We first visited Aventura Spa Palace 3 years ago when it was the romantic honeymooners/ couples destination. I've been to most of the palace resorts and found it to be nice then, however, now it is definately going down. The food quality and service is going down and the building is showing it's age - too bad the guests aren't! Being an adult's only resort is the main reason we chose this palace resort this time around, but it seemed it was full of 30 and 40 something "adults" who thought they were 20 again. Middle aged men were tossing a footbal in the Bar Pool area , annoying other guests who wanted to relax and swim, and then they were targeting the bar to get the ball in disrupting the poor workers ( who were fully upset but could not say anything) -come on - would you not scold your kid for doing that??? Then a 40 something guy drank so much that after puking his guts out at the pool side he had to be literally carted away in a wheel chair!

The Spa was once the envy of the Mayan Riviera, now it's not even prominently marketed or their services sold. There are much better and newer places to go to in the Mayan Riviera. Definately will not be going back! Severely disappointed

My husband and I selected this resort based on 2 items - all inclusive and no kids allowed. We booked though our travel agent who used Apple Vacations to book our trip.

We selected the 5 day/4night trip April 20th - 24th due to scheduling our trip last minute and not being able to stay longer. We now wish we would have had one extra day since we basically spent 2 days traveling. We did fly direct on USA 3000 and must say that everything was on time and the service with this airline was very good. Flying out of Ohio our flight was about 3 1/2 hours. The hotel is about an hour away from the airport.

The resort is HUGE. We couldn't believe how large it was. The only problem with that is that we didn't get our barrings straight till he trip was almost over - it was a little too big for our taste. The resort is absolutely beautiful and I've never seen so many pools in my life!

The rooms were very nice. We had a flat screen tv in our room, I know that not all rooms have been upgraded to those yet. They were very good at keeping the mini fridge re-stocked. We only had the turndown service one night - guess they forgot about us the other nights. The room usually wasn't made till 2 or 3, which was about when we would come back to the room from the pool. But, we sat on the balcony so they could clean, not a big deal.

The staff was great - very polite. I was slightly disappointed that everyone would ask us if we spoke Spanish. Some of the staff had a hard time understanding us. Even though this resort is all inclusive, believe me, they have no problems taking tips. Other all inclusive resorts we have stayed at, they refuse tips, not here. We only tipped the bellhops and one waiter, who we had the best service from.

We took a trip into Playa de Carmen one evening. The taxi from the hotel was about $17 + tip. We never purchased anything there, except my husband had a few beers and I grabbed Starbucks. Shopping was good if you wanted to get souvenirs to take home. I felt the jewelry was overpriced. – but they did lower the prices to try to get me to buy. Overall it was a lot of the same type of shops through the whole market area.

The North Side was pretty low key. We never hung out on that side during the day. We mainly spent our time on the South Side because we enjoy playing pool volleyball. South side was very lively. Waitresses always coming around to see if you needed any drinks. The staff entertainment can be slightly annoying - but if you're not right by their little setup, then you can probably block them out. The South pool area is so big, you should have no problem finding a good spot to be in the mix.

The food - well, we weren't thrilled. The breakfast was good (always a buffet) the lunches were descent (always a buffet) . The food at the pool was ok - usually nachos, hamburgers and hotdogs. I was told the last day by another guest that there was a larger menu than little buffet of snacks that was sitting out, so keep any eye open for a menu and there's a few more sandwich selections to choose from.

Dinner - the funny part is we would talk with others at the pool and the place we may have loved, they have hated and vise versa. I believe that most nights aren't good nights for these places and you're lucky if you hit the right place on the right night. The best meal we had was the Oriental restaurant on the North Side - it was also the best service from the staff. I hate to say it, but my husband and I would try to eat early just in case the food was horrible, we could always go somewhere else to try to fill up. I did read the mixed reviews on here before we left about the food and I'm going with it's hit or miss, not that one person has better taste in food than another. You're not at a steakhouse in NYC, it is what it is!

I did go to the spa for a pedicure because I read all the rave reviews about the complimentary hydrotherapy area that you can use the day of your spa service. Personally, I didn't think was all that. It was nice and if you enjoy sauna, steam rooms, whirl pools, etc – then it's a must.

