Hotel Catalonia Grand Costa Mujeres — Hotel in Quintana Roo

The restaurant staff were all really good and majority of hotel staff. The checkout staff didn't ask how our stay was so didn't get an opportunity to give feedback which I'm doing here. ||We stayed 10 nights in a Superior Suite room on the first floor overlooking the quieter of the two main pools. Was told it was a sea view but wasn't really as you're facing 90° from the sea! |We noticed some other rooms had a partition wall between the bed and sofa area but ours was open between the two. Huge bed in comparison to European beds. Nicely decorated with a sofa/bed and coffee table. There is a walk-in wardrobe area with open shelves. Umbrella, slippers, robes, weighing scales, iron and ironing board in the room. Wall mounted high speed USB-A sockets beside the bed for charging devices. |AC goes as low as 20°c, but resets to 23°c when you've left the room. There were also ceiling fans above the bed and sofa areas.|Room was kept clean daily but I'm not sure how often the mopping schedule was as we noticed this wasn't being done regularly. |Some annoyances in the room included the mini fridge not being cold enough so drinks weren't chilled, which was a common complaint with others we spoke to. We appreciated the small snacks of crisps and cookies but not sure why they were being left in the fridge?!|The TV was hanging from the ceiling on a pole which you'd assume it would rotate around from the bed to the sofa but we found it only turned part of the way. It would only rotate 100° so you would be sitting on the sofa and couldn't watch the TV properly as it was facing you at an angle. We asked about this at the reception and someone from maintenance called to say the TV wasn't designed to be rotated. So not sure why it was installed as it was. ||Both swimming pools were great with plenty of space, jacuzzi areas and swim up bars. You could relax at one pool or enjoy the party atmosphere and activities at the other. There is a policy of not reserving beds but we noticed it wasn't being policed - one day some poster beds were reserved for over 7 hours before the family appeared. Also we were told on check-in that the hotel was non-smoking but there were a few occasions where people were vaping at the pool, and someone was sat next to us at the Mexican restaurant openly smoking. Although it was in full view of the staff, none of the staff bothered to speak to them.||We enjoyed the activities offered during the day by the pool team and got involved in lots of classes. Only thing we would improve is to move the exercise classes like the yoga sessions to early morning before breakfast, and some of the dance classes were scheduled in the middle of the day on the beach. Wasn't a surprise when we were the only ones attending a beach dance class as it was so hot.||The last few days of our trip the internet connection was troublesome across the hotel, which was acknowledged by reception but no real information on the cause or likely resolution. Particularly annoying as mobile network coverage is poor in the area. ||Food wise, the buffet restaurant had decent options. They could do with adding more live cooking stations as there was always a queue there at breakfast, lunch and dinner. |In terms of food at the alacarte restaurants, our favourite was the Italian. The tepanyake was good fun too, although service was inconsistent between our two visits. Appetizer only given on second visit, and the dessert menu we had on the first visit wasn't offered on the second visit - the staff seemed more keen to clean up although was only 930pm. |We didn't like the food at Tao Cat, which was a shame as we were looking forward to it - all of our dishes were overly sweet so we left and went to the buffet!|Food at the Mexican, Peruvian and daytime burger places was good. The taco food van by one of the pools had tasty snacks, and the creperie was good too.||Although checkout is at 12pm, we were told the all-inclusive continues to 5pm which was handy as we managed to have lunch before our airport transfer.||Alcoholic cocktails at the pools were good although a little light on the alcohol. Drinks at the lobby bar and fifth avenue had decent measures of branded drinks.||The 'exclusive' reps that were around the lobby and outside the buffet restaurant at breakfast got a bit annoying trying to encourage us to go to the special restaurants or their free excursions. We spoke to a couple who took up the offer of the free Cancun tour to find it wasn't very good with visits to commission based shops.||We went to Cancun ourselves using Uber which cost around $13 each way. The port to Isla Mujeres was $5 each way. There isn't anything outside of the hotel, although there are a few shops with groceries and souvenirs within the...

