Lorry Perkins
Writer, Travel Blogger
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Riviera Maya, Mexico: Should You Choose a Large or Small Resort?
It depends on what you like to do. There are large, all-inclusive Riviera Maya resorts that are 3 or 4 resorts in one, sometimes with exchange privileges, or you can go to a smaller resort with less area to cover. However, you will still have pools and a variety of restaurants to choose from.
Blue Bay Esmerelda: Smaller Resort and a Short Ride From the Cancun Airport
Our first resort, the Blue Bay Esmeralda, is small. There are 6 different restaurants to choose from, all within walking distance from your room. Unless you have a serious issue with walking, you should be able to walk to just about everything. After eating a delicious dinner at these restaurants, you will welcome the chance to take a stroll afterward. The Blue Bay Grand Esmerelda all-inclusive Riviera Maya Mexico resort is also somewhat closer to the Cancun airport, so your ride from the airport to the resort is approximately only a 30-minute drive.
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The hotel has 3 swimming pools with lounge chairs around them. You will see complaints at some resorts that visitors are saving the chairs at sunrise, making it more difficult to find a place, but in all of our trips, that has only been an issue a couple of times. If you go in peak season, it may be more of an issue than in the shoulder season or offseason.
Golf, Fitness Center, and Nightly Entertainment
Just about every hotel has some sort of option to golf either on or off-site, but since we are not avid golfers, we haven’t sought out a course, and we have been too busy even to consider it. All resorts have a fitness center included that we have used, so if you have a regular indoor workout you want to maintain, you can do so. No matter the size of the resort, there is usually nightly entertainment. This can range from the hotel entertainment team performing to Michael Jackson impersonators. Lately, the new show is Queen.
Ocean Riviera Paradise
Ocean Riviera Paradise is located approximately 30 miles from the Cancun International Airport and nearby to Playa del Carmen. The contemporary style resort has 4 sections including Daisy for families, Eden with direct pool access, El Beso for adults only, and a Privilege, VIP section.
The resort is not too large meaning it is walkable unlike the megaresorts, but there are shuttles in case you need a lift. It is laid out like a small village, so you can easily walk from the lobby through the “town” to the beach. Along the way, in addition to the guest’s rooms, there is an ice cream parlor, coffee shop, small retail stores, and restaurants on either side of the wide walkway.
The Advantages of a Large Resort
So what is the advantage of a large resort? For us, lots of variety, and we like to walk. We take long walks from one resort to another, and we go to different pools with various activities, a quiet adult pool or a pool with a swim-up bar. It’s like living in a small town where you can travel back and forth depending on your desire.
TRS Yucatan Hotel | Part of the Grand Palladium
The TRS Yucatan Hotel, part of the Grand Palladium in Riviera Maya, offers all-inclusive adults-only luxury and is located approximately an hour and a half from the Cancun airport and 30 minutes from Playa Del Carmen. Combined, I would consider this a megaresort, but the TRS has its own partially secluded area allowing guests to use that area exclusively or venture beyond for the large resort experience.
TRS stands for The Royal Suites, so that must be why we felt like royalty on our recent visit. My lasting impression of this resort is service, service, service. From the butlers to the pool manager to the restaurant staff and bar waiters, they constantly ask what you need and are ready to help. My hats off to the management because they have put together a fabulous team focused on taking extremely good care of the guests.
Grand Bahia Principe
Our favorite large resort is the Grand Bahia Principe Akumal. We love this all-inclusive Riviera Maya vacation because there is live music everywhere at night, both before and after dinner. Occasionally, you will find live music during the day either by the pool or on the beach. When you leave your room dressed for dinner, you walk past either a band playing or maybe a solo artist singing. There is traditional Mexican music and top 40 dance music. Also, there is a show that you can attend in the auditorium. At the Grand Bahia, there’s usually music in the lobbies, sometimes by the pool, or in central areas of the resort.
If you like the big resort but don’t want to walk everywhere, some trams run consistently through the resort. It’s fun to use the trams to see other parts of the resort. There is a resort across the road at the Bahia, the Sian Ka’an, that is adults only. It has a lobby bar, 3 pools, restaurants, and a fantastic breakfast buffet that we go to at least a few times during our stay. Sometimes they will have a person singing and playing guitar while you dine. We stayed at the Sian Ka’an and had a great time, but we decided that we missed being close to the beach and Akumal’s new infinity pool that sits right on the beach. Next door to the infinity pool, there is a restaurant that we sometimes go to for drinks and snacks in the afternoon. It’s one of our favorite places in the resort to hang out and make memories.
Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf and Spa Resort
Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf & Spa Resort, located in Puerto Morelos, is approximately 29 miles from the Cancun Airport. This mega-resort is actually 5 resorts in one. It includes Paraiso Delmar & Beach, Paraiso Lindo & Maya and Paraiso Grand. Because of the close proximity to the airport, once you arrive in Cancun, your vacation starts practically right away. One of the reasons we chose this resort for our family vacation is the location and another is the Star Camp for kids ages 4-17. We knew the kids would be entertained as well as the adults. This resort has something for everyone.
Over the past few years we have been vacationing here, we’ve noticed that Iberostar has continued to make improvements. The Star Camp has been updated, waterslides have been added to the resort, and a beautiful two-story glass front fitness center was built. We felt this resort already had one of the nicest fitness centers of all of the resorts in which we have stayed, now it is even better. The impressive-looking new fitness center has state-of-the-art equipment and machines, a cycling studio, and multisport rooms for yoga, Zumba, kickboxing, and more. If you want to stay in shape while on vacation, you will be able to do that here. We’ve only stayed in the Del Mar in the past, but have walked the grounds of the other parts of resorts. In addition, we’ve attended a couple of sales tours which enabled us to see other parts of the resorts like the Grand and home sites. While we are not fond of sales tours, we decide to do tours here during prior trips and received credit to visit the Isla Mujeres and have 2 massages at the spa on another visit.
Because we wanted to have access to the waterslides, wave, pool, and lazy river, we decided to upgrade to the Lindo when we brought our multigenerational family with us rather than stay at the Del Mar, but if we were traveling by ourselves, we would consider the Delmar or Lindo.
Which Do You Prefer?
Now that you know some of the differences between a small and large resort? Which do you prefer? Once you decide, it will help you narrow down your choice of resorts. Of course, this is only one of the characteristics to consider, but please read my posts about the resorts if you need more details about resorts.
Book Your Travel
When traveling to Riviera Maya, we always book with our travel agent Jim Lucente. Rest assured that you will know the latest Covid protocols and have the added layer of a professional to contact directly with any questions or concerns. I highly recommend that you contact Jim Lucente, owner of Lucente Travel, at 412-299-7699 or email him at jim@lucentetravel.com to book your all-inclusive vacation.
If you prefer to book online, you can book here or compare reviews at Tripadvisor.
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[…] There are hundreds of resorts and hotels to choose from in Rivera Maya. So how do you choose which resort is best for you? Things to consider include How many people you are traveling with and their ages, assessability to beaches, pools, and restaurants if you have small children or if you have anyone with limited ability to walk, whether or not you want activities and entertainment available on the resort or if you prefer to go on excursions in the surrounding area. Are you looking for an adults-only resort or perhaps a romantic vacation? Do you prefer the beach or the pool…or both? Do you want to stay at a large or small resort? […]
[…] Riviera Maya, Mexico: Should You Choose a Large or Small Resort? […]
We recently took a vacation to the Riviera Maya. We stayed in Playa del Carmen, but I definitely prefer a larger resort. More entertainment options, restaurants on site, and gorgeous pools. Thanks so much for sharing these accommodations.
I have stayed at Ocean Riviera Paradise and I loved it! I am a fan of the larger resorts because I enjoy the variety they offer with restaurants. I am headed to Mexico in a few days and will be staying at another large resort. I can’t wait! I can see the appeal of a smaller resort for a honeymoon, but I prefer the larger ones.
When we travelled with kids, we always wanted a big resort with lots of things to do and many food options. These days we are more likely to want a smaller resort for the quiet. But I would probably make the decision based on offerings at specific resorts. There are indeed so many to choose from.
Overall, I am not much of a resort person, but this was a great article. I think I would prefer the small option for the more secluded experience.
Usually, I don’t go to resorts. However, on my recent trip, I stayed for three nights at a resort since it was a very convenient and pretty cheap option. It was a very big resort and therefore, I didn’t feel bothered by the activities – it was surprisingly nice. This stay kinda convinced me that your stay doesn’t only depend on your surroundings but mainly on your mindset. So whatever you choose – as long as you have a positive attitude, go for it.
I think I would opt for a smaller resort normally but if the resorts are spread out and not high rise I wouldn’t mind. I love that there are a lot of choices in the area. Iberostar Playa is large but looks more like a small resort on the pictures. I imagine thats down to the lovely design and being so spread out.
Riviera Maya is a perfect place for holidays. I prefer small resorts. But I think large resorts are also great, especially for families with kids, as they usually have more swimming pools, lots of facilities for kids, more activities. I would choose Blue Bay Esmeralda for my stay.
I have no choice but to go-to El Cid’s mega resort of Ventus, La Marina, and Ventus Ha. We own points for 2 month all-inclusive stay every year
This loos like a really beautiful place to visit whether you stay in a small or larger resort. But it’s definitely good to read about the difference and which one is better.
I hope this was helpful for you.