Hilton Playa Del Carmen, An All-Inclusive Resort {MEX}
 

Hello -
We are planning on visiting the Hilton Playa Del Carmen in 2 weeks and searched for a Master Thread Index on FT and did not find. Any thoughts/insights on this relatively new Hilton (formerly the Royal) property in PDC would be most appreciated ! Thank you !

this property is very similar to hyatt zilara cancun with a few exceptions. 500 rooms instead of 300 rooms, not all rooms are oceanfront. Overall it gets pretty good reviews and they are undergoing a massive renovation but from what I read on their Facebook fan page it doesn't seem to be overly disruptive.

Some lengthy reviews here https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hilton-honors/1931223-hilton-announces-strategic-alliance-playa-hotels-resorts.html

Recently called up the diamond line a couple times and asked to use a free night weekend here and the representatives said it can't be used there since it was an all-inclusive hotel. I didn't push back stating their exclusion list and the property not being on there.

Besides this issue, the place is considered fully booked for Oct 11-13. I'm wondering how an entire 500+ room property (sans wedding or corporate event) could already be sold out during low season. When I called the diamond line the second time to use the reservation guarantee benefit, the representative called the property to confirm it was sold out but there was no event that weekend. Using the flexible date option, I can see groups of days not available 9 weeks out. Not sure if this place is really busy or they're blocking off days. Wondering if rooms will be released closer to arrival. Other hotels/resorts in the area are bookable but they're not all-inclusive.

Hi -

I was able to use the AMEX Weekend Certificate at the Hilton PDC as a Diamond guest. You need to get a knowledgeable Diamond Desk representative so I would HUCA. As you said, it is not on the excluded properties.

Also, I found the same issue as you - no Standard room availability. I checked and checked - and as the date approached, rooms indeed opened up for use of Points. No guarantees but worth a try.

Finally you may check out the Grand Hyatt PDC literally next door - not a bad place for a 25K Hyatt point redemption (non all inclusive) as a backup. Enjoy.

I was able to book a points/certs stay in early December in mid june so I'm not sure if anything has changed. The pdc property is under renovations so about 30% of the rooms are not available. Lastly while not peak season that is columbus day weekend which is a federal holiday.

Also, check the number of persons per room. At 2, I find standard availability awards for my dates in February (which needs to be available for weekend certificates). But at 3, it changes to a premium reward and no certificate availability.

Just a heads up, a lot of recent reviews on this place note extensive construction ongoing, significantly effecting the facility experience. Also, no mention of it on the website which has (rightly) upset people.

Does anyone have insight on how long this is expected to last?

I'm not sure, but this hotel/area is off of my list anyway. I used to frequent Playa del Carmen regularly throughout the years. However, the increased beach erosion is horrible. It's not the hotel's fault-it's what is happening in the area. The beaches are packed (they are public btw) and the depressing beach erosion doesn't make this a great vacation destination.

Ohh, good to know. Thanks!

The renovations will be completed by the end of December but like any construction the timeframes are subject to change.

I know it's too late for OP but in the interest of future searches --

I stayed there a couple months ago. Gorgeous resort covered in construction tarps, many room types (including the swim-up suites) were unavailable, and we didn't find out until we got there. We were hoping for one of those rooms so it was a little disappointing.

Regarding Oct 11-13 being sold out, I found that often times they don't allow you to book a two-night stay. When I bumped up to three nights during the same time frames, they suddenly were no longer sold out.

The beach in front of the property wasn't packed by any means, almost no one out there the whole time. They had a large seaweed/sargassum problem while we were there, and you could smell it at the resort, but you got used to it after the first day and by the next day it was gone.

We stayed for six nights on our trip and after the trip decided we would have been fine with 3-4 nights max. It didn't help that it was the middle of summer so it was really too hot to wander around the shopping areas.

Avoid this wonderful property
 

Interesting headline, eh? My wife and I were there last week for 5 days. The cuisine and staff get A+++ Absolute perfection. So why should you avoid this property?

This place is a massive all-encompassing construction zone right now. Loud tile saws and jackhammer types of noise. Just about every facet of this property is under construction. The spa is closed. Two of the restaurants are closed. There are detours everywhere. Thick layers of dust cover everything. Construction starts at 8am and lasts until well after 9pm.

Like others have commented, there was no advance notice. I would have stayed elsewhere and come back to the Hilton Playa del Carmen another time. Once the construction is done, this place will be as good as it gets. It should be done by the end of February 2020.

Yes, I did complain and got significant compensation.

Problems with Hilton Playa del Carmen
 

On November 27th I booked 5 nights at the Hilton Playa del Carmen for 80,000 points per night. When booking this reservation I selected 2 people for the room and added the name of my fiancé to the “Additional Guests” section. I thought everything was fine with this reservation.

On January 20th I received a pre-arrival email from the hotel. One week later on the 27th I emailed back that “we would be celebrating our honeymoon on this visit.” Almost immediately the hotel rep responded letting me know she would need the concierge to assist me and that he would reply in 24-72 hours. I received no reply (after contacting Sandra and Hilton on Feb 2nd and 3rd) until February 4th. At this time the concierge informed me that my reservation was only for 1 person and that I would be charged 210 USD per night for my wife.

I was shocked by this. I immediately reached out to Honors Customer Service to fix the reservation. First I was told it’s as simple as just cancelling and rebooking. But then I discovered that since the reservation cancellation window had closed it could not be updated and I would need to contact the hotel. I tried calling the hotel but was hung up on twice while trying to talk with the Reservations department. On Tuesday I called the Honors Diamond line and explained the situation. The woman helping me had a similar issue getting ahold of anyone at the hotel who could resolve the situation. She told me that she would work on this and get back in touch in 24 hours. On Wednesday morning the concierge emailed to say that they would be willing to lower the additional cost to 150 USD per night. This is completely unacceptable.

I can book the same room at this hotel for 80k points for 1 or 2 people for later dates. This problem seems to be completely manufactured. The initial contact from the hotel and the introduction to the concierge happened before the cancellation window when this could have apparently been resolved easily. It was not until the cancellation window had passed that I was contacted and informed of the issue. At this point this delay seems intentional to ensure that I had no choice but to pay up when I arrive.

I’m now stuck with a reservation that will cost me hundreds more dollars than it should. I have been a Diamond member for 9 years and have 700 nights in Hilton properties. This situation is beyond infuriating, has soured my honeymoon and makes me seriously question my loyalty to Hilton. I'm not due to checkin for another 10 days, so I hold out some hope of resolving this. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hilton Honors Ambassador

If you have a confirmation for 2 adults, there should be no problem.
If you mistakenly booked for 1, you should try to get gold status before arrival (2nd guest stays free).

Looks like an unexpected reaction of the hotel, because of some excessive demands regarding honeymoon benefits.