right season for it so I can't speak to what it's like in summer.

The Service

Service was genuinely the best we've experienced at any resort. Our concierge seemed to anticipate things before we asked. One evening we mentioned offhand that it was our youngest's half-birthday as a joke and they showed up with something for her at turndown. That kind of thing.

The Price and the Honest Part

This place is expensive. We're a family of five and we stayed in a two-bedroom suite for six nights, so do the math on what that costs. It's a real number. If your family's idea of a great vacation is beach time and a cold drink and you don't care much about food or the spa or the experience beyond that, you can find a perfectly good resort for a lot less money. Grand Velas earns its premium but only if you're the type of traveler who actually uses everything it offers. We are, so for us it worked.

One more thing about tipping. We assumed it was all covered and in theory it is, but we ended up tipping throughout the trip because the staff was so consistently excellent and it felt right. Bring cash, you'll want it.

Happy to answer anything specific. Genuinely one of the best trips we've taken as a family.