Hyatt Ziva Cancun - REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
Apr 13, 2018, 2:29 pm
At the Zilara did Chefs table that one night and had a great time. The first day the beach was great, second day the wind shifted and lots of seaweed washed up. Pool area was great, food on the whole was fine, drinks were fine. However, after this stay at the Ziva that would be my preference.
At the Ziva, we were returning guests and I am a globalist. We stayed on points and when they reached out to me ahead of time I requested to go to the adults only tower since we were without the kids this trip, and they said they would see what they could do. When we arrived they immediately as we got out of the cab welcomed us back and recognized my status. With drink and cold towel in hand we were swooped off to the Turquoise tower, so my request came through. The butler we got this trip was amazing (on our last trip our butler was non-existent). We love the Ziva layout, it literally has the best spot on Cancun in our minds being right on the point there with the lighthouse and two sides to the resort. Had a great time participating in activities and enjoying the adults only pool and hydro suite. Make sure if you are there and in the adults only section, take advantage of the free spa time from 8am-2pm. It is heavenly and a great escape from the sun.
As a globalist they spoiled us with 2 free lobster upgrades and 2 upgraded steakhouse menu coupons. We turned the lobster coupons into surf and turf dinners (lamb for me, filet for the wife) at the French. Then we used the two coupons for a Tomahawk rib-eye at the steakhouse the next night. That steak was REALLY good, it was a serious upgrade. Loved the activities. Loved the new hammocks in the water, and the rock to try and climb in the ocean (not an easy climb at all). Had a good time doing the yoga and other activities. We never went hungry or thirsty. Will find excuses to go back there, it is really nice to indulge at a quality all inclusive.
Apr 30, 2018, 6:00 pm
May 2, 2018, 6:45 pm
May 2, 2018, 7:24 pm
May 2, 2018, 7:34 pm
May 6, 2018, 5:55 am
Wife and myself,
4 year old,
2 year old,
12 month old (infant)
We'd love to stay here! But need some advice!
I'd hope to book 1 room for 5 nights with points. Anybody have success with this or can chime in?
The only room available via the website is a king suite with a pull out. For 25,000 points a night. 7,500 extra per night for the 4 year old.
I see there is a room limit of 4. But on the site it says not to count 0-2 as "children".
I can't afford 2 rooms, so the only way it would work is if we paid for the 1 room with points.
I saw based on the review that somebody also had a king suite with a family of 5. So it is possible?
I did talk to 2 phone reps and they said it was a fire marshal rule to have only 4 in a room.
What is everyone's experience with your family of 5 with an infant?
Last edited by Jer2911matt; May 6, 2018 at 5:56 am Reason: Grammar mistake
May 6, 2018, 6:05 pm
May 6, 2018, 6:08 pm
May 30, 2018, 8:28 am
Wife and myself,
4 year old,
2 year old,
12 month old (infant)
We'd love to stay here! But need some advice!
I'd hope to book 1 room for 5 nights with points. Anybody have success with this or can chime in?
The only room available via the website is a king suite with a pull out. For 25,000 points a night. 7,500 extra per night for the 4 year old.
I see there is a room limit of 4. But on the site it says not to count 0-2 as "children".
I can't afford 2 rooms, so the only way it would work is if we paid for the 1 room with points.
I saw based on the review that somebody also had a king suite with a family of 5. So it is possible?
I did talk to 2 phone reps and they said it was a fire marshal rule to have only 4 in a room.
What is everyone's experience with your family of 5 with an infant?
Jul 15, 2018, 10:22 am
The only deterrent is the risk of traveling in Mexico with my kids d/t drug related crimes which have increased since we went last year. BTW, if each kid is 12,500 points/night then just get the 2 rooms as it would be the same amount of points. Then you have no issue with fire codes. Also I believe that room we stayed in was adjoining to next room. I will try to get both rooms if I go back next year.
Aug 20, 2018, 10:41 am
Booking:
Family of 4 (2 adults, 3 year old, 1 year old) stayed 5 days, 4 nights in a Pyramid Suite using 40,000 points per night for a total of 160,000 points but will get 16,000 points back with the current Hyatt credit card promotion of 10% back. Paid extra for 3 year old (can either use 12,500 points or $110 per day for a child).
