Now Emerald Cancun — Hotel in Cancún

|I was saddened and shocked that Hyatt not notify customers that the Now Emerald was closing its doors on August 1, specifically informing customers that the following basic client services would be compromised during my stay: building maintenance and cleaning, food/restaurants, activities and infrastructure. I selected the Now Emerald for nostalgia, and excitedly booked reservations to celebrate a seven-year commitment trip with my partner during July 27-31 in Room 233 at the Now Emerald in Cancun Mexico. I hadn’t traveled to Mexico for the past seven years and this sadly will be my last Hyatt stay experience. |Where do I start my travel log? After a long travel day, I was excited to jump in the shower and begin the vacation. I quickly realized that there was no hot water for a much-needed shower. While the repair response was immediate, I had to contact the front desk shortly thereafter because the bathroom sink’s water was also not working. Again, the maintenance team was prompt in response and professional which was great because I spent the entire weekend vacation requesting their assistance. As I was eager to explore the hotel, attempted to secure my belongings (passport, money, etc.) in the safe, and quickly realized that the safe was not functioning. It couldn’t lock. Turns out that security would need to recalibrate the safe daily. Additionally, the air conditioning was nonfunctioning and remained at 65 F. It was freezing!!!! Maintenance attempted to repair the system but did not have access to new parts as the hotel was closing. So, we opted for no air conditioning leaving us in a sauna throughout the trip. I am not sure if the condenser pan was full, but we encountered a wet floor caused by the ceiling after our first morning that continued throughout the trip. Lastly, the room’s lock was replaced after recognizing that we spent the night in an unlocked room because the cylinder was broken. Despite daily room cleaning, there were visible signs of black mold throughout the room, especially the bathroom, which confirmed a lack of cleaning and maintenance. Notable maintenance neglect signs where the sink faucet was missing a cover, bathroom tub was painted, but still revealed stains, soap scrum and film on the shower doors and corners of the bathroom. Sadly, the horror doesn’t end there, our room opened to the pet relief area despite not having a pet. As far as building internet services, the Wi-Fi was sporadic. The batteries were missing from the remote on the tv and only one outlet worked in the room. While we were offered another room, it was next to the elevator and just as unkept after a quick tour. So, we braved it in our room for the duration of the vacation. Unfortunately, the issues did not end with our room. There was liter in the hallway that was not swept, lighting on our floor was low and excessive slip and falls hazards caused by broken floor tile. ||The restaurants were not any better. We were seated at tables with food crumbs and napkins used by previous guests. Dishes and glasses were worn and cracked. Much of the meals at the specialty restaurants arrived cold and inedible. We were hungry and missed dinner on most evenings. Luckily, we purchased chips and drink the complementary soft drinks in our room.||The highlight of the trip was the excursions that allowed us time away from the hotel. Unfortunately, we realized that the lobby excursion agent and the pool excursion agent offered different prices. We were informed by hotel staff that they were the same company but after speaking with other guests were told that the lobby agent was more expensive (difference of 30%).||It’s unfortunate that customer service is no longer the motivator with large corporations. It's money! Given that the hotel was closing, it would’ve made sense to central the customers to one area of the hotel to ensure cleanliness and building maintenance, but why treat customers like humans when we are cattle. What I was hoping to spend a peaceful weekend by the beach, but I’ve returned exhausted and worse than I left. Yes, I stubbornly stayed and know We should’ve left the hotel all together, but our stay was short. Alas, a return to the World of Hyatt is not in my...

