Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya — Hotel in Quintana Roo

Review of Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya..||||I’m going to start with Service! You won’t get any better service than you will here! From the moment you arrive you’re made to feel welcomed and that feeling that they want to make your visit special. Everyone tried to make a connection with us. UVC was great (Franco). Our butlers Fernanda and Renata took care of us every day. The set up reserved pool loungers for our group every morning, booked sushi and Teppanyaki reservations”. They sent (download What’s App before you arrive) a good morning and the schedule for the day every morning. If there were pop up lunches or any other activities it was provide also. They made sure to find us every day and check on us to see if we needed anything and how things were going. They provided these services to our friends also who didn’t have a butler room. If you need something they can get it done! They made the week fabulous! Shout outs to bartender Nicole, Ramses and Abraham at Social Bar, Abraham at Legends sports bar, Jorge at the Olas pool bar (ask him for a mini Guinness, we had them for breakfast), Omar (the boss) pool butler, and even Saide in housekeeping keeping the room spotless. I know I missed some waiters who were fabulous also. But most of all…. Julio in the house! For the pool service of a lifetime find Julio and go where he assigned day to day and you won’t be disappointed. He is happy when you are happy! He will do everything to make your stay the best. Stay hydrated! Be kind! Make sure and tip what you can afford for good service it is appreciated.|||| ||||We (my wife and I) had a one week stay in the second week of Sept. 2025. We stayed with another couple. We are all around 55-60 years of age. I and my wife are UVC Platinum members and this would be around our 16th trip to the Cancun, Riviera Maya, and Tulum area since 2014. I provided this information to let the reader know we are seasoned travelers to the area and the all-inclusive resort platform.||||Upon the minute we arrived we were made to feel special. We were greeted by Franco of UVC and the check in was easy. A couple cold drinks were provided immediately. No upgrades to the rooms were provided. We were taken to our rooms. We had an Oceanfront King on the south side of the resort rm #219. Our friends had an ocean view room on the north side of the resort. Both rooms had excellent views ours the Ocean and theirs the pool and ocean. Rooms are clean and refreshed after a recent remodel which spruced the old resort up upon Hyatts takeover. One note is, there is a new resort being built on the south side of the property. There is construction noise during the day M-F It didn’t really bother us until we went out to the patio. I’ll include a photo. I would estimate a year for the construction to finish. The noise wasn’t really noticeable anywhere else in the main areas of the resort.||||Resort didn’t ever seem busy. Everything was readily available. Resort is well maintained and clean. It is small, easy to get around, with rooms and common areas in a U layout, with a central pool area. There are elevators for the central, south and north wings. The north elevator was broken for a short time for our friends. Pool is set up as activity to the south and quiet to the north. They are divided by a foot bridge over them. Activities are on the south side near the swim up bar, or the beach on that side. Cabanas are available to rent in a single or double. See Omar and he will hook you up. Beach is a silvery white sand and water was calm. There are loungers and Cabanas also available there with beach drink service. Sargassum was great the first day and our last day, but in between it came in pretty steady. That’s seasonal and nothing the resort can do much about but clean it up and try to keep up. The tractor was out doing that every day.||||Everyone has different fondness and aversions to food so I won’t say a whole lot about the food. We enjoyed it. With only three restaurants I would say the Sushi in Tempest was the best. Lola beach had good pizzas and mac and cheese was good. Didn’t care for the burger. Lola restaurant was very good for lunch and dinner. Capri was very good at dinner. El Comedor buffet is the only option for breakfast other than room service which was better than the buffet. It also had a Sunday brunch and dinner a few nights a week. There were various pop up lunches by the pool (tacos, burgers, grilled foods (ribs and sausages were great) and outside dinners on Wed. Its Ridizzio night with the Aquatic show. Fridays were Prehispanic Feria and A show. Coffee Republic has a great selection of coffees (Iced and hot) snack goodies and ice cream.||||Drinks were strong and variety was great. Bars were fabulous with a lot of entertainment taking place in Legends sports bar. Central lobby bar Social was the place for specialty drinks. Try a smoked old fashioned! I was advised the Preferred club is being worked on across from Social bar and will open after the first of the year. It will have top shelf liquor and some snack options.||||I don’t like to end on the bad, but it’s not terrible. The resort is showing its age even with a recent refresh. It was Secrets Capri when it opened in 2004. Its little things you will notice as you walk around the resort. If you’re looking for brand new this isn’t it. The staff more than makes up for any shortcomings you will find.||||We will be back to enjoy...

The check-in process started off well enough; we were greeted by friendly staff and offered refreshing moist towels to help us cool down after our journey. However, things quickly took a turn for the worse. The host repeatedly mentioned a welcome drink, building up our anticipation, but never actually delivered on this promise. Instead of being escorted to our room as we would have expected, we were passed off to a timeshare representative.

This was a major disappointment. We had just arrived at the resort and hadn't even been shown where our room was located, yet we were already being pressured to commit to a timeshare presentation. While the salesperson wasn't overly pushy, it felt highly inappropriate to be asked to make such a commitment before we had even had a chance to settle in and start enjoying our vacation.

After declining the timeshare presentation, we were left to find our own way to the room. We ended up wandering around the resort for 15 minutes, feeling lost and disoriented. When we finally arrived at our room, we discovered that our bags were still missing. It took another 90 minutes and a call to the front desk for our luggage to finally arrive, adding to our frustration and sense of being neglected by the staff.

