Twice while we visited there was a bazaar with some Mexican handcrafts.

Would have been great to have at Akumal beach when snorkeling with the turtles -

though we found an offsite cove nearby, which was fine.

Tip: bring a boogie board and swim right at the corner end of the beach restaurant.

Easy access from the beach or boat from the lobby area.

Room Food Service, and Food was not available at the pools, bars, and beach.

but we go to Xcaretpark for snorkel and beach.

The flora and the seashore are also really nice and I enjoyed having a private beach without sellers and with the additional safety which it grants.

We used Monica Rivas at Soy La Pesera at +52 984 112 5922.

Quite conveniently located next to Xcaret, which is easy to access right from the beach of the hotel.

On a brighter note, the location and beach of the hotel are undeniably fantastic, with proximity to Xcaret Park and a beautiful beach.

Paco's Tacos was good fun as well

The area around the beach was excellent.

The scenery is gorgeous, everything is well-maintained, the staff is friendly and helpful, the beach is unparalleled, you are guaranteed to see wildlife roaming around the park at all hours and there is the added benefit of having Mayan ruins on the property.

Huge shout outs to Monica, Frank, Roberto, Samuel, Miguel, Max and of course Raquel.

It’s great to snorkel at the beach by the rocks.

Javier and Hugo at the Royal Beach bar, so much fun!

This is our second visit as we visited in 2010 when it was under different ownership and was known as The Grand Flamenco Occidental Xcaret .

From the grand, open air lobby to the beach lagoon- it was everything we were looking for!

We have been to the Occidental Grand Xcaret 4 times and are going back in July.

My family came here 18 years ago when it was ‘Occidental Grand Flamenco’.

The resort is grand and comfortable, with activities for the kids, parents and grandparents.

Grand place to walk and little bus on the site.

Let me first say that we have been members of the vacation club for 10 years and have stayed in the grand level many times.

Food- we visited: 
(A) The grand buffet
No complaints,

Grand building and loved the wildlife on hotel grounds.

Grand entrance, champagne, chocolate covered strawberries awaited us.

By the 3 rd day she was calling our grand daughter by name.

The Occidental Grand Flamenco Xcaret is amazing.

Dinner- we loved Olivos Mediterranean, the Oriental restaurant, seafood night at the grand buffet, Pescador.

The little time we spent at the hotel due to a medical emergency were grand.

I’m a Grand Level owner and the warmth and welcoming smiles will keep me coming back.

I highly recommend coming to Grand Occidental Xcaret by Barceló,

A special shout out to one in particular is Adrian Chan whom works in the Grand Buffet.

We got the unlimited pass to Xcaret park, we walked every day to the park and back to the hotel for lunch, also enjoyed the grand show a couple of times - can’t miss it.

Had  a great stay at Grand Occidental Xcaret in February.

The grounds are beautiful and full of wildlife,

The resort grounds are beautiful and the staff are amazing.

Resort highlights:  the grounds, the staff and the wildlife were amazing.

The grounds are beautiful and so peaceful.

The resort grounds are clean, well maintained & beautiful, with lots of paths to explore & a very natural environment, with wildlife popping up everywhere.

The hotel grounds and staff are outstanding and very friendly.

.beautiful stone pillars along the little river with the boat ride, the little shops that have anything you need, right on the first floor of the lobby, nice and helpful staff, great food and drinks at the buffet - shout out to our super friendly servers at the pool buffet (Monica), and of course the wildlife such as monkeys and deer on the grounds.

The grounds, staff and accommodations are absolutely excellent.

We had an amazing holiday at the occidental,  the grounds are lovely and the wildlife is amazing!

Also great to see the Mayan ruins in the grounds.

On the plus side the location and grounds of the hotel were lovely with wildlife in abundance.

It is set in lush grounds and is truly beautiful and teeming with wildlife.

Come here and enjoy the beautiful grounds and relax!

It's the best deal I've found that gave us the high level of care we were looking for in our holiday vacation.

This was one of the best holidays we have every had!

Again just to be told ‘we sorry’

I am fuming as we are paying a lot of money to enjoy the last few days of a family holiday

Had such an epic vacation Got to see a lot of wild life, and amazing views.

We stayed in buildings 14 which is the resorts vacation club/timeshare area.

What a great way to ruin someone’s vacation.

This was the best vacation we have had in a while.

thank you everyone for the best vacation i’ve had so far!

Easily one of the best vacations I’ve ever taken because of the energy and staff Xcaret encompasses!

