Resort Details
Customer Ratings & Reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
19144 reviews
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Mar 25, 2025Speciality restaurants huge letdown
The gardens and buildings are wonderful as are the pools and access to the beach. Big letdowns though - nowhere near enough beds by pools and cannot reserve table in restaurants (not, that is, unless you're prepared to fork out another £70+ per person per day for the privilege) - no, not even if it's your birthday, as I found out. If you don't pay this supplement, then you either scramble to join the 6pm mad dash to be first in or you will definitely wait minimum of 1.5 hours for dinner. House Wines are good - watch out they don't try to upsell you for more expensive wines as it is then no longer all-inclusive and you will pay. The only restaurant I could possibly recommend is Le Marche but unfortunately only open breakfast and lunch (don't know why, as this would alleviate evening crowds) - think it's just a ploy to get you to pay the supplement. The other restaurants, I found the food really bland and disappointing on the whole - what a shame, as all the surroundings are lovely. But the really biggest bugbear of mine is that tips are expected for any and every service, good or not-so. This is supposed to be ALL INCLUSIVE but really it isn't. Even the mosquitos want a tip for biting you!!! Not for us, but lots of people have been dozens of times.
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Mar 24, 2025A Truly Unforgettable Stay at Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya!
Our experience at Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya was nothing short of amazing! From the moment we arrived, we were welcomed with warmth and hospitality that set the tone for the rest of our stay. The food was absolutely outstanding, with a variety of delicious options at every restaurant. Whether we were indulging in gourmet dining or enjoying a casual bite by the pool, every meal exceeded our expectations. The flavors, presentation, and service were impeccable. The entertainment team deserves a special shout-out! Their energy, enthusiasm, and creativity brought so much joy to our days and nights. From engaging daytime activities to vibrant evening shows, the entertainment was truly top-notch. You can tell how passionate they are about creating memorable experiences for guests. What really made this trip exceptional was the staff. Every worker we encountered was kind, friendly, and incredibly hard-working. They went above and beyond to ensure we were comfortable and happy. It’s clear that the resort takes pride in providing excellent service, and it made all the difference. If you’re considering a trip to the Riviera Maya, I can’t recommend Valentin Imperial enough. It’s the perfect blend of luxury, relaxation, and fun. We left with hearts full of gratitude and memories that will last a lifetime. We can’t wait to return!
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Mar 24, 2025
Nice Adult Family Trip
This resort is extremely clean and comfortable. The food is not 5 star but is very good compared to many all inclusives we have been to. I would say better than Secrets but not as good as Excellence. We went with our young 20s kids. This is an older crowd but the youngsters found ways to fit in and the resort has some fun things for them to do as well and at least a bit of night life with some amenities open till 2AM. We got the Prive package for my wife and I but not for the kids. We thought this would mean we could get dinner reservations for the whole family each night. We were wrong, you can only add others onto your reservations 1 night during your stay. This turned out to not be a huge deal as we just got a buzzer from the hosts and went to Don Miguel’s for drinks while waiting. They have awesome and interesting drink options there. The most disappointing part of Prive was that we were not clear until we got there that the Bali beds by the pool are so occupied. We were automatically assigned a bed by the beach and told us they would move us up to the pool when a bed was available. We only got the pool side Bally bed for the last day of our 6 day stay. We just prefer the pool over the beach. The drinks are good but can be a bit on the sweet side. Just be specific with the bartenders what you want and they will do their best to adjust to the way you like it. All of the staff are so friendly and clearly working very hard to make your stay special. Do not hesitate to book here, you will love it. Missing it already!
