Sensira Resort & Spa · Riviera Maya — Hotel in Quintana Roo

Our experience was far different from the ones listed on this forum. Before booking a trip, I always try to do my due diligence and check out all the reviews. Sensira had all the pictures and reviews we were looking for initially. ||We take our family to Cancun every year for Christmas vacation. My wife and I travel with our 3 adult children, and 2 grandchildren (7 total)||The first problem we had here was check in. There were only 2 desks available for check in, and a ton of people in line. It took quite a long time to check in, and without checking in, you can't really enjoy any of the amenities without having a hotel wrist band. ||Second, and probably our main issue, was the food. There food at this resort was a disaster. We booked 5 days, and when we got onsite, the first thing we tried to do was book a restaurant. They were ALL full until the next week, after our departure. There was no way to book before hand. We finally complained to the concierge and they were able to get us into the Italian place at almost 10 pm. (try that with 2 grandchildren). ||The following morning we went to the breakfast buffet. See the pictures below. The buffet was sparse, and there was no way the poor kitchen staff could catch up with the volume of people. Other's were complaining as well. The poor concierge was so overwhelmed. I talked to him in spanish, and he pulled me to the side and told me the hotel was not prepared for the volume of people at the resort, even though he said they were at 90% capacity. While at the pool, they had no food available. Our kids tried to order a burger, and it literally took 1.5 hours for our order to come out. ||Keep in mind, if you do stay here, the rooms are nice, but they have a glass door for the restroom / shower. So there is little privacy because you can see through part of it. ||I really felt for the staff. They looked stressed and overwhelmed. We tried to make the best of it. The pool is marketed as being heated, and it was quite chilly. The beach did NOT look like the pictures. It was murky and full of seaweed. The pictures are deceiving. There are several areas of the hotel with weird storage areas (pretty much trash), heavily chipped paint, and broken amenities. The children's play area was full of broken activities including ping pong tables and video games. It was quite the disappointment for our grandchildren. ||The next day we attempted the breakfast buffet again, and had an even worse experience with food. There were more people there, and as soon as they would put food out, everyone would hurry to the buffet and literally clear it out. ||We finally had enough and asked for a manager. We decided as a family to leave the resort due to the poor experience we were having. I spent the morning and found a hotel that had availability in the hotel zone. I talked with the manager who gave us a form (see pic) for a refund. I only requested a refund for the days we did not use, which was half our trip. The manager assured me that they would process the refund and apologized profusely for the experience. ||We wound up going to another resort on the hotel zone and had a night and day experience. They were so accommodating, and fulfilled everything we are used to on a trip. ||Fast forward to months later and several phone calls to the resort and credit card company, they did NOT refund us for the 2 remaining days of our stay. First of all, calling the number leads you to a reservation company and it's almost impossible to get a hold of someone at the actual hotel. When I did finally get a hold of someone, I had to send in my documentation multiple times, and submit the forms over and over again to try and get our refund. At my last resort, I put in a dispute with my credit card company, and after a month, they denied it because of the hotel's terms and conditions. ||At the end of the day, a huge lesson for us. We wound up making great memories at the other hotel we stayed at, but what a headache with Sensira. I read all of the other reviews and really hope everyone had a better experience than we did. Honestly, I question if those reviews are real or AI. ||We stayed in January of 2025. I waited until Sept 2025 to write this review in hopes the hotel would make it right. All I wanted was to be refunded for the days we did not stay there. So now I'm out those days, as well money spent at the other resort we went to because Sensira was inadequate. Please...

We came here last year and it was one of the nicest hotels we’ve stayed at. Last year, the hotel and teens club was awesome. It had a Ping pong table, movie theatre with supplied popcorn, trampoline area for the younger kiddos, a snack bar,2 air hockey tables, football table pool tables and a handful of video consoles for the gamers up in the loft area. This year is a lot different, no ping pong table as a guest broke it over three months ago and still no table, only one air hockey table is working ( sort of), foosball table works but doesnt have handles on most of the control rods, last night we stopped by the snack bar and there was food but no plates anywhere to be found nor popcorn for the movie theatre mini golf rundown, no bb or tennis court working

Food

On new years last year it took about 15min to be seated and there was an amazing display of fresh snow crab, sushi, sashimi, and heaps of cooked and grilled to order seafood and lobster. They also had a beautiful display of cool ice sculptures.

This year we waited over 45mins to be seated even though we had a reservation. They had no sushi of any kind. The did have grilled to order prawns, octopus and chopped lobster tails which were grossly undercooked ( all three attempts). The beef was dry as if it’s been sitting all night. The food was far inferior to last year.

The New Year’s party last year was in the ballroom with a lit up dance floor, a great show and the dj had the coolest light up angel wings and it was a great party. There were lots of cool things like a 360 Photo Booth, ladies with champagne glass dresses etc. This year it was around the main pool outside and felt more like it was a last minute decision. They had tons of seats lined up facing the pool. One would think there’s some cool show going on but the chairs were for tired guests to sit. We left at 12:02 along with 90% of guests.