Overall we got exactly what we wanted from this holiday.

Also, at other resorts we’ve received vacation packages worth hundreds of dollars in discounts  for attending a time share presentation.

Booked with BA holidays in Jan sale, and got a really reasonable deal.

First family vacation in 4 years and Occidental at Xcaret was a hit.

They will try to get you to buy in to their vacation club (timeshare type of thing), which could be a deal breaker for some.

but it turns out the free gift is given to you from a sales agent who wants to sign you up for their vacation club timeshares.

This Resort is the best opportunity for an ACTIVE vacation.

This was the best holiday we have been on.

This took away so much from us in enjoying our vacation.

There was enough for everyone to be happy and my kids loved the buffet and the food!

but the Fuego food is excellent and it was a lot of fun for our teen.

but if you're thinking your kids will like big kid water slides Jungala was really fun.

We stayed over Christmas and new years for 10 days and both our kids had the best time of their lives.

We have stayed at many resorts in the area and sometimes choose all-inclusive for the kids,

We came here 10 years ago with our 3 year old daughter and we are back with both our children.

People with teens might find royal a little quiet.

What the hotel really stands out in is its location and the fauna within in, it's beautiful to be able to share that living space within several local species and to see children in awe at their site.

They have a good amount of activities and things to do to keep kids entertained.

We have gone with and without kids and it is always a great experience.

Special thank you to the resort (the woman at concierge that set up our dinner reservation in building 22 december 18, 2023) for recognizing my daughters birthday.

They delivered the crib at 9 pm when my baby was already sleeping on my bed.

There isn’t much for tailored to children especially my two year old

Interesting hotel this

This was the 2nd of 3 AI Hotels we stayed in on our family trip with our 10 year old daughter.

Still amazing ten years later, with children this time.

Although they could have been quicker to remove the kids from the pools we loved it.

Having xcaret park next door made this trip amazing for our young children and they were never bored.

The beach amazing and safe for children the pools are very very clean.

but then we were told that if we didn't book a bus transfer at least a day in advance we had to pay for a taxi to get there, which I think is ridiculous since the one time we did book a transfer there were less than 10 people on the full sized bus.

If you're planning to beach, and do the various extra paid activities in Xcaret then you need a multi day pass.

though the hotel will rip you off with taxi service of $50 USD to travel 4 miles round trip.

Please tell people it does not apply before they make the reservation a day after they check in if I would’ve known this advance, I would’ve looked elsewhere, knowing I’ll have to pay $1000 difference I would not recommend to any of my peers, knowing they could the price on you after check in.

but we told them we don’t want alcohol, we want the service what we pay for at a so called 5 star hotel.

We paid for unlimited Xcaret so we’re spending our time here.

I will rather for the owners to get rid of the “all inclusive” nonsense.. reduce the hotel rooms prices and charge for the food while providing better quality.

For the cost, they should definitely invest in heaters!

Save your money and go elsewhere place is outrageous expensive I had them wash load and half of laundry they charged us over $400 USD.

Arrived early (b4 11am) and either had to wait in lobby til 11 am or pay $15 US to go and have breakfast.

We didn’t get nothing other than our receipt to show we paid.

For the outrageous price we paid to begin with total lack of customer service.

They refused and tried to extort us for $3000 USD to transfer us!

The service was terrible as well, and no good coffee at the resort not even at the lobby where you have to pay $55.00 pesos for it.

Some resorts you have to pay more to get top shelf,

Checkin attendants were not welcoming, did not pay attention to who was first in line, several people went ahead of us and no one cared or apologized.

well everything starts at the Airport, My Wife and I were excited about our 5th anniversary, so we booked the all-Xcaret experience we paid 4300 dollars for all packages because we deserved a  vacation after working hard for the whole year, and we arrived at the airport and we run to the Xcaret luxury bus and surprise you, not Xcaret when I mention to the person why my ticket says xcaret they told me because is in Xcaret property

Lobster (paying an additional cost) at the El Pescador was the worst Lobster I've ever had.

We loved the quiet pool and very much enjoyed the food in the royal level restaurant.

We don't forget about the chefs at the kitchen, always giving us the best service and food!

Great staff; food was much better than expected based on other reviews; liquor hours could change; and resort should ensure premium liquor is available for Royal guests at all times.

We’ve been home for 3 days and he’s still recovering from whatever he ate that wasn’t right.

What really pushed this review down was the food.

The food is delicious, especially at the oriental restaurant.

