The words All-inclusive always make me nervous. No matter where you are in the world, when your at an All-inclusive you pretty much never need to leave and worst yet pretty much don’t know where your at (besides the staff typically being from that country/area). Over the years I’ve traveled to over 7 “Ultra All-Inclusive,” resorts from Punta Cana to Mexico to Latin America. The biggest problem with All-inclusive is the food. Too much of the same stuff across “3, 6, 10, 19,” restaurants on the property. But Iberostar took the experience to whole new level; side note: if you like cruises (I don’t) you should definitely try an All-inclusive trip.

                          

Preface: On this trip we were a party of 8. My Mom, Dad, Brother, Childhood friend w/ his Girlfriend, Business Partner and myself/ my girlfriend. I believe the hotel is worth about $300 to $800 per person per night; depending on season, etc.

                          

When you enter “Jurassic Park,” I mean Iberostar in Riveria Maya you are blown away by the life size Mayan Temple and the vastness of the complex. However, after getting your transfers from the airport via Tropical Travel.net, Apple Vacations, Funjet…etc and dropping the other passengers off at the Lindo, Mayan…etc (other Iberostars on the property) you’re ready to be dropped off at the Grand daddy. Upon entering the lobby you are greeted with a warm towel, champagne and drinks. Check in is less than 5 minutes and your off to your “junior suite.” When you enter the room and subsequently the balcony you should be pretty happy with the arrangement. The rooms do sometimes however smell like smoke but, come on, your in Mexico, and their (Iberostar grand) house keeping uses aroma therapy candles/oils to mitigate the stale smell. Within 2 minutes of entering your room there will be a knock at your door and the butler will introduce himself: Alonso, Victor…etc. First thing: Mini-Bar is Free and they will stock it any way you want. I recommend getting a bottle of Champagne and bottle of Absolut (for pre-dinner drinks and this should last you at least 4 days). The rooms are very well appointed so I imagine the bigger “Presidential/Honeymoon Suites,” are extremely nice (go for the upgrade if available and its your honeymoon). Iberostar Grand has a menu for pillows so order a lot. I personally ordered 12.

                       

Once you unpack head over to the lunch buffet on the other side of the main pool (side note: the main pool is salt water! the Jacuzzis’ are not). The buffet is decent but once you get a taste of the lunch buffet one time may be enough. The next day eat your lunch in/around the pool bar. Order the Kobe Beef Hamburger and Nachos. The hotdog is not bad either. Once you have a nice buzz turn to the person next to you and ask, “So where are you from?” The connections you make at the pool/ Jacuzzi over drinks makes the rest of the trip pretty interesting especially if they drink a lot. The bartenders and Mexico in general love SPEEDY GONZALEZ so anything about Speedy is guaranteed to get you noticed and served quicker (its like Mickey Mouse for Americans).

Every night there are shows in a very nice setting with a bar and lounge seating. If you have been to other All-inclusive resorts the shows sometimes are known to be overly animated and comical. Again, however, the Iberostar Grand has done a great job of production quality and atmosphere. The show starts at 9pm and ends at 10pm.After the show you can head to the Karaoke Bar or the Lobby Bar, or both. At about 11:30pm/12am, if your still alive, head to the Disco called: Galaxy. The golf cart will take you and pick you up. There you will be thankful you have a better room than anyone else on the property especially when you see bridesmaids dancing in florescent dresses barefooted and YODA looking down on them (you’ll understand soon).

There are 4/5 restaurants and 19 if you include the WHOLE Iberostar mega complex.

Breakfast (best)/Buffet (okay)- breakfast and lunch (at the pool) are the best two meals you will eat everyday. The rest are below.

Italian (okay) - I didn’t care for this one too much
Gourmet (okay) - order two meals. One fish, one meat.
Surf and Turf (best) - order the steak/ lobster combo.
Japanese (better) - order the thing on the girl.

The beach at the resort is beautiful on our half (but rocky). You have to move toward the other Iberostars if you want to swim. There are typically about 2-3 weddings a day which is somewhat romantic (depending where it is on the beach) and fun to watch.

Overall for an MEGA JURASSIC ALL-INCLUSIVE I give the Iberostar 4 diamonds by AAA ratings (but I don’t think you can rate All-inclusive by AAA standards) and 6 golden apples by Tour Provider standards.

We had a great time and would most likely go back if the opportunity arises (same group of people too).

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If you don’t know this already….Bring a lot of $1s and never tip over $5 dollars per person per time of day. The staff works pretty much 14 hours straight. And they have about 2/3 costume changes. Daily tipping breaks down like this:

Morning Buffet Tip: $5.00 if server brings coffee, juice, jams…etc promptly (otherwise $3 will do).

At the Pool Bar for Drinks: $2.00 every 2 hours your at the bar. If you get buzzed and are still drinking at 5:30pm an extra $1.00 will grease them good (for tomorrow; but still tip).

Housekeeping: $5.00 a day and $5.00 at night. However, make sure you tip them directly leaving the money on the bed or nightstand may get taken by the person you restocks your bar.

Dinner: $5.00 unless they blow you away or if you’re with 6 or more people $10.00 and so on.

After-Dinner Drinks: same as pool bar.

Golf Cart Driver: At night taking you and picking you up from the Disco $2 each trip is more than enough.

Butler: On the last day depending on what he did for you between $10 to $20.00 or each time he does something for you throughout the trip.

So for a 4 day trip $200 - $250.00 should be more than enough. And your experience may be better than anyone else’s.

By Mark Michael

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Mexico, Riviera Maya. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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