Location
Playa del Carmen - BeachProperty Information
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Resort Details
Hotel Advisories
General Policies & Fine Print
Check-in Policy - Hotel requires a credit/debit card authorization or cash deposit upon check-in for incidentals; this will place a hold on your funds.
Convention Policy - Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.
Hotel Spring Break Policy - This hotel cannot guarantee a spring-break-free environment.
Transfer Policy - A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.
General Information - Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price.
Minimum night stay restrictions may apply.
Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
Customer Ratings & Reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
17465 reviews
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Dec 22, 2024Mixed Feelings
Unfortunately, I must confirm some of the negative comments left here by others. BlueBay does have some good points: The grounds are beautiful. The beach is greatly improved; wide, white sand the length of the shoreline. Very little seaweed. I paid a little more for an ocean view. The room was large, with 2 ceiling fans and 2 bathrooms. Because it was a corner room, I had a large, wrap-around balcony. Food at the a la carte restaurants is very, very good. BlueBay's greatest asset is the staff. All friendly and helpful. Not so good: Evening buffet is dominated by hot dogs and hamburgers, but there are other, more interesting items to choose. There was NO hot water in the shower. This is a dealbreaker for me. Mexico is a warm place, and no shower for a week is unacceptable. After 9 visits, I will not return.
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Dec 21, 2024Always look forward to being here at Blue Bay Esmeralda
I have been the guest of a circle one member for 5 weeklong visits. It’s always a pleasure to be welcomed back to the resort by the attentive staff. Always feels like being in paradise while leaving the Canadian winter behind. Viva la Mexico! 🙂🥰
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Dec 21, 2024Desperately needing a major overhaul
We arrived mid-evening & the first thing we noticed was the smell of drains in the Reception area. Check in was straightforward & we were taken to our room by golf cart. The room smelt stale & was very basic, although quite spacious. We had had a difficult journey so went straight to bed. Although housekeeping kept the room clean we invariably had to find them in a corridor to ask for towels, shampoo, shower gel etc and had only one towel for the pair of us to share for the last 36 hours, so used pool towels. Some of our pillows smelt really bad so could not be used & there are areas of black mould. The next morning we checked out the view from the balcony, expecting a beautifully manicured garden, but were met with very high, dense jungle about 10-15 feet from the balcony. We had paid for a Deluxe garden View and this is what we were given. Shocking! We also found that the balcony door would not lock. We went for breakfast at Festival & Jal-Ha, the buffet restaurants, and although there was a lot of choice we found that throughout the stay the quality of the food was very hit & miss, and certainly not what we have come to expect of 5 Star hotels. We had to always ask waiters for teaspoons to stir our coffee (which was insipid anyway) & also having to ask for dessert spoons which should surely have been provided at each table. We booked each of the A La Carte restaurants during our stay. The French was the best but very warm & as it was an open kitchen it was smoky at times. The Italian was great on our first visit but we returned for our last Dinner & were told there would be a 10 minute wait, fair enough, but we had to remind the Maitre D when over half an hour passed. We then were left at a table for another 20 minutes plus before a waiter took a drink order. In most of the restaurants you are served in plastic beakers, not glasses. We can appreciate plastic for the beach or pool areas but in restaurants, especially A La Carte, it is ridiculous. The majority of the speciality restaurant offerings was low grade, basic food, nowhere near 5 Star standard. The pools were fine, as was the sandy beach, but guests must rise at around 5am every morning to get a sun lounger or even a basic plastic chair. There are almost 1000 rooms yet we would imagine that there are only between 150 -200 sun beds across the huge site, many of which are damaged (broken legs, sagging fabric). This created animosity & arguments amongst guests and made for unpleasantness that could well have been avoided with minimal expenditure on the hotel's part. The sea was terrible. We had expected a beautiful turquoise sea view but this was only visible out on the far horizon. The sea at the hotel was brown & thick with seaweed, and each morning the beach had to be cleared by tractor. We also became aware that some men who were operating from an old wooden former truck on the beach near the Lifeguard station were not just organising jet skis etc but also dealing drugs to the vast U.S & Canadian student contingents that started arriving during our stay. We were very disappointed with the choices for bars in the evening. Unless you remained at a restaurant table, which made you feel awkward, there was only a small beach bar with about 15 swing seats or the Black & White bar. This was an ugly concrete floored open ended room, like an aircraft hangar, with basic plastic seats & tables, and a very long queue most of the time for the bar. A very low end Butlins style experience, often with karaoke. the shows were enjoyable but in our opinion were too late for many, particularly those with young children. The gents' toilet at the smaller pool had a blocked urinal throughout our 12 day stay, full of stale urine. Disgusting & a health hazard. My husband had a particularly bad experience as he was bitten day & night by insects, despite using jungle strength insect repellent. His legs, torso, arms & hands were covered with festering sores. We are closely monitoring them even 3 days after our return to the UK, as they are still very bad. We also discovered at least three residential blocks or amenity blocks had had recent fires. Most of the buildings have thatched roofs so this is a serious risk to life. There are ugly areas where sections have been barricaded off with hoardings, with no attempt to make them more aesthetically pleasing to guests. When it rains water gushes through the roof of the Reception & in some other areas around the complex. To sum up we feel completely cheated by the misrepresentation of this as a 5 Star resort. We would rate this as 2 to 3 Star. The only positive is that we found the majority of the staff were very friendly & welcoming, especially those in the lower paid jobs - waiters, bar staff, kitchen staff we passed on paths, the golf cart drivers.....and a special mention to the gardeners who go above & beyond, standing for hours up to the thigh in swamp areas, chopping back the fast growing plants.
