I took my wife and 3 kids to Hyatt Ziva Cancun in July 2017.  Overall I would have to give this resort an excellent review.  As with any resort there are things that could be improved upon but those tend to be subjective and are variable depending on the person reviewing.  That said we booked our room using 4 free night certificates and Hyatt points for 3 additional nights.  Some may prefer to pay cash for the kids which is $110/night per child.  We chose to use our Hyatt points and save our money to do other things on vacation.  The resort was not full in July and there was a lot of space throughout the resort to sit, relax and enjoy our vacation.

Check In

Upon arriving at the resort around 230pm we were escorted to the lobby and offered a drink while they were checking us in.  It went so smooth I could not believe we were heading to our room within 15 minutes.  We were given a tour as we were escorted to our room.  

Room

 I have to say thank you to Marisol Garcia the rooms controller I emailed prior to our arrival.  We were upgraded to Ocean view because of our Hyatt rewards discoverists status.  He placed us in the perfect room (2370) with 2 views of the ocean and a large balcony which was just a stones throw away from the ocean.  There was ample space considering the king size bed, pull out sofa and crib were in the room.  The bathroom was amazing with a large shower and separate soaking tub.  Large TV in the room with adequate channels.  No DVD player.  As expected, all other amenities were included even the toothbrush, shaving kit, shampoo, etc.  There was a stocked refrigerator in the room as well as snacks.  Make sure you keep the cabinet door cracked open where the fridge is located or the fridge will not keep drinks very cold.  I mentioned this to several people at the resort as something that needs addressed.  There is no ventilation when you keep a fridge inside a cabinet.  They sent a maintenance guy to our room and I think all he did was disconnect the thermostat so the fridge would run continuously.  Otherwise the room was amazing.  Room 2370 is a corner room of the older building in the resort.  It is on the southwest corner.  Out the west window is a beautiful view of the ocean.  Then the balcony offers an even better view of the ocean, cliff, and gazebo where we watched countless couples get married.  If you are reserving an ocean view I would highly recommend this room.  The balcony is bigger on the end of the floor and this corner room offers the best view.  

Service

What more can I say other than service was awesome at the resort.  They had so many workers keeping the place spotless and waiting on guests.  I would say service was excellent.  When we called for room service they brought whatever we asked for rather quickly.  Wait service at the pools and restaurants was excellent overall. 

Dining

We did not eat at the French restaurant but did eat everywhere else.  Overall the food was great, not excellent but most of our meals were really good.  We utilized room service for many meals (breakfast and lunch) especially with the toddler.  But we also took the kids to all the restaurants except Tradewinds.  The wife and I paid for a baby sitter so we could have one evening to ourselves.   Room service food was excellent.  Breakfast was okay at buffet but we preferred room service since it was so awesome.  Room service lunch and dinner is very good. I recommend the steak.  FYI, If you are ordering steak ordering medium is more like medium rare when it arrives.   Asian bistro/hibachi was really good.  Their sushi was great as well.  I would recommend the vegetarian egg roll.   Habaneros (the beach restaurant/bar) was okay, not excellent.  Ceviches were good, tacos were just okay.   El Mercado (buffet) was great depending on the meal.  I would just skip their breakfast and do room service or I heard that Tradewinds breakfast was good.  Their evening buffet was really good and the type of food served varied.  They had special events such as Mexican, Brazilian, and Mayan nights.  The food served matched the type of evening shows/events.  Mexican and Brazilian nights were my favorite.  They serve ribeye that is so good.  Every night you could buy lobster for $680 MXN.  They had a station where you could get types of fish grilled fresh.    Also a station where other meats were grilled fresh.  There were always ample choices on the buffet.   Chevy's was okay depending on what was ordered.  Burgers were really good.  I ordered the rib, nacho combo plate once and was not impressed.  But make sure you get one of their awesome milkshakes!  Pastelles is the dessert only restaurant that will leave you amazed!  Milk and white chocolate fountains, ice cream, every candy you could think of, cakes, chocolates, cookies, etc.  The coffee shop is connected and offers a nice selection of coffees, espressos, muffins, etc.   Tres Cervesas is where they make 3 of their own micro brews.  I sampled them and they were really good.  There are pool tables and sports on many TVs.  Reminded me of a typical sports bar.  It opens during the day for teens to hang out/no alcohol is served at this time.  Tradewinds offers a selection of steaks including ribeye and t-bone as well as fish entrees and salads.  My wife and I enjoyed a quiet dinner there one evening and it was really good. 

