I was here for travel agent familiarization for Aubree's Travel.

Pros: Classy adults only, great customer service, beautiful property and pool.
Cons: I ran into a couple of minor quirks which I will discuss below.

Playa del Carmen hosts some of my favorite All Inclusive properties. Depending on where you are reading you may see this touted as a four or five star. In my opinion, I would say it lands safely in the four star category, but if you are expecting 5 star you may be a bit let down.

Check in
I arrived after a long day of travel and was greeted by a friendly bell man who offered me a cool towel and welcomed me with a glass of champagne. He guided me in to the main lobby to get checked in. The main lobby is impressive and beautiful. The very young man who checked me in was sweet. There was a little bit of confusion on how many nights my stay was. This type of thing had zero affect on me, but it is the kind of thing that can cause complete panic in my clients, so I don't like to see that happen. In addition, I found out that when my family called to speak to me they were told twice I didn't arrive until the next day.

My room:
The bellman the escorted me and another couple to our rooms. He was very jovial and very informative about the layout of the property and where we would find dining etc.
I had a Silver Jr. Suite. He explained some of the features of the room that I might have missed otherwise. I thought my room was lovely. Very spacious. Gorgeous bathroom with 2 person jacuzzi tub, nice robes. Although I did not have an ocean view, the balcony was large, and the view that I did have was nice. The bed was comfortable.
Here are the things I would change. The TV in my room was too small. I have perfect eye site, yet from bed, it was hard to see the tv well. I know this is not what you are here for, but still...Both of the cream chairs in my room had faint stains on them. This is not OK in my book. Also, the duvet had some frayed areas on it, and the curtains had slices in them. I will upload pictures. Again, not deal breaker things, but still hurt in the race for 5 stars. The complimentary toiletries had some of the best smelling shampoo I have ever used (made from honey). They were all of really good quality.

Grounds:
The grounds here are amazing. Just an absolute pleasure to roam around. For nature lovers you will get a huge kick out of the iguanas. They are happy to pose for pictures for you! Other critters too, scurrying around being cute. I also saw a lot of beautiful birds.



Pool:
The main pool is incredible. Huge, luxurious and pristine. The staff at the swim up bar were friendly and made great drinks. They had some fun pool activities, but they weren't the type that were super annoying if you don't want to participate. I had no trouble finding a lounger around the pool (I LOVE the ones that sit in the water.)

Beach:
The beach was gorgeous too. Not overly crowded. I didn't have any problem getting a chair in the shade when needed. I had fun playing in the waves and watching the parasailing.

Food:
Ohhhhh! My favorite subject! I thought the buffet here was good. Not bad, not great. Of course I feel this way about most buffets as they are not my personal favorite way of eating. Room service had a normal size menu, the food was fine, delivered in a timely manner (even in a rainstorm) and arrived fairly warm.

As far as the dinners, the French was my favorite and the Italian was my least favorite.
When you go to the French one, DO NOT miss the French Onion soup!

I always visit with as many other guest that are willing to talk with me. I met NO ONE at this property that was unhappy. THAT is a big statement. It rarely happens to me, so I wanted to point out that guest satisfaction while I was there was very high. While I did meet a few honeymoon couples, overall, the couples were in the 35-60 range. This was also a gay friendly property.

Overall, I really liked this property. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to my clients that are looking for a very solid 4 star, that could shine as 5 star with a few corrections.
Be sure to talk with your Cancun/R. Maya travel Specialist so s/he can find you the best promotion and property for your needs and wants. It generally doesn't cost you any more and many times is cheaper. Plus, you will have that experience and support behind you. I hope you enjoy your visit to Mexico as much as I always do!

