Cancun

The guy stated he's not expecting it to have Cancun nightlife so I'll try to reply something helpful rather than just saying Cancun when he's stated his interest in Playa Del Carmen.

I'm 21 and have been on nights out in Playa Del Carmen and Cancun. As you've said you realise they are not the same but this doesn't mean they're not as enjoyable I'm sure you'd have a great time in PDC. We loved the Blue Parrot as much as we loved Coco Bongos even though they couldn't be more different! There's drinks a plenty an indoor dancefloor made of sand and an outdoor dancefloor on the beach, the music is high and the atmosphere is great - I'm sure you'll all love it!

There's loadsa little places around PDC but Blue Parrot we thought was best although we didn't try the Clubs last year - we intend to next year though.

Also you can get to Cancun easily enough for nights out. This is what we are doing - having the benefit of the nicer hotels/resorts in Playacar and planning on splitting our nights out between Cancun and PDC.

As for which hotel is best for you I really can't help you on that....We stayed at the Allegro last year...it had some young elements - ie. Tequila Darts, Beer drinking competitions etc but it wasn't like that all the time and was nothing to crazy - it was a fun place though. However now I think the beach is gone and possibly it is closing down.

We're staying at the Tucan this year but I'm not aware that it is particularly 'young'.....

My advice would be pick your hotel based on the grounds/resteraunts/location/beach etc rather than whether it draws a young crowd cos I'm not sure if there is such a hotel in PDC but I could be wrong!

Hope this has helped! x

How about the RIU Tequila??

Hi Ricky79,

I see you are also from Montreal-- I just booked Montreal to Playa Del Carmen at the 4* Allegro Playcar for $950 (escapes.ca or itravel2000.com...and perhaps other sites!)....this deal is only available Feb 21-28, other dates the prices are way higher. For this price, you can't complain (although some still manage to!)

I would suggest checking out the RIU Tequila.

As for night clubs in the area, the Blue Parrot would probably be your best fit. There is also the Mambo Cafe which is more of a salsa type dancing club. Other fun places are the Tequila Barrel right on 5th, they have a dance floor and live music in the back. And of course there is Senor Frog's and Carlos and Charlies which get packed every night with the younger crowds.

If you are not needing the AI, try looking into the places like the Playa Maya, La Tortuega Hotel, Luna Blue or the dozens of other smaller boutique hotels located right in Playa. The only problem you may have now is actually finding someplace that has anything available yet for that time of year.

We stayed at the Riu Tequila (5 star) and had a great time - good food, nice restauarants, and a disco. There are 664 rooms at the Tequila so there are always lots of people there wanting to have a good time - plus being that it's All-Inclusive you can drink as much as you want at the disco and it's all included. We were doing tequila poppers at the disco there and every time our drink was empty there was another one waiting for us. We are 27 & 31 and had a great time our whole week there.

It's not right on the beach, but the walk to the beach isn't more than a few minutes. It's a $5 cab ride to PDC and there were organized trips from the hotel into Cancun to go to the clubs if you found you really were missing them!

Have a great time, wherever you go!

Ange

I would agree with the others that the RIU Tequila would be a happening resort for you. You will also have access to the Playacar and Yucatan across the street. The Tequila is not directly on the beach, but it's across the street and you have access to the other 2 resorts, so you can hang out and eat there. The Tequila has the disco on its premises.

The Tequila is located in the gated community of Playacar, within walking distance to Playa Del Carmen (about 2 miles). Playa Del Carmen has a very fun nightlife with clubs like Deseo, The Tequila Barrell, Senor Frogs, etc.

Yes RIU Tequila is nice choice, If you want to spend a couple of dollars more RIU Yucatan is a good choice also. Yucatan is on the Beach and you can walk over to the RIU Tequila at night. A cab ride into PDC is $5 one way

You have to understand most people that go to the resorts around PDC hang out around the resort at night. So the nightlife consists of watching the nightly show and maybe checking out the resort disco.

Your other option is a mega resort south of PDC something like Barcelo Maya or Grand Palladium where there is something like 1000-1500+ rooms they hold more people and are pretty much self contained. They all have disco's. The down side is that the cab ride to PDC is $15-20 one way

The thing you need to know is since the resorts are all-inclusive most people don't want to spend the $$ on cab fare,admission, and drinks, when you can just walk in the resort disco and just spend a few bucks in tips.

Places like the Grand Palladium have so many bars and is so big that a web site dedicated to the resort has made up its own Pub crawl.

Search palladium addict, Unofficial Barcelo, or riubambu forums

Good luck

token22

Hi ricky79,

I also stayed in Cancun my last visit and have decided to stay in PDC this trip.

Check out the reviews for Hotel Basico and Hotel Deseo. They both are very trendy South Beach Miami style hotels. Not only do they both sound like a fun place to stay, but they also offer interesting roof top and pool bars that are very popular in the evenings.

I'll be in PDC in February and my friend is staying at Deseo and I'm staying at Basico. This will be my first time staying in either hotel, but based on the reviews I'm confident it will be a lot of fun.