I dont know how this can be rated 4 stars by anyone. The hotel was dirty and the staff didnt seem to care. The food was not good it was hit or miss. Some nights the food would be good other nights it wouldnt be cooked and you wanted to puke. The beach bar and other bars at the hotel closed very early and had very slow service. The rooms have not been remodeled since the 70's. The only good thing there was the coral and fish infront of the hotel. But you have to cross a major highway to get from the hotel to the fake beach. I recomened this hotel to divers and divers only. If you want to do anything else find somewhere else to go. The wait staff was horrible and inconsiderate towards their customers.

We stayed at the FA Jan 21-28, 2005 for our first diving trip together. We payed extra to get a room on the 5th floor with a great ocean view, comfy bed and lots of room to stretch out. All in all, this resort is decent, moderately price. If you expect anything more, you're asking for too much. The staff are always friendly, although the receptionists looked overworked. The grounds looked clean and well kept, although the beach is man made. Snorkelling is a must! We tried the room service menu and it was okay. On the downside, our safe never worked and was never fixed, even though the bellboy promised it would be fixed in a day. I'm not sure if there was a Jenny Craig seminar happening, but it seemed the entire week we were surrounded by fat, overweight people who were in desperate need of some aqua aerobics. Lose some weight before you wear a bathing suit people! Our bathroom was nicely laid out with the exception of the toilet which had about a foot and a half of leg space. Anyways, stay at this hotel if the price is right and if you're looking for a centrally situated hotel that's not too far from town ($6 cab o/w) yet still away from the noise and traffic.