We are not huge drinkers but we did have our shares of drinks throughout the week. You have to go check out the Tequila bar with over 300 varieties of Tequila.   David is the Tequilier for the resort.  I never knew that someone could be certified in Tequila!  Anyways he does a great job showing you all different types of tequila and the proper way to sample them.  Who knew...salt and lime is not included in his demonstration!  Anyways we never had any issues with drink service or quality of drinks.  They seemed to have a lot of variety with top shelf liquors.  We did have the house merlot and it was good.  Also Dos Equis regular and amber on draft are available at several bars.  The lobby bar is huge and very nice place to relax.    

Location

Great location within walking distance to Senior Frogs, Fat Tuesday, Congo Bongo, shopping, etc.   We visited the flea market and found some really good deals after much back and forth with the locals.  They are always willing to come down on the price....at least half of what they initially want you pay. Just have patience and walk around for awhile.  The vendors can be a little pushy but I just pushed right back if they started up. They left us alone after they realized I was all about finding the best price.  You can also get the exact same souvenirs at the resort on the nights they celebrate Mayan and Mexican.  They allow some vendors into the resort.  I was able to talk one down over half of the price on a chess set.  

With the resort surrounded by beaches and a light house on the tip of the property what more could we ask for?   There is one beach that is more of a cove with little to no waves where you get free access to snorkels, paddle boards, and kayaks.  There was a huge inflatable iceberg/climbing wall and trampoline to enjoy there. The other beach is your typical white sand, ocean beach, very long in depth, with lots of space.  That side of the resort/beach is protected by a man-made barrier of huge concrete blocks.  You can walk the beach as far as you want to go then come back to Hyatt Ziva and chill in one of their many gorgeous pools.  

Pool

The pools were great!  They were clean, clear and refreshing on the hot humid July days.  The pools below the lobby/grand stair case are where they do the activities during the day.  There is a lot of entertainment there provided by the hotel staff.  It has a swim up bar that always seemed to have a crowd!   There is a pool there that is mostly covered and provides a lot of shade for the small children.  The water is about 16 inches deep and we found it a great place for our toddler to play. The "relax" pool is on the south side of the resort by Bar Del Mar.  Go there to just chill and watch the beach/ocean and let Jorge bring you whatever you want.  The wait staff at pool were excellent, not saying they were bad on the other side of the resort.  The relax pool is where you find the double decker cabanas available for a daily fee.  I noticed the people that paid for those did get extra attention from the pool staff.  Damian is the pool butler and he will get you whatever you desire.  He offers to clean your sunglasses and spray you down with a cold relaxing spray.  Don't pass it up!

There is an adult only pool located on level 3 above the lobby.  This is where they have the late evening parties that include DJ's and dancing.

Spa

My wife and daughter utilized the spa and they said the services were excellent.  My kids enjoyed seeing the fish spa and thought it was just amazing that people would allow fish to eat their dead skin cells!  I had to laugh.  There are other shops near the spa that will gladly take your money in exchange for gifts, souvenirs, jewelry, etc.  Best Day travel is located there so you can plan all of your excursions.   On the same level the gym offers a variety of exercise equipment that is sure to meet your needs while on vacation.  I saw someone had a personal trainer as well during our stay.

Overall

I would like to add our children loved the Kid's Club.  They have an awesome kid's area including their own pool with slides.  There are video games to keep the older kids entertained as well as toys, board games, puzzles, air hockey table, etc.  

Here are the issues we had at the resort.  I already mentioned the refrigerator needs ventilation in order to work properly so make sure you leave the cabinet door open.  My phone was stolen from the beach where they have access to snorkeling, kayaks, and paddle boards.  Not only my phone was stolen that morning but also 2 other people's belongings.  Hotel security did an investigation but found no security cameras showing a "thief".  I would suggest you leave your belongings by the pool and go the beach.  Security and concierge told me the beach is federal property.  They said they can monitor the pool areas well but they do have problems with items being stolen from the beach areas.  They did print out security camera pictures as part of their investigation.  I felt they at least tried to help me even though I knew the phone was long gone.  Just be warned, do not leave any valuables on the beach.  Also we had setup a babysitter with concierge to watch our 18 month old.  We actually had to sign a contract with concierge.  We were told we could apply this charge to our room and that one of their kid's club employees would be the babysitter.  But when we arrived to drop off our children at the kids club we were stunned.  They had hired a babysitter from outside the resort and expected us to pay her cash.  She didn't speak English.  Since all three of our kids would be in the kid's club and the fact that we needed just one evening to ourselves we reluctantly agreed.   Concierge refused to pay her cash and apply the charge to our room which I thought was ridiculous.  I explained to them I was not happy with this decision and so here it is in my review.  That said, it did not ruin our vacation, it was more of an inconvenience to us.  

Other than those issues our stay was excellent.  I would not hesitate to return to Hyatt Ziva Cancun and actually recommend it to anyone needing a relaxing all-inclusive vacation.