Occidental at Xcaret Destination - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

25475 reviews

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  Love occidental Xcaret

  Our 23rd trip to occidental Xcaret. We are members and glad we joined. It is all inclusive and anyone who says it isn't is lying. Love the beach, the restaurants and the atmosphere. Those lying about time share are delusional, they do not sell timeshare, it's prepaid vacation and we use it all the time. With additional rci packages it is transferable to many other locations. We have brought groups of 44 down using our account and our guest were treated same as us as members. Awesome resort awesome people You less than 5% that are complaining You got serious sticks up your butt Just stay away we don't want your whiney azzes here and have to listen to your crap

  Apr 23, 2025
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  Worst experience e ever just came for. Wedding

  The worst hotel ever since we got here. It took lots of time to register even if they have all out information ready. We are a big group so we know what they gave to some of us. The service EVERYWHERE not nice . Very dark at night I spent 30 minutes to get to my room from lobby. No help or se unity anywhere. Need more directions to buildings. The A/C is set at 17 C degrees and I tried to change it to 25 the max there is and never changed I had to wake up all night to turn it off then turn it on? I reported it at 6:15 I. The morning as well as I requested some hair conditioners and body lotion , no body lotion and I asked this afternoon for conditioner and they said they do not manage that. Also ROASHES IN MY ROOM!!!!! They said oh we will remove them !,!!,. WTH , spray spray the rooms . What a bad experience my first and last time in Barcelo hotels. There is more but all related to service

  Apr 23, 2025
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  We will be back!

  This was my second stay at the Occidental Xcaret resort. Last year, I had a regular suite and it was terrific. This year, I upgraded to a Royal Suite, and I will be booking Royal in the future. The added benefits of the Royal accommodations allowed my family to experience the full range of what this resort offers. The Royal areas were tranquil and peaceful. However, my 20-year-old daughter loved the other resort areas, like the pool bar, with more enthusiasm (music, energetic water aerobics classes, etc.) My elderly mother appreciated that, as a Royal guest, she could get consistent transport (the transport mini golf cart-like shuttles arrive every 5 minutes or so in front of the Royal Front Desk) to navigate the extensive, beautiful property. We also booked our airport transport with the hotel, which was great. I’m from Hawaii. I initially made the journey to the Yucatan Peninsula because it is easier for my elderly mother to make the short journey from her home in the continental US to Mexico than to get to Hawaii. However, I will continue to visit this resort because, compared to Hawaii, the quality and service are far superior. The resort encourages and cares for the animals that live on the land. Walking around and being amongst so many neat animals doing their own natural thing is so cool. The people are genuinely friendly and welcoming. You don’t need to leave the resort for anything. There are shops, a pharmacy, and even a medical provider- if necessary. There are Mayan ruins on the property. The all-inclusive resort includes entertainment. We loved the Mexico show, which featured dance and costumes depicting various phases of Mexican history. The Mayan ceremony was awesome, and the evening piano singer was excellent too. We loved the food, especially the extensive selection at the buffet. While everyone we encountered was hospitable, several people made our stay even more enjoyable. The bell staff- Moises and Alsalmo, Sophia and Alicia at the Royal Front desk were all very kind and helpful. Ignacio was our carrito driver, and his energy was so joyous. Ricardo and Russell in the Le Buffet restaurant provided superb service and shared interesting details about the local culture and Mayan history. Francisco, our server in the Royal restaurant, was great, and Selene, the pool server at the Royal pools, both went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. Jorgi in Security was great in ensuring my daughter returned safely from the late-night entertainment. While we were not interested in becoming members or listening to the timeshare presentation, Jamie was super kind and gave us a nice tour of the property. We always felt safe, welcome, and had a great time. I wish I had remembered more names. We will most definitely be returning.

  Apr 21, 2025
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  Beautiful resort, wonderful wildlife, amazing access to Xcaret