My husband and I went to the FA from Jan. 7-14, 2005, on our honeymoon. We may have had too high of expectations being that last year we were married at a 5-star in the Riviera Maya, the El Dorado Royale. But even our most basic standards were not met here in many ways. After we checked in, it took 20 minutes for a bellboy to come over and show us our room (#915) (which is known as a casita-rooms way back on the property). We opened the door to find two double beds (my husband barely fits on this size bed alone), and it was a smoking room, to which I am allergic. We asked the front desk to be switched to a new room, and they told me to ask tomorrow cuz this was the only room they had available. We looked around at the hot pink, 1970's-style furniture, the "mini bar" with warm soft drinks and water at a charge, and a broken safe and fridge, and practically burst into tears. THIS was our honeymoon room? In the morning we looked out the window to see that our "view" was that of another casita building and a man walking around in his thong. We left the room to find, no exaggeration, garbage, and lots of it. Just in front of our building "Flamingo" was a dirty feminine product, toilet paper, wrappers, and a hanger, among other things. The walkway was narrow and bumpy with blobs of concrete and cigarette butts all over. The rest of the grounds from the casitas to the main lobby was covered in garbage, from beer cans to t.p. to dead leaves and sticks. We went to eat at the first restaurant, the one near the biggest pool, to find flies covering a selection of dried, burnt food, canned fruits, and a rude staff. We left hungry to go to the meeting with the hotel's Apple Rep, Roberta. After her talk about the resort, we told her about the dirtiness of our room. She didn't believe us, so we took her on the "garbage tour." After she saw the garbage outside of the room, as well as on the steps (a ketchup-type substance that I hadn't previously noticed), she proceeded to tell us that life on this island is more laid-back and that a 4-star resort such as this one would be different in the Riviera Maya. We said that we had stayed at other 4-stars before and that garbage at even a 2-star would be unacceptable, and she said that this was between us and our travel agent, although she wouldn't recommend us to use the phone as it cost $5 usd/minute. So we finally got to switch rooms to #226, which was in the same building as the lobby. This room had a king-size bed w/ mattress but no box spring, making it hard with no give whatsoever, but it was clean, so we didn't complain. Roberta had also told us to go to the gas station, buy a container, and have the staff fill it w/ purified water. DO NOT DO THIS. At either of the 2 bars and/or restaurants they will give you huge bottles of water. So once we got our room switched, it took about a day to get the bad taste out of our mouths. The restaurant by the ocean was great, with awesome waiters. Be sure to bring at least $50 in singles and tip...we did, and when my husband lost his sunglasses, the staff helped him find them cuz they remembered that he tipped them. The staff at that restaurant (Reef) and at both bars are awesome, especially Mario at the night bar. He was amazing and made us "flaming" shots that had layers of liquor to look like a Mexican flag. Don't bother using your in-room safe as it costs $1/day. Use the safe deposit box at the front desk instead; it's free. Also, if you rent mopeds, don't pay any more than $25 USD/day and rent from Tony's Scotters. That is the name! But they are the best trustworthy- and price-wise; it includes unlimited mileage and insurance. Some things that we found strange: there was no bottled water in our room, ever, so we always had to go to a bar or restaurant to get some. And EVERY time you order food, drink, towel, ANYTHING, you have to give your room #. It gets very annoying cuz sometimes out of the blue they will tell you that you can't order off the menu unless you pay $3 or you can't have seafood unless you pay $3. And we had to explain to them several times that we are all-inclusive and that's when the language barrier really got in the way. It was not relaxing to constantly wonder if they were sticking you with a charge that should not be since we paid the all-inclusive price. Also, we stayed out at the hotel bar until 11:30-ish for a few nights (it closes at 11:45 and then nothing is goin on there, so this is not a place for all-night partying), and each time we did, we came back to our room to find that someone had come in and laid a room service (which costs extra) menu on our pillow. My only reason I could come up with for this was that they find out who's not in the room and hope that they're drinking so that they'll come back to the room and fill out the menu drunkenly and stick it on their doorknob so they can make some more $$ off you? I have no idea why they did it. We did meet a lot of great people, so that was good. I did the water aerobics class in the pool a few mornings, and the instructors, Jose, Melissa, and Stefani were really nice and motivating and fun. I also painted some pottery, and the guy there did a great job of adding his own marks and fixing your mistakes and glazing it to make it a unique homemade souvenir. The snorkeling, if you could get out there, was phenomenal!!!!! There is only one entrance to the ocean (and no beach...it is only a rock wall, and the area where the beach chairs are put is only 2 inches deep with imported sand)....so if you could make it thru the waves and actually get out there, you will see awesome stuff and different stuff every time. By the end of the week, I had seen random neon-colored fish, angelfish, barracuda, starfish, stingrays, and an octopus!!! I also got stung numerous times, they say it's by tiny clear jellyfish, so I have no clue how to avoid this. It feels like a bee sting and stings for a few minutes, I would snorkel for probably an hour and always got stung and eventually would go in cuz I was fed up w/ getting stung! Does anyone know what to do about this? Anyways, and I always heard great things from all the divers; some people we met saw stingrays and sea turtles when they went out about 80 feet deep. So really, this is a resort for divers, and NOT honeymooners. Every time I told someone it was our honeymoon or went to the front desk w/ our documents, I was told to "come back tomorrow" or "no comprende." So look to somewhere a little bit nicer (we toured the Reef Club which is also a 4-star but WAY fancier and gorgeous...beautiful polished-wood walkways w/ flower gardens everywhere...they are known for a superior honeymoon package I guess). The Iberostar and either Occidental place is also fabulous I've heard. But if you don't care about honeymoon accomodations and just want to be diving all the time, FA would be the place for you. Email me if you have any specific questions!

My husband & I just returned from a great, relaxing SCUBA vacation at the Fiesta Americana. I consulted TripAdvisor before going and was pleasantly surprised that our experience was even better than I had anticipated (after reading some of the reviews). The hotel is not ultra-luxurious but it is clean and has good amenities. Every staff member we interacted with was friendly and helpful. Our room was spacious and clean - - including the bathroom, and it had plenty of hot water. We do not recommend the all-inclusive option, especially if you're a vegetarian. It's more worthwhile to take taxis into town and sample the local cuisine. Even the 2 restaurants at the Hotel Intercontinental Presidente up the road were lovely and far superior to the FA offerings.
FA's arrangement with the Dive House on premises was excellent. It made diving so easy and convenient. Remember to bring a combination lock and you can use their storage lockers for free. And bring plenty of small US$ bills for tipping throughout your stay.
We had a great getaway at the Fiesta Americana and would definitely stay there again in the future.