Throughout our entire vacation here, we couldn't stop saying "This is PARADISE!". The grounds were beautiful, our service at the Royal Club was excellent... we wish that we could have extended our stay!

We were very surprised at many of the reviews we have read here on trip advisor, but perhaps that is mostly due to the fact that upgrading to the Royal Club, one's experience is much different than in the rest of the resort. We highly recommend the Royal Club. We were only bothered once about a time share

We found all the employees to be helpful and friendly - they all said hello when passing by. The food was nothing to write home about, but for a buffet it was certainly better than many I've been to before. We especially like the Pescaria restaurant. Their shrimp and scallops was really really tasty!

We found the drinks to be delicious - especially the Xcaret Paradise and Miami Vice. At the pool in the royal club you can have drinks brought to you and lunch served to you poolside. We loved the pool at the royal club so much we never went to the others. (although we did visit the adult ocean water pool once).

The theme park next door is huge! Be prepared to walk A LOT! Be sure not to miss swimming through the caves. Our little piece of advice is to get the flippers at least, if not the snorkel as well, and to get a lifejacket smaller than you would normally. The swim is long (but well worth it) but it is tiring if you don't have flippers.

Make sure you get to Playa del Carmen. It's lots of fun at night! Go to Senor Frogs if you like noisy craziness! They have great drinks and amazing nachos! It's about a $10 USD cab ride each way.

Geez... thinking and writing about our trip makes me want to go back now!!

My wife, a friend of mine and I stayed at the Occidential Grand Flamingo (full name) for a week from 2/16/08 > 2/23/08. The Hotel is great! The lobby will take your breath away. The grounds are beautiful and very well kept, and everything is very lush, green and beautiful.
As for the bar scene: I've read a couple of these reviews that said the bars served bad rail alcohal, and others that said they put very little alcohol in the drinks. I say bull. They have Appleton Special rum (my favorite) sitting right there, and will be happy to use it if you ask. And one time I made the mistake of asking for a bit more Tequila (good, 100% Blue Agave Tequila) in my Margarita, and the barman poured me about five more shots! After that I asked for "piquito" (a bit) more Tequila or rum if I thought it was needed > which it rarely was. But they will make you a good drink if you just let them know what you want. I heard more people complain about drinks that were too strong than too weak! The bartenders can't read minds! And please, tip them a buck or two once in awhile. They're working for less than American minimum wage, and a couple bucks goes a long way down there! And you would tip if you were at home, wouldn't you?
As for the food: It's not the best I've ever had, but it VERY good unless you're ultra picky! Yes you need to make reservations at the ala carte restaurants, but the food is EXCELLENT. Especially the Oriental restaurant > it's 5 star all the way! The buffet is good, not great, but good. I liked the buffet down by the beach best for lunch. They alway had fresh sea food, the bread was the best I'd had since Europe, and the fruit was fresh and wonderful!
Now the bad part - no real beach. The little man-made thing they had was very nice, but I like a beach, and really missed not having one. Once while swimming in a small cut-out area they have that's connected to the ocean I saw and was able to photograph a Green Sea Turtle that must have come in to get away from the pounding surf. And while eating at the the ala carte seafood restrauant (by the ocean) we saw a quite large Manta Ray (about a 5' wingspan) swim into to man-made bay by the man-made beach > I was all set to go get my snorkel gear, but since it was late at night and I was drunk as a skunk, my wife talked me out of it (God bless her!).
Xcaret Eco Park, DO NOT MISS IT! The river trip is a ball, the place is beautiful, they have a beach, and the final show it top-of-the-line!
However, I was also dispointed by Playa Del Carmen. I loved a nice Cuban bar we found called La Boguida Del Medio (sp?), but other than that, everything in Playa was crouded with tourists! Even OFF the strip! Playa is not Mexico. I mean it's totally plastic. The prices for dinner and/or drinks are four to five times what they were in Old Town Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, or any other place I've ever been to in Meixco.
So, if I liked Playa better I'd go back to the Occidential, but since Playa turned me off so much, we'll probably be heading back to Puerto Vallarta or perhaps check out Acapulco next time (or just stay in or around Cancun). Have fun!

My sister (17), father (old enough) and I (19) traveled to the Occidental Grand Xcaret last week.

