The Fives Oceanfront Riviera Maya - All Inclusive Optional — Hotel in Puerto Morelos

For a luxury boutique hotel, this hotel falls short. While the rooms are a generous size the maintenance at the property as a whole is not a priority. Several items would be an easy fix, like ensuring there are no burnt out light bulbs, or properly painting and dusting.

They advertise 3 restaurants and 3 bars which is not entirely accurate. There's a daytime restaurant that closes at 5. The dinner restaurant only open for reservations, and a pool side bar at the adult only pool with select food service. The 3 bars would be the adult only poolside bar, reception bar and the main bar by the all ages pool and day time restaurant. The beach area has a separate menu from the day time restaurant but it's the same thing. Most of what was on the menus available online is not available onsite, coffee machine was broken at the coffee bar in the day time restaurant, the dinner place only had half of what was on the menu, and I experienced the same with lunch. Bars are open 10am to 10am, so you won't be having a bloody mary with your limited breakfast. The adult only pool is also closed by 10pm.

You are given a bracelet as your room key and it's color identifies you as a European plan, all inclusive, member or owner. It however does nothing to help the staff make charges to your room. This is a cashless property so everything is added to your room charges. And anytime you order a drink, or go to be seated in a restaurant you are asked your room number, you are then asked again your room number when the waiter comes to your table. This seems like a major security issue, with people all over the property announcing their room numbers multiple times for all to hear. There is 24 hour room service for food, not bar drinks and on the all inclusive plan it is $5USD/100 peso for each delivery.

The staff are kind to guest, but I have never seen people treat their co-workers as poorly as I saw at this property. I brought this to management and they did not care either. It is only a matter of time before that toxicity pours over into guest experiences.

The concierge service is advertised as 24 hours but is 7am to 9pm. And has their list of tours but can not or will not assist with finding anything outside their "offerings". There is a website they make you use to view menus, spa services, and to speak to the concierge so if you are wanting an unplugged vacation you will not get it here.

The rooms are not soundproof, or even sound dampening. From hearing the leaf blower out front to the neighbour's opening their curtains or patio doors, or the people upstairs moving chairs over the floor. A number of times sounds from the surroundings we're so loud and clear I thought someone else was in the room with me.

There is a group of people that work 10am to 5pm cleaning the seaweed from the beach, and they rake the area between the beach loungers in the am. The Bali bed are a small pole structure with roof and rope sides with 2 loungers pushed together inside, they have a cover to make it appear as one bed, with just enough room to walk beside them, but again are not as advertised. There are also some "nests" available that are slightly bigger then a lounger and have some shade offering. Both have additional charges and are not included in the all inclusive plan.

The activities onsite included things like mosaic class and a guacamole class, but are only offered mid day (around 1pm). I was disappointed with the offerings/services so I did not attend the spa, to avoid further disappointment, but it seemed they were struggling to attract people to their service. They set up a shoulder massage chair just off the elevator area and offered 10 or 15 minute free massages and through the 8 days I was at the property I never saw anyone take advantage of the offering.

My stay was 8 days, 7 nights mid October. By night 3, I already regretted booking my vacation at this property. I did book the all inclusive plan because it was cheaper then the European plan when booking directly with the property but not worth even...

My husband and I just returned from a 7 day stay at The Fives Oceanfront and wanted to share our experience to help others in the future. Over all we loved it and would return for another stay! It's a great find for sure.

The great: We loved the food and we are "foodies" The drinks are high quality (not too sugary not a lot of fillers) Spacious and modern "boho" rooms The beach is beautiful and walkable Close walk into town to experience the culture Very close to nature.. the pelicans are all over and really cool to watch If you can upgrade to the Ocean View room it was 100% worth it for us to hear the ocean and watch the pelicans and fishermen We loved the live band on Sunday very fun to listen to and bop to in the pool The pools are beautiful Smaller resort

Food highlights for us: Mussels at Al Mare All of the pizzas at Al Mare.. if you can handle spice the shrimp pizza is really good Anything with shrimp at Al Mare was delicious Chicken and Waffles at Ro Marley Chicken Satay at Ro Marley The mushroom bruschetta at Ro Marley Anything with shrimp at Ro Marley The rib eye guacamole at Ro Marley The wings at Ro Marley Rooftop restaurant was great for breakfast (yogurt bowls, pancakes, waffles, omelettes) Rooftop restaurant was great for shrimp tacos, brisket tacos, guacamole, skirt steak The iced lattes were very well made and comparable to cafes at home.. I loved the caramel ones

Food you may want to avoid: They use real cream in the bolognese sauce which is absolutely delicious but I found it too rich for my stomach The beef fillet at Al Mare is smaller so if you prefer medium rare it's hard for them to achieve that doneness

