SQNfan

I believe it was $50 to the plunge pool and $150 to the Executive Suite. Keep in mind the pools are not heated and can be quite cool when not in direct sunlight.

Dcislander

I know that travelers have different experiences but thought it worth sharing some info about our trip to the Hyatt.

Upon arrival our DSU and connecting room (for 2 children) did not connect and it took 2 hours for them to sort it out. In the end they put us in a plunge suite that had a connecting room. Unfortunately it was directly over the day club.

Upsides:
-Food all around the hotel is decent and prices are not bad. Sushi/ceviche at the bar, the pop up grill and the taco/burrito station up top were all good options and decently priced
-The lounge is perfect for breakfast and drinks. Alcohol in lounge is a nice plus. Bfast spread is not extensive but it was enough for us. In the evening we did not think that the offerings were quite enough for a real dinner so we would eat snacks then search out food elsewhere (which is what the evening serving is for)
-The aesthetics are great. The hotel is designed beautifully
-Pool service is quick and polite
-Pool designs are great

Issues. These were extensive and the reason we probably will not return:
-Our plunge pool didn't work 1/2 of the time. Maintenance had to come twice to fix the jets and filter
-There is an insanely complicated equation when renting larger spaces at the pool. The upper beds are $50 a day and come with 4 beers, 2 waters or 2 cocktails and 2 waters, there are beach cabanas at a different rate and covered pool beds at yet another rate. Each comes with a confusing array of drinks. Our first day no one said anything about charges for the bed and we weren't charged. Last few days the $50 charge showed up. Nothing intuitive or consistent about their rental scheme.
-Day 1 phone rings at 3am. It's a call from the desk. Phone is broken and cannot hear anything that they are saying. Next AM the desk said that they had no idea of who it was an were "looking into it." Someone must have messed up--next day there was a bottle of Mexican sparkling wine in the room. I would rather have had an explanation.
-Twice, turn down service came into the kids room at 10pm, flicking on the lights for a turndown--seriously, at 10pm!?
-Got stuck in an inoperable elevator. I had to pry the door open and call the operator to report it. Operator didn't really seem to care but they sent someone over who eventually fixed it.
-As reported in the forum the water in the shower cycled from warm to scalding and back to warm. It was an issue, but having been warned we watched out for it with the kids
-The doozy... The noise from the Day Club Carolina was fine. It was loud but it was fine for us. Club was open 7 days a week but the ended promptly at 7pm. It also started promptly at 11am. What was not fine was the massive bar fight that the kids got to witness one night where a life guard battled two guys with giant wooden polls. Lots of punches. It erupted into multiple fights in the bar which spilled out onto the beach. The Federal Police were finally called but not before the kids (4 yrs, 5 yrs, 7 yrs and 9 yrs) got to see and hear their first massive drunken brawl. Not good

Comments:
-Drinks are better obtained from the bar vs the pool waiters. One good tip at the bar and a stiff pour comes out. The pool drinks are pretty stingy
-If you don't want to pay Hyatt prices for laundry we noticed a laundry right across the street from the entrance. Didn't use and don't know how much they charge, but it looked to be by the pound and must be cheaper than Hyatt
-Don't expect much from the plunge pools. They are 3' deep and about 5'x5'. About the size of a shallow hot tub. They are designed so if you're sitting on the bench, you are only in 6" of water. Really odd. When you turn on the filter the pool heats up which is nice in the evening but as noted above it only worked sporadically and tripped the electrical breaker the rest of the time
-Some others noted housekeeping issues. For us, this was a highlight. They did a very thorough job and spend a lot of time in each room
-As noted, the beach is public. We knew that it didn't bother us, but lot's of people do come down and plant themselves on the beach in front of the Hyatt chairs
-The Hyatt beach is guarded. Life guard on duty.
-There were paddle boarders on the water when it was still enough (only 1 of our 9 days) but rental is down the beach by the pier.
-Parasailing is right next door. $75 a person but if you have more people they'll drop it down to $60pp. Just have to ask. Jet skis were $65 for a half hour.
-We rented a car and went to Tulum and Coba. We rented from Hertz but at 22nd and 5th. If you rent from Hertz, rent from the 14th and 10th location or they will have to deliver the car over to you which will take an hour. Had a 10am pick up and we left at 11:30

Hope that helps explain some of the ups and downs at the Hyatt.

Reisen

Good review. My quick reaction from spending 5 nights there a couple weeks ago:

- Two quick tips on the food service: You can order off the restaurant menu at the pool (the pool menu is different), but know exactly what you want, and tell them how much it should cost. There's a kids quesadilla at the restaurant my daughter liked, but they kept trying to charge me the adult price for a steak quesadilla at the pool. Also, like 3-5pm is 2 for 1 Margaritas.

- Having stayed at a lot of properties, I found the lounge to be one of the best. The evening selection varies, and we found there to be more than enough food, especially if you're feeding kids. Maybe part of it is we were eating a fair amount in the middle of the day (either at the restaurant or pool service) so weren't that hungry at night.

- The pool designs look great, but I have to believe they are setting themselves up for serious injuries. There were kids constantly jumping from raised pools into the lower ones, and the depth varies in place from 4 feet, to literally 6 inches. Plus all edges of the pool are raised (infinity edge), tile and fairly sharp. Lastly, there are uncovered trenches around the pools to catch the spillover from the infinity edges. Our daughter was covered in cuts and bruises, and I saw a ton of kids that looked the same way (ie. bleeding).

- Totally agree with you on the plunge pool. Looked great, but not very practical or comfortable. Ours only worked about half the time as well. We barely used it. It was great if you can get a free upgrade, but I wouldn't pay extra over a normal suite.