Towards the end of our trip the staff tried to get us to go to a Membership meeting by offering us a lot of free perks before our next visit. It's basically a meeting to get you to buy into their time share option. We passed on the meeting but did end up talking to a couple who were part of the time share. They had like 30 some weeks a year to use at any of the Palace resorts. I don't know how much they spent. But they did say it was sometimes cheaper to book though a member and use their time share weeks instead of through a travel agent or the resort itself. The members also get a lot of goodies to incentive others to use their time shares (shop discounts, spa services, golf, etc) - you may want to check it out if you feel safe not booking with a travel agent. We were intrigued by this couple and got their info in case we planned another trip to this resort.

Overall our trip was very good and we would consider going back again.

My wife and I celebrated out 5th anniversary at Aventura Spa Palace from April 20-26, 2008 and absolutely loved it. We chose ASP based on Trip Advisor user reviews. We wanted a relaxing and romantic vacation and this resort delivered that completely.

We booked our trip through Costco/Best Day Travel and got a great deal on the room along with airfare and transportation. Next time we might skip the shuttle and take a taxi. Our drive to the resort took close to 2 hours because of all the drop-offs (retu
rn was better and under 90 minutes). We found out after arriving that a taxi is about $60 each way which is probably worth it to save time and hassle.

Check-in was a breeze and setting up our tours was very easy. We were mildly pushed for the timeshare talk but declined at that time.

ROOM
We stayed on the North/Spa side because we'd heard it was the quieter side. Our only negative with ASP was the view from our room. We were initially put in the Banjo building in the back of the resort with a view of some trees and balconies. Since the ASP website says "Ocean view: Most" for the rooms and we knew it was not busy season, we expected to get an ocean view or at least a peek of the ocean. We were told the hotel was at 62% capacity so 'Most' is apparently something less than 62%.

We immediately talked to Guest Services and they found us room 2617 in Trombon. It still didn't have a ocean view (unless you bent down and peeked through the pool bar) but was right off the lobby and pool and was much more scenic.

They offered to put us on wait list for an ocean view room and they actually did find us one the next day, over in Tuba, well removed from the lobby and pool. At that point we decided we'd rather be more centrally located than pack up and move again, but at least they found us one so we'd definitely advise speaking up if you're not happy. We also assume the better rooms go to the timeshare members.

The room itself was very nice. The shower is big, has strong water pressure and very hot water. My wife noticed a slight bad smell to the water, but it didn’t bother me. The safe is small, so don't expect to store your laptop in there (we locked ours in our luggage each day.) The room remodeling/upgrades I've heard about apparently haven't made it North since we didn't have a flat screen TV.

STAFF
As has been said on Trip Advisor reviews over and over again, the staff is just amazing. Everyone we encountered was friendly, helpful and spoke great English.

MONEY
Thanks to suggestions here, we did not convert any of our money. The taxi to Xpu-Ha ($8 each way) took US dollars and the gift shops of course (even Xpu-Ha) charged to the room. Prices in the gift shops seemed pretty reasonable as well.

I know it's not necessary, but we tipped. Usually $1 for drinks and one or two for the maid each night. Not everyone tipped but we saw it most frequently around the bar. The nice thing is that not one staff member ever held out a hand or paused waiting for a tip. Once we had to call a server back on the beach to give her a dollar.

TIMESHARE
We did do the talk and posted a detailed description in the Puerto Aventuras forum under "Our Aventura Spa Palace Timeshare Talk Experience". We figure most people might not care about it and those that do would want all the detail they can get. Short story is that we did not purchase it because we didn't think it was a good enough deal for us but did get $200 in spa credits.

TOURS
We signed up for Tulum and Coba but the next day we met people who had just returned from Tulum who roasted and said it was like 'walking on the sun.' Sticking to our relaxing anniversary trip plan (and already enjoying the resort so much), we canceled the two trips.

We did a half day trip to Xpu-Ha. It seemed pretty empty and peaceful but quite pretty. Apparently about half of the cabins were wiped out by the hurricane a few years ago and they haven't rebuilt yet. We walked the grounds, sat at the public beach for a bit, had lunch and went on the nature tour.


ACTIVITIES
We attended several evening activities. The Brazilian Drums were pretty great. Part drumming and part gymnastics. Mexican Fiesta was fun with lots of different dancers/styles. Casino was not too well organized, but they had a lot of fun games going on. The Ring Of Fire (fire dancers out on the beach) was a very good show as well.

For the most part, we were lazy and loved it. The only other things we did were snorkeling in the inlet (reasonably clear water and a good amount of fish). Nothing like a real reef, but it's free and right there. I also tried out the rock climbing wall which was a fun challenge.

