I'll first start with the bad: The rooms were very small; no rooms for the baggage, a really small closet and they felt almost claustrophobic in nature. The beds in our room were rock hard, yet the one my mother in law had was covered with a pillow top mattress and was quite comfortable. My mother-in-law is 72 and she lost her husband and her sister recently and decided to travel along with us but they gave her a room on the 3rd floor even though we told the front desk she had bad knees. The elevators were not operating the whole week we were there. They also placed in a building three sections away from us even though we had asked for adjoining rooms. The room next to ours happened to be vacant the entire time we were there. When we asked to change rooms, they only showed us a room down in a dungeon type area with no sun and no view. The hallways are also very noisy at night and you can hear everything that people say and do as they walk in the enclosed corridors that echoe and carry the noise from far away.
The front desk staff was not very helpful. They also did not not where the special shows were playing or what shows were playing and did not know that they had shuttles to the golf each day to play, as they told us that we could only play golf one day....
There were many complaints about the front staff. This is too bad, because these are the people that your first meet when you come into the hotel and the people you see last when you leave the hotel.
The good:
I don't know why people complain about the food. For breakfast you can have omellets, even egg white omelletes, smoked salmon with capers, cream cheese, red onions, and tomatoes on a toasted bagel, fresh fruits, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, etc. For lunch there is always fresh guacomole, and at the grill you can get fresh fish, flank steak, sausage and the outside grill has spareribs and cactus. We also had stuffed mushrooms with blue cheese, eggplant and a variety of salads. For dinner, we ate at the steak restaurant (the arachera is the best) the Mexican restaurant two times (I had something akin to fajitas but much better) the Asian restaurant two times, the romantic dinner with lobster and all you can drink champagne, an outside dinner buffet where we watched the fire show and had grilled chicken and grilled vegetables...The outside buffet food was just okay, but the other restaurants were quite good.
1500 Points:
We had manicures, pedicures, back massages, deep tissue massage, relaxing massage, facials, chocolate wraps, four rounds of golf, a trip to Coba and Chitzen Itza, the romantic dinner, etc. You pay 11% so it works out to $165 if you use all your points.
There was also a free walking tour to see the spider monkeys that live on the property. We also went bicycling around the grounds.
The service: The service was wonderful each and every day and each and every single night. All of the workers were wonderful.
The beach:
The ocean ist blocked out by huge rock formations that have several inlets into cove areas. The rocks are covered in fossils, which are interesting to look at. The coves are shallow, anywhere from 2 feet to 9 feet and are perfect for snorkeling. You can also take out a kayak. The ocean water was warmer than the pool water. The sand is pebbly and is best if you have wet socks on or water shoes.
If you are looking to spend a nice week on the beach, this is not the place for you, although you do have a view of the ocean at all times.
The pools: The water is only 3 feet deep. Most of the pools were empty as the water was too cold to go into. It was only around in the mid 70's during the day and it dipped below 60 at night.
The Spa: The spa was quite hectic on our first service, with no robes, no slippers, and a wait for a locker. The spa only had two hot jacuzzies and one cold dipping area along with a steam and sauna. The multishower heads that go up and down your body with alternating cold and warm water were not working. They did not have a mud room or a cold room or the tropical misting showers. They did not have a coed area, either. The waiting area was too brightly lit. You had to walk down a corridor and then take an elevator to your service. The massages and services were all nicely done.
The golf. The golf course is located around 20 minutes away near the town of Playa Del Carmen. This was the most challenging golf course that I have ever played on. I am a 4 handicap and I averaged around 14 over at this course. The green were impossible to land on, the course was impossibly long. Still, it is a wondeful time playing golf, but the course is so tough I doubt the professionals would ever set foot on it for fear of embarrasment; they would not be able to score low.
The adult side (Aventura Spa) had an Italian Restaurant, an Asian restaurant, a Mexican Restaurant and a buffet. It also had wider pools, the gym, an indoor/outdoor pool area, more coves, a majestic water fall, a pond area. a sweat lodge area and this was also where the manicures and pedicures were. The grounds are nicer, but I don't understand why the Spa is rated number 4 and the Cove is rated number 14 -- there is not that much of a difference between the hotels. Ironically, it was the family side that was much quieter than the adult side.
On the family side there is the Mexican Restaurant, the Steak Restaurant and the buffet.
Overall, it was a good vacation, but we prefer Beach Palace or Moon Palace.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
January 3, 2013
Hi Chris S,
Thank you for sharing your recent experience here at Aventura Cove. We really regret you had ups and downs during your visit.
We apologize you were not pleased with the assigned accommodations, as you may be aware that as per contract adjacent room, connecting rooms; specific room locations, room view, or types of beds in rooms are not guaranteed although we do everything in our power to comply with all of our guest requests.
With all due respect, allow me to inform you that schedules for shows, restaurants, activities and special events are advertised in our billboard which is every day left in the rooms as well you can find them in the Front and Concierge Desks, anyway we will take measures to ensure this information reaches every guests as well as any not positive attitude with our Front Desk Team.
We have forwarded all your comments to our Management Team about lacking of amenities in the spa, as well as all your observations in order to correct any circumstance that may devalue the satisfaction of our treasured guests.
On the other hand we are very satisfied you could enjoy most of our assorted gastronomic options, thanks for the detailed description, in addition to that you took full advantage of our Resort Credits Promotion, delighted our Cove full of marine life, it is good to know too that you basked in the adults side.
We honestly would like to have the opportunity to host you again and beat this bittersweet experience with the better service you ever have had.
Cordially
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
