Platinum Yucatan Princess Hotel

Will Dan

We just spent seven wonderful days at the Platinum Yucatan Princess, a beautiful five-star resort in the Riviera Maya. The property is spotless — the rooms were cleaned thoroughly every day, and the entire resort felt very well maintained. The pools were a highlight: one lively party pool and a calmer one closer to the beach, perfect for every mood. The staff were genuinely kind and attentive. Special shoutouts to Fernanda, the buffet manager, who always greeted us with a big smile, and to our wonderful waiters Miguel and Brian — Brian had us laughing with his hilarious cat and cricket impressions! Hostess Karen was also fantastic. The only downside was the beach, which had a lot of seaweed and a pretty strong smell during our stay in late May. That seems to be seasonal, though, and didn’t ruin our overall experience. We also booked a catamaran and beach excursion through Air Canada. The catamaran portion was excellent, and overall the excursion was very enjoyable. However, there were a few things we wish had been explained more clearly beforehand. Once arriving at the beach, umbrellas cost extra — around $20–$35 for two hours — which was disappointing under the intense sun. Also, food and drinks were only included during the one-hour buffet meal. Since the beach stop lasted about four hours, we strongly recommend bringing your own water and snacks, as any additional drinks had to be purchased separately. It would have been helpful if this had been communicated more clearly in advance. Overall, we’d definitely recommend this resort. The staff, cleanliness, atmosphere, and pools made for an amazing vacation — just maybe avoid peak seaweed season if a pristine beach is your top priority. Worth the trip!

Raven Symone D.

I rarely leave negative reviews, but after spending a significant amount of money on what was advertised as a luxury, adults-only, five-star resort, I feel obligated to share our experience. From the moment my sister and I arrived, the resort fell far short of its five-star reputation. The property lacked energy, there were very few organized activities, and we often found ourselves wandering around trying to find something to do. The beach was also disappointing due to the overwhelming amount of sargassum. While I understand it’s a natural occurrence, the strong odor from the decaying seaweed made spending time by the ocean unpleasant. The biggest disappointment was the food. Meal after meal was overcooked, under-seasoned, lukewarm, or simply lacked care. Between restaurant hours, the only options were hamburgers, hot dogs, cold fries, and nachos. Traveling to Mexico only to eat mediocre American snack food was incredibly disappointing. Our hibachi dinner was one of the worst meals of the trip. Nearly everything was drowned in butter and black pepper, completely overpowering the food. Shortly afterward, I became very sick with diarrhea and persistent stomach issues that completely changed the remainder of our vacation. I can’t say with certainty which meal caused it, but I arrived healthy and became ill after eating at the resort. Four days after returning home, we’re still recovering from gastrointestinal illness. The sister property was no better, offering the same disappointing food, lack of activities, and lifeless atmosphere. The cocktails were poorly made, inconsistent, and often left unfinished. Room service routinely arrived cold and felt anything but luxurious. Another baffling choice was the heated main pool in nearly 90-degree weather. Instead of cooling off, it felt like bathwater. Even with a discount, the spa was overpriced, and $30 USD taxi rides each way made leaving the resort expensive. I’ve attached photos so future travelers can judge for themselves. The room was plain and underwhelming, the bathroom fixtures showed visible corrosion, and even the room service menu reflected the lack of quality, consisting mainly of burgers, hot dogs, fries, pizza, and nachos rather than food representative of Mexico or a luxury resort. Before booking, I encourage future guests to read recent reviews and social media comments, not just the promotional photos. After our stay, we found many guests describing experiences similar to ours, including reports of becoming ill. While every situation is different, seeing those recurring stories after our own experience was concerning. Luxury is more than a five-star label—it’s quality food, thoughtful service, engaging activities, cleanliness, and guests leaving refreshed instead of sick. Unfortunately, that was not our experience, and I cannot recommend this resort. After a 6 day vacation, instead of coming home refreshed, we’re still trying to feel normal again. This was by far the absolute worst vacation experience.

Cayla Snow

This may just be the worst resort I’ve ever been. Firstly, the food situation is insane. There are 4 a la cartes advertised, but they close down 2 a night, so you really only have 2 to pick from. Aroma and rodeo are horrible. The silver lining I thought was that as platinum guests, we can access the resort next door and reserve through the concierge a reso at one of their 5+ a la cartes. HOWEVER, the past 5 nights, they are saying every morning the same rehearsed script “our reservation system is down”. So we literally get no benefits of eating at the other resort and stuck to 2 places. It truly feels like a rip off. On the 3rd night I got severe food poisoning at aroma and was bed ridden the next day, my partner tried to take me back some food from the buffet and got stopped and the staff wouldn’t allow him to bring anything and made a scene. The room service wasn’t edible, so I was left crippled and starving. We met another couple who was food poisoned as well. Besides the food, everything feels like an “up charge” or “extra” here which was nowhere advertised before, and I’m surprised nobody else is talking about this? The beach is horrible, out of there control but nobody talks about how bad the smell is from the sargassum. It’s actually disgusting. I highly advise to cancel and consider any world of Hyatt resorts if you’re willing to pay a little more money, or even any RIU is worlds better then here. Will never be staying again or recommend the princess. Edit to hotels response: Your statement is absolutely not true. We went every single day during our stay expect the first night to the concierge desk to try and book through them for next door. Every day they told us the system was not working and there was nothing they can do for us at all without even trying. It was simply laziness with no attempt to help guests. we went to the front desk and had the guy working there ask for us since your response said the system was working again and got the same response when he asked the concierge personally. We even went to the sunset concierge who told us the system wasn’t ever down but yucatan had to make the reservation. On the final day we just walked up ourselves and they happily let us in. If they told us to begin with that we were allowed to do that or just make a quick call next door, then this wouldn’t be an issue. But next door was more than happy to accommodate us because restruants were literally empty and that would’ve been nice to know to begin with, instead guests were so quickly dismissed.

Laklyn Benton

The staff here was absolutely amazing! My husband and I booked the romantic message and the ladies definitely delivered. Isabel and Evelyn were absolutely amazing! They were very gentle and respectful. They decorated the room very beautifully to set such a great atmosphere before the message. Bruno was an amazing host. The staff welcomed up with refreshing iced tea and warm smile. Absolutely loved my experience!

Eric S

It was -fine-. Considering I left the compound 3 out of the 5 days I was there should say a lot. The sargassum can't be blamed on the hotel... The only dining options outside of dinnertime (when the restaurants are open) is the buffet and the buffet is lacking. I was going to say that at least the breakfast portion is good but on my last day they even screwed that up. Still don't understand how they made waffles that dry. And when the buffet is closed all they offer is a limited "snack menu," and that was the worst cheeseburger I've ever had in my life. Twice. Thought the first time was a fluke... That said the staff was excellent but there's just so much they can do the aging infrastructure I guess.