POOL/INLET
There are a lot of different pools but we didn't swim in any of them. We did dip a toe to see that they were all fairly warm. We took up beach chairs on the inlet beach the entire time. It gave a nice view of the ocean and was less crowded/noisy than the pool area, where most people congregated. Many reviewers have complained about not having a real beach, but for us it was better this way since we could swim in sea water without fighting waves. A bit colder than the pools, but huge (and only about 5 feet deep max) and lots of fish. Servers patrolled the beach area so a fresh drink was never far away.

SPA
My wife tried a few of the spa services. She said the Palace Manicure ($25) and Pedicure ($29) (25 minutes each) were good, but nothing too special. They do have Deluxe Spa versions, which are $49 for the manicure and $54 for the pedicure (50 minutes each) which might be better.

She also had the 50 minute New Age Sensitive Facial ($119) and a 50 minute Lomi-Juma Massage ($119) were wonderful and the spa area was simply amazing.

One thing we noticed is that on the list of spa services they have several packages, but you don't save any money with them. For example, the 100 minute Holistic Plan Package includes body scrub ($58), holistic massage ($119) and refresher facial ($58). Those add up to $235 and that's the price of the package.

FOOD
We each gained about 5 pounds and I think we ate reasonably healthy, but we just ate a lot (and drank a lot, which I'm sure didn't help but we enjoyed it). My wife is a vegetarian (no meat of any kind but eggs and dairy are ok) and I usually eat vegetarian. We chose ASP because they seemed to be vegetarian friendly from their website and reviews here. In addition, my wife also contacted them before our stay to confirm there would be vegetarian choices. They confirmed and said we could even send along recipes and the chefs would cook them for us. We didn't go that far but were happy with the selections we had.

'La Huerta' - This used to be a vegetarian restaurant but is now called California Light. It is only open for dinner and requires more up-scale attire. There were several vegetarian entrees that we tried and all were very good.

'El Greco' - This is near the pool and where we ate most of our lunches. They are buffet for breakfast and lunch and a la Carte (but casual) for dinner. There were a lot of seafood dishes on the buffet but plenty of meals and sides for us to try. Lots of great fruit, cheese and agua frescas as well. There were only two veggie choices for dinner.

'Mo Mo No Hana' - Excellent breakfast buffet, but we skipped dinner because they didn't have any vegetarian options. They are mostly seafood and sushi. The morning smoothies are made to order and they offered soy milk.

'Ventanas' - This is an International buffet that we visited for dinner several times. Lots to choose from, and like El Greco they had great fruit, cheese and veggies.

'Sweet and Coffee' - this is a great little place where we went several times for crepes, desserts and coffee.

We did not go to 'La Trattoria' or 'La Hacienda' because they did not have any vegetarian entrees on their menus. We assumed 'Mundaca' is the same since it's billed as their Argentinian steak house, but we didn't check it out. From what we've heard here, the chefs are very accommodating, but we had enough choices elsewhere that we didn't mess with it.

Room Service - We used this for breakfast, which we enjoyed, and for a snack or two. They were also flexible since we asked if they could prepare a cheese and fruit plate (not on the menu) and they did.

Overall we had an amazing time and will definitely consider going back. It's pricier than our standard vacations, but money well spent for an excellent time.

My husband and I just returned from a 5 day trip to Aventura Spa Palace for our anniversary. I had read some of the recent reviews before we went, and I was a little nervous! But it was for no good reason because we found the resort to be wonderful! Check-in went smoothly and our room was ready when we arrived at 11 a.m. The room was beautiful and was meticulously cleaned every day practically as soon as we left our room.

We never had any problem with the room not being done or with toiletries not being replaced. I have never seen such friendly staff anywhere.

The pools were wonderful and the atmosphere was so relaxing. I know there have been some complaints on here about there not being a beach, but that's why you do your research before you book your trip! :) We knew going in that there was no beach, but we still enjoyed the lagoons and kayaking.

The food wasn't the best we've ever eaten, but it still was pretty good. We especially loved the Italian and Asian themed restaurants.

The evening entertainment was pretty good. We enjoyed the Mexican Fiesta show which featured a mariachi band and dancing and especially the Kingdom of Fire show! Casino night was a good time too.

The spa was expensive, but again we did our research in advance and were aware of the prices before we went. On our anniversary, we splurged on a couples massage that was truly heavenly. We also loved the hydrotherapy session that came with the massage.

I can't imagine not having an enjoyable time at this resort. We loved every moment and have no complaints other than we wish we had stayed longer!