Aventura Spa Palace-Definitely Recommend It.
Written: Jun 01 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Staff--Always an Hola and a smile. Use of other Palace Resorts included.
Cons: Time Share pitch (although worth it in the end), Food.
The Bottom Line: I would highly recommend this hotel as an AI, relaxing, secluded vacation. You can do or NOT do whatever you want to.
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| cpalma's Full Review: Aventura Spa Palace All Inclusive |
We researched to death this 50th Birthday trip for my Husband. We heard good and bad about many different resorts in the Riviera Maya, which is where we wanted to be, and finally decided on the Aventura Spa Palace [ASP] (May 12-19, 2007).
We booked our trip through Costco. Our trip included 7 nights--all inclusive, transportation to and from the ASP, 1 free snorkeling trip (including transportation) in Cozumel and $160.00 Costco gift card upon return.
We arrived at the Airport in Cancun and after dodging all the time share people (we were warned ahead of time about this) went to our pre-arranged transportation. Pre-arranging transportation in Mexico, especially if you are a first time visitor, is strongly recommended. Between the time share hawks and the taxi hawks, it makes for a much less stressful arrival in Mexico.
There were multiple representatives from "Best Day Travel" there to greet us. The first thing we did was show them our voucher. They immediately confirmed our return flight and let us know when we would be picked up in 7 days for our return to the airport. We were asked to wait a short 5 minutes, then we were loaded into a van. After stops at other hotels on the way to ours, we arrived at the ASP.
We were greeted with champagne (pretty good--not Asti-Spumanti) and I even asked for a refill. We had asked for a room on an upper floor, and when they gave us our keys, found out we were on the ground level. We asked them if we could change to an upper floor, King Bed, ocean view. No matter what we asked for the Reception Desk crew accomodated us, with a smile and positively no attitude. I had heard that Reception was unaccomodating to a lot of visitors and was pleasantly surprised by our encounter. We were told the room would be available in 1-2 hours, given bracelets and told to go get some lunch.
We were stopped on our way out by a representative of the hotel to give us some information (wink, wink--time share). My husband said we've been traveling all day and need to eat. We'll catch up with you later. The man said, with a smile, no problem, walked us to the door and pointed out the restaurant. El Greco Restaurant: all types of food offered, buffet (including cooked to order hamburgers, steaks, salmon, chicken), smoothy station, etc. Not the best, but certainly not the worst buffet I've ever been to.
Went back in and looked for and found the time share guy to get it over with. We were told that if we went to the presentation, we would get spa credits and decided to take advantage of the free money. Set up an appointment for a few days later. Check back in with Reception, got our keys and were taken to our room.
Good size room, king size bed, ceiling fan, double jacuzzi with bath bubbles available, large walk-in-shower, large and plentiful toiletries, balcony with two chairs and hammock, partial ocean view (only the presidential suites have full ocean view). The room was clean. Tile floors through entire room, but with scatter rugs on either side of the bed. Limited drawer space, but plenty of hangers (I've found that this seems to be a trend in many hotels, not just this one). Color TV with 1 American channel, but other channels in English with Spanish subtitles. Refrigerator, stocked with soda, beer and water and drink dispenser on wall. We are not drinkers and only drank soda and water, so I can't comment on refills.
Our room was cleaned daily, except for 1 day. We were out for the entire day and didn't return until 10:00pm. I called the front desk and asked them to clean my room, they accomodated me. Each night the bed was turned down and fresh towels were given. We tipped (left $2 pesos on our pillow) each day.
We went to the time share presentation. Beautiful property, but we weren't looking to buy. We were hounded, and hounded, but eventually told them thanks but no thanks. They weren't thrilled with us, but nevertheless gave us our promised vouchers, which were $200 in Spa Credits and $100 towards a tour of our choice, plus 2 Cancun T-Shirts. IMO, well worth the 2 hours of our day.
