Haven Riviera Cancún — Hotel in Quintana Roo

We’ve stayed at many adults only all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico, but Haven Riviera truly exceeded our expectations. From the moment we arrived until the moment we left, everything about this adults-only paradise felt thoughtful, personalized, and peaceful. We came here after changing our original resort plans, and we are so glad we did — this was exactly the relaxing, pampered getaway we had hoped for.||Arrival & Check-In||We arrived a little after 11 a.m. and were immediately greeted and escorted to the Serenity Club for check-in. The process was smooth and quick, and we were thrilled that both of our pre-arrival requests were granted — our preferred Building 8 Serenity Club Oceanfront Swim-Out Suite and our requested butler, Nacho. He met us right at check-in, gave us a quick resort tour, and exchanged WhatsApp info to keep in touch throughout the week.||Our room was ready earlier than expected (a huge plus!), and during check-in we were able to select our in-room liquor — we chose Belvedere vodka and a bottle of mimosa. There was also chocolate covered strawberries and champagne in our room on arrival as part of the romance package we had. A lovely touch that set the tone for the rest of our stay.||Room & Amenities||Our Romance Serenity Club Oceanfront Swim-Out Suite was stunning — spacious, beautifully decorated, and spotless. The bathroom was especially impressive, featuring two rainfall showerheads and a handheld shower, all with separate water controls (no loss of pressure!). Dual sinks, a private toilet room, and a vanity area made it feel luxurious and functional. We had excessive but excellent assortment of bathroom amenities including shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, dental kits and even bug spray!||The king bed was incredibly comfortable, and we loved the cozy sitting area and large patio with loungers overlooking our private swim-out pool and ocean view. One of our favorite touches was the bracelet room key — a sleek wooden medallion that was both beautiful and practical (no more demagnetized cards!). Yes, the room can feel sticky and humid at times but you are in Mexico and right in front of the Ocean, it quickly goes away when all doors are closed and the AC is on high. Another plus is the ability to order aromatherapy scents to your room each night from your butler as a Serenity Club guest. ||Pools & Beach||Haven offers three main pools:||The Serenity Club pool, split into two sections (one with a swim-up bar and one to the side of Tahini restaurant).|The lively main pool in the center of the resort, perfect for social guests and entertainment.|A large quieter circular pool at the far end for relaxation.|We spent almost all of our time around the Serenity Club pool or in our swim-out. A special shoutout to Carlos and Pedro, who provided exceptional drink service — Carlos even brought drinks right to our swim-out! These pools are also heated and has a swim up bar!||The beach itself is beautiful to look at but not ideal for swimming due to sargassum and murky water. However, it’s lovely for walks, hammocks, or listening to the waves. If beach swimming is a must, this may not be your top choice — but for a relaxing oceanfront escape, it’s perfect.||Dining Highlights||As Serenity Club guests, we had access to breakfast at both Tahini and Vistas. I believe if you are not Serenity Club your only option would be the buffet (Flavours). Tahini became our go-to spot — fast, friendly service, and a wonderful tableside mimosa cart with a variety of juice options. Vistas had slower service but offered beautiful ocean views with open air seating.||Lunch options included poolside service at Serenity pool and Vistas (Serenity Club only) with delicious Baja tacos worth the wait, the grill near the main pool, or the buffet (which we only tried once). ||For dinners, the à la cartes were consistently excellent:||Tahini Dinner Show – lively entertainment with great singing and dancing; note that some costumes are more revealing, so be aware if that’s not your preference. Set menu options.||Agua Bendita (Mexican Steakhouse) – loved the tableside guacamole; fantastic service.||Olios (Mediterranean) – our absolute favorite for food and atmosphere. Our server, Wilbert, was outstanding: warm, funny, and attentive. Every dish we tried was delicious and beautifully presented.||Satsu & Satsu Teppanyaki (Asian) - book the teppanyaki during your stay, the show and food is fabulous (set menu)! The regular Asian fusion part of the restaurants has many yummy options to pick from on the menu, we ate way too much that night!||Vora Mar (Italian & Romance dinner location) - With our romance package we did have a wonderful dinner outside the Italian restaurant which was a set menu with great service and excellent quality. We also visited the Italian restaurant which had amazing pastas and a great buffet area for salads and cheese.||Room service was also efficient and tasty — especially the breakfast on our final morning, which Nacho arranged perfectly.||Overall the food was great everywhere we went at Haven. We did visit the buffet once and it was fine but we aren't typically fans of buffets and instead enjoy the experience of dinning out. Only thing I would change is reservation "requirement." It is easy to make reservations for the restaurants either through the app or through your butler but when I am at an all inclusive luxury adults getaway (away from our hectic lives) I don't want to know the time. On the plus side it didn't seem difficult to get in if you didn't have a reservation at least at this time of year.||Spa & Wellness||We visited the spa three times — twice for hydrotherapy sessions and once for a couples massage. The hydrotherapy circuit (steam, sauna, cold plunge, and pool jets) was excellent, and Richie guided us through it each time with professionalism and kindness. As Serenity Club members you do get access to the hydrotherapy circuit during your stay but it is worth it to pay $20USD or $760 pesos to upgrade this to a 60 minute circuit which includes all areas plus a short but relaxing head and neck massage to finish it off.||Our couples massage with Sherry and Mabella was wonderful — relaxing, perfectly pressured, and done in a beautiful room. Unfortunately, there was a bit of construction noise near the end, but it didn’t take away from the overall experience. The spa check-in staff were less personable, but everyone inside the spa was outstanding.||Butler & Service||Our butler Nacho made our stay absolutely unforgettable. He was proactive, kind, and always a step ahead — whether it was arranging early room cleaning, delivering fresh coffee to our butler box every morning at 7 a.m., or organizing reservations and special surprises.||He even set up birthday decorations at our Bali bed for my fiancé, booked spa appointments, handled our room service orders, and stayed in touch on his days off. Nacho is truly a gem — if you can request him, do it!||Bars, Drinks & Extras||The Serenity Club Lounge is a fantastic perk — great cocktails, a relaxing atmosphere, light snacks, and a beautiful resort view. The coffee and dessert shop was another highlight, with amazing ice cream, great coffee, and long hours (a rarity at many resorts).||We didn’t experience much of the nighttime entertainment, but Moon’s Cabaret and the lobby bar were lively each evening, and it was nice to see there was always something happening for guests who enjoy nightlife. ||Unique Experiences||One unexpected highlight was the macramé class hosted by Max and his partner. It was such a memorable and personal activity — something different from typical resort experiences. We learned to make our own small macramé decor to take home, and their warmth and storytelling made it truly special.||Tips for Future Guests||If you enjoy quiet luxury, opt for the Serenity Club Oceanfront Swim-Out rooms in Buildings 7 or 8.||Request Nacho as your butler — he’s exceptional.||Don’t skip Olios for dinner or the Tahini mimosa cart for breakfast. Olios does require men to wear long pants and closed toe shoes, if you can't manage that then don't go but you are missing out on a high end dinner.||The beach isn’t swimmable, but the pools and swim-outs more than make up for it.||Try a hydrotherapy session at the spa — it’s worth it.||Use the Haven app for quick service requests; we received towels and pool cleaning within minutes of requesting.||Book as Serenity Club - its worth it!||Overall Impression||Haven Riviera Cancun will always have a special place in our hearts as we did get engaged while we were here during an early morning peaceful sunrise on our ocean front patio but regardless of this Haven is the perfect balance of relaxation, luxury, and personalized service. Every detail, from the room design to the attentive staff and thoughtful amenities, made our stay exceptional. We left feeling completely recharged and already dreaming...

