The Riviera Maya is one of the most popular vacation spots (no pun intended) and accounts for 40% of Mexico’s tourism dollars. All-inclusive resorts line the coast of the Riviera Maya to facilitate the arrival of large numbers of visitors, and these tourists often feel safe staying at a resort in a foreign country like Mexico. But to determine if an all-inclusive resort is right for you, you need to consider some little-known facts about such resorts, regarding eating at the best restaurants, the type of alcohol you consume, and off-resort tours when you want to venture off the beaten track. property. This article will aim to show you some of the drawbacks when staying at an all-inclusive resort and what other options you have in the Riviera Maya.
If you want more than just buffet food during your resort stay, be aware that many Riviera Maya resorts have disincentives to make it not too easy to eat at their best sit-down restaurants. Often the resort will ask you to make a reservation if you want to eat at a sit down restaurant. While this seems reasonable on the surface, it is actually designed to discourage many tourists from eating in the best restaurants. First, the resort may often ask you to make such reservations a day in advance. So, at a minimum, if your resort requires this, you will not be able to eat in a sit-down restaurant on the first day of your stay!
And they may only be able to accept such restaurant reservations during certain hours in the morning, further limiting when you can secure a meal at one of their best restaurants. If you’ve been up drinking late the night before or have a tour booked out of the resort for the morning, this can be a very inconvenient time. And then the resort will ask you to wait in line for the concierge to make the reservation. It’s just a line and due to the limited time allowed to make reservations, the line is often long and requires a long wait, something you might not want to do on your vacation. This is even more frustrating when in the evening if you pass by one of the restaurants you may notice that a particular restaurant has many open tables but will not allow you to eat in the restaurant without a reservation. So when looking to stay at any Riviera Maya resort, consider contacting the resort and asking about their policy for making dinner reservations.
Another concern if you are thinking of staying at an all-inclusive resort in the Riviera Maya is the quality of its alcohol. Some resorts will advertise that they serve certain premium alcoholic beverages. But keep in mind that some resorts, while advertising that they serve premium alcoholic beverages, may offer them only at specific bars. These bars may not always be accessible or easily accessible. So if premium alcohol is important to you, check with the resort before making your reservations to determine if they offer premium alcohol at all of their bars or just a select few, and how easily accessible those bars are. An excellent tool is the Riviera Maya EZ-Locator, which will allow you to search for vacation rentals by owner instead of resorts, and locate only those villas or condos that meet certain conditions, such as whether restaurants are within walking distance or they are top notch. alcohol can be provided in your Riviera Maya vacation rental.
Finally, many tourists don’t realize that Riviera Maya resorts want to keep tourists on the property, spending money at the resort. The resort knows it has tourists on lockdown, so to speak, so it charges a premium for many services. Off-resort Riviera Maya exploration tours are another way resorts like to charge premium prices. For example, at one resort I know of, the resort charges $100 per person for a tour to a nearby ruin. And this is on a bus packed with other tourists. Now if you like to stay with a group like that and not venture out on your own, then this may be for you. But one can simply take a private taxi outside the complex, pay $25 for a one-way ride to the ruins, and pay $5 for the entrance fee. Round trip is $55 and you get the privacy of your own taxi, you can explore the ruins at your own pace and you didn’t have to wait in line at the resort to book the tour. Consider venturing outside the resort for better deals on tours or exploring the Riviera Maya yourself via taxi or rental car.
So you can see that an all-inclusive resort can offer obstacles to enjoying yourself, at your leisure, in terms of access and increased prices. If a resort seems too restrictive, an alternative option is to stay in a Riviera Maya vacation rental, such as a villa (vacation home) or condominium. All-inclusive resorts can give you a carefree Riviera Maya vacation, but vacation rentals by owner can be great options that give you more freedom, choice, and value to explore the Riviera Maya at your leisure.