Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya

Mark Walsh

Firstly I must address the high levels of rotten sargassum in and around this property. It is a potential health hazard. In fact I am back home in England now and was in hospital for 7hrs with symptoms consistent with exposure to hydrogen sulfide which we have since learned is the gas which is emitted when the seaweed rots. It was very evident at this hotel as a rotten egg smell sadly permeated throughout the property. We didn’t even have a room by the sea and there was no respite from the fumes. It didn’t help to look out of my hotel balcony window to see a lorry loads of the stuff gets stored and removed by the side road next to the hotel. We are actually so disappointed with our holiday company for putting up at this hotel when our flight got cancelled as we were warned the levels of sargassum in this area was unbearable but because the holiday company said they didn’t have any notes about the issue from the property itself they were unwilling to change our location. It was only after being at the hotel for a night and starting to get eye irritation, feeling breathless/ having a tight chest, getting diarrhoea and feeling sick and suffering from headaches and dizziness that I started to look into the smell of rotten eggs and what causes it. To be fair I am asthmatic and so are going to be more sensitive. My wife didn’t have the same issues as I did aside from just the general unpleasantness of the smell. I am confident the hotel tries to manage the situation but I think their management of the issue could be better. To the hotel itself, it is a nice property in general with good facilities, bar and entertainment areas and a good sized pool. It’s not a massive resort but does cater to the adults only market well. When you first check in after a lovely welcome drink you are sadly palmed straight off to a sales agent for the Hyatt group. I would have got get annoyed with this if it happened after a 12+ hour travel day as they keep you for sometime. Since we only just came from Playa Del Carmen we entertained the sales pitch and offer of ‘free gifts’ but had zero interest and made it clear. They hold on to your key and make out it’s a welcome thing but it’s a let’s convince you to come along to a breakfast meeting where we can try and sell our timeshare/ holiday club options. When we arrived at our room there were still members of staff inside the room carrying out maintenance in the bathroom. They did leave after 5 mins but we were told to watch the wet paint in the bathroom for a couple of hours. Our room also didn’t have a hairdryer and it took an hour for them to send us one. Aside from those issues the room itself was pleasant, modern, clean and well themed. The mini bar was also good. Food around the resort was ok but the drinks were excellent. The staff we encountered were very friendly and welcoming and gave the impression they genuinely cared about delivering a good service. In summary the property itself is good and the staff are great. We would have never of booked it for ourselves and didn’t stay there by choice and was relieved our two night stay only ended being one! Presentedly there is also a construction site located next door to the hotel with construction noise throughout the day.

Rachel Whitby

The property itself is absolutely beautiful, but once we arrived it felt more like a retirement resort than the fun, lively all-inclusive experience we expected. There was very little entertainment, and the activities that were offered were pretty boring. One of the biggest disappointments was that the gorgeous pool area and swim-up bar closed early every evening. It felt like a huge missed opportunity to have music, cocktails, and a fun poolside atmosphere at night. Unfortunately, the beach was also disappointing. Due to the seaweed issue, it wasn’t really walkable, and the smell was so strong at times that it made me nauseous. The food was another letdown. Much of it lacked flavor, the chicken was often rubbery, and the drinks tasted watered down. To make matters worse, when it rained, the resort offered virtually nothing to do, leaving guests with few options for entertainment. This was my first trip out of the country and my first all-inclusive resort experience, and I left feeling cheated and disappointed. Ironically, the highlight of my vacation was paying for my own taxi ride into town and exploring outside the resort. There’s nothing wrong with a quiet, low-key resort if that’s what you’re looking for, but Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya should do a better job advertising itself as a calm, relaxed resort rather than implying a more lively all-inclusive adult only experience.