  Accommodation: We stayed in the Royal section, with our daughters in the lounge on the sofa bed. The room was great, hot water and cold aircon. We used the jacuzzi only once as the water was yellow, apparently due to high iron levels. Nothing to worry about, just a little off putting! We had a view of the trees on the edge of where the jungle met the sea, and could see the sea from our balcony. Royal level was special - such a lovely pool area, monkeys most days in the trees, great food (with the exception sadly of Mexican night, which was just a bit meh) and we loved having access to the First Club pool as well, the separate beach section and our own part of the main buffet so could always get a seat if we wanted to eat there. Food and drink: We ate in three of the a la cartes - Italian, Seafood and Oriental. Wanted to try the steakhouse near the end of our stay but it was booked up. Oriental was our favourite, very similar to the style of sushi and Chinese food we have in the UK. We enjoyed the food in all the buffets/snack bars too. I agree with some of the comments about lack of serving spoons - should be one per dish - but other than that, there was always something tasty to eat and naturally the Mexican dishes at the buffets were the most delicious. Drinks were good, and you could order your own spin on things (Blue Lagoon frappé!). Royal level food as mentioned earlier was pretty good all round. There are only 4 puddings though no matter the theme, so a couple of times we had starters and mains at the Royal and went to the main buffet for dessert before the evening show. The french toast at breakfast was the best I've ever had though! Xcaret: Definitely a major highlight of staying at this resort. We loved being able to spend a few hours there and coming back for lunch, or going in after lunch. So easy to come and go. We stayed for 11 nights and went in every day bar one (our Chichen Itza day trip). The evening show is a real spectacle of Mexican culture and heritage. The aviary is beautiful and we adored the river swims. We did swimming with dolphins and got a deal from Jorge who works in Xcaret itself. The first time we went in from the lobby entrance, we missed the boat so walked. It is literally a 3 minute walk to the entrance, so quicker to walk if you can't get onto the boat! Resort wildlife: Another highlight. It was wonderful seeing creatures on every corner. At dusk the coatis, deer and agoutis would appear on the mini golf course, but could be spotted all around the resort at all times. We saw the monkeys quite a few times in the trees above the Royal reception and pool. I'd say be careful what you wish for regarding trying to get them to come on your balcony as they will steal your stuff! Better seeing them enjoying their supper in the trees! We will miss all these beautiful creatures. Trips: We did a private tour to Tulum and Akumal to snorkel with the turtles. And another day we hired a driver to take us to Chichen Itza, Ik Kil cenote and Valladolid. We had included transfers from the hotel but because we were arriving outside of the standard hours, we would have had to pay for a private transfer so decided to just book our own private return as it was cheaper than the supplement for the hotel one and we had more control over times. Another time I think I'd consider hiring a car as although there were a few crazy drivers on the roads, the roads were straight and navigation seemed easy enough. You can take your resort towels into Xcaret but not to other trips, so consider bringing your own for water based excursions. Or just dry in the sunshine! Other things: We did do the First Club chat and got some good gifts. Including breakfast and the tour, and walking to it from the Royal, it was less than two hours of our time. We did consider it, but financially it just didn't stack up for us. When we made the decision it wasn't for us, there was no hard sell nor were there hard feelings. The lagoon might be man-made, but it's beautiful and we saw plenty of fish there. Evening shows were a bit of fun. Best ones we saw were the circus and Mexican shows. We joined in with the participation show, again a giggle! We brought Mexican Pesos for our trips, tips and spending money. Generally seemed slightly better prices in Pesos than dollars. We tipped at the Royal for most breakfasts and all dinners. At the buffets if we were given personal service, and if we had a big drinks order by the pool. 20, 50 or 100 pesos depending on the service and occasion. We left 50 Pesos every couple of days in the room for housekeeping. Cancun airport is expensive and there are no water bottle refill stations, so be prepared to spend out if you need food or drink whilst waiting for your flight! And don't leave buying your souvenirs till the airport as you'll pay four times the price of the souvenirs at the Mayan village at Xcaret for example. In summary, we absolutely loved our stay here - beautiful grounds, friendly team (everyone smiled and returned our Holas), great accommodation and although it is fairly big, we could walk from our room at the furthest point in the Royal to the lobby in under 10 minutes. We tend to try out new places each time we go away, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this hotel to my family and friends. It was everything we hoped it would be.

  Apr 21, 2025
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  Disappointing Dining Experience at a Beautiful Resort

  We were truly disappointed with our stay at Occidental at Xcaret, primarily due to the food. Unfortunately, the dining experience was the worst part of our visit. The food across all the restaurants lacked flavor—everything we tried was bland and unseasoned. We've stayed at several all-inclusive resorts before and always had wonderful experiences, but sadly, this was by far the most disappointing. We had high expectations for this trip, especially since it was our children's first time visiting Cancun. It was disheartening to see them not enjoying their meals—they ended up only eating fruit during our entire stay. We had booked two rooms because we believed this would be a beautiful and memorable family vacation. While the resort grounds are visually stunning, the poor quality of the food truly affected our overall experience. Another downside was the attitude of some of the staff. While a few individuals were friendly, many seemed disengaged and unapproachable. There was a lack of warmth and hospitality, especially in the restaurants, which made the experience feel far from welcoming. Additionally, we were constantly approached by managers promoting the "Royal Level" upgrade. Even after saying no multiple times, they continued to offer it every time they saw us. It became intrusive and took away from the relaxing experience we were hoping for. For comparison, we previously stayed at Barcelo in Huatulco—a much smaller resort—but had an exceptional time there. The food at Barcelo Huatulco was flavorful and varied, and we look forward to returning in the future. Unfortunately, this was our first and last time at Occidental at Xcaret. We will not be recommending this resort to our family and friends.

  Apr 16, 2025