Although the room itself was spacious and clean, it felt dated and in need of some maintenance. Noise was also a major issue; we could hear our neighbors clearly through the walls, including their strange habit of frequently tapping on the walls. The sound of their chairs scraping the floor was also incredibly loud and grating, like nails on a chalkboard.

The swim-up pool, which had initially seemed like a great feature, turned out to be a major disappointment. On New Year's Eve, fireworks debris landed in the pool, and the staff didn't clean it up until two days later. To make matters worse, food remnants later appeared in the water, likely dropped by wildlife scavenging on nearby balconies. The pool wasn't cleaned often enough, and the lack of maintenance made it unappealing and unhygienic. As a result, we chose to avoid using the swim-up pool altogether, which was a shame as it had been one of the reasons we booked this particular room.

The resort only had four dining options, including a snack bar, and the meal schedule was inconvenient and restrictive. Breakfast ended at 11:30 a.m., and the lunch buffet didn't open until 1:30 p.m., leaving a significant gap with no food options other than waiting or ordering room service, which took about an hour. Additionally, there was no dinner buffet during the week, limiting our choices for evening meals.

We were also concerned about the hygiene standards in the restaurants. Staff didn't wear gloves while preparing food, which was off-putting and raised concerns about food safety. Unfortunately, our fears were confirmed when my wife suffered food poisoning at one of the resort's restaurants. This was a major setback, as it cost us a significant portion of our vacation for her to recover in our room, missing out on activities and experiences we had been looking forward to.

In addition to these issues, we experienced several other problems during our stay. Staff called our room every morning at 9 a.m., either for surveys or to encourage us to "use credits," which was disruptive and annoying. After unplugging the phone in an attempt to stop the calls, we were woken the next day by a fire alarm that went off across the entire resort, causing further inconvenience and stress. There was also a brief power outage on our fourth day, and the resort events were lackluster and failed to live up to our expectations.

Overall, our experience at this resort was extremely disappointing. While the beach was clean, and the room had its perks, the overall experience fell far short of our expectations. From the timeshare pitch at check-in to pool cleanliness issues, inconvenient dining schedules, and constant disturbances, this resort didn’t meet expectations.

More Photos/Videos Here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jTRn8t9Hz7ShnFeM6

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Small place, walking distance to amenities.The room smelled a bit humid when we got in. We opened the doors and the smell went away. Noise levels are normal to a story type building, Staff invited us to participate in the activities but no body pressure us. Just say no and they leave you alone. There is something to do all day and shows every night. Restaurants: There are items with extra cost in the menus. When dining, I asked if the items I was about to consume were included. This was just for precaution because these items are market in the menu as premium with a price. Food is decent in all restaurants. My husband loved the New York steak at The Capri. Pasta was great too. Breakfast options are too much, too good, you can get your favorite drinks from capuchinos to fresh juices, and smoothies, omelettes, churros, you name it. Sushi bar and Teppanyaki (similar to Hibachi) need reservation, reserve early at your arrival because they don’t open everyday. You need to plan in order to visit all restaurants. The cofee bar is super convenient, assorted pastries, fruits, and delicious ice cream all day. Food at the snack bar didn’t meet my expectations. The tuna bowl, pizza, and wings were horrible same with the meet steak option at Lola. Fish was tasteful in any version everywhere. The dinner room service was good as well, crème brûlée is a must try. Presentation of the dishes was appealing, very well done. There are a few vegetarian options in all menus. Tofu at the Teppanyaki was delicious. At the pool, best coconut water I ever had, extra cost too 🤪 very hard to diet when food is so good. Drinks: cocktails are inconsistent across all bars. I don’t drink hard alcohol but I overheard people complaining about having to pay extra for high quality tequila. Service: We did not experience aggressive selling behaviors as other mentioned. Staff is extremely nice and treat you with respect and diligence. I’m bad at remembering names, everyone we interacted with made us feel welcome. Ivan, at the Italian restaurant, was the best. Massage, facial, and the hidroterapia experience were awesome. If you need a haircut ask for Suli, she took care of my hair cut. Beach and sunrises are stunning, the sun comes up over the gulf, get out early, the beach is usually serene at this time. However, if you are a sunset lover you will be disappointed depending on your room location. The view from the beach is blocked by the building. You can only glance the sunset a bit from the main lobby at this time of the year. Some algae by the short but they clean it every day. Fauna: The few coatíes running around are local fauna, be aware of their presence, they don’t mess with you if you don’t mess with them. You will see iguanas, and maybe deers. I was lucky to see one deer eating by the beach. Cabanas: I don’t understand why they charge for the cabanas, there are plenty of chairs and shadow from the coconut trees at the beach and servers are walking around serving everyone regardless of where you are seating at. Photography: photographers on site walking around offering their service. If you want a professional session they will do a great job in any location including the beach. Photos have an extra cost. 🤪. Others: The website offers slippers, bring your own, they don’t have any. Bring everything you need, there is no stores near by. If you want to party, pick a different hotel. This is a secluded location and you will need a taxi to go places. Tips are welcome but not expected. We received a great service regardless of tipping or not. If you think you are buying a 5 ⭐️ hotel based on USA standards this is maybe a 4, not because of the service but of the building. Facilities were renovated but are no new, so do not expect a brand new building. Service is 5 starts, they do a great job on pampering you. Rooms are clean and you get clean towels, and fresh sheets daily if you ask for. Management is on site attentive to your needs. This is a place to get out, seat back, eat, read, relax, swing, exercise, sleep,...