Transportation:
I used USA Transfers for a private shuttle and had a great experience with them. On time, had a car seat ready, easy pick up from CUN upon arrival and waiting 10 minutes early when we left Ziva. Highly recommend and quite affordable ($65 roundtrip paid online prior to the trip - tip not included). No hiccups. Pretty much all you can ask for from a shuttle service.
Room:
As mentioned we stayed in a Pyramid Suite using points. This is a bi-level suite. Downstairs: small full bath, living room with a dining table and 4 chairs, pull out sofa bed that was quite comfortable and a minifridge. Upstairs had a very comfortable king-sized bed with a massive full bathroom with a soaking tub, two sink set up, large closet and lots of storage space for clothes, separate enclosed toilet room, and a huge shower with two separate rain shower heads with attached handheld shower head. Overall decor was not really modern but not really dated (sort of in between?) but high quality furnishings and clean. Some of the furniture and drawers were starting to show some signs of wear-and-tear but nothing was grotesquely unusable. We used a pack and play for our 1 year old and it was completely sufficient. Wife slept with daughter upstairs in the king bed and I slept on the sofa bed downstairs, which as mentioned, was quite comfortable aside from the fact that it smelled like urine. That was a major downside obviously but manageable. We put the crib in the master bath upstairs and it was clutch to have separate sleeping space for the youngest and we just used the bathroom downstairs to wash up at night.
The Pyramid building is the oldest part of the hotel and the Turquoize building is newest but that is adults-only. We did have a fair amount of walking since our room was at the farthest end of the hallway but in a way, that was a blessing because our kids have started screaming when angry and we felt less bad because there was only 1 room next to us. Sorry people next door to us. I swear we do not torture our kids.
Property:
Everything is very well maintained and clean. Facilities are open air for the most part, except for maybe the Turquoize section, which I didn't check out since I wasn't staying there and the lobby which is air-conditioned with some juice selections available for refreshment. Extensive pool selection. We ended up mostly utilizing the pools on the side near the Tradewinds restaurant - it was generally less crowded and we were able to get a cabana every morning. Water was wonderful in the mornings but in the afternoons could get somewhat warm - not a critique but more of an observation and unavoidable.
Beaches:
Water is beautiful and relatively shallow for quite some time before it gets deep. Two separate beach areas - the one straight from when you enter the hotel was always very crowded but that's where all of the water sports were based and they had a large floating rock climbing structure which looked like a lot of fun. The other beach was much farther (~3-4 minute walk) from the hotel, closest to the Tradewinds restaurant side. There is a manmade structure intended to block the waves and create relatively calm waters. We didn't spend much time at the beaches because we enjoyed the pools and it was a bit of trek to get there.
Restaurants:
Overall, food quality was good. Very few dishes disappointed except as noted below.
El Mercado - main restaurant - buffet style. Very extensive selection of hot and cold foods. Lots of different stations - breakfast had pancake/french toast station, omelette station, veggie omelette station, taco station, freshly cooked ham station. Lunch had taco station, quesadilla station, grilled meat station with amazing chicken, pork and steak. Lots of other great food options, some Mexican-inspired food, but also lots of other foods like curries, dumplings, Asian buns, and kid friendly foods like fries, mashed potatoes. Good fruit selection both for breakfast and lunch. Typical pastries, cereals, breads). 8-9/10 rating.
Tradewinds - We went here for breakfast and lunch on different days. A la carte ordering. Overall food was decent. Huevos rancheros for breakfast was pretty good. Got some other shrimp dishes for lunch. Not spectacular but pretty good. 6/10.
Lorenzos - Italian restaurant - we went for dinner our first night. I ordered a steak which was not good - tough, stringy cartilaginous mess. Don't remember what wife ordered. We got spaghetti with meatballs and fish sticks for the kids - those were pretty good. 5/10
Chevys - Diner style restaurant. Went twice for late night desserts with milk shakes, apple cobbler and once for lunch and got fish and chips. Fun decor and food was pretty good. 7/10.