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Dec 20, 2024
The best place in Playa del Carmen
My experience at the BlueBay Grand Esmeralda was, in general, good, although there were some details that did not fully meet my expectations. Since I arrived, the attention of the staff was friendly, always willing to help and make me feel comfortable The room was increíble , with a very comfortable bed and air conditioning that worked perfectly. Although it had no sea view, the view of the garden was also pleasant and relaxing. Of course, I noticed that some areas of the furniture needed a little maintenance. One of the aspects I enjoyed the most was the food. The themed restaurants offered a wide variety of delicious options and flavors, especially Italian food and cuts. The buffet had everything, although after a couple of days, I felt that the variety could be greater. As for the common areas, the pools were well maintained and had enough space for guests, although sometimes getting loungers was a bit complicated. The beach was what I liked the least. The water was not as clear as I expected, and there was a lot of sargassum, something that I understand is not entirely the fault of the hotel, but the area felt a little neglected. The night activities were fun; the entertainment team does an excellent job keeping guests entertained. In addition, there are several options for those looking for something quieter, such as bars with good music and drinks. In summary, my stay had ups and downs. I really enjoyed the food, the attention of the staff and the comfort of the room, but I think the beach and certain details in the maintenance of the hotel could be improved. It is an ideal place if you are looking to rest and enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, but I would not recommend it if what you are looking for is a spectacular beach experience.
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Dec 20, 2024
Great Week at the Blue Bay
My husband has wanted to go to the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda for many years. When we finally booked our week there, I was concerned about the negative reviews. I needn’t have been worried. Our week there was absolutely wonderful. Check in at 4:00 pm was a breeze. It took maybe 5 minutes. We really appreciated the paper map of the resort. It contained the opening hours for the restaurants, bars, and the coffee shop. It also had the QR code for the hotel app. You will need this to book the a la carte restaurants via the app. It was easy to use and we were able to book all the a la cartes that we wanted in about 15 minutes. The menus are not on the app, but you can find them on the big screen in the Black and White Bar outside the theater area. We had booked a garden view room, but were moved up to an ocean view in building 5 [room 5219] without even asking. While there were some VERY minor issues with the room, none were anything to worry about. The AC worked superbly and almost froze us out the first night until we realized how to control the thermostat. Our King bed and our pillows were super comfortable. We loved the rain shower head and the fact that there was a clothes line built into the shower – very convenient. There was plenty of warm water and the bath towels were extra large and very fluffy. Unfortunately, like most Mexican resorts, there were no wash clothes. The wifi was easy to sign up for but was a bit spotty. The 4G signal was consistently strong. The food and the wait staff were a BIG 5 stars. All our meals – both the buffet and the a la cartes exceeded our expectations. I was happy to see that I could get decaffeinated coffee. Usually we don’t get beef dishes in the Mexican resorts because it is very tough. Not here. Every beef dish we got was tender and delicious, especially the skirt steak at Don Isi, the Mexican restaurant. We loved that most of the a la carte restaurants [not the French] had an appetizer bar, where you could help yourself. My husband especially enjoyed this part of dinner, as he could try a lot of small tasty items. We really enjoyed the Mexican restaurant and our super friendly and helpful waiter, Alberto. The tres leche cake was a creamy delight. Mariscos, the seafood restaurant was excellent. Everything we tried – shrimp, the ceviche, etc. was delicious, as were the entrees. My coconut dacquoise was a piece of heaven. L’Atelier, the French a la carte was also very good. We especially enjoyed the Jaal-Ha buffet for breakfast looking out at the ocean, and Festival for dinner. We thought the evening meals had a lot of variety. If you like dining in an enclosed AC cooled environment, Festival is for you. Big Francisco at Festival was an outstanding waiter. Service was very good at both buffets. The Coffee Shop across from the Black & White bar was a great place for fun coffee drinks [although only instant decaf], a variety of pastries, and soft serve ice cream (2 flavors at a time). We tried chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Entertainment. This was more hit or miss. The Fire Show on the beach was 5 Star and one of the BEST shows we have seen in the 15 times we have been to Mexican all-inclusive resorts. There were 3 men and 3 women, who put on an unbelievable show. Juggling flaming torches was only the beginning. Think fans of fire and flaming hula-hoops. It was mesmerizing. We have never seen anything like it. Unfortunately, one of the staff had been injured during our stay so we were unable to see the Disney or the POP Music shows. The beach was better than I had expected with soft powdery sand. Hotel staff worked hard every day to clean up the very little sea grass by the shore. One day we walked to the left of the hotel about 10 minutes to go to the lagoon with the cenote in front of the Tres Rios resort. It had rained a few days before we arrived so the current in the lagoon was too strong to swim upstream. We did manage to go 100 feet upstream by pulling ourselves forward using the roots of the mangrove trees. Perhaps due to the strong current, there were few fish to see by snorkeling. In the end, it was better to swim and snorkel on the ocean side of the bridge where there were a few fish to observe. Overall, for the price, the BlueBay offers excellent value to the traveler. We would definitely come bank and recommend it to our friends. SUGGESTIONS for Improvement: Fix or upgrade the sound system in the theater. It is almost impossible to understand the show MC, which was way too loud. PLEASE add 200% to 300% more chairs around the pool and on the beach. This is a relatively small capital expense that would greatly improve the visitor experience. There are lots of empty spaces. Now only about 25% to 33% of guests can get a chair between 9 AM and 5 PM. The same “chair hogs” put their towels on the chairs early in the morning every day to monopolize the chairs all day despite being gone for hours at a time. Almost every resort in Mexico has this problem. Nevertheless, the BlueBay has lots of vacant space and thus can easily make major improvements here. Your ratings would rise significantly if you address this problem since it is a hot button issue even for those who otherwise love the resort!