The could be improved: Mould control in the shower.. we noticed a fair amount of mould visible and growing in the roof of the shower (with the humidity this would be hard to control but it is unpleasant to look at and inhale) When you check in they immediately ask you for a credit card to place a 6000 MXN hold on your card.. we weren't expecting this and it caught us off guard after a long day of travel so just a heads up to future travellers The hotel process was not explained to us... if you're all inclusive you still need to sign all of your drink cheques and meal cheques. Our first meal was dinner after a long day of travel and having to wait for and sign the cheque really confused us and stressed us out... we thought maybe they mixed up that we booked all inclusive and not European.. we went to the front desk and they explained. The balance should read 0 since you are all inclusive. Tips are not included and you can either pay with cash or add it onto your cheques at the bottom. Honestly it is a little inconvenient to have to wait for the cheque after every meal and make sure you're settled before staff shifts change. Not a deal breaker but just something to be aware of. There can be a shortage of loungers at the rooftop and main pool. We had to wake up early to ensure we had a spot for the day. We didn't receive a tour of the resort so figured out where things were as we went along Staff speak very minimal english so there is a language barrier but the staff is very accommodating/tries hard to get you what you're asking for The Sunday catch of the day BBQ is not included so is an extra charge (we opted out of it for this reason)

Things to consider: The bars all close by 10pm so there is not much of a nightlife Room service is free but they charge for the service The beach is very natural so if you hate seaweed its there and you will have to walk through it and swim in it There's not a lot of noise control so you do hear the ocean.. we loved this aspect some may not The beach is public so you are approached when down there to buy items/food from locals There is no buffet and everything is a la carte. We loved this as we aren't huge fans of buffets but meals do take 1-2 hours. Kids are allowed at the resort but the rooftop is adults only There is a current so you can't swim out too far...

Being indecisive, we did 3 nights at the Fives Beach Hotel and Residences (see separate review), and 3 nights here at the Fives Oceansfront, and we were happy with both locations.

This one is a much smaller resort, so there were not many restaurant and bar options, no evening entertainment and not as many activities. However, it's perfect to unplug and just relax. Because it's so small, the service is very personalized and the staff are extremely sweet and kind and do pretty much anything and everything to ensure their customers are happy.

My birthday fell during my stay here, and everything was perfect. There was some surprise cake and a bottle of sparkling wine in the room, which was a nice touch.

Here are the details:

Nimzy was an amazing ambassador and made sure we had everything we needed. She even upgraded our room an additional level which was super kind and appreciated.

Food: As a vegetarian, food is never a highlight for me when travelling, especially at all inclusives. This was a breath of fresh air. They even had vegan chorizo, vegan burgers, and many other options. Each restaurant notes any allergies or dietary restrictions upon entering. I ate very well and there are so many other dishes I still want to try. Also, no heartburn issues at all, which is remarkable for me. Gabriel took good care of us at Ro Marley. The fresh fruit and juices were delicious.

Beach dinner: My boyfriend surprised me with a romantic dinner on the beach for my birthday. It was amazing and worth it to make your stay even more special. Elvis provided impeccable service and each dish was delicately crafted, both visually and flavor wise. My favorite course was dessert, the passion fruit mouse was absolutely divine! My only suggestion for improvement would be to add some citronella candles or something of that sort. It would add to the ambiance, and also minimize the mosquito bites, especially just after sunset. They did provide bug repellent upon request though, which was nice.

Beach: unfortunately this year, the sargassum was especially brutal. The smell was very strong the first day, but did get better as our trip progressed. Because of the seaweed, we didn't go in the water, except to climb on the boat for snorkeling.

Snorkeling excursion: Do it! The team from the dive center, Antonio and Jerry (thanks guys!), took us out on the boat to visit the reef. Antonio was the guide on the water and was especially patient with a non-swimmer like me. You do get life vests, but although I love the water, I can't help but feel nervous when my feet cannot touch the bottom. We brought our own snorkels, but it's also provided if you need it. Although we didn't see the tortoises, there were so many beautiful fish, conch, and corals... Big, little, all different colors, the reef was teaming with life. It was a breathtaking experience.

Pools: Both pools were well maintained, clean and gorgeous. I'm typically a beach bum, but I enjoyed the pools here. I especially liked the shade provided by the coconut trees on the ground level. But you cannot beat the view from the rooftop pool :)

Vacation club presentation: Even this was a pleasant experience! I am terribly sorry, but I cannot remember the young man's name who chatted with us. There was no pressure, and it actually seemed like a good deal.

Spa: We took advantage of the special and used our $50 coupon we received for booking directly with the hotel. Because of the timing, Nemzy managed to separate the hydrotherapy and massages into two days, just to ensure we were able to do everything in our limited time. The hydrotherapy includes the sauna, steam room, cold plunge and hot plunge. Although I'm not a fan of the cold, it was very invigorating! Alfredo and Mar were very professional therapists. Alfredo gave me one of the best massages I ever had!

I would return in a heartbeat. The grounds and facilities are well taken care of and clean. But most importantly, the staff truly makes all...