The Spa was heaven on earth. We booked our massages (hot stone massage) and were told we could take advantage of their amenities before. This included a hot foot tub, jacuzzi, cold plunge tub, steam room & sauna. All the while there are Spa employees waiting on you. The Spa experience was wonderful and the steam and sauna were even better after the massage. I spent 1 hour after my massage just relaxing and using all the amenities. The Spa staff were just like every other staff member in the ASP-wonderful.
Trips: We booked trips to Tulum (free with AI), Excaret (used our $100 time share gift), and our snorkeling trip to Cozumel (free with Costco).
Tulum was great. Good guide. Very informative. Comfortable air conditioned bus ride (large motor coach bus). Complaint #1 is the picking up of passengers. Due to all the resorts being on one side of the road, for every trip to pick up, the bud driver needed to do a U-Turn. He would pick up passengers, then do another U-Turn to put us in the right direction. Why wouldn't they start at the farthest Hotel, pick up all the passengers, then make a final U-Turn to go to the destination? Complaint #2. After the tour is over instead of returning you to your hotel, they take you to a market of sorts for souvenirs. Big push to buy, but by this time I think everyone wants to go back to the beaches and pools.
Excaret. Not included in the AI, but well worth the trip. This is a whole day trip to an Eco Theme Park. Our tickets included admission, lunch or dinner, 4 drinks, towel, snorkel equipment, and locker.
Cozumel/Snorkeling. Free Costco trip (but this trip is offered at the hotel for a fee). We took a cab to Playa Del Carmen, where we met a Representative who gave us ferry vouchers. Got on the ferry at the appointed time and had a 30-40 minute ride to Cozumel. We were escorted to our assigned activities (snorkel, snuba, or scuba), told where to meet after the activity for lunch and sent on our ways. Nice snorkel trip--they took us to two locations in the 2nd biggest reef in the world, the first being the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We met for lunch in a marketplace in Cozumel. Very nice meal. We decided to leave the tour at this point and check out the Cozumel Palace. We had our return vouchers for the ferry, so this was no problem.
Staying at the ASP and wearing your bracelet gave you a pass to get into any of the other Palace Resorts in Mexico. There are 5 or 6 in the Riviera Maya area (10 total in Mexico). We went to the Cozumel Palace and relaxed and swam in their pool. We asked at the desk for shower facilities. They informed us there were none available to the public, but if available, we would be able to use a hospitality suite. We were given the key to just such a room, allowed to use it for 30 minutes--just enough time to shower, shave (razor provided) and clean up for dinner. We ate dinner in the Italian Restaurant (Excellent) and sat on the outdoor patio by the pool and ocean for a drink and cigar. This was a great bonus for us and I wish I had time to visit other Palace Resorts during the time we were there.
Nightly/Daily Entertainment: There is daily and nightly entertainment provided. It's cheezy fun stuff that you can either participate in or not. We chose to participate. We played pool bingo, trivia, volleyball, name that tune all out by the pool. At night there were shows: Vegas Night, Jeopardy, Fire Show outside by the beach, Mayan History, Mr. Aventura Palace (a hotel guest wins this title), and Circus. We had a blast. Sure it is cheezy entertainment, but the young men and women running it were so friendly and kind, you just sort of went with it. Like I said if you didn't want to participate, then don't.
My only regret is I wanted just 1 more day to vegetate by the pool.
The food: Like I mentioned before. The food is not the best I've ever had, but it's not the worst either.
The drinks: Free.
The Staff: Couldn't be more friendly if they tried.
Rooms: Clean, comfortable.
Beach: NONE. They have a man-made lagoon instead.
Pool: Clean, cool, and large.
Tips: This hotel is split into two almost separate properties--the North Side and the South Side--with transportation provided between. If you wished to walk between the two it is possible but probably a 10-15 min. walk. The restaurants are split between the two. The entertainment is as well (although daily entertainment by the pools is offered at both). The Disco is on the South Side. The Spa is on the North. The North is supposed to be more relaxing, but I think either side is fine.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cpalma
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
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