We chose to celebrate our 3rd anniversary here because greens fees for El Tinto are free for guests. Cart fees of $85/person and $30 transfer are added if you're not in a Serenity Club room for a certain time. That wasn't our problem.

Our problem was booking. I emailed Haven 5 days prior to book a tee time and they replied that reservations must be made on site at the property. We paid $238 round trip to check both of our golf bags on our flights.

We went to the concierge as soon as we arrived Thursday at 9am and Victoria said we need a room number to book a tee time. I returned after check-in at 3pm with the number and asked whether there was availability both Friday and Saturday early morning before it got too hot and she said it wouldn't be a problem to book either day. We could come back to book for Saturday if we'd like to think about it. So we decided to play Saturday and enjoy our first full day at the resort.

On Friday, I went to the concierge and Victoria said there was a tournament Saturday so we couldn't book a time anymore. I was frustrated (we would have played Friday if you'd have told us that!) so I left and we booked a massage for Saturday afternoon since golf didn't work out. I returned later and asked if there was anything they could do for us or if they would be willing to comp the spa considering the situation. Juan said he wasn't sure about the policy on that, so I left my number and he said he'd call me in an hour when a coworker arrived.

He never contacted me, so I went an hour and a half later and spoke with Lucy about our situation. She said she'd contact another course with similar pricing, try to get us an early tee time, and contact me before 7am to let me know either way. She said be ready to go at 7:30-8am in case we could play and that she'd be back at the desk between 7 and 7:15. I woke up early but didn't hear anything by 7, so I texted her at the number she texted me from the day before and asked if we got a tee time. 7:15 came and I hadn't receieved a reply, so I went back again and she wasn't there, so I spoke with Victoria again. She told me that not only was Haven not notified about the tournament until Friday, the golf course didn't even know they were having a tournament until Friday (yeah, right), insinuating that it wasn't their fault. I asked if she could help me get a tee time somewhere else for a similar price and she told me she didn't know much about golf and to google other courses in the area.

