Hotel Xcaret Arte — Hotel in Quintana Roo

Great safe location. Lots of mosquitoes in arenal restaurant and some around hotel. Tons at the parks so come well prepared with mosquito repellent. The hype of this place is well over what it really is especially because it’s priced insanely as well. My partner & I got to the hotel at about 130pm & our problems started right away The suite they assigned us too wasn’t ready. Which at the time wasn’t a big deal because All we wanted to do was eat. We headed to el mercado & it was amazing. The food was unreal so delicious. But the front door (at buffet mercado) people aren’t the friendliest. Sort of stuck up vibes for some weird reason. Catty women. But the waiters are extremely nice. Anyways we sat there for about an hour. We went back to lobby & our room wasn’t ready still. At that time it was about 3pm. So by this time now we were ready to get in the room to shower & change. Especially after travelling on air canada for about 12 hrs Our room still wasn’t ready. I had been watching plenty of YouTube videos on this hotel & one stuck out to me & made me remember their experience. They’re called viajando en pareja. A Mexican couple.They had an issue with their room when they came to this hotel & they were instantly assigned to an UPGRADED SUITE. The river walk out suite. We were not upgraded & we actually had to sit outside our room waiting on security to get to our room to fix the battery on the door. This was embarrassing & ghetto not something I expected from a “5 star” hotel. We didn’t know it was an actual problem to the door prior to arriving to the hotel. We were thinking since we had told them it was our anniversary they were trying to do our suite in some surprise decorating haha but that was way off. The battery to the door wasn’t working which led to the cards & our bracelets not open the door. It would continuously blink red. So security came he tried to fix it & he couldn’t so he was asking us to leave the room & come back & he’d try to fix again. But I asked if we could instead shower & change into new clothes. We were allowed. finally after an hour We left the room. we let them know they could once again come back & try fixing the door Our room was 5519. Inside we discovered that the tv remote wouldn’t turn the tv on. we had to manually turn it on from the actual tv. Other than that and the bad battery that was how it started on our stay haha stressful and exhausting. we went to rooftop bar for 2hours. That was so nice & the drinks are amazing at the resort. Definitely watered down so no one is belligerent. They’re still great tasting. Anyways so we go back to our room 5519(nightmare room) at about 530pm and our bracelets of course do not open the door. Blinks red and we are once again locked out. So we walked over to the lobby again and let them know we still cannot get into our suite. They tried again to fix the problem but they couldn’t so they moved us over to 5601. They wanted us to wait for a bellboy for our luggages but after waiting for about 15 minutes and no bellboy we dragged our luggages up to the sixth floor to get into our new room. There was only one problem with that suite. The washroom switch to make the room private and unprivate wasn’t working. But that was no big deal. They gave us a card for our new room and instantly worked. We were not upgraded but they sent us over two mugs and chocolates for the trouble. I wanted and expected the upgrade since I watched the YouTube couple that got the river swim up upgrade. And we actually waited until 7pm to be switched to a different room. I asked for an upgrade but nope they didn’t want that. They didn’t even want to move us from 5519. They just insisted in trying to fix the problem while we were there. So frustrating. Also one day the staff were cleaning the concrete floor (exterior) with bleach and the walking through it in my sandals ruined my black aritzia dress. Now my partner and I have bleach marks on our clothes. They should have put cones up or told us not to walk through that :( ugh! On our last day I found a roach in the...

Here is why I will not be staying at this resort again in a nutshell:

I came with a group of 15 from Thursday to Monday. Visited 3 parks and ate at 3 restaurants on the resort.

Important to mention that it is impossible to go to all the parks and also experience the hotel amenities in a long weekend because each park lasts the whole day. By the time you get back, the pool is closed as well as some restaurants.

It takes about an hour to get to each park because the better parks are in Tulum or Cancun. My favorite park was Xavage however I think the parks are overrated.

The resort forces you to stay at the parks all day and will not pick you up until the pickup time. My group actually chose to leave the parks early and had to pay out-of-pocket for cab's.

Resort Food-The best food was at tah-xido tapenyake and the chef was very entertaining. The worst food was at Xoximilo(boat ride). The food at Arenal was just okay. I think it would have been good if it didn’t taste like it sat under a heat lamp all day. The food a Chino Pablano was good but it is small plates so you may need to eat elsewhere prior to going.

The resort- We had the swim up at Casa del Deseno which is right next to the main pool with a swim up bar and restaurant. Although we asked that our friends be somewhat close to us everyone was spread out throughout the resort in different houses. Check in day our room had half empty bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Which made me think they did not thoroughly clean our room.

