As two teachers who decided to check out an all-inclusive for the first time, we spent a lot of time on TripAdvisor reviewing all-inclusive resorts for our vacation. We were not looking for a party resort, but wanted a good deal and a place that would be nice and relaxing. We read many reviews of the Catalonia Playa Maroma (CPM) and decided that the good reviews out-weighed the bad ones and stayed at the CPM from March 29th-April 5th.

Our hotel room was simple, but nice. It was cleaned every day and the bathroom, although also simple, had everything that we needed. The rooms are right in the middle of the jungle and we woke up every morning listening to the birds! There are numerous geckos and small iguanas all over the hotel complex and for us, being from the cold, wind-swept prairies, this was quite exciting.

Depending on which hotel 'block' you stay in, you can be a little far from the beach. However, the walk is no more than a 3 minutes. The other thing to consider is that if you are in the block furthest from the beach, as we were, you are closest to the dining hall and entertainment. So, in the end, it all balances out.

The food at CPM was great! The buffet had many options. If you weren't interested in being adventurous with your food choices, there were always 'american' options, such as pizza, available. The resort also has theme nights at the buffet such as seafood night and Mexican night. We enjoyed the food at the buffet so much that we only took advantage of one of the a la carte restaurants. The food and atmosphere at the Mexican a la carte restaurant was great. Make sure you ask a waiter for some Mayan coffee. The display they put on making the coffee is well worth it! Dinner at the buffet started around 7:15pm and, once finished, many people headed to the the piano bar in the lobby before attending the evening entertainment that occured nightly at 10pm. If you still were looking to have more fun, the discotheque opened its doors shortly after the conclusion of the evening entertainment show.

The beach itself was unbelievable.The water is incredible and there are lots of chairs on the soft sand, cool to the touch, and there are plenty of activities such as volleyball, kayaking, and soccer.

Other activities offered by the resort included: yoga, aerobics, spanish lessons, numerous dance lessons and bar-tending lessons! Most of these activities were located around the pool which we sat around later in the afternoon.

A lot has been said about the language barrier at the CPM, however, if you have any bit of patience this is not an issue. We had no trouble communicating in English but there are many French and Italians there. Basically, every activity is announced in four languages: Spanish, English, French and Italian.

There are many tour options that your tour director will go over the first or second day there. We chose the Mayan Adventure Tour. This included a tour of the Coba ruins (the tallest in the Mayan and also one that you are still allowed to climb up, unlike Chichen Itza) and a trip to a Mayan village where we hiked, canoed, rappelled into a cenote, and ziplined across a crocodile pond. We also took a free shuttle bus into Playa del Carmen for the evening. An evening was really all we needed, as Playa del Carmen was way too touristy for our liking.

We were incredibly impressed by the Catalonia Playa Maroma and would certainly return there in the future. Please feel free to contact us with any questions!

P.S. The road from the highway to the resort is terrible but do not be discouraged as the destination is worth the trip!
P.P.S. Yes there are topless women, mostly on the beach.

We just got back from Catalonia Playa Maroma. We were there from April 6-13. We had an amazing experience. We started out a little concerned about the language barrier but really should have never worried about it. The resort was kept impeccably clean and the staff were so helpful and friendly. The food was wonderful and plentiful. We would definitely recommend the Meditterranean Restaurant. The beaches were relaxing and we never had to search for a place to relax. White sand never gets hot and there were plenty of activities to be a part of if you want. We enjoyed the walk along the pathways, it was a nice time to relax. Our room was right next to the construction but we never really heard it until we walked out of the room and even then it was minimal. I think this was a great place to go for a reasonable price and we would definitely go back!!!!

We stayed at the Catalonia Playa Maroma from March 31 to April 6. For the most part is was a decent trip until near the 5th day of our vacation (COCKROACHES). The GOOD: The beaches are excellent. Well kept and large. You never have to wake up at 5 am to claim a chair at the beach or the pool..... the reason may be apparent later. The ala carte restaurants were fantastic. Very good steaks and salads and soups. I suggest if you stay here to reserve a restaurant every night because the buffet food was very avg. The staff were nice and we didn't have any problems. The BAD: Unless you book in the 6000 block you have to walk a mile to the beach. We were in the 6000 block so it was great but you still had to walk a mile to get to the lobby. They cater to Italians and French so there isn't much English but it didn't bother us. Hardly any rooms have a beach view. Most of the views even from the upper 2 floors can only see jungle. The UGLY: The Catalonia Playa Maroma room we stayed in had a few dead cockroaches on the floor on the 5th day. It was definitely disgusting. Makes you wonder what's crawling on you at night. We had no food in the room and the only thing we could figure is the construction all around had stirred the cockroaches up. It made it very unpleasant to sleed the next couple nights.