The workers in the Buffett were very friendly food was good the disc was rediculous there was no towels most days for the pool and no service for pool area.

The royal restaurant is great food, great service and great views, we were made to feel very special at every meal.

Staff, food, restaurants, entertainment, sports, etc.

There was very good food and plenty of place at buffet.

That's correct, you read this correctly, ran out of Draught Beer on day three!!!!

They do this… in order to save money because offering “all you can eat” “all inclusive” means millions of dollars on a yearly basis just for food and thus they will always try to cut on the quality of the food and drinks in order to be able to have profits.

The food in the specialty restaurants is good.

To get to the 'cenote' without leaving the resort entrance (5 min walk) - walk to the right along the "lobby river" (opposite the tobacco store) , follow the path to the right to the "suspension bridge".

Another thing that bothered us greatly was the fact that the non-smoking areas weren't monitored and thus weren't respected by several of the guests.

The Oriental was the most disgusting Asian restaurant experience I've had.

Water was brown & smelled like rust in every room.

My kids’ room was even worse as it smelled like mold and was dank. The soap and other hotel provided boxed toiletries all appear to have been previously opened,

Room got too damp and cold that both my husband and I ended up getting sick.

- During the wedding they played the father daughter dance song during our entrance
- Power went off halfway through the last song 

Guests
- 5 had major room issues that needed a transfer or early departure
    - 2 due to sewage smell
    - 1 due to construction noise
    - 1 due to no AC 
    - 1 due to brown water on the floor during check in and needed it to be squeegeed out … then the concierge at building 19 YELLED AT THE MOTHER OF THE BRIDE and told her she shouldn’t have come “so early”.

Also, despite room cleaning coming everyday and changing sheets everyday, the sheets constantly smelled like mildew probably from moisture/humidity.

That smell you'll smell at any resort in Mexico is not mold.

I asked 4 times about the mold getting bleached and was promised it would get cleaned up, it did not.

The bathroom sink didn’t drain well as well.

The room smelled overwhelmingly like paint/spray paint and felt unsafe staying/sleeping there.

Also found out later in week there was a whole entire schedule of events we were not informed of. The room AC was not working 5/7 nights, moldy stench from air vents wakes you from the most deep sleep *which is NOT because the beds are that great,

- on the way back to the room, i used the lobby toilets which were disgusting due to unable to flush.. and was then welcomed by black water from the taps.. 
finally at 7:50pm we was greeted with running water and able to use our toilet.

We stayed for 5 nights, for 1 night and a full day  we did not have power or water, toilets were flooded with poop, numerous safety violations were evident.

butts laying in the sand and used napkins/tissues laying by the pool.

First room has no power, maintenance room 3-4 hrs to repair twice at night on first night; 2nd room as water leaking through light, safety issue; 3rd room has construction in front of our room and woke us up at 8 am which they should start at 9 am, plus the smell, dust, dirty(drywall and nails on floor) and not able to access the room for a whole day.

I have never seen anything so disgusting or pretentious as this hotel.

The worst experience on my life from the moment of booking, the welcome and the room they give me was dirty smells.

Friendly staff, nice area for the resort safe family stay.

Many thanks to all the royal level staff, Abril, Hugo, Grimaldo, Miguel, Javier, Leyver, Roberto amd Gilberto, they all are giving us great service as always!!

The resort was just as beautiful and the staff were just as friendly, some even remembered us from the previous year.

They are kind enough  to move us to a corner Suite 32201 the next day and that made us very happy since it has more natural light (as it has 2 huge windows as compared to the other room) and 2 coaches (compared to 1 in the other room).

We were served by this lovely lady named Bellita Cen.

The whole property is stunning, the animals, facilities are beautiful and the staff are ALL outstanding.

The staff at buffet is very polite and efficient,especialy William and Evelyne at the breakfast

The entertainment and the entertainment team were also great, creative and entertaining.

The is wildlife everywhere, the water is warm and see through, the staff is friendly and hard working to help you.

rooms were nice and the staff was extremely helpful.

The staff were lovely, particularly Roberto, Miguel, Francisco, Gilberto and Abril in the royal restaurant.

Miguel at the Royal club will definitely take care of anything you need and he has a very positive leadership approach to his team!