First, the pros:

The grounds are very beautiful. My sister and I would go on several walks during the day without getting bored because there were so many places to go/see.
The buffets, in my opinion, had a great selection. The main buffet always had chicken breast, fish (salmon at dinner), pasta, quesadillas, fresh vegetables and fruit which left all of us satisfied and full everytime. We really didn't try the restaurants - we loved the buffet and couldn't be bothered!
The fun club were constantly on the go running new, fun activities for all ages all day long.
** Also, although we didn't have any young children in our group, from what I saw, the staff were great with the kids, keeping them busy and safe throughout the day
Xcaret Park is a must do! It was great to have a free pass to this place. My sister and I went snorkeling and had tons of fun in general at the park.

Now, the Cons:

- When we arrived, we were immediately given wristbands. They separate you using different colours representing under 18 or over 18. My sister was not pleased at all about being given the yellow (kids) wristband which prevented her from having access to the adult only pool, disco, and of course all alcoholic beverages. Unlike many other hotels that I have traveled to, this hotel was extremely strict in concern to this policy, and would not allow her into the "adult" areas. - This was a problem for us since she was the only person in our party that was under 18, but understandable since the hotel was only following Mexican law.
- On only our second day, we sister had to necklaces stolen from her by the room cleaning service. We are positive that they were taken, SO LOCK UP EVERYTHING VALUABLE!!
- No real beach. If long walks on the beach are your thing, than this may not be the right place for you. The hotel's manmade beach is very small. It's pretty, but NOT a beach.

In short, we found this hotel had many great great features, and overall, we had a good time. however, some of the negatives we experienced will probably deter us from coming back again in the future.

I stayed at the Occidental Grand Flamingo Xcaret (that's the full name) from 2/15-2/21 with my wife and 14-year-old son and I must say we were all satisfied. We stayed at a deluxe junior suite in Building 18 (not far from the lobby) which was large and surprisingly quiet given the nightclub-like shows every night in the nearby main complex. Didn't hear that at all.

We booked through Orbitz, which was about $500 cheaper than other Web sites. The junior suite (one large room with a sofabed and balcony) was only $15/night extra and well worth it. I also paid $15/night extra for concierge service and a few other ameniites; not sure if this got me a better room. If not, it's not worth it.

There's plenty of things for kids to do, including teens. My son was impressed that they played Coldplay down at one of the pool areas where there's a kids' activities center (complete with ping pong, pool volleyball, etc.)

The food, as reported elsewhere, isn't gourmet. But it is quite good. You also MUST make reservations at the individual restaurants upon arrival or you will end up eating buffets at every meal. We found the best of the non-buffet restaurants (Asian, Italian, Mexican and seafood) was the seafood one, which is by the lagoon, a long walk from the lobby complex. It was fully booked the first five nights we were there. The cioppino, filled with shrimp and scallops, was excellent. The Mexican restaurant also was very good.

The buffets are fine for breakfast and lunch; plenty of fresh fruit (including papaya), good bread, etc. No one in my family got sick and we ate everything, including salad and sushi. I've stayed at several other all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean; this one was quite comparable.

For those who want to get away from kids, there's an adults-only saltwater pool at the very end of the property, outside the restaurant by the lagoon. Very scenic.

Unlike some other reviewers here, we were very impressed by the adjacent Xcaret (pronounced ish-ca-ret) ecopark, which has some really interesting exhibits (including butterfly breeding, sea turtles and oyster mushroom growing), nature walks, good snorkeling (at the lagoon), cave snorkeling, a boat trip, an aquarium, a bat cave, dolphins, a Mexican chapel, etc. In fact, the only part which I found so-so was the evening show spectacle, which others here have liked a lot. The park is only a five-minute walk from the hotel so you can easily go back and forth whenever you want; all hotel guests get a free one-day pass, which normally goes for $59/person. Don't pay to eat there since the food is included at the hotel.

Other highlights in the area: the ruins at Tulum (about an hour south by car), snorkeling at Akumal (half-hour south), where there is coral and a sea turtle reserve just off the beach, and cenotes (freshwater snorkeling in caves). We rented a car at the airport.

Like everywhere, there are people on the property trying to sell "vacation club" memberships, including the concierge at our building. We made it clear we weren't interested and they stopped mentioning it. (Even the Avis rental agency at the airport pushes vacation clubs.)

The hotel property is quite large but verdant and very attractive. There's an area with monkeys, some real Mayan ruins, pink flamingos, deer, etc. Also, tennis courts, several very large swimming pools, an air-conditioned exercise center with up-to-date equipment and nice indoor spa (guests can use the jacuzzi, steamroom and sauna for free).

I recommend the resort, especially for families.