BlueBay Grand Esmeralda - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

19000 reviews

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  Beautiful Grounds and a Friendly Staff, but the Beach is a Letdown

  I recently stayed at this resort in the Riviera Maya, conveniently located near Playa del Carmen. While there were many highlights, a few significant drawbacks kept this from being a 5-star experience. The Highlights: • Service: The staff is exceptional. From housekeeping to the gardeners, everyone greets you with a warm "Buenos Días." • Dining: The food variety is great. The French and Italian restaurants were standout favorites. Surprisingly, the Mexican restaurant was mediocre and the least impressive of the bunch. • Entertainment: The team does a great job; the fire show was a particular highlight. • Maintenance: The grounds are kept very clean. While the distance between reception and rooms is long, the frequent golf cart shuttle service is a lifesaver. The Drawbacks: • The Beach: If you are coming for the iconic turquoise Caribbean water, you will be disappointed. The water here is dark and turbid; my friend and I jokingly renamed the resort "Brown Bay Esmeralda." • The Pool Scarcity: There aren't enough chaise lounges for the number of guests. You have to wake up at dawn to "reserve" a spot. To make matters worse, most shaded chairs are roped off for "Circle One" loyalty members, which feels unfair given the high price of the travel packages. Also, note there is no swim-up bar. • Room Condition & Wildlife: The rooms need TLC—we noticed rusty mirrors, cracks in the walls, and roof issues. More importantly: Lock your balcony doors! The local wildlife (raccoons and coatis) are clever enough to open doors. They raided our room and stole an entire bag of candy! • Wifi: The internet signal is bad. So you will need roamimg or a data plan. Final Verdict: This is a solid 4-star hotel, but I wouldn't recommend it to friends specifically because the beach doesn't live up to the Riviera Maya dream.

  Dec 30, 2025
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  The good, the bad & the ugly

  Overall: This was marketed as a 4.5-star resort. Lie detector determined that was a lie. We made the best of it, but we would not return. Check-in & Accessibility (or lack thereof): Check-in was unimpressive from the start. We arrived late and had clearly requested adjoining rooms due to our son being blind and our discomfort leaving him and our 16-year-old daughter alone. This was requested through Sunwing and confirmed directly with the hotel prior to arrival. Despite that, we were told no adjoining rooms were available. As a result, my husband and I were separated for the entire stay. Great start. Room Issues — Unacceptable: The first night was a disaster. My husband went to his room to find the bed sheets and comforter covered in fecal matter. On top of that, the fridge wasn’t restocked and there were no towels in the room. Somehow, at checkout, the hotel attempted to charge us for the stained bedding. That ended quickly once I showed photos of the soiled linens that were in the room upon arrival. If anything, they owed us an apology and a refund. Rooms & Layout: We stayed in Building 8. The room was clean a bit outdated but clean. The mattress was comfortable; the pillows were not. Water pressure was weak, though we always had hot-ish water. The walk to the beach is long, but golf carts were usually available. Beach & Pools: The beach was underwhelming. Seaweed is one thing, but the makeshift piers and wave breakers made the view downright unpleasant. There are two pools with plenty of loungers, sometimes still tough to find one but that’s the reality of being at a busy resort. Food & Dining: The buffet was actually decent, better than what we’ve experienced in Cuba and the DR. Booking à la cartes felt like winning the lottery. We managed the Mexican and Steakhouse, both fine but forgettable. The Italian restaurant was available once during our 7-day stay, and the steakhouse also only once, as all à la cartes rotate through one location. For a “4.5-star” resort, that’s weak. Drinks: Drink selection was solid and consistently good. Bars around the pools typically understaffed so can find yourself waiting a while to get a drink if you go up at the wrong time. Vibe: Not ideal for older teenagers due to the demographic. The energy was very low. The music at the pool was the exact same playlist everyday. I requested different playlist to which they replied that they had 1 approved playlist so get ready to hear the same songs over and over and over again. Staff: The bar, restaurant, and entertainment staff were excellent and genuinely saved the trip. Unfortunately, the front desk and concierge were the exact opposite. Final Verdict: This resort overpromises and underdelivers. Between accessibility failures, unacceptable room conditions, and misleading expectations, it fell far short of its rating. We still enjoyed our trip because we make the best of anywhere we go, but this review reflects our honest experience with the resort.

  Dec 29, 2025
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  Good resort to stay in !

  We stayed at the BlueBay Grand Esmeralda in mid-December 2025. 1) Food: Excellent variety and quality. Loved the Festival buffet for breakfast, and the Steakhouse and French restaurant (superior meal and food plating) for dinner. Mexican restro wasn't good, very spicy and the food presentation looked like a dirty dish. 2) Staff: Extremely friendly and helpful. Special thanks to Carlos for the fun cart rides and to Pedro for the great shooting activity — both went above and beyond. 3) Pool & Beach: Plenty of available loungers at all times thanks to a no-reserving policy. Pool was clean and warm. Beach had a few shells near the shore, but a short walk down yielded clear, easy entry. 4) Room (Building 7): Everything worked well, daily cleaning was consistent, and the room was always tidy. Elevator issues were resolved quickly. Stunning garden view. 5) Grounds: The resort layout is stunning. Large, immaculate, and beautifully designed. 6) Transportation: Carts pass frequently, making it easy to get around without long walks. 7) Wildlife: Enjoyed seeing the unique animals and birds throughout the property. 8) Things to improve: We had a two-day delay in getting our water bottles refilled, requiring multiple requests. Also, tips left for housekeeping occasionally seemed to be taken by the fridge-stocking crew. Overall, we had a good stay.

  Dec 28, 2025
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  Trolly service is terrible!

  We are a family of 4 ( 2 adults and 2 small children). We are here now.. we had to do a room change because of the very strong mold smell in our room. We are in building 7 and they moved us from the bottom floor to the top and it was much better! The resort itself is pretty decent -nice landscape and clean. They have 2 big pools - we always had problems finding a lounger at the beach and pools. We have no complaints except for the trolly service around the resort - if you have small children or mobility issues and rely on trolly service forget it! They are very unreliable and come randomly and when they do come around they are full.. the main pool is far from building 7 and we waited over an hour for a trolly to come and when it did it was full-another couple decided to walk to let us on with our sleepy children. The food is OK but nothing special…

  Dec 27, 2025
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  Spend the extra $200 and stay somewhere else

  Only had a two day stay at blue Bay. Flight was cancelled and had to pit in here until next flight. Having stayed at over 10 resorts in the Mayan this one always popped up on red tag, WestJet, Sunwing…. I am so glad we never Paid money to stay here. Rooms old, gross dated moldy, dirty bloody, list goes on. Buffet food was decent, beach, and pools nothing special, night life was something but no air flow, entertainment crew was actually pretty decent. Coffee shop was nice, gym was small but clean. I think overall it fail.

  Dec 26, 2025