HTOWN_CLARK

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

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.

mauld

Totally agree with above review. I've stayed here 5 times since it opened a couple of years ago, and most recently decided to try out the Westin Resort again. Big mistake, Ziva is the only place I'll stay in Cancun. I travel solo, and have never had a bad experience here, service and staff are top notch as are the restaurants, pools and beaches. Additionally, unlike some other resorts, if you arrive early (and your room isn't ready yet), you can still enjoy all the restaurants and amenities, same with a late check out. You can leave your bags at the front desk and still enjoy the property while you wait for your flight.

keggers1

Just curious if anyone here has stayed in the Presidential Suite? We have 6 nights booked in it coming up and we can find very little information on it.

chaotix

Amazingly found award availability for a short trip my wife and I have scheduled in early December. No kids, so we could have stayed at the Zilara, but the beaches at the Ziva look better, and I'm excited for the microbrewery on site.

Booked into the standard award room of course. Can I expect any sort of room upgrade as an Explorist? Getting assigned to the adults-only tower would be nice.

txhyattlvr

I doubt you'll get the Adults only (Turquoize) tower as that isn't a standard upgrade even for Globalists.

The beaches are 1000% better at the Ziva - comparable to some of the finest in the world and always swim-able.

My advice: ask for an Ocean Front room on the top floor of the Pyramid Tower. These rooms have gorgeous views over the open ocean, waves crashing, etc., and are larger than the ones in the Club Tower which is likely where they will try to place you as an "upgrade." However, at the Ziva the Club Tower doesn't really give you anything extra over the standard level, so it's not really an upgrade unless you get a suite there, which you won't....

chaotix

Great advice, thanks! Would it be worth it to ask about paid upgrades to Turquoize? The exclusive rooftop infinity-pool & premium bar look pretty nice.

TommyboyCAN

You should ask about it! I requested Turquoize ahead of my stay and was pleasantly surprised as we were put right there.

txhyattlvr

Hmmmm yes if the price is reasonable. The rooms ARE gorgeous in Turquoize and I've gotten free upgrades into it as a Globalist BUT I know this isn't standard policy. Standard policy is Club Tower (suites for Globalists and non-suites for others). It never hurts to ask and if they have availability they will try to make you a "a deal." Do not expect free as I think the odds of that are minuscule and you'll wind up disappointed.

As for the roof top pool and premium bar: both are nice. But here's the deal: EVERYTHING at the Ziva is really nice! The view from the rooftop pool is great, but I don't feel like I'm missing much if we don't have access to it. There IS premium liquor available all over IF you ask for it. Honestly I found little (like zero) difference between what I could get at the Infinity Pool and what I could get anywhere else on request... but that said, I'm not a real booze expert, either. There are tons of brands/options at all the bars.

So personally I would not pay extra for Turqoize as I find suites in the Club Tower (automatic free upgrade for Globalists) to be utterly exceptional and am very happy there. The standard rooms in the Pyramid Tower facing the ocean also look really nice (kind of isolated but close to everything, exceptional view, love to hear the waves crashing, etc., etc.)

Save your money for an awesome excursion or two would be my advice... and there's tons of awesome options!

txhyattlvr

You got this because you are a Globalist and you were lucky... it's not the standard upgrade (which is a Corner Suite in the Club Tower)..... Highly unlikely an Explorist would get a free upgrade into Turqouize...

txhyattlvr

One more thing about Turquoize: you'll feel like your being watched so I hope you don't mind that. The Butlers (who are very very sweet) are everywhere all the time. You will walk past 2-3 on your way to your room, and they will always be "around." Alan is like "King Butler" and boy does he want to serve, and serve, and serve. Great guy. HOWEVER, I honestly prefer a little more privacy and don't need that level of coddling. To each their own, but know that this is what it's like in Turquoize. I consider it a negative.

Another positive to Turqoize (more than the rooftop pool in my opinion) is free access to the spa area. It's an amazing facility with hot pools and steam rooms and all sorts of things. HOWEVER, as of this Spring they were scaling back/limiting access so I don't know if they still allow it free for Turqoize guests...

chaotix

Got back last week from a short 3-night award stay. Before the trip I received an email from the hotel asking if there was anything they could help setup ahead of time and if we were celebrating anything. I replied that if possible, we'd love an ocean view and/or jetted tub, and that my wife and I were celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary a couple months early.

We were upgraded to a corner ocean-view room, which had a large balcony with a great view, and a lot of extra square footage (but just a very nice, non-jetted tub). Our door was decorated with a "Congratulations" banner and some cake and champagne were waiting for us. My wife loved all of it, but especially the balcony.

I thought the resort was great overall and prefer it to the Ziva/Zilara in Jamaica. The north beach was fantastic, with great sand and a comfortable shallow swimming area. Restaurants were good, with food being a bit better than in Jamaica, though I missed the jerk-chicken shack. Drinks were top notch, with premium brands being used everywhere, blended drinks being made on request, and multiple beer options available.

My wife however, still prefers the Jamaica resort. Primarily due to the restaurant (Horizonz I think?) actually located on the sand which serves a great breakfast, and the extra tranquility on the beach there. I think the staff in Jamaica was a bit more friendly too, but overall very good at both locations. Really, you can't go wrong at either, and future trips for us may be determined by which location has the most convenient/affordable flight schedules.

Ryn996

abbydancer

We were there over Thanksgiving. When we needed to tip, turns out we had only 20s. The staff could only exchange fo pesos, but they sent us to the coffee bar because the people there got a lot of cash tips in US dollars, usually in small amounts. They were able to make change in dollars for us.

surikatina

Hi,
When there a couple weeks back, I actually asked a few servers at the bar if they prefer dollars or pesos. The ones I asked said they were happy with either.

Have a fun time.

Ryn996