Travellingwithbaby

Spring Break family trip (for 3)
at Ziva

We just returned from a 4 night stay at Ziva. We used points and free night certificates (from last years Hyatt CC bonus). We booked the entry level room, but we were upgraded to an OceanFront Jr Suite - although I am not sure why they call it a Jr Suite as it really just had 2 beds in it. It was room 3205. I am Globalist, but even though 2 of the nights were my husbands, we were still allowed to stay in the same room. The ocean front room was great.

I had a hard time deciding if I liked this hotel. At first, it seemed that it was trying hard to be a luxury resort, but wasn't quite making it. There were problems with the room that were annoying the first day: there were absolutely NO towels (as we find this out after my 6 year old is in the shower after arriving), then, after they delivered the towels, we realized the hair dryer was missing too! Oddly, there was only 1 trash container and it was in the WC room. We called to inquire if the others were missing, but they said no, there weren't any others. So, we piled our empty water bottles on the table and then the next day they put another trash container in the room.

We are not big drinkers, so I cannot comment on the alcohol. However, we like Choicez best of all restaurants. The Italian one was just okay, it was very filling. Was looking for a picatta or a scallopine, but didn't see it on the menu. I did like Fuzion - we weren't able to be on the Chinese side, so we opted for the Japanese. It was better than I thought it would be. We were the first ones seated there at 6:15 and our service was quick. The appetizer and salad was brought out promptly. They even substituted an egg roll for my 6 yr old instead of the sushi. We didn't try the Brazilian restaurant. We ordered room service one night as we weren't that hungry. There isn't that much on the dinner room service menu.

Choicez was the mainstay for us. We went there for breakfast all days. Personally, I just enjoyed the oceanfront view. They had everything you could want to eat. Plus, they had various juices (including green) and would blend a smoothie for you as you picked out what you wanted. It was actually a NutriBullet they used. We went there once for dinner on the Jamaican night (it is themed nightly). My husband was in heaven with all the different foods. He is very adventurous when it comes to eating and I am not, so he was able to enjoy all it offered.

We rented a cabana on the last day. We have never done this before, but it was worth it! They didn't have any pool cabana's left, so we opted for a beach cabana. I think it was $69 for the entire day. If anyone is interested in this, you can reserve a cabana as soon as you make a reservation at the hotel! That's probably how all the pool ones were reserved for the entire time we were there.

I was a little disappointed in the Kidz Club. It was spring break and you would think there would be more kids in the club. My daughter went there one day (she loves these clubs) for arts and crafts, but there weren't any other kids there, so they told us to come back for a different activity. After going to the Cambi kids club at the Andaz Papagayo, I'm not sure I have realistic expectations since that one was over the top and she didn't want to leave.

My bill did not show a charge for the use of the airport RT transfers. I did book this a year ago, I don't know if that's why (they weren't charging then). But, as of yet, I only had the cabana charge on my bill when we checked out.

This was my first time at an all inclusive in 20 years, so I can't compare to anything! There are too many places I want to visit, so I don't think I would be back anytime soon, but not because of the hotel. If I look past all the housekeeping problems (we also didn't have any service one day and we were out of the room from 7:30a-4:30p), it was a great place to relax and enjoy the pool/beach. 95% of the employees were super gracious and friendly. I enjoyed talking to them.

chaotix

How is the Kidz Club setup? I saw staff members with Kidz Club shirts herding a small group of kids through Choicez at around 7PM one night. Is it designed so that you can just drop your kids off for the day? My wife and I were wondering if we should take our 22 month old next time we go. Is there a fee normally charged?

Travellingwithbaby

There is a not a charge for the Kidz Club. There is a list of activities daily, starting at 9am. Some are inside at their club, some are outside by the pool. They do take them to ChoiceZ for lunch if they are there during that time (I think 11:30-1:00). The activities are 9-5, a break for 1 hour, then they open again at 6pm and will take them to ChoiceZ for dinner. This way, parents can spend dinner alone if that's what you wish. I do not know what the minimum age is for the Kidz Club - many of them require kids to be potty trained, so you would need to check. You can drop off your kids for as little or as long as you want. Hope that helps.

jsl_313

Wait, when you say you rented a cabana, are you referring to some extra large special cabana or just your standard bed with a roof/palm umbrella over chairs? It would be a little ridiculous if you had to spend $69 to use a regular cabana at an all-inclusive.

flyer4512

Can you explain how this works and where you sign up ? Thanks

chaotix

Enroll through the Club Mobay website here.
http://www.vipattractions.com/service

obuengineer

Any updates on this property? I'm heading down there in a couple of weeks.

thepointsdr

Just returned from a trip down to the property in December. Overall, stay was as I expected from an all-inclusive. Food and alcohol was decent. My favorite thing was fresh fruit and local cuisine in the breakfast buffet every morning. Jerk chicken shack was also a hit. Otherwise other international options were just mediocre at best.