Occidental at Xcaret Destination

price

smell

restaurant

grand

bazaar

staff

beach

grounds

kid friendly

holiday trip

Juarez, Athena Spa Massage Cafe, Galeria Colectika, Blind Tiger, Chico's Dive Shop, The Subtle Rock Eater, La Gata Foro Bar, Escultura El Sutil Comepiedras, de Santos, Pirate Ship Vallarta, Roo Night Club, Folklore Bazaar, Healing Hands Massage, El Arrayan, Almendra´s Garden, Erizados, Saint Paschal Baylon, The Papantla Flyers, Malecón Boardwalk, Only One jewelry, Posters International, Vilaa Azalea Inn & Organic Farm Cooking Classes, The Good Fortune Unicorn, ChocoMuseo Puerto Vallarta, Red Pub Puerto Vallarta, Tiendas Oficiales Senor Frog's Suc.

Our waiter Junior at the pool took care of us every second.

Oscar at the Italian restaurant also took very great care of us.

Thank you for taking such good care of us during our trip.

Thank you Manuel at Capers for a lovely dinner and birthday dessert, and Humberto at Market Cafe who took care of us breakfast and lunch.

The wait staff around the pool was attentive and quick, we especially enjoyed Oscar, Omar, and Edgar, they took amazing care of us.

He is brave and you know you are in good hands when he is taking care of you.

He went above and beyond to make sure we was taken care of.

The staff here are so friendly and take the greatest care of you!

Elizabeth Baez and Ilcia Iniguez with the concierge went above and beyond to help with making reservations and making sure I’ll group of 18 was taken care of!

10 min later he texted back that it was taken care of.

She visited me every day and took care of me so very well.

They played games and taught us water cycling and made sure we were especially taken care of!

The staff made sure we were well taken care of.

We had Eduardo, who took care of our every need quickly and happily.

They do not give them any additional money as stated that “tips are included”, so if you are one of those with a stiff elbow, help these wonderful people continue to take care of you and tip them!

Cesar and Wendy took really good care of us at the Market Cafe they were always so welcoming and the food was delicious: I had breakfast lunch and dinners here and it was great.

They took wonderful care of us every morming.

The food was delicious at each restaurant and the bartenders took care of everyone.

Alejandro continuously made sure my whole family was taken care of, and for my birthday he got us the BEST table for dinner at Oceana.

Ilcia, Elizabeth, Jorge, Jaquin, Frenando and Kevin took excellent care of us.

We especially liked the French restaurant Bordeaux and the Asian and Italian restaurants were also fantastic.

A French restaurant that was outstanding, and Italian restaurant  at the adjacent Dreams resort and a Japanese Hibachi (that we never made it too) and one of our favorite ocean views "go-to" restaurants was Oceana -which included breakfast and lunch -so good!

The buffet options were good and hands down the French restaurant was the best option for dinner.

Our favorite restaurant was the French restaurant that Jose recommended.

Food was delicious (especially at the French restaurant).

The Mexican and French restaurants are so good!

The French and Italian restaurant start to fill up quickly around 7… tho they take walk ins… after its full the wait can be pretty long … so watch how the lines are and get a place inline.. we preferred the French restaurant … not big on pasta… make sure you order the souffle’ early tho….

Bordeaux, the French restaurant, is also exceptional with excellent food and top notch service.

The food was amazing, with the french restaurant being a favourite.

Our favorites were the French restaurant and Oceana.

Also, the food was above average for all inclusive resorts we have been to, especially the Italian and French restaurants.

Most of the restaurants aside from the breakfast/lunch buffet, the adult-only french restaurant, and the seafood restaurant are located on the Dreams property.

The restaurants on site:
The market cafe - secrets - buffet breakfast and lunch, great varieties and you never struggle to find nice tasty healthy food 
The Bordeaux - secrets - french food amazing we went twice!

The French restaurant was our favorite though.

The French restaurant food was Fantastic.

From the breakfast buffet to French dining, I enjoyed (and trusted) it all.

The view from the rooftop was great and the French restaurant was impecable.

The food at the French & Italian restaurants is absolutely divine and the atmosphere from the sunset dinner at the seafood restaurant can not be matched.

The French restaurant was 5*** the cheese display and the lamb were incredible!!

We stayed at the Grand Azul Convention hotel in Ixtapa. Wonderful!

Cons: There has to be one and in the grand scheme of things it is definitely minor.

From the Grand entrance to the hotel and glass of champagne upon exiting the taxi - the whole experience was great!

We have stayed at some of the top resorts across the country including Grand Velas, Secrets Marmora, Secrets Wild Orchids, Hotel Mosaic, El Doraldo Casitas only to mention a few.

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