Magnificent Mexico
We had a fabulous time and now the kids are 11 and 13, and up for a bit of adventure I think the combination of apartment, hotel and city break created the perfect holiday for us.
We did our tried and tested holiday formula of 4 nights in an apartment, staying 4 nights in Playa del Carmen in a beautiful two-bedroom apartment right next to 5th avenue, followed by 6 nights at an all inclusive, in Playacar at a wonderful resort on a beautiful beach and then did a 4-night city break stopover in a fabulous apartment in vibrant Miami beach before returning home.
Using AA and BA’s network this worked so well as you get a free stop in the USA on the way home from Mexico which we have access on our GDS to book. I can do this for my clients too – so just let me know if this is something you would like to do!
We started in Playa Del Carmen, staying at The Fives Downtown Hotel & Residences: https://www.thefiveshotels.com/downtown
This is a lovely hotel, steps from 5th Avenue with a fabulous roof top pool. The two-bedroom apartment was so spacious, we hardly saw the kids when there as they had their own entrance behind the communal front door and own bathroom. The lobby had turtles in the indoor pond and was very stylish indeed! We organized a tour to Isla Mujeres from the hotel which was crazy but worth doing and we did our own tour to Tulum, using local clean and efficient buses from the nearby bus terminal and caught a cab back.
Pros: Great location, fabulous stylish apartment, lovely reception that will do service washes for you very cheaply, breakfast available on site and one of the best rooftop pools I’ve ever seen with views over the sea and beyond.
Cons: A little noisy outside but it is in the centre of Playa Del Carmen!
We then stayed in Playacar at the all-inclusive Iberostar Quetzal: https://www.iberostar.com/en/hotels/riviera-maya/iberostar-quetzal/
This hotel is connected to Iberostar Tucan and between them they have something I’ve never seen before in a resort, their own nature reserve. It’s very hard to describe so you really must see it for yourself – they have Coatis (racoon type creatures), Aguti (Capibara type creatures), Flamingos, Peacocks, Howler Monkeys, African Turtles, Iguanas, several other birds and other creatures wondering around the nature reserve and in some cases, (especially with the naughty Peacocks, Agutis and Coatis) the whole resort and beach! The kids loved seeing all the animals and they appear to be treated really well as all looked healthy and happily wondering around!
The beach is beautiful, and we rarely saw much sargassum, which was something we did worry about. The main pool is huge, and everything is very clean and well maintained. The entertainment team were very enthusiastic and did everything in two languages, English and Spanish.
Interestingly, the main nationality at the resort is Argentine – which we found amusing as most of my family come from Argentina. My husband joked repeatedly that many of the other hotel guests sounded like one of my many relatives! The food was healthy, delicious and plentiful and even though you are only allocated 3 a la carte in a week’s stay, they have a system where each morning you can ask about cancelations so if you are flexible on timings, it’s possible to have a la carte every night if wanted.
Pros: Beautiful beach, great wildlife, enthusiastic and lovely staff, food was great, and drinks were flowing, relaxed atmosphere and very clean. It's super eco as no single use plastic and refillable water bottles and toiletries.
Cons: A little tired looking and in the classic Caribbean style, a bit of upselling in restaurants with drinks which was frustrating. We just said no and went with the very adequate wine from the all-inclusive. They seem used to Americans and Argentines tipping but we never carried money around and no one seemed to mind.
Next and last stop was Miami - read more on the next blog! To be continued!..........