Rodeo - we ate here last night last year food was amazing although it took about 45 mins to get our mains, it was a really good experience with amazing food. This year was the opposite. We arrived at 6pm and was seated right away. It took about 15mins to get a drink order in so we decided to order right away. It took another 15 to get our drinks. The entertainment staff was great at getting the kids up to ride the bull and even a couple adults did it. 7pm rolls around and we still hadn’t got any appetizers or another round of drinks. By this point I’m texting our butler and they started inquiring on what’s going on. It wouldn’t be until 7:45 that we got our mains but still no appetizers. We had to ask another staff member to get some more drinks. Our butler was physically in the kitchen help clearing and serving food. We ended up walking out at 8:15 and went to the buffet ( to which they sat us down at a dirty table when there was only 3-4 tables occupied

At the beach grill service yesterday, took 1:15 to get tacos and squid rings. Last year it would be 15 mins.

Pool bar - there’s no swim up and really, really long lines like 15min to get a drink with a loud speaker cranked in your ear as you wait in line. I stopped by the pool bar at 4 and they couldn’t make quite a few drinks that I requested as they didn’t have ingredients necessary, Which was an old fashioned or mango marg to name a few.

Loungers- until today loungers were pretty much gone at 6:30, today(jan4) was 9

Beach beds. - beach beds were gone by 5am today was 7

Adult pool isn’t really an adult pool anymore. Lots of kids running around and lots of kids/ babies in the adult hot tub.

That being said, the staff is doing the best they can, at restaurants they are literally running from table to table but clearly they are overwhelminly understaffed.

We just had a meeting with management and expressed our concerns. He tells me that this is the first hotel that he’s managed that has has this many complaints. He also said that the food/ beverage manager will not be coming back.

We been coming down to the Mayan for over 25years and this is the worst experience that we...

I rarely write reviews, but after staying at this hotel, I feel compelled to share my experience, especially since their high rating and four-diamond status are completely misleading.

To start, the cleanliness of the hotel was appalling. The towels in our room smelled terrible, and the pool was far from inviting. The water was murky and dark, with no detectable chlorine scent, which made us question its safety. We even found a broken plate outside the elevator that remained there for three days, and when you turned on the water in our room, it smelled strongly of sewer and mildew. It felt like nothing had been properly cleaned for a long time.

The food situation was just as bad. Despite advertising eight restaurants, there was only one open for breakfast—a buffet that required a long wait to even get seated if you didn’t arrive before 7:30 AM. Once seated, the service was sparse, and drinks were frequently forgotten or never arrived at all. On top of this, the food itself was awful— I had stale bread, sour-tasting items, and dishes that seemed past their prime. The fact that they offered “mystery water” from a large jug instead of providing bottled water was concerning, especially in a family-friendly resort in Mexico, where you’re advised not to drink tap water. They only left a few bottles in the fridge and wouldn’t replenish them unless requested, and even then, only allowed one per person. For an all-inclusive resort, this felt incredibly limiting and unsafe.

The staff, while clearly trying their best, were overworked and understaffed. You could tell that the frustration was building, but unfortunately, this is a management issue, not the staff’s fault. Bartenders were often overwhelmed, and the drinks were poorly made, with long waits and incorrect orders.

We did find one okay restaurant, the Rodeo Grill, but even with a reservation, we waited over two hours for our meal. This was incredibly difficult, especially with young kids who were hungry and tired after a long day.

To add to the chaos, there was a stray dog roaming around the hotel, unaddressed by any staff. We witnessed children trying to pet it, and it bit one of them. This lack of attention to safety was alarming.

The hotel’s nightclub played loud music until 1 AM, shaking the hotel’s walls and preventing anyone from getting a good night’s sleep.

One of the most upsetting aspects of our stay was the overall health and hygiene concerns. After returning home, several members of our group developed fungal infections. Given the state of the food and the general lack of cleanliness, we can’t help but wonder if we dodged a serious health issue during our stay.

While the hotel advertises a wealth of amenities, including eight restaurants and four pools, this is another case of false advertising. Yes, technically they may have these amenities, but they are far from what you’d expect. The pools are small, especially considering the number of rooms and guests. Similarly, the beach chairs are in limited supply, and with the number of people staying here, it’s nearly impossible for everyone to use the space comfortably. They make it seem like there’s an abundance of things to do, but with the sheer volume of guests, it’s clear that there’s not enough to go around.

When you read reviews for this hotel, it’s hard to reconcile the glowing feedback with the experience we had. We’ve stayed at multiple all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, and none of them have been this bad. The discrepancy between the ratings and the reality of this place is beyond frustrating. It feels like false advertising at its worst, and I suspect these glowing reviews may not be entirely genuine.

Finally, the beach area is disappointingly small and crowded, with a large volleyball court taking up most of the space, leaving little room for beach chairs. The hotel also has random, frustrating rules— for example, you can’t access the beanbags for cornhole until 1 PM.

It’s heartbreaking to have a hard earned vacation ruined by a hotel that fails on...