Villa del Palmar Cancun Luxury Beach Resort & Spa

We were so nervous traveling to Mexico while Hurricane Katia was around the corner and Hurricane Irma was destroying a lot of the Caribbean. When we got to the hotel they assured us the weather would be great, that Hurricanes don't really come around Cancun and that we would be taken care of. Since we were expecting to stay in the hotel the entire trip we didn't plan any excursions- Amstar was on site of the hotel and booked EVERYTHING for us when we landed. It was a little annoying that we left our bags with the bell men and we had to constantly call down for our bags to be sent up (took almost an hour which was ridiculous). Besides our bags Amstar scheduled a full day excursion on day 1 with ATVs, Zip lining, Swimming in a cave and diving into a Cenote. Full day of activities was exactly what we wanted. Day 2 was a long trip on a luxury bus to Chichen Itza followed by swimming in a 130 foot deep Cenote called X'toloc. We spent our last day relaxing by the pools and throughout our whole trip the staff was so friendly, remembered who we were, we got to work on our Spanish with them and we couldn't have asked for a more attentive and friendly group of staff members at this hotel. This hotel was large but not so big that it would take a long time to get around the entire property, we will definitely be back to Villa Del Palmar.

We based our trip on the overall reviews from other customers and were not disappointed at all. You are greeted with cold towels and warm smiles as soon as you arrive. The service was absolutely incredible during our entire stay. We did the all inclusive package and it was worth is. The dinning options were really great and the food was wonderful, the only disappointment was the Italian restaurant, the sauces were to salty and the menu did not really include the basic staples you would expect, but it was outweighed by a great flat bread appetizer and the service was top notch (these are clearly 1st world complaints). I highly recommend Sergio at the Tiki bar on the beach, he was fantastic. We gave him a very specific drink order and how we like it made and he remembered it to "T" for the entire week. My best recommendation is to bring generous tip money. Yes it says gratuity is included but what the servers really get from that is laughable. Tip generously in Pesos and you will be treated like royalty. My only recommendation to avoid is the silly timeshare presentation, sure they lure you in with a "VIP" card which if you are planning to do all the things it includes you (free trips to ruins, money off the deli, spa treatments price cuts) then it's worth the 4 hours they will put you through. But we got that out of the way on morning 1 and never looked back. Even arriving the day Hurricane Irma was landing in the Keys, the ocean was still rather churned up, but by the next day they had the beach combed and spotless and the water cleared more and more each subsequent day after, it worked out great. The other hats off to the staff is the constant cleaning, nothing is ever remotely dirty, public restrooms, restaurants, rooms everything was spotless 24 hours a day. So overall, we loved out stay here and would certainly return again. The pools were beautiful, the restaurants and dinning options never left us bored and the drinks and views were perfect. We loved it.

We took a girls trip for my 30th birthday and were excited to be going to Cancun. When we arrived we were greeted by friendly staff and the check in process was decent, considering there were 8 of us. Many of us have been to all-inclusive resorts before and have to say the food was by far the best (specifically the La Casona and Hiroshi). However, La Casona would not accept reservations if you are not a 'member' so we had to wait until a new table could fit 8 when a 'member' reserved a table for 8 and didn't arrive on time. Zama - by far the best wait staff. The manager went above and beyond to ensure that we enjoyed our trip and time at the resort. The day-time entertainment staff was exceptional! They were great at getting the vacationers to participate in activities and ensure everyone was enjoying themselves. We definitely would have had a different/less fun experience at the resort if it were not for them. The overall feel of the resort was good, but definitely wish they had sprayed more for mosquitoes. I understand they were hit with Lidia before we arrived, so that may have been the cause for the mosquitoes.

First, the good: - The food. Some of the best all-inclusive food we've ever had. We've been to a number of all-inclusive resorts, and Villa del Palmar had the best food of any of them. - Pool Service. Great folks bringing food, drinks, umbrellas, towels, pretty much anything we needed all the time. It was a real treat to just lounge by the pool all day, and have our every need met. - The rooms. Our rooms were very clean, the beds comfortable, and mostly well maintained. The bad: - The beach. The disclaimer here is that hurricane Franklin went by the second day we were there. So this probably stirred up the ocean, and made seaweed come in. However, even later in the week, when the hurricane was long gone, there were no fish to be seen while snorkeling in the beach off the resort. And, even though they cleaned up the seaweed daily, they piled it just next to the resort, and it stunk terribly. We ended up at the pool most days because the beach was so bad. And we usually far prefer the beach. - WiFi. This was one of our biggest beefs. The WiFi costs $10 per day per device. We've never been to a resort recently that didn't have free WiFi, so this was kind of surprising to us. And way overboard expensive. - Signing for meals. This was such a pain. Because there are options for all-inclusive and not, we had to sign for each meal. We've never been in a resort where we had to sign for the meal. If you're considering not going all-inclusive here, don't. The food is really expensive. I'm glad we did the all-inclusive option. - The staff's willingness to work with us. We requested one room with a king, and another room with two queens. Both rooms had a king, so our daughters had to sleep in one bed. We asked them to be moved, but the would have had to be in a separate building far from us. And the staff seemed to be reluctant to do this. - Membership sales. This gets so old. Every resort we go to any more it seems there is a big sales pitch for membership (not Time-Share, but sure looks like Time-Share!). We found them pushy even though we made it obvious that we didn't want to sit through the presentation. - NO nightlife! My wife and I really wanted something to do late at night, but the resort pretty much shuts down at 11. Granted it's a family resort, but it would be nice to have something to do. - Buffet closed three nights of the week. We were very surprised by this. The restaurants were open, but because the buffet was closed, the wait times were often 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Overall, we did like the resort, it was clean, well cared for and most of the staff was very good, but we won't go back. There are a lot of other resorts we think are better and better value.