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Mar 24, 2025
The BEST of the BEST in Riviera Maya - can’t wait to return to our new favorite resort
All the 5* reviews are accurate. We’ve traveled to the Riviera Maya for 20+ years and visited many resorts across different resort chains up and down the coast. This is our new favorite place to go. Overall - well laid out Spanish Colonial architecture with Mayan touches. No buildings are taller than 3 floors and all have elevators. Rooms are categorized as Silver, Golden, Emerald or Onyx. Size and amenities increase from Silver to Onyx. Silver suites are buildings 1 - 5 and are all situated relatively close to the main pool with building 1 closest to restaurants and building 5 closest to the beach. Golden suites are buildings 6 - 8 and are the only buildings with swimup suites. We stayed in a Golden swimup in building 6, which gets the most afternoon sunshine. Buildings 9 and up are the emerald suites by the ocean. Room - bathroom is spacious with frosted doors for the toilet and shower. The bathroom also has doors and the jacuzzi tub is situated between the bathroom and main room with louvre doors to close it off from the main room and fully enclosing the bathroom area. There are several outlets with USB 2 connections and the clock also has both USB 2 and a phone charge pad built in. Regular mini bar with beers, juice and soda. Ice is available in the 2nd floor machine by the elevator. Bed is very comfortable not too soft or too hard, Goldilocks would approve. The loungers on the terrace have nice pads not those stretched material loungers. Restaurants - OMG!!! We are not overly fussy eaters and love to try new things. Every meal from breakfast, lunch and dinner was fantastic. We are used to good resort food from Excellence and Karisma resorts and Valentin exceeds them all. The French restaurant was elegant with an interesting twist on the classic French onion soup. Great service and delicious meal to start off our week. Mar y Tierra is the only casual dress restaurant and located by the beach. Wonderful outdoor setting with the sounds of the ocean in the background. We did the Mediterranean next and again the meal and service were exceptional. The ONLY downside was a table of 6 with 2 drunk people yelling and shouting across the table and the restaurant with their drunken idiot talking. It’s unfortunate that this occasionally happens in AI resorts but these occurrences are few and far between, 4 times in well over 30 visits to AI resorts. The Asian, Taman Sari was also great service and food, finishing the meal with the “Secret Box” IYKYK. La Hacienda the Mexican restaurant was our favorite if we had to choose. Angel the roving restaurant supervisor greeted us and had us seated quickly. We had Yonathan as our server, he was fantastic, knowledgeable, friendly and efficient. We enjoyed our time there so much that we switched our decision to repeat our French meal with another visit to La Hacienda and Yonathan for our final meal. Ginger, the Japanese restaurant, was also one of my favorite meals. We did the Sushi bar, not really my wife’s favorite kind of meal but she enjoyed it. I ordered the chef special and was not disappointed. This is not on the menu and is a great mix of sashimi and sushi. Soooooo good! Breakfast was a mix of room service, Le Marché buffet and Mar y Tierra a La carte. All were excellent quality with plenty of options. Lunch was either at M y T or Golden pool. Again everything we had was delicious, Golden shrimp burger, every ceviche, nachos, club sandwich, tuna salad sandwich, chicken sandwich. The roasted tomato soup at M y T was so good we had it EVERY TIME we had lunch there. Only thing not amazing was the calamari, overcooked and chewy. Entertainment - we’ve noticed a significant drop in the quality and quantity of evening entertainment at many resorts over the past 5 years. NOT AT VALENTIN!!! Their evening lineup is always varied, great quality and definitely worth checking out. The only show we missed was the Mexico show as we were tired from a long day of lounging and drinking. Gatsby, Magic, Burlesque, Circus, Fire Show were all great shows. Entertainment in the square before and after the theater shows was very good. Nice piano in the martini bar. Tenors were awesome. We spent our days at the beach or around our swimup room so I can’t speak to the daytime activities by the main pool or other activities around the resort. Shoutout to Cecilia our favorite server in the square, so friendly, we LOVE her. Nature and layout - so many critters in and around the resort. We saw raccoons, coatis, squirrels, lots of iguanas including the famous Golden pool Kevin monster iguana. Plenty of different birds as well. We really enjoy how much of the resort is natural and how they mix in the landscaping, pools, fountains, flowers and buildings with the natural forest. The beach is recovering from the hurricane but still has a lot of small rocks and shells in the sand. The ocean was fairly wavey the entire time with red flags but lots of people still went in and enjoyed diving through the waves. I did bring snorkeling equipment but didn’t go in as the waves were too much. Privé - I did this last as not everyone gets, wants or needs this. We opted for Privé as we enjoy the liquor in our room, the reserved Bali bed on the beach, the Privé lounge with special check in and check out and especially the 7:00 dinner reservations. Our ideal vacation includes laying around on a beach bed, being pampered and served drinks while watching the ocean and enjoying nature so Privé is definitely worth it for us. Shout out to Mariela in the Privé lounge, super friendly and always there to help us in anything we needed. Overall we highly recommend this resort and will definitely be back. So glad we found this resort.
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Mar 23, 2025
THE BEST all inclusive adult resort in Mexico!
The VIM is the BEST all inclusive adult resort in Mexico! The rooms are very clean and nicely sized. The food at all of the restaurants is so delicious with a nice variety on each menu! The grounds are impeccably maintained throughout the resort! The nightly entertainment is very good! Everything from Don Miguels, sport bar, cigar bar, and the courtyard music is excellent! A special “thank you” to the GO TEAM (Lorenzo, Carlos, Pablo, Dianna, Isabella, Daniel and Joanna) who go above and beyond to make sure there are plenty of activities throughout the day!! The beautiful beach has plenty of palapas and nicely maintained! From the time you arrive until its time to leave each guest is treated with kindness and compassion. Of course we can’t forget Dora who stops by each day to make sure the guests have everything they need. A huge “thank you” to the entire staff at the Valentin Imperial for making everyone feel so special. This was my 6th visit and I plan on returning very soon!