My husband and I traveled to the Valentin for the second time this year, filled with excitement and anticipation. Our reservations were 11/14 -11/28. We both needed a much deserved break. Unfortunately, on the first day, I became gravely ill due to my diabetes. The first step was to have me seen by the medical doctor, who resides in the resort (a huge plus), Dr. Manuel Cruz Toledo, who acted immediately, due to the grave nature. The paramedics were called and I was rushed to a private hospital 60 km. away, a facility he was familiar with, and the emergency and urgent care doctors, whom he knew and trusted to care for me. After 4+ days, I awoke from a coma, to find out I was in Cancun! Surprise! As I was able to put the pieces back together and my health improved, I was released to my husband, and allowed to return to the Valentin, as they knew I would follow-up with Dr. Cruz Toledo. Needless to say, that pretty much took the wind out of our sails. But the staff was phenomonel to my husband, making sure his needs were met (and no, not just top shelf martinis :), and upon my return, greeted us personally and checked that our needs were met. In all of the confusion deplaning, I left my Ipod on the plane, and one of our concierges tracked it down with the airline - and i got it back! We cannot say enough of this beautiful resort. The grounds are fantastic and beautifully manicured. We do not spend much pool time, but prefer the beach. The pool(s) are beautiful and fun-filled, and the beach is constantly being monitored for debris or the need for a freshend drink. The restaurants were superior, food-wise, and staffing-wise to our last visit. My husband was not pleased with the Steak House, but we and others came upon the conclusion that we Americans are spoiled by our steaks. He must have like it - he gained 10#! The entertainment is great and we found new performersz this trip. We upgraded to Privilege, which I would suggest. It has many perks, the priate concierge service, top brand liquor (but all of the bars had it available), special treats in your room, and the use of IPads. We had a silver suite, which was beautiful, and kept extremely clean and stocked. We will for sure go again, when my health allows me to travel, and will make the most of the entire 14 days!

I would personally like to give very special thanks to Karla, our concierge team - Angelica, Oscar, Gerardo, Joselo, and Miguel. You guys rock! Jorge assisted me with my breakfast at the Mar y Tiara restaurant every morning and remembered me from the previous visit. (Another very good indicator of a well run facility - the retention of staff - and there were many that were there again). Sergio almost seemed like our personal beach runner.My husband felt he had personal bartenders in the lobby bar - Isaac and Lizbeth. It is rare when passisng a staff, that you do not receive a genuine smile and an "hola"!

It was great going back to this fantastic resort, and seeing many people we now consider as friends, not just staff. If you want to be nit-picky, I am sure there could be things to find, but believe me, as I found out, life can be too short.

As I was taught, it is never "adios", it is "Hasta Luego".

The property is beautiful, the staff very helpful and fun and the food and alcohol were top shelf. This was the best all inclusive we ever stayed at and we travel 3-4 times per year and always stay all inclusive. Our only bad experience was on Sunday. Our football team was playing at 1 pm and the sports bar was closed. Willie made sure it got opened for us before the game but no bar or food service. We tried to get food delivered but were unable to. A couple of the guys went to the buffet to bring food back because we were getting a little drunk from going to the lobby bar for drinks. The waiter would not let them take food from the restaraunt. This did leave a bad taste in our mouth but the rest of the vacation was so good that we would still recommend Valentin.

Overall the Valentin Imperial Maya was a great vacation. The location was great and the hotel even offers private transportation to/from the airport. We were greeted outside with cold water and the suburbans that they picked us up in we're clean and well kept. It was cheap too, only $150 for round trip. We have done the shuttle that stops at all the different resorts dropping everyone off and it takes forever. Trust me, pay for the private transportation. Upon arrival we were greeted with drinks and the bellboy took our luggage to our rooms while we checked in.
The food was great. Though we didn't have a chance to try all the restaurants the ones we tried were great. Our favorites were the sushi bar (had it as appetizer several times before going to eat dinner) the hibachi. The breakfast and lunch buffets were good. Breakfast was the mostly the same everyday but the omelet bar is amazing as well as the waffles and fresh fruit and juice. Lunch had the staples: hot dogs burgers fries etc but they also had a different cuisine every few days: Mexican Asian Italian etc. The room service menu was nothing to write home about but it did enough to stop the cravings in between meals or late night.
One thing we really appreciated was the top shelf liquor. Everything from absolut to crown royal to Jameson. The staff also did a great job on the pours. The drinks were plenty strong and if you asked for "mucho booze" they added even more. Hugo liked to top off my daiquiris with Bacardi 151. No complaints from me. The mini bar in the room was stocked with water juice soda and beer. No liquor in the rooms but they will bring ya all the beer you want. A few fun drinks on the must try list: 1. Melon Colada. 2. Mango Tengo. And Mike's favorite the dirty monkey.
The pools and beach were nice. The main pool had music and entertainment staff that kept the party going with games. The lazy river pool was a bit too quiet for us but could see that it'd be very relaxing. The beach had a swimming area with no rocks on the sea floor. And if you take bread from breakfast or lunch you can feed the angel fish right there in the swimming area. The one down side...no hot tubs.
The service was good enough but not excellent. All the staff was nice and always said hello, even the grounds crew. I know it's vacation but don't ever plan on dinner meals being quicker than an hour and a half. Things move a bit slower in Mexico.
We loved our week at the Valentin Imperial and would go back anytime. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Hope this helps you and enjoy your vacation!