Service overall was good, and I did tip bartenders and waiters. When we went both sides of the property were sold out so naturally no upgrades. Basic rooms are pretty basic; nothing to be wowed by. On the flip side, we did not spend much time in our room at all.

One thing that really impressed me was the gym on property. Lots of free weights, new cardio equipment, and also TRX. Spin classes and boot camps offered every morning. Great for burning all those extra calories.

If interested, I do have more pictures/thoughts on my blog at www.thepointsdr.com!

Kylash

Has anyone had success securing a paid upgrade on a points stay prior to arrival?

For my past two stayed at Zilara Cancun on a 25k points rate, I was able to reach out to the hyatt concierge after booking to negotiate a cash rate to secure an upgrade to a swim-up suite.

Sinter

Didn't have a paid upgrade, but was given a complimentary upgrade to a junior suite on the top floor of the new zilara building as a Discoverist for a full week (end of Feb. thru beginning of March), though we did mention a couple times in contacting the hotel it was our honeymoon and anything would be appreciated. We also purchased the private dinner on the beach, though I'm unsure if that helped our chances or not.

Swim up suites may be tougher to pull off though as they're limited in number.

wanderingpixie

Am traveling to the Zilara as a couple and had some questions and any help at all would be appreciated.

1. Had some concerns re: dining as it seems a lot of the good restaurants are on the Ziva side. On the website it says that we don't have access to the Ziva without a day pass. As of January 2019, is that correct? Would be hard if so since I'm already on a limited diet.

2. Secondly, which particular buildings or levels are the new build? I hate old rooms so wherever we are assigned I want to make sure we're happy and if not ask for a switch.

3. Also, has anyone been to the so-called executive club? The idea of it is of course laughable in an all-inclusive, but so is Zilara's cheek in asking you to book a cabana or show for extra fees!

4. Last but certainly not least, is there a hot tub? I've read that the pools are cold, and I have kind of resigned myself to not swimming. But a working hot tub at a reasonable temperature seems like a perfect way to kick off our first night.

If anyone has answers to any of this I'd appreciate it so much. Or the contact for the hotel so I can ask directly.

Bonus question, does the concierge charge for extra touches, like decorating the room, etc.?

Thanks!

thejohnterry

Not sure about the other questions, but headed there in July. Fairly certain you are able to go to the Ziva side if you are staying at the Zilara. Check out this site - it says you can enjoy food and drink at the Ziva as well.

thepointsdr

Just stayed there recently so happy to help out with your questions.

1. You can venture between hotels for restaurants. Only limitation is that some restaurants on Zilara side do not allow kids, if you have any.
2. Not sure which are old vs new, but most of the rooms have been renovated and are standard across both hotels.
3. I went to the executive club, and honestly I am not sure why it exists. It's old world chic, and has a bar and some light snacks pre-dinner. But literally no one there when we went. At the Ziva/Zilara Rose Hall, I found no value to the club.
4. There are two hot tubs, one on the Zilara and one on the Ziva side. The pools are lukewarm, and certainly not what I would call cold. My wife and I got used to temperatures very quickly; you should definitely plan on swimming.

Unfortunately I do not have any experience with the room decoration stuff.

thejohnterry

I did some more digging for you on the room decoration item...

Looks like if you go to https://rosehallzilara.hyatte-concie.../?langid=en-US you can signup for it and they do charge for it. There are also a plethora of other options as well. Just need your confirmation number to login. There's also an email address listed once you log in to directly ask the hotel some questions! Excited to hear about your stay!

John

wanderingpixie

Thank you all for your responses. I am used to all-inclusive actually MEANING all inclusive. So the concierge fees are a surprise. The room decoration starts at 55 USD. You can also book extras like the foam party - a whopping 129 US. I know some people in this thread are Hyatt veterans, and I have to say I've seen their non all-inclusive properties and they seemed nice enough, but this is a new experience. I'll be sure to come back with my thoughts when our stay is completed. @thepointsdr thanks for the review on your site, it was very helpful. Can I ask where in the resort the executive room is located? Since it's so quiet I can use it as my library / reading room. Haha!