Moongate - Asian style food. Went twice for dinner - once for table dining and got teriyaki, udon noodles, and stir-fried vegetables. Food was good, albeit slightly salty and over sauced. Got multiple desserts (green matcha cake, ice creams, tapioca pudding) and most were good. Went back another night for hibachi which was fun with good food. Be warned, if you go later in the evening, there can be a 45 min-1hr wait for the hibachi. 8/10.
Habaneros - beach front venue. Great tacos and ceviche. Great for a beach-side lunch. 8/10.
Casa cafe - coffee shop with good pastries. Full-service coffee shop whenever? Yes please. 8/10.
Pasteles - all dessert, all the time. Extensive selection of ice cream, treats, donuts, chocolate fondue, cakes, sweet and sour candies. Kid's dream. 9/10 for what it is.
We did not try room service, Bastille's (adults only), or any of the bars unfortunately.
Activities:
Every night at 8:30pm they had some sort of show. On various nights there were magic shows, Mayan cultural shows, breakdancing/acrobat shows. Everything was wonderful and family friendly. My 3 year old had an amazing time even though it was way past her bedtime.
Kid zone:
If you have older kids, you can drop them off and have them be watched during the day but our kids were too young for that. They did have family time and they have a pretty fun water slide set up with lots of different choices and a big bucket of water that fills and eventually tips over every so often. The first day we were there, around 20 kids were setting under it chanting, "Pour it, pour it, pour it". Kids are weird but cute.
Service:
Great service all around. Smiles everywhere. Just cannot speak highly enough about the positive attitudes of all the workers there. Really made a huge difference in our experience.
Overall:
This was a wonderful stay. Weather was great the whole time. We had a great time as a family of 4 with 2 young kids. Very family friendly. We are already planning on coming back again once the youngest is almost 3 in a little under 2 years. I would highly recommend this property without any reservations at all. You will have a wonderful time!
Oct 4, 2018, 12:57 pm
Hyatt Ziva Cancun
Blvd. Kukulcan, Manzana 51, Lote. 7 Cancun, Quintana Roo MX 77500
Review of Hyatt Ziva Cancun (5 Photos)
Hyatt Ziva Cancun
Best resort in Cancun for families
Check In
Family of 3 (2 adults, 1 eight year old stayed 17 nights (2 trips one with kid and one without) in a combination of rooms as follows:
- 5 nights in a Swim Up King
- 5 nights in a Sky Swim Up King (Adults Only Tower)
- 7 nights in an Ocean Front Room (with kid)
Check in was nice and secure. For our driver to even get past the gate we had to provide our names to ensure we had a reservation. Upon driving past the gate we came to the bellman area and they unloaded our luggage and escorted us to the front desk where they asked what coctail we wanted. The fun began.
Room
Swim up King (5 nights) - We loved this room. So close to the Ocean with direct views of the Ocean. Roomy enough but in the oldest tower. However these are the closest rooms to the Ocean so you can relax in the swim up pool outside your room and hear the ocean. Private pool so real good place to escape the crowds if you are wanting to. I believe there are only 10 of these rooms. I paid for this room at a great price using Chase Ultimate Rewards site since we wanted to stay in this room half our first trip so we could be close to the ocean and could not purchase this room type with points. (tip pay a nice tip to once of the drink waiters and they will bring you drinks to your private swim up pool)
Sky Swim up King (5 nights) - Adults only tower - We loved this room as well. The Sky swim ups also have a hot tub on the balcony leading up to the swim up pool. Very unique and makes for great pictures with amazing views. We paid an upgraded price from our original swim up king of just $60 a night and it was well worth it to access the adults only pool which has better service and better drinks in our opinion. Well worth the extra money if you can afford it. (tip...get the corner swim up for amazing views)
Ocean Front Room (7 nights) - Same tower as the Swim up King but from floor 2 - 4. Same exact room as the Swim Ups but just not on the ground level with the swim up pool. So you are very close to the Ocean with great views and this room does not cost much more than the cheapest room and well worth the upgrade. I used 175,000 total points for this room as we got upgraded free based on it being my wifes birthday. This stay was during the peak Spring Break week for Texas (March 2018) so the normal room rates were over $600 a night. So good use of points as everything was top notch including the food which was even better than our first trip about 5 months prior in September 2017. (tip ...we loved the 2nd floor so we were closer to the ocean)
Club Ocean Front Room 8 nights - On Reservation for March 2019 (bringing both kids which will be ages 10 and 2. Will update after trip
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Service
Most speak English. Great service all around but please tip. Cannot speak highly enough about the positive attitudes of all the workers here. Really made a huge difference in our experience and it is why we go back time after time.