Abigail Young

This was an extremely disappointing resort and absolutely not worth the money. For an all-inclusive hotel, the food quality is shockingly bad. The seafood tasted like it had been dead and frozen for years, and the flavors were terrible across the board. Even something as basic as lasagna was gross. Another major issue was the mosquitoes. There were so many that it was almost impossible to sleep at night, even after spraying repellent. I stayed at the Club Level, which is supposed to come with a dedicated butler service. However, the butler constantly says they are “always available,” but in reality they never actually help with anything meaningful. They also advertise a complimentary 25-minute massage for Club Level guests. But when I tried to schedule it, there was no availability at all, and no one informed me of this in advance. This resort is poorly managed and severely overpriced for what it offers. We also encountered extremely drunk guests causing scenes in the lobby twice during our five-day stay. The experience was incredibly frustrating.

Ashley Skoryna

My husband & I visited Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya mid-May for 1 week. I’d rate this resort a 3/5 stars. We unfortunately were disappointed about the excessive sargassum & the rotten smell that travelled throughout the entire resort from the minute we stepped out of our room (& we were not in oceanfront room). I am understanding there isn’t a lot of control of the sargassum but I also felt the resort didn’t do too much about managing it. Unfortunately, it was almost unbearable to walk any where near the beach. We also felt throughout duration of the stay that there were constant upsells. We normally don’t mind but it was excessive. The room A/C also didn’t go below 21 degrees. The room was clean and no other complaints other than lack of A/C. The service was overall amazing!! However, around the pools was very slow. There was one waiter for the entire day scheduled to serve all guests around the pools - he was working very hard but understandably slow overall in bringing drinks. We attended another Hyatt property in Cancun and the service was very quick around pool & beach club. No complaints about the food or the service within all the restaurants - food was amazing!!

Cameron Brown

This resort has an opportunity to be great, but it is being dragged down by the food and entertainment . The food was really disappointing except for the teppanyaki, some breakfast items, and some of the Italian dishes. One thing we learned is ordering a variety of entrees because one may be great and the other may be inedible. For the Japanese restaurant, the sushi is bland and each roll tastes the same, the à la carte menu sounds good but the dishes lack flavor compared to the teppanyaki. The room service availability is great but the dishes are pretty bad, as well, and these come from some of the restaurants. Many dishes were so bad that they couldn’t be finished. The ice cream and coffee bar is a nice atmosphere and the food was a good treat. Food safety was a big concern as we watched several unsafe practices. Raw fish and raw beef were handled with just wiping hands and surfaces with paper towels. When ice was poured into cups, staff use their hand to funnel it into the cup. We did get sick with stomach issues for a couple days on this trip. For activities, they were more tailored towards a family friendly resort rather than adults only (ping-pong tournaments, bingo, etc). You can really only find what’s going on if you look at the app. It would have been more fun if staff incorporated more activities around the pool. For example, in other adults only resorts, they may do an activity where you take a tequila shot, spin around multiple times then shoot a ball into a hoop. These activities are both fun for the participants and those watching. Sadly, the beach was full of Sargasm and wasn’t able to be used due to the smell, and the lack of activities in the main pool area made it a little boring. At night, there are a few good activities. Unfortunately, there was a large business group at the resort for some of the same time and the main evening activities were tailored and exclusively for them with the rest of the guests feeling like an afterthought. When you check in, the receptionists are great and friendly. But, as soon as they give you the room keys they signal over to their “VIP Services” who tells you to sit down and then spends 30 minutes trying to convince you to “go check out another resort for breakfast” so they can try to sell you a vacation package that’s “not a timeshare” and give you multiple discounts for spa packages, etc. It was hard to get out of that conversation to finally go to your room even when saying we were not interested multiple times. While several things were negative and can be significantly improved with this resort, the aesthetic is fantastic. The rooms are well designed. I would recommend getting a room facing the inner portion of the resort as the breeze from the beach is greatand makes sitting on the patio on those sides better than if facing the outside. The common areas like bars, restaurants, and lobby areas are so sleek and updated. Highly recommend going with Miguel on the Hobie Cat to the lagoon for a nice relaxing swim especially if the beach is covered in the sargasm. I am so hopeful that this resort can be fantastic if certain changes are made around food and entertainment.