168

Steam room in women’s locker room was open according to the Mrs. during our stay. Men’s hot tub was not hot. Since there was not a complementary access for LF Diamond, we decided it was not worth paying $25 per day, per person for our non WFH stay.

SP03

The spa looks beautiful. Does anyone have the price list? I only see the option for a 50 min massage for $130 which I assume is the standard for high end spas in the region. Would you recommend the spa? or should I look into other resorts?

martinplas

I’ve always enjoyed the spa there and go early before my massage for a Sauna ,Steam, hot and cold plunge . Not sure with Covid if the steam and sauna are open.
If you are a Globalist be sure to ask for a discount on your massage

coleslaw

Whats the globalist spa discount? I’ve been a few times but never offered a discount.

martinplas

it’s not written, but I always ask and they usually take 20% off which basically covers the tip. Same at the Andaz

roder

Just wrapping up a 5 night stay here and oh my am I disappointed.

I knew that there was going to be some noise issues given previous reports, but I didn't fully understand the situation until I arrived. It's not the beach club "next door" to the hotel that produces the noise issues, it's that the hotel has leased (or sold maybe) 1/4 of the pool area to the Coralina Daylight Club, which blasts music at full volume from 11am-7pm every single day. This music bleeds into the entire hotel's pool area, beach, and all of the oceanfront rooms and suites. So it's basically inescapable despite not being meant for the hotel guests. Why a hotel of this caliber would basically sell this portion of their property to such a noisy and disruptive occupant is beyond me. And hotel guests don't even have access to this area and have to pay separately.

On these lines, if you are trying to work from the hotel, I would definitely avoid the majority of the oceanfront rooms, particularly the North Side of the Hotel, or above the 2nd or 3rd floor. The noise is significantly more disruptive the higher in the hotel you go. I was originally upgraded to a 5th floor bridge Grand Suite but moved to a 2nd floor Grand Suite on the south side, which was significantly less impacted by the noise but still present.

I will also say that the WiFi is only borderline adequate. More often than not it was slower than I had hoped for, zoom call stability was definitely an issue particularly on the upload side.

I was also a bit annoyed about the significant amount of 'cabana' seating by the pool that you need to purchase for $90USD / day in order to utilize. Only one or two times during my 5 night stay at this hotel did I ever see one of these used, however, it did create significant competition for the remaining hotel chairs, particularly ones with a view, since the Cabanas occupy some of the best spots around the pool. So this place becomes one which you need to wake up early and stake your real estate by the pool otherwise be left with sub-par and/or extremely limited options.

I was underwhelmed by the Breakfast Buffet in La Concia. Omelettes were the best part but everything else was sub-par. Grand Club drinks in La Cocina from 6-8 were nice to have but the food options were laughable. I stopped even bothering visiting the buffet so they wouldn't add it to the bill and get the accounting credit for it, and I wouldn't feel guilty for not tipping on that portion of the charge (the charge will be removed, the tip won't). I also found them to be very stingy during the day with soft drinks and water limited to consumption specifically in the restaurant.

I can confirm the beach has been restored, as per a previous poster's comments. That's good news but certainly nothing like the beaches elsewhere in rivera maya or Tulum.

Overall, I don't think I'd stay here again.

coleslaw

I found the food options in general to be pretty poor (breakfast/lunch/dinner/room service). The "Grand Club" snacks were one of the few things I thought were OK (if basic - crudites, guacamole, hummus, tortilla chips, cheese, ham, quesadillas, empanadas). When I was there last (just after Thanksgiving) the snacks were "a la carte" and the itemized bill showed a line item for 0.00. Have they now changed to some king of buffet?

Not being able to take soft drinks and water is a little annoying. For water it's not too terrible since you can get it brought to your room. For coffee it's a little more annoying since it can be really slow to get seated (w/ temperature check and hand sanitizer), order, wait for it to turn up and then consume it. Easily 30+ minutes.

59Impala

in future I suggest reading the reviews. Both existing ones mention the music from the day club. Just a thought.

coleslaw

To be fair the poster does mention that they read about loud music. And, to be fair, the music is obscenely loud for this type of property. I wouldn't blame people for underestimating the volume, thinking "it can't be that bad". It can.

59Impala

true, you are right. Sorry

Kacee

We day-tripped into Playa from the Andaz last week and had lunch here. It's a really impressive facility but the pool and beach were super crowded.

roder

To me the real issue is that this isn't a noisy neighbor that the hotel has no control over. It's a purpseful decision to sell/lease a portion of their own property to a dayclub that creates a negative experience for their own hotel guests. That's what is so inexcusable.

coleslaw

Im sure many of the Grand Hyatt’s guests view having Coralina (/a “high end” beach club) as being a benefit. It certainly wouldn’t appeal to family holidaymakers, but there’s a pretty considerable market for that kind of place in Playa del Carmen. I totally get why the GH owners would be OK with having that kind of place “on property”. But the way they’ve built the buildings mean that the premium rooms and suites are all oceanfront (which is great!) but some are directly over the beach club (which is not so great) and most are close enough that the music is uncomfortably loud when you’re sitting outside (and for the rooms in the northern side of the building, it’s uncomfortably loud even when you’re sitting inside with the doors close). I do not get how they can be ok with having Coralina in the location it’s in.

Kacee

Yes they seem to be specifically targeting the Instagram party crowd rather than families, which is a comment I think applies to Playa in general.

txhyattlvr

In my experience the day club isn’t a big issue and it is not open 7 days per week. It’s not hard to request a room on the opposite side (as I’ve done many times) and you can’t hear it (or can barely hear it) from most locations on the right/south side (facing out) of the hotel. I’ve had bridge suites (middle) and also not been bothered and I’m very noise sensitive. Left side I’ll agree can be annoyingly loud.

Some ambient bass and music in the background during the day is going to be an issue at lots of urban-ish Mexican resorts. Either go with it or don’t go.

Also... never seen the pools all that crowded. They do have like four pools facing the beach! The smaller ones are often empty!