We stayed at the Cat from Nov 17 to the 24th 2012. This was our 4th visit to the Cat with the first ones that were great with great service, food and entertainment. This time I beleive will be our last with power outages and really strict dress codes at the Al A Carte's. We were not allowed access to a restaurant with a nice pair of dress shorts. First I don't come to Mexico to wear long pants in warm weather and second I do not come to Mexico to get mad on vacation. I have worn the same type of outfit for the four years that I have been going and no problems. Too bad because the workers there work very hard and try but for one person to ruin it and the management to be so stiff on rules. I will be going to another hotel that is a little more easy going next year.

This is a wonderful hotel!
We upgraded to Privilege rooms, which were spacious, clean and well decorated with a balcony overlooking the garden and a sea view. (438) The buffet restaurant where you have breakfast and dinner if not eating A La Carte, was very nice with loads of choice of freshly prepared food, and had different theme night with entertainment sometimes. Our favorite Restaurant was the Steakhouse, followed by Spanish terrace, Tepanyaki and Mexican in that order. We didn't like the Italian - poor service and tasteless food. Having said that, the choice was tremendous!
All the staff are all trained to be very polite and helpful, a nice change from some places we have stayed at, and the excursions are fantastic - do as many as you can as they are really worth it! You can canoe, sail on a catamaran and snorkel for free too, and the sea is crystal clear with loads of tropical fish to see.
All in all, well worth the trip.

Ths is a huge resort that could use some sprucing up. The rooms could use some new paint and the beach area is really too small for the size of the resort. While there is a wide shoreline, a large portion of it is a rocky beach which is hard to get in and out of. While I was there, the resort was very crowded. There was almost always a line to get into the buffets??? The food was good enough but not gourmet. There is usually only one bartender at the drink areas so it can sometimes be a wait.Good spots are the gym which opens early and has new equipment. One day we were not able to find beach lounges as they were all in use. The theater shows were actually fairly good. This hotel is a 22.00 cab ride from 5th Ave. at Playa del Carmen so a shopping trip can cost a bit just to get there. You can negotiate cabs on the trip beck to the hotel.

We stayed at the Catalonia from Oct. 10-17. This was our 8th visit to the Catalonia since 2007. We've been vacationing in the Cancun/Riviera Maya/Cozumel area nearly every year since 1994 and have stayed at several resorts but the Catalonia is our favorite. This year we were a group of 11 and everyone had a fantastic time and no complaints.

Although everything is great at this hotel, it's the staff that really makes us want to keep coming back. I can't say enough about the friendliness of everyone, especially the bartenders and entertainment people. Most of the bartenders have been there since our first visit and actually remember us from year to year. Manuel, Jeramias & Luis are the greatest. The drinks are great and they will make anything you ask for. If you want the better alchohol just ask for it. I make it a point to tell them to go light on the booze cause they do go down really easily and they never let the glass go emty. Everyone at the resort is always very helpful and friendly. They go out of their way to make sure your stay at the Catalonia is a good one.

As mentioned earlier, the entertainment staff is fantastic and always have something going on. Water volleyball, beach volleyball, archery, arobics, pool games, the list goes on and on. They work hard to get everyone involved but if you don't want to participate they'll leave you alone too. Whether participating or observing it is always entertaining. Pita is escpecially crazy. The shows at night are by far the best of any of the resorts we've been too. At night we like to go to the sports bar to shoot some pool, get into a game of foolsball, play ping pong or just hang out. And for the night owls, the disco just gets going around 11:00.

The food in the buffet is better than most all inclusives, lots of variety, plenty of fresh fruit and salad choices and overall pretty good. If you don't want the buffet there are several alacarte restuarants to choose from. Our favorite was the steak restuarant and the Japenese restuarant. During the day and after 11:00 p.m. there's plenty to choose from at the snack bar too. Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention the LaCraperia Ice Cream Shop. They've got the best ice cream desserts and crapes. I think it's open most days from 5 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Don't miss it!. Our friends did a romantic lobster dinner for two on the beach and had nothing but rave reviews.

Over the years we've stayed in all of the room categories from the suites to the standard rooms. This year we were in a superior room which was in a newer area of the resort, the shower was roomy and the room was very nice. My only complaint was that it was a little bit of a jaunt to the beach and pool area. The suites are very spacious and beautiful with huge bathrooms and the bed was comfortable so if that is important to you I'd definately recommend the upgrade. The garden rooms are older, smaller, and the beds a little hard but like the rest of the resort, they are impeccably clean.

The beach and grounds are immaculate, the grounds crew are continuously cleaning and maintaining it. We walked over to Dream's next door to the Catalonia and couldn't believe how much better the Catalonia property was maintained. There's hundreds of beach chairs on the beach and around the pools so getting one is never a problem, except maybe if you want to be under a palapa. The snorkeling is beautiful, especially if you swim out around the point.

If you want to go to Playa Del Carmen this resort is about 20 minutes away and 90 minutes from Cancun. Taxi ride to Playa is about $30 - $40 round trip so if you want to spend quite a bit of time in town this might not be the resort for you. Otherwise, it can't be beat for the money. I highly recommend it and have brought several friends and family members over the years. Most of them have returned or intend to do so. We are already planning to do a family trip next October and we will have a group of over 20. Thank you Catalonia for making our vacations so much fun and memorable.