At times it felt like we were being treated like children or they were trying to get over on us. 1st example, we had our friends in our room at the swim up area and the staff would come to us to get our drink orders. At some point another waiter came over and told us we must drink water in order to order more drinks. This was not only laughable because their drinks were so watered down that we ended having to drink our duty free liquor we purchased at the airport. Not to mention, we are all 35 plus year old professionals and not some wild 21 year olds. That was a huge turn off and never have I ever at any resort been forced to drink water before I can order another drink. 2nd example, at the same time during the 1st example we also tried to order food from the 24 hour room service. We ordered the food on our tv and then received a call stating we could not order for more than who was staying in the room. I explained that we have our friends who are also staying at the resort currently in our room and I could give them their room numbers. They told us that our friends would have to go to their individual rooms and order room service. I let them know their rooms were spread all over the resort, however they did not care. They told us they must order food from their room and wait for it to be delivered to their rooms. 3rd example, at checkout we supposedly missed Xavage park and I was told we would be charged a $25USD no show fee. When I told the lady I had pictures proving we were there because all the parks and around the resort there have picture stations that take your picture. They even take your picture while on the rides because you can’t bring your phone on any of the excursions at Xavage park. After explaining this the lady said she can can give me a one-time courtesy to remove this fee. Even after I said I was there and there should be no fee in the first place, she still printed my bill with the fee & courtesy removal and asked me to sign it in order to check out.

Overall, I would not stay at this resort again. It was not worth the price and I’ve stayed at much nicer all inclusive resorts. If you want to experience the parks I would suggest staying at a better resort and just buying tickets to the parks that interest you. I am also not interested in staying at a resort where they treat you like a child and have ridiculous rules about where and how you can order food and drinks at an All-Inclusive resort.

I have exceeded my characters which won’t allow me to go into more detail but I have a lot more...

Believe the reviews and the hype, it’s worth the price! |Thank God for the day I saw this hotel on Tik Tok.|Aside from a rocky start, this resort was outstanding!|Room: we had a garden view in the Casa de la piramide. The nature of the Mayan jungle surrounding these rooms leaves you breathless, the aesthetics and art are beautiful so even the basic room is worth every penny and leaves you feeling like you are living in luxury everyday. The TV in the room is your guide to everything Hotel Arte. You can order room service, see the different activities, see your bookings and reservations, watch Netflix and even see airport departure. Use this to your advantage in planning your holiday. Also download the app, that helps you to navigate the hotel and all its secret treasures. ||Restaurants: |You will undoubtedly done your research by now on the plethora of different dining experiences to explore at Hotel Arte, Mercado de San Juan (the Mexican buffet) was our favourite. There was always a variety of options, despite the picky eaters in our family. Multiple freshly made food stations set amoung buffet style options gives guests many options to choose from.|Arenal was a close second, beautiful beach front setting; this restaurant is known for its seafood and fresh cut meats and made our night on two occasions. |Cayuco was another buffet style restaurant with views of the gorgeous main pool. Smaller options than some of the other restaurants but lovely still for a change of scenery and no reservations needed. |Top tip: PLEASE make sure you book your reservation for any restaurants that require them before you arrive or at least the day you arrive to avoid disappointment. |Pools: There’s plenty of pools, or lounge areas and they are all wonderful areas to enjoy the holiday you want. Some areas are more lively with music and upbeat atmosphere while others are chilled and quiet. Either way, this is not a resort that you are fighting for sun lounges at 6am. One of the most beautiful is the rooftop bar in Casa de la piramide, a must try. |The Parks: I won’t do a park by park review as there’s just so much to experience and everyone will enjoy different things however to not highly recommend Xcaret, Xplor and Xel-Ha would be remiss of me. The catamaran tour was one of the best experiences we had on this holiday! ||The…SPA! This spa, THIS SPA deserves a review of its own. I have not stopped talking about this spa since I left it! I have been to a lot of spas but have NEVER experienced anything quite like it. One word describes it, outstanding! |If you spend $300 on anything, this spa experience with a massage would not leave you disappointed! It’s was not just a massage but a phenomenal experience guided by amazing staff and talented therapists. The aesthetic is beautifully craved out of the natural rock and surrounded by the jungle, it’s so peaceful. The massage was one of the best I have had, my therapist was so gentle and attentive to my needs. She really made me felt like it was her pleasure to be my massage therapist. I wish I had got more pictures but I was truly lost in my moments here. I left uplifted and relaxed, the Muluk spa made my holiday at Hotel Arte 5 star! | Our arrival and orientation:|Our flight was unfortunately delayed and and so we arrived to the hotel in the early hours of the morning to very little staff and the one staff member who was there to greet us and check us in didn’t really encompass the same amazing Xcaret luxury qualities as most of the staff. So, not off to a good start but from the next morning onwards most of the staff were exemplary and made you feel like royalty. |This resort is so amazing but also very daunting to navigate so it would be of great benefit if Xcaret were to put an orientation in place to help new guests familiarise themselves with the resort and avoid guests missing all the wonderful aspects that this resort has to offer. ||All that being said, Xcaret really did live up to our expectations and it was worth the money to visit. Thank you for an amazing first...