Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya

Radmila Caparosa

I arrived at Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya yesterday expecting the five-star luxury beach vacation that was advertised, but my experience has been extremely disappointing, to say the least. The biggest issue is the beach. A major reason I chose a Caribbean resort was to enjoy the ocean, yet the beach is essentially unusable due to excessive seaweed. I understand that seaweed can be a natural occurrence, but guests should be informed before arrival when beach conditions are this severe. Had I known, I would have chosen a different destination. The resort itself has only one pool, which feels dated and overcrowded. Finding available lounge chairs is difficult, and cabanas require an additional fee. For a resort marketed as a premium all-inclusive property, this is not the experience I expected. Another major disappointment is that the buffet is closed for lunch and dinner due to maintenance. The buffet was one of the reasons I booked this resort, and this information was not communicated in advance as well. . Instead, guests are limited to reservation-based restaurants. As someone who specifically prefers the convenience and variety of a buffet while on vacation, this significantly impacts my experience. The restaurant food has also been underwhelming. I tried one of the specialty restaurants on my first night and did not find the quality to match the hotel’s five-star reputation. As a result, I feel like there is very little to do here. With an unusable beach, a crowded pool, and dining options that do not meet expectations, I am spending much of my vacation confined to my room or sitting by the pool without adequate shade. Most disappointing of all is that hotel management has made little effort to address these concerns or offer any meaningful solution. For the price charged and the expectations created by the marketing, this experience falls far short of what I would expect from a five-star Hyatt property. I would not return, and I would advise future guests to carefully research current beach conditions and available amenities before booking. Update to my original review: although my concerns about the beach conditions and some aspects of the resort are still valid, I truly want to acknowledge the incredible kindness and care I’ve received from the staff afterward. The management team genuinely listened and made a real effort to improve my experience and help me enjoy the rest of my vacation. A very special thank you to assistant manager Atsimba, for her warmth, professionalism, and compassion, and to Michelle and Carlos at the pool for taking such thoughtful care of me every day. Also, Jose Luis at Lola Beach restaraunt , Luz at the Coffee Shop, Javier and Esperanza at the breakfast buffet! Their kindness truly changed the atmosphere of my stay and meant more than they probably realize. A special mention to the spa( especially, Diana , who did my massage, which was one of the highlights of my stay. The facilities were immaculate, the staff were attentive and welcoming, and the entire experience was incredibly relaxing. The quality of the treatments and the value for the price exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend it.

Jailine Molina

We enjoyed our short stay. It was everything we wanted. A good place to relax. The food was amazing. They were very careful when it came to food allergies/intolerances. It was a bummer that we could not bathe in the beach but that’s nature for you and we are know this happens a lot in the Caribbean. We are used to it. Very good job at cleaning it.The pools were clean, we could see staff testing at various points of the day which was great. The hotel was not crowded at all which was great. Plenty of space around the pool area. Even though we had a swim out room we spend a good time at the pool which was very nice. The drinks were better in certain places for the club levels guest. A special thanks to Fernanda our concierge who made our stay very lovely and assisted us with dinner reservations and made sure we felt like home. Kind of wish I took my pictures of the other meals I had. Would definitely like to come back and stay longer.

Mark Walsh

Firstly I must address the high levels of rotten sargassum in and around this property. It is a potential health hazard. In fact I am back home in England now and was in hospital for 7hrs with symptoms consistent with exposure to hydrogen sulfide which we have since learned is the gas which is emitted when the seaweed rots. It was very evident at this hotel as a rotten egg smell sadly permeated throughout the property. We didn’t even have a room by the sea and there was no respite from the fumes. It didn’t help to look out of my hotel balcony window to see a lorry loads of the stuff gets stored and removed by the side road next to the hotel. We are actually so disappointed with our holiday company for putting up at this hotel when our flight got cancelled as we were warned the levels of sargassum in this area was unbearable but because the holiday company said they didn’t have any notes about the issue from the property itself they were unwilling to change our location. It was only after being at the hotel for a night and starting to get eye irritation, feeling breathless/ having a tight chest, getting diarrhoea and feeling sick and suffering from headaches and dizziness that I started to look into the smell of rotten eggs and what causes it. To be fair I am asthmatic and so are going to be more sensitive. My wife didn’t have the same issues as I did aside from just the general unpleasantness of the smell. I am confident the hotel tries to manage the situation but I think their management of the issue could be better. To the hotel itself, it is a nice property in general with good facilities, bar and entertainment areas and a good sized pool. It’s not a massive resort but does cater to the adults only market well. When you first check in after a lovely welcome drink you are sadly palmed straight off to a sales agent for the Hyatt group. I would have got get annoyed with this if it happened after a 12+ hour travel day as they keep you for sometime. Since we only just came from Playa Del Carmen we entertained the sales pitch and offer of ‘free gifts’ but had zero interest and made it clear. They hold on to your key and make out it’s a welcome thing but it’s a let’s convince you to come along to a breakfast meeting where we can try and sell our timeshare/ holiday club options. When we arrived at our room there were still members of staff inside the room carrying out maintenance in the bathroom. They did leave after 5 mins but we were told to watch the wet paint in the bathroom for a couple of hours. Our room also didn’t have a hairdryer and it took an hour for them to send us one. Aside from those issues the room itself was pleasant, modern, clean and well themed. The mini bar was also good. Food around the resort was ok but the drinks were excellent. The staff we encountered were very friendly and welcoming and gave the impression they genuinely cared about delivering a good service. In summary the property itself is good and the staff are great. We would have never of booked it for ourselves and didn’t stay there by choice and was relieved our two night stay only ended being one! Presentedly there is also a construction site located next door to the hotel with construction noise throughout the day.

Rachel Whitby

The property itself is absolutely beautiful, but once we arrived it felt more like a retirement resort than the fun, lively all-inclusive experience we expected. There was very little entertainment, and the activities that were offered were pretty boring. One of the biggest disappointments was that the gorgeous pool area and swim-up bar closed early every evening. It felt like a huge missed opportunity to have music, cocktails, and a fun poolside atmosphere at night. Unfortunately, the beach was also disappointing. Due to the seaweed issue, it wasn’t really walkable, and the smell was so strong at times that it made me nauseous. The food was another letdown. Much of it lacked flavor, the chicken was often rubbery, and the drinks tasted watered down. To make matters worse, when it rained, the resort offered virtually nothing to do, leaving guests with few options for entertainment. This was my first trip out of the country and my first all-inclusive resort experience, and I left feeling cheated and disappointed. Ironically, the highlight of my vacation was paying for my own taxi ride into town and exploring outside the resort. There’s nothing wrong with a quiet, low-key resort if that’s what you’re looking for, but Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya should do a better job advertising itself as a calm, relaxed resort rather than implying a more lively all-inclusive adult only experience.

Abigail Young

This was an extremely disappointing resort and absolutely not worth the money. For an all-inclusive hotel, the food quality is shockingly bad. The seafood tasted like it had been dead and frozen for years, and the flavors were terrible across the board. Even something as basic as lasagna was gross. Another major issue was the mosquitoes. There were so many that it was almost impossible to sleep at night, even after spraying repellent. I stayed at the Club Level, which is supposed to come with a dedicated butler service. However, the butler constantly says they are “always available,” but in reality they never actually help with anything meaningful. They also advertise a complimentary 25-minute massage for Club Level guests. But when I tried to schedule it, there was no availability at all, and no one informed me of this in advance. This resort is poorly managed and severely overpriced for what it offers. We also encountered extremely drunk guests causing scenes in the lobby twice during our five-day stay. The experience was incredibly frustrating.