If you can get a great super deal on this I would avoid at all costs. If you get a great deal like we did just bring some cockroach spray. This may have been an isolated incident but it did very much put a damper on our vacations end.

I am giving Catalonia Playa Maroma "five out of five" not because it was perfect, but because it met our expectaions and provided us with a great vacation.

We are five people from various countries, ranging in age from 17 to 56. We stayed at Catalonia Playa Maroma from March 28th, 2008 to April 4th.

Starting at the beginning, we arrived at the ridiculous hour of 2 AM. We were met with snacks and drinks, and check-in was efficient. As other reviewers have noted, there are no porters here to carry your luggage, and the farthest of the six accomodations is about 200 meters from the lobby. That would certainly be unacceptable to some, but we knew this was the case and had no problems with the walk.

The rooms are more than adequate: roomy, air conditioned and attractive. The mattresses are firm but we all found them comfortable. It is true that Mexico seems not to have kept up with the rest of the world in the area of plumbing, and at times there was a very faint odour of sewage from the floor vent in the bathroom. This is very common in Mexico, folks, so just accept it. Keeping the door closed precludes this smell from intruding into the bedroom area. The first room my Lady and I shared was next to the new resort under construction on the south side. Though the morning construction noises were very muffled, my Lady is a light sleeper and we therefore requested a different room. I must say that we found all of the staff here to be helpful and cheerful. We also experienced the problems with the safe not working, and door keys (electronic card readers) failing. Again, these minor problems were remedied speedily and graciously. The magnetic strips on the "keys" seem to be susceptible to erasure by proximity to magnets (purse latches) and electronics (cell phones, etc.), so just take care.

The lack of a coffee machine and booze in rooms was not an issue for us, as we prefer to get out and enjoy the beautiful grounds, beach, weather, staff and entertainment.

We all found the food to be to our liking. Most of our meals were taken in the main buffet, where there was a huge variety of well-prepared food. Though we all found something not to our liking, this is not unexpected when trying dishes from other regions. We always, always, found plenty of stuff we enjoyed, and found several new dishes at each meal. The staff in the buffet were terrific. We had one supper at the a-la-carte Mexican restaurant which was excellent, as was the service. The poolside bar makes excellent cappuccino and, although all the bartenders automatically reach for the cheapest liquours they happiily give you the premium, international brands if you only ask. The Bacardi and Johnny Walker bottles aren't there for decorations. We enjoyed very good Rusty Nails once we explained how they were made. The bartenders were genuinely eager to please and to learn about new (to them) drinks.

The beach, Playa Maroma, is as beautiful as a beach can be: perfect soft, white sand, an absolute absence of rocks or coral, and the clear turqoise waters of the Caribbean. What more can one ask of a beach? Always plenty of chairs in either sun or shade, and lots of activities from the gregarious A-team. The music at the beach comes from the lifeguard tower, right in the middle. The speakers, which play fairly loudly, are pointed out to sea. The lounge chairs extend a good fifty meters to either side of the source of music and, if you are even half that distance to the side you will be barely aware of the music. One- and two-person kayaks are available at the south end of the beach for free. The resort also has two Hobie Cats, again available for free. If the very helpful Rafael doesn't think you know how to sail, he will take you out on the seas himself. Diving and snorkelling tours are available at the beach as well, at added cost. There are four fresh-water showers, for rinsing, in pairs on each side of the beach/pool bar. Half a dozen haded hammocks, rarely used, are on the north side of the pool bar, together with the outdoor massage tables.

Now, about that 200-meter walk from the lobby to the beach: it is beautiful and unique and we loved it. At a moderate pace it only takes three minutes, and it is through dry mangrove/jungle complete with iguanas, raccoons, coatimundis (in the trees), cats and birds. There are speakers hidden in the jungle playing quiet music from Enya to Debussy to Latin. The birds' calls and songs are also lovely. We noted an almost total absence of insects during our week at Catalonia Playa Maroma.

The semi-professional evening shows were delivered with enthusiasm, creativity and obvious fun on the part of the performers. Though the majority of guests are Italian, there was only one skit, presented entirely in Italian, that we could not understand. All others were introduced in English and most would be easily comprehended by anyone regardless of language. We had a great time dancing in the small disco, particularly on "Revival" night, when the music is predominantly "classic rock". Each evening also includes some form of entertainment at the piano bar in the lobby.

The majority of guests being, once again, Italian and French means there will be more smokers than we are accustomed to in North America but we never had any problems and, quite frankly, I was surprised at how few smokers we did see. Also, a small percentage of women do go topless, both on the beach and at the pool: if this offends you, don't go to this resort.

Overall, the entire resort was very clean, with beautifully maintained grounds. We would all most definitely return to Catalonia Playa Maroma!!!!!