I checked the 3 nearest courses and they were all over $200/p, double+ El Tinto. I relayed this and she just stared at me basically, offering no help or solution and generally making me feel like I was inconveniencing her. I was ready to give up and enjoy our last day, so I asked whether Haven would be willing to comp our massage and she said she'd ask her manager and took down my number.

Lucy finally got back to me at 8:40am and said we could play at another course at 11am for $200 total (same as cart/transfer for El Tinto), but that she couldn't arrange a transfer within 24 hours, so that didn't work either. I asked Lucy to follow up on our request for the comp and she ghosted me and never responded.

I would have accepted no for an answer, but the brazen lack of communication and absence of any apology made me feel very unwelcome. I should've asked to speak to a manager directly, but it was too late to get a tee time and transfer. I was tired of constantly following up with them and the negativity it cast over our trip, and we just wanted to enjoy our last day, so I didn't press the issue.

Overall, we loved the food, drinks, location (near airport), bed (amazing), pools, music, spa (incredible), activities, nightlife, and everyone else who worked there, so much that I'd consider going again despite this, but our concierge experience really left a bad taste and was a huge time suck. I wonder if Serenity Club guests are treated the same way at the concierge reserved for them. Heads up, if you don't book a Serenity room, you won't have access to some...

My wife and I just came back from an 8 night stay at Haven Riviera Cancun in a Serenity Club Swim Out. We have stayed at a good number of other resorts, so I am comparing our experience to other all-inclusive resorts around the same price point.

Bottom line: This resort is WAY overpriced for what you get. It's not a bad resort, but you can get much better for the buck.

Pros: The food at dinner (notice I'm just saying dinner) is probably some of the best of any resort we have been to.

We had upgraded to the Serenity club and enjoyed the Tahani dinner/show. Our butler, Nacho, was very friendly and helpful and did his best to help us address some of the issues I list below. Having a private gym was quite a nice touch (especially given its view from the top of the building).

Cons: The bars are the worst of any resort we have stayed at. They ran out of name brand liquor (more than one type) every single day during our stay, at multiple bars. If they do have what you ask for, you have a 50/50 chance of actually getting it. I stopped a bartender once when he was going to pour me well rum when I specifically asked for a name brand. He proceeded to argue with me that well was just as good. I don't care if it is or not, you don't ever argue with a customer and tell them they are wrong, doubly so when they made a specific request you can satisfy.

Fair warning, they advertise as all-inclusive, but tipping is expected at this resort. I have seen tipping at other all-inclusive resorts, but this is far and away the most out of control resort we have seen it at.

Other resorts at least try to clean up the seaweed from the beach, even much less expensive resorts have it to a level I would call under control. This resort showed no attempt to do anything about it. It's even more obvious when you take a walk down the beach and go in front of another resort and the beach is in good shape (no beach is perfectly clean from seaweed around this area).

The pools' chemicals are so out of balance they tarnished our jewelry. We have never had a problem at any other pool anywhere, be it private, public, other resorts, etc.

The rooms are nice but need basic maintenance done. Our shower door made a very loud pop when you open/closed the door. The toilet would run if you didn't shake the handle. One of the drawers in the closet catches. The front door was pretty banged up. None of these are dealbreakers, but I would expect more refinement for the cost.

I asked before we got there if they accepted Discover card, so I could avoid paying Amex's foreign transaction fee. They confirmed this and even when we were checking in, they said they took it. However, as they kept implying it was my fault for my card not working, my wife Googled it and found out they don't take Discover. So I had to use my Amex and get charged transaction fees that could have been avoided if they had been knowledge about basic aspects of their systems and informed me they do offer the option to pay ahead of time if I call them to do it.

The multiple DJs at the club cannot read a room. Night after night would start out with people dancing. Then within a few songs would clear the dance floor with music people didn't want to dance to and did nothing to try and get people back. Plus, the repetition of a handful of songs got old very quickly. The same songs were played literally every single night.

We would not get again, nor recommend getting, a swim out room. It is very hard to get drinks/food. The only way is to wait for a waiter (who had to walk through bushes), or walk through your room, through the building, get into the pool (if you are in the Serenity club area), get drinks then back track that entire way soaking wet now crossing marble floors... not very relaxing worrying about biting the dust every time you want a drink.

Even if they did fix their bars, I would still say they need to cut their prices to be more in line with equal (or better) quality resorts, that or really fix these little things that add up and make a...