Just got back from Auberge Etereo. No time to draft full review now but wanted to get some important issues out to folks considering this hotel.

• The beach is NOT SWIMMABLE because the ocean is extremely shallow. Walked out to the buoy line (about 150 yards) and it was less than 3 feet (knee depth on my 5'9" frame). Within the first 50 yards it was shin depth. Walked about 1/2 mile down past St. Regis with no significant improvement. Note we've stayed down at Mayakoba and many other places further south in the Yucatan and never were unable to swim due to depth. For us, this is enough that we won't return. We picked Etereo over Susurros this year in large part to swim in the Caribbean (note we loved Susurros, including that the beach was very swimmable for the Pacific)
• Significant sargassum - they did an excellent job raking but it was a continuous process throughout the day that included gas tractors which made the beach less pleasant that it otherwise would be.
• Food was truly disappointing. We were told the chef left a few months ago and things deteriorated. Poor quality materials, poorly prepared. Fish tacos from Che Che were decent as was breakfast. Otherwise either inedible or bordering on inedible.
• Lots of children, primarily toddlers and babies but also ages 5-10. I'd say half the guests had kids. We were quite surprised Crying babies are part of life but we prefer not to make them a predominant part of our vacation.
• Adult pool was set down/low from the family pool and thus had no/very little ocean view from loungers - blocked by foliage. The family pool had good views. Puzzling choice to give the kids the view - although maybe its to be family friendly.
• Service was very friendly but pretty bad. As my wife said - obsequious yet ineffective. Dinner reservations confirmed in writing and orally but no record when we showed up. Non-responsive Gui (butler) ignoring multiple texts requiring me to contact front desk for response. Constant wrong drink and food orders that they tried to correct but failed (basic stuff like ordering a repasodo, receiving a blanco, asked for the reposado I ordered, got another blanco, tried again, another blanco, and then gave up). Note that the housekeeping staff was excellent.
• Two positive notes: (i) room was pretty nice with a fantastic balcony and great view; and (ii) no shortage of chairs/loungers/cabanas at beach and pool.

We've stayed at a number of Auberge resorts - Susorros, Esperanza, Chileno, Malliouhana (when it was Auberge) - and many other "nice" hotels. This was the first time we've been very disappointed with an Auberge To be clear, the hotel can't do anything about the shallow ocean (except, perhaps, let you know about it). But even if the ocean had been swimmable, the food and service issues would keep us from returning.