Playa La Cruz

Let me start by saying I’ve stayed here a few times and always have loved it. The rooms are beautiful still the staff is very friendly until something comes up then you can feel tension. I’m not gonna go into full detail about everything but I’ll just say this. You need to understand if you’re staying here. You’re going to hear loud music played at the pool during the weekends very hard to relax in your room with thumping music. Second and the part that made this stay very difficult was the Wi-Fi would drop every 30 to 45 minutes. The TV in the bedroom wouldn’t play anything because it couldn’t get a signal and they tried to make up excuse after excuse saying the rain does that although it didn’t rain the whole time I was there and then I got an email from the owner saying that the Head staff told him it was my phone configuration. It ended up being something we talked about the entire stay, which is a shame because again the place is beautiful.

Love at first sight The sound of the waves, the smell of the sea, the warm sun on my skin, the taste of an amazing cocktail great sunsets,… it all comes back when I close my eyes. What an amazing vacation! I can say that as well personally as professionally I have stayed in many hotels. But this one …. Oh my God! A new love is born. After being a loyal Palladium/Royal Suites Riviera Maya guest (6 times), and a great disillusion in the Royal Suites in Punta de Mita the week prior to coming to Grand Velas, I have found a new love! Many (good and even great) reviews have been written about the Grand Velas, so I will try to highlight some things you may not have read in most of the reviews. It all starts with ….. people! When we arrived, immediately a bell boy opened the door of our cab. This is indeed the least you expect when you book in this kind of hotel. We were asked to take place in the nice sofas where someone would come to check us in (no need to go to the check-in desk). We were brought a welcome drink in the meantime. Check-in went very smoothly and we even got a welcome massage (shoulders and neck) from 2 ladies of the Spa. So far, everything you would expect from this type of hotel. But then comes the bell boy, a young guy of about 22 years old. He would show us our room and bring the luggage a couple of minutes later. On our way to our room he stops and asks us if we want to go directly to our room or if we want to take a look at the hotel and its facilities first. So far quite normal, but what impressed me greatly that he made a tour with us throughout the hotel, the Spa, the à la carte restaurants, buffet, tennis court, …. With a lot of information. He was really proud of ‘his’ hotel! And this is something we noticed throughout the 11 days we were there: all staff is very well trained and the management really has the confidence in all its staff, from bottom to top, to take care of the guests. I do not know how many companies would have the confidence in and would empower an ‘ordinary’ (absolutely no offence) employee to guide visitors around. I have hardly seen in any of the hotels or resorts that we have been that staff is trained with only one purpose: you put our guests – each individually - at the center of everything you do! It is by the training of these people, by empowering and trusting them, that they reach this kind of service level. A service that makes the difference. A huge difference! Every single staff is so proud to be part of this hotel. Great management! Our room: We had a great room and an even greater view. Our only concern was the rather small closet (3 adults – on the road for 31 days, we had quite some clothes). So we asked if it there was an alternative and the next morning, we had a rack and extra clothes hangers in our room! Maybe next time we will ask a room in the ‘middle’ of the hotel so that we can enjoy the sunset from our terrace. But is not, absolutely no remarks on the room: great beds, great terrace, great bathroom with jacuzzi and shower,… One small issue though, my daughter’s headphones (apple ear-ins) got lost. Though she never took them out of the room, one day they were ‘gone’. A complaint was filed and an investigation conducted but they were not found. The pool. What an amazing pool! 3 pools in fact – each with a different temperature. And another ‘pool’ with jacuzzi’s (a small adults only part). More than enough sunbeds. And a great rule … you cannot reserve sunbeds.

Customer facing staff (servers, concierge) were outstanding. Kudos to Leonardo, Ulyses, Omar, Alex and Alfredo. Back office staff (room staff, admin) not quite so good. We only got nightly turn down service about 50% of the time and our welcome letter was addressed to someone else. Emilianos restaurant was disappointing. The main room was closed and we were shunted into a spare room, square with white walls, little decoration and no entertainment - the atmosphere was terrible. We dined on the patio a second evening, and it appears they had a static menu as we could spot no differences from our first visit. To cap it all, the food was overcooked. Fortunately, the hotel offers complementary dining at its sister locations. Tau, on the beach, was our savior. The service was excellent both during the day and at night, and the food outstanding. Their menu varied night to night, they had an excellent singer providing entertainment, and the open air ambiance completed the experience. Well done to Leslie and her staff of Saul, Isaac, Antonio, Enrique and Erick. We also went to the Andrea restaurant in Velas Vallarta, but after being served by a disinterested water in a room of screaming children running around we vowed to never go back. Finally we went to Grand Velas and dined in their Piaf restaurant. It was the culinary highlight of our trip. Overall, though, we had a very pleasant experience at Casa Velas. Would we go back there? The jury is still out on this.