Major disappointment. This is my 2nd time in Cancun. I came with my family of 15. We all met here from different cities in US. I read the mix reviews before my arrival. I thought my experience couldn’t be that bad since it’s all inclusive for both food and drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol). Pictures of the property online looked nice. The only reason we booked this place and not Hyatt Ziva was bcs my cousins friend & their families booked here as well & there was at least 10 of them in their party. At arrival, check in process was pretty quick. The front desk accommodated me with my room request with some hesitation. Electronic wristband are given at check in to allow access to your room. #1 there’s plumbing issue. My room was spacious, clean & everything seems to work fine. My sister who stayed in different tower wasn’t so lucky. She had to call maintenance to fix her toilet bcs it continued to run. The maintenance worked on it for 3 hrs. After dinner she checked back & went to her room. They left. She assumed that it was fix since she received no callback or update from the staff. When she tried flushing it to recheck before it got too late, toilet wouldn’t flush. They moved her to my tower #4 late in the evening, after she & my nephew had settled in their room, flew 5 hours & had been up since 2am. #2 Difficulty in booking dining reservations for dinner. Their dining and room service must be booked online. You can only walk up to the restaurant row during the day without any issue or reservation. For dinner, reservations are required. No exceptions. I was there for 4 days and 5 nights. I could not get online after several attempts and different days. I was lucky to have my cousin book my reservation for me. Otherwise my only dining option would have been the buffet. Reservation are only allowed per occupant for each room. Don’t try to book for other parties. Don’t expect same day booking. My cousin had to book on Friday to eat on Sunday for Azumi & 24 hours in advance to eat at Steakville which was not worth the wait. Food was slightly better than buffet. When I went to guest service about my internet issue on 3rd day, the staff member said it must be firewall on my iPhone yet most of my family have iPhones. Also, their site was down Monday night yet they didn’t offer any solutions for their dining reservations.They continue to insist dinner reservation be booked online. If booking online is only way then it would make common sense to have ipad in the rooms & printed menu for room service in the event that theres connectivity issue? #3 constantly asked by staff in dining room for my room number, last name and sometimes my full name. I can’t keep count on how many times I was asked at the buffet for my room number or last name even after my 3rd day dining there for breakfast and some days for lunch. Granted it’s same host. Perhaps mgmt should consider allowing guest to scan the electronics tag attached to our wrist band to make us feel less harassed after spending thousand of dollars per person? #4 Alcohol are served after 11am and any special coffee such as cappuccino or latte has to be order at the bar in the lobby. #5 only 1/2 staff speaks English which makes it hard to get assistance. #6 Beach towels are only available at the pool in the center # 7 hotel is 45 mins from airport and hotel does not offer transportation service. You must book transportation from third party. I used Tantum Travel. #8 Selection of buffet was heavy on bread, pasta, pizza and grilled protein. Freshly made taco was not impressive. Steak didn’t taste fresh or flavorful. Ironically mexican food was subpar. I could only eat fresh fruits, ceviche, salmon bagel and sautéed veggies. Needless to say I didnt get my moneys worth for the variety of food I had expected for an all inclusive hotel. Bottom line, my family and I will not be returning. Worse of all, I got a mild case of diarrhea which I believe is from their plumbing issue. I question their water filtration system. My water from shower had slight odor and walking by the pool in the middle you can smell some odor. Lastly if you upgrade to better dining choice it’s $30 per day throughout your stay only. You can’t pay for upgrade one day and not the next day. Given the quality of buffet and some of the food I had gotten from the restaurant row, I would not recommend the upgrade. It’s apparent that whomever that was in charge with food services failed to do their homework. They should have checked out their competition if they wanted to recoup the millions of dollars invested in building and maintaining this property. Perhaps mgmt should pay staff more bcs they could be friendlier and more...

This place could be great—but it’s the accumulation of frustrating experiences that made our stay disappointing… and the roaches.

From the moment we checked in, the service felt rushed and impersonal. There was no real introduction to the property or its amenities—just a quick swipe of the card and a $350 charge for an “extra person,” despite the fact that we had already booked a double room for just me and my mother.

I was here as part of a wedding party, and on our first night, we tried to make a dinner reservation so we could all eat together. Unfortunately, their bizarre restaurant reservation system only allows one room per booking, which makes dining as a group nearly impossible. We went to guest services to explain the issue, and the response we got was, “Just sign up online and let us know if you have a problem.” That’s exactly what we were trying to do—let them know we were already having a problem. The dismissiveness was baffling.

Later that evening, after a long day of traveling, we tried to take a shower—only to discover there was no hot water. We called the front desk, and the agent sounded irritated that we were even reporting the issue. A maintenance person was sent up, ran the water for a few seconds (we had already been running it for 30 minutes), and told us it was fixed. It wasn’t.

When I called the front desk again to report that the water was still freezing cold and much too cold for my 75 y.o mother, the service agent actually sighed heavily, insisted it was fixed, and hung up on me. I was shocked. I got dressed, went to the front desk, and asked to speak with a supervisor. Thankfully, he called the maintenance supervisor, who finally fixed the issue properly.

Housekeeping was another major disappointment. They only came twice during our entire stay, and we had to call multiple times just to get fresh towels—each time followed by a long wait. It shouldn’t be that difficult to get the basics taken care of. What made things even worse is that after the second housekeeping visit, my mother noticed that a pair of her diamond stud earrings had gone missing. That’s unacceptable.

What I will speak on is the general cleanliness of the hotel. At first glance, everything looks polished and modern. But when you really take a moment to look closer, it becomes clear that the property is not well-maintained. There’s a layer of grime that hints at infrequent deep cleaning. The glass surfaces were smudged, and the walls in the hallways were scuffed and dirty—hard to believe this is only a two-year-old property. A fresh coat of paint and some actual attention to detail would go a long way.

And then there was the final straw: a huge cockroach that greeted us in our room after a night out. After finally fighting with that monster, I immediately called the front desk to report it as they should have someone spray. The guest service lady non-chalantly just said “Ok” and hung up. The following morning, there was also a dead cockroach outside our room in the hallway… they obviously have some issues with them. At that point, I was just grateful we were checking out that morning. The cockroach experience sealed the deal—I absolutely do not recommend this hotel.

That said, I do want to highlight the few bright spots. Monica and Rosa at the spa were amazing—top-tier service and care. Emmanuel and Christian in Adelita were wonderful and took great care of our family. And Javier in the Players Lounge is a hidden gem. His drinks were the best on the property, and his customer service was exceptional.

Unfortunately, those standout individuals couldn’t make up for the consistently poor experience throughout the rest of our stay. It’s moments like these—poor communication, lack of accountability, and a dismissive attitude from the front desk—that completely overshadowed the potential this property has. With just a little more attention to detail and genuine customer care, this could’ve been a great stay. Instead, it left a really...