- I had no idea on the drinks that come with the cabanas, nor that they charged different prices for the ones on the beach, versus the ones by the pool, vs the daybeds farther up. I can say the ones by the pool were expensive, like $160 or something. I negotiated a free day after our room wasn't ready in time, and we did enjoy it. You can close the curtains to all four sides to either create shade, block wind, or block splashes from kids nearby. Of note, about 1/4 of the cabanas were missing panels / curtains on some sides. We originally got a broken one, and I had them move us. I wouldn't pay $160, but I probably would pay $50. There were plenty available every day.

- We too had the phone ring a couple of times (including like 11pm), and honestly, I never bothered to pick it up.

- We had a couple of early issues with people coming into the room (including to refill the minibar while my infant son was napping), so just got really good about putting Do Not Disturb on the buttons (it's all electronic).

- The elevators stopped working twice during our stay, so this seems to be an ongoing issue. Both times, they were out of service (multiple elevators) for maybe 4 hours.

- Same thing on the shower temperature variation. More a pain than anything, but be careful.

- Interesting about the fight at the dayclub. We never saw any kind of issue. I would suspect that's more of an isolated incident.

- Agree that housekeeping was very good. Probably top 10% of resorts we've stayed at.

gujuraja

Hello, I have 4 night stay coming up in few weeks with our 1 year and 4 year old son and I love to see a floor plan of the property. If anyone have it can you please post a link. I looked around but was not able to find anything that's readable.

Thank you

59Impala

I was just in contact with the concierge on our upcoming stay and inquired about the parking fee, me being a Diamond member. The answer was that there is no free parking for anyone... daily rate is 105 MXN as stated in the Wiki...(not even 6 USD) which is not much to be honest... we'll see what is charged when there...

valleystars

Thought I'd post some of our family's thoughts and experiences at the Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen. We stayed for 4 nights during our spring break.

1) We are just plat and got upgraded to partial ocean view room. Not much of an ocean view but we still enjoyed it.
2) We also did not get free parking but it was very affordable, 105 MXN.
3) Since I lost my diamond status this year, we didn't get access to the lounge or breakfast. We tried La Cocina for breakfast, but enjoyed the food much more at La Panaderia which is just outside of the hotel lobby area (actually thought it was part of the hotel at first). La Cocina does have an amazing view though.
4) The ocean was pretty rough on a couple of days (had the red flags out). Not the best for younger kids.
5) We loved the pools, but for some reason the towel service closed fairly early. Can't remember the exact time. We would just flag someone down and ask for a couple of towels.
6) We also had the fluctuating water temp situation. Wasn't too big of a deal for us but you do want to move when you first feel the water getting hot.
7) We loved the location of the hotel. We walked Quinta Avenida every night and felt very safe. Lots of tourists though.
8) Hotel is huge. It was a bit of a walk from our room to anywhere except the pool/beach area.
9) We didn't have any problems with mosquitos, but we did put Deet on in the evenings before going out.
10) We didn't have any issues with housekeeping. We just put the 'do not disturb' button on.
11) There were a lot of families there during our stay.
12) The club didn't bother us.
13) Sound from outside the room can be a bit of an issue if you are a light sleeper.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay here and would return despite a couple of issues that our family considers workable.

RGreenPC

We are headed down for a week to celebrate the end of my chemo and would love to know what you all think.

My DW and I haven't been to Cancun in a decade.

Last time we did Xcaret and plan on heading there.

Given we are headed for 8 days what else would you all suggest... besides of course getting a cabana and vegetating for a day or two.

Would love any suggestions about places to eat, things to do... as well as things to avoid.

ILuvParis

Congratulations on completing your chemo! ^

La Brocherie. Google it. Walkable from the hotel. Rave reviews on just about every site. Delicious rotisserie chicken, amazing desserts and dirt cheap. Run by a Frenchman, his mom and Mexican wife. He is a delight.

Also, good steak at the Grill at the Hyatt. Good ceviche at the bar and great Margaritas all over the hotel.

RGreenPC

Thanks for the restaurant recommendation... I see lots of places to eat nearby but many have lackluster reviews.

We think given our couple of trips its worth renting a car for the week... i have the points for it.

59Impala

I have a question around the transportation. Just made reservation with USA Transfers.

For an 8:50 am flight on AA leaving CUN, they confirmed a pick up time at 5:15 am! This seems waaaay too early. According to google maps it's a 45 minute ride without traffic, so I am more targeting at a 6:30 am departure from the hotel the earliest, getting me to Cancun airport around 7:15 or 7:30. Still more than enough in my view.

Does anyone have experience? Any advice/recommendation?

Thanks!

duhe

If you are comfortable with a later arrival, tell USA Transfers that your flight departs at or around 10:05 am.

59Impala

Thanks - that was my thinking too, wanted to know if it's too risky due to traffic or so? Leaving on a Monday morning..

ILuvParis

I do have experience with them (and recommend them), but they do schedule exceptionally early pick-ups. Our departure was early on a Saturday afternoon (when that airport is a zoo) and we were still there an hour earlier than we needed to be. I considered telling them that our flight left later, but since our departure from the hotel was mid-morning, rather than in the dark, I didn't bother.

59Impala

Appreciate your comments - I'll have them schedule a later pick up. 6:30 will suffice. Thanks!

zerolife

I'm booked into the Grand Suite King and wonder where the best rooms are located. Are there any rooms on the ocean facing side of each of the U-legs (seems like that would be closest to the ocean)? Otherwise I assume it's the bridge?

Thanks