Vacation Date: Feb 28, 2022 - March 2nd, 2022 Room: Preferred Club Master Suit # 954 We enjoyed every day of our vacation with the Now team in Cancun. Having traveled to other Sister Now resorts in the past, we were familiar with the functionality of the resort and the staff were (as always) delightful. The resort is clean and well kept Pool/Beach Overview: Carlos and Roxana kept us hydrated and happy during our time next to the beach and the adult pool. The beach is small, however, the Now resort has the best beach area by far within walking distance. The beach was easy to walk on and you can find lots of shells! The pools, well, be up by 6:30AM to get a spot at the regular pool area, we were up almost every morning before sunrise at 7AM and 95% of seats were held with towels. Not an issue, just a suggestion that if you'd like to have somewhere to sit at the main pool wake up, if your later risers, the adult pool almost always had seats/bali bed left vacant around 8AM. Caper Breakfast: Preferred club only: this was worth the upgrade on its own. We tried the buffet and gave it a real shot but, it was not wonderful... Breakfast at Capers was perfect, they got you exactly what you wanted and a large menu - mimosas are endless too! Barefoot Grill: OK YUM! A good shoutout to Candy, you rock THANK YOU. We found the food fast at lunch and delicious. We were hearing people complain about food portions, however, we thought they were wonderful! It is all you can eat so, if your still hungry order extra... Room Overview: We LOVED our room... worth the upgrade. Our hot tub we filled every AM to watch the sunrise and every night we had front row seats to the sunset... the plunge pool was refreshing and clean and our bali bad on the deck was a bonus! We stayed on our balcony a few times and room service took about 45 minutes (so plan accordingly) but food was well prepared and never cold. Only issue, shower leaked a bit onto the tile floor, easy fix with towel! Dinners: I will say my missing star comes from the fact that you cannot make dinner reservations even when upgrading to preferred club, something we have had at other sister resorts that we LOVE... The French (thank you Victor, we ate here three times because he was so amazing) the food is WONDERFUL... next we would have to go with, Pan-Asian.. the view of the sunset is by far worth going to dinner a bit earlier than normal: food was delightful. The dinner places do give buzzers so you can go, put your name down and they give you a buzzer so that you can go have a drink at one of the bars. Nightlife: non-excitant after midnight... we went to bed most evenings earlier than the bars shut down, however, the few nights we were out and ready there is not much going on too late. Entertainment: AB and MARTHA!!!!! YOU BOTH ROCK!! thank you for always keeping us smiling and having fun. They provide fun and easy workouts, swim sport lessons, fun games, dance lessons etc... at all hours of the day. Preferred Club Overview: I'm bias from visiting other Now and sister resorts but it is worth the money... Check in is easy, you don't wait in line, you get a drink in your hand within five minutes of arrival. The preferred bar has snacks 24/7 and they are yummy.. Leobardo the bartender in the preferred bar was worth the money to upgrade all on his own. The liquor is premium and you can tell the difference. You get $200 to spend at the resort in coupons, accesses to the Capers Breakfast... which we ate at everyday it is delicious they are also the Italian restaurant at night, which the food is great - awesome pizza. There is also a cute little preferred beach section with a jet pool and bar, we never sat there, however, did visit it and it seems quite and nice. Public Bathrooms: CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN! Honestly we loved the resort and the staff, the reason for not 5 stars is just because of visiting other Now resorts and seeing the small other touches that could make it that much better... seriously, start taking dinner reservations for preferred...

We Stayed Feb 3-8, 2022 by booking through Southwest Vacations for two families of 3, so 2 rooms. When we booked, we were not given the option to book a Preferred Club room. When we checked in, we were given the option of upgrading which we did, assuming we would get all of the preferred amenities like the bar, private breakfasts and free covid tests. Our families were booked in separate towers, but when we upgraded, we did get the ocean view on the 9th floor, which was a beautiful view in the morning.

The rooms were okay. They were clean, beds were comfortable and fridge and snacks were always stocked. We even asked for extra snacks and a bottle of tequila for our room (since they don't start serving alcohol until 11am) and we always got what we asked for and then some.

A couple of days our son stayed in the room in the afternoon, and he said all of the room service people were very nice and helpful, though we didn't get their names.

We thought the food was okay, we got full. We usually did Carnival for breakfast, there was a decent amount to choose from, but we always tried to be there early (around 7am) to avoid crowds. My son loved the pancakes with chocolate and caramel the best, I enjoyed the scrambled eggs and fresh fruit and my husband always got omelets. We loved Tamarindo, went there 2 different nights and thought Josue was an amazing server. On our last night, he brought us a special desert wishing us a good trip home. Spice was great, the sushi was amazing (my 10 year old even tried every type and loved them all, plus his wonton soup!). Capers was good food, just a really long wait, for all of the different courses. Most days we ate lunch at Barefoot Grill. I believe we tried pretty much everything on the menu and it was all wonderful!

The best part of the trip was spending time on the beach and the pool. We got to know Jimmy, one of the servers that worked that area and sometimes the Barefoot Grill. His service was absolutely amazing, it made our entire trip. He was constantly coming by asking if we needed more drinks, one day he made sure we had a table with enough chairs at Barefoot after we left the pool area where he had been helping us, and then when we came back, he was able to find us 2 lounge chairs for the pool. Our last day, he made sure to tell us where he was working so we could stop by for a few last drinks and our last meal. By far, the best service we have ever had and made this vacation we have ever gone on. Jimmy's service was a 10 out of 5.

My husband and his cousin often times went to the Preferred Club Bar, and Russell took care of them there as well. After the first day, he remembered their preferred drinks and started them as they walked in the door. Russell's service was a 10 out of 5, too.

The ice cream at Coco Cafe was really good, our son went numerous times and got his fill of different flavors.

The event staff did an amazing job. I unfortunately didn't remember their names, but the 2 guys and 1 girl by the pool side had fun and games for everyone. We all had a great time and enjoyed the activities available. The live entertainment was great, too. When it rained, they were able to bring it inside and we could still enjoy the show.

We used the maintenance staff a couple of times on our safe, but they were quick to respond and get us in when I messed up our code and couldn't get in.

The days we were there, there was one night of extremely heavy and long rain. There were many water issues in the restaurants and hallways, but we didn't have any in our room.

My issue was when we upgraded to preferred, we weren't told the covid tests wouldn't be free because we didn't originally book the trip as preferred. If we didn't book as preferred we still had to pay $35 per person to get our covid tests. Nowhere in any of the hotel's small print or Southwest Vacation page does it say that at all, just says as long as you upgrade to preferred you get them free. I feel that is...