Dining
Restaurants:
Overall, food quality was great. See below
El Mercado - main restaurant - buffet style. Large selection of items. Definetely better during our Spring Break trip but both good. They had crab legs, steak, red snapper, grouper, on different days to choose from plus a number of other meat stations (ham, roast beef, chicken, fish, etc.) Plus a smoothie station in the morning and they made fresh whatever smoothie we requested.....even with almond milk. 9/10 star rating.
Tradewinds - This is the steakhouse. We ate here for breakfast and dinner. Steaks were good......not great like a US steakhouse but solid considering it is part of the all inclusive. We ate here a lot as it is hard to turn down free steak. Staff were very nice and accomadated our special needs as our son has Crohn's Disease and requires a special diet.
Lorenzos - Italian restaurant - pizza good. Everything else is ok nothing to write home about. They do have gluten free crust ...7/10 star rating
Chevys - Great milkshakes. That is all we ordered from here as the other restaurants we too hard to pass up
Moongate - Asian style food. Probably our favorite. The hibachi was fantastic as was the show they put on while cooking. Arrive early to avoid lines. The steak they use on the hibachi was amazing. 10/10 star rating.
Habaneros - beach front mexican restaurant. Great baha and shrimp tacos. Great for a beach-side lunch. Drinks were great here as well 9/10.
Casa cafe - Coffee shop with great service and they have a decent smoothie as well. 9/10 star rating.
Pasteles - Deserts everywhere you look.....ice cream, treats, donuts, chocolate fondue, cakes, sweet and sour candies. Parent and kid's are all happy. 9/10 star rating
Bastilles - French Adults Only - We had the filet and it was US steakhouse quality. Ate it a few times when we did not bring kids. 10/10 star rating
Beach
Its Cancun so the beaches are amazing. The water is a bit cold during spring break but great during September. As mentioned Hyatt Ziva has 3 beaches. 2 are calm and one not so calm. The beach near Tradewinds is nice but the water is not so calm. The 2 beaches near the water sports are calm and shallow but get deeper as you go out. There is a large floating rock climbing structure which is harder than it looks. They used to have a trampoline out there as well but it wasnt there in the spring. Security will check with you if you go out to the Tradewinds side beach upon your return to make sure you are staying at the hotel which we actually liked (keeps unauthorized people out).
Overall
Property/Staff:
Everything is very well maintained and clean and the staff really go out of their way to make you have an amazing experience. I went to the bank before we left and got $300 worth of $1 bills and I am so glad I did as we left a few dollars at meals and $1 for drink rounds and they really took great care of us for it. Turquis building (Sky Swim Up) was nice and you get a personal butler which is handy in making reservations at the adult only restaurant Bastile as you get preffered service. There are plenty of pools to choose from and they do not feel crowded as this property is huge and is in my opinion the best location in cancun as it has 3 beaches becasue it is at the good side of the figure 7 Cancun Island. During spring break if you want a cabana you need to rise early and put some stuff on it as to unofficially reserve it. They can not be reserved otherwise except for the $450 ones on the beach.
Activities:
Every night at 8:30pm they have entertainment like magic shows, Mayan cultural shows, breakdancing/acrobat shows, fire shows, neon show, etc. Kid loved most of it
Kid zone:
This was great. Staff very friendly and allowed us to have some alone time. Our son actually preferred to go here than hang out with us. Almost had to force him to spend time with us on the beach.
Dolphins:
We found a great deal online a few months before our trip so we did the 1 hour dolphine adventrure and it was so worth it. I recommend this highly. It is on site so you don't leave the hotel
Overall:
This is our place when we go to Cancun. The location and quality of the resort is to good to change. With the Hyatt name we don't have to worry about tainted alchohol and the security on the resort makes you feel safe. You can't even come up the hill to enter the resort without the guard making sure you have a reservation. Don't have to wear the annoying bracelets either. Just give your room number and last name at the restaurants.