I recently vacationed at the Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen Resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The hotel is quite new and ever since I heard that it was being built, I wanted to go there. The hotel lived up to my expectations and more. It is modern, spacious, open-air and the design is simply stunning.
An added plus is that Playa del Carmen is so easy to get to from New York! As someone who is known to spend days traveling to Asia or India or even Africa and stay for only a few days, it is a pleasure to travel to a location where I can leave New York in the morning and fly to Cancun and be on a beautiful beach (or poolside drinking a cocktail) in a foreign country in the afternoon!
I am also drawn to Playa del Carmen because it still has so much local charm and culture. While the Grand Hyatt is a spectacularly secluded mecca of a resort, you can also walk out the door and be on the vibrant main streets of Playa del Carmen in literally a minute. Literally. I really enjoy that balance.
As a Diamond Hyatt Gold Passport member, I had access to the Grand Club for breakfast and cocktails. Also, I used a Diamond Suite Upgrade for my stay. The check-in process was done in the Club, and we were then escorted to our room.
We walked into our suite, and a thoughtful card, a bottle of bubbly, and roses adorned a table in the living room! Prior to our arrival, I informed hotel management that my boyfriend and I were celebrating our anniversary that month (we really were). The suite was magnificent! There was a full living room area, a bedroom, a bathroom and a balcony.
The bedroom was modern and sleek and extremely comfortable. I loved the woven turquoise headboard! And, there were more anniversary decorations!
My favorite hotel rooms are ones facing the water. It is magical waking up to the sight and sound of an ocean.
The balcony was great, although unfortunately we were unable to use it do to an outbreak of grasshoppers in Playa del Carmen during the time of our stay.
The bathroom was larger than many hotel rooms I’ve seen. Heck, it was bigger than some New York City apartments!
The toiletries were deliciously scented with lemongrass. There was even a mosquito repellent spray.
The closets and safe were inside the bathroom area.
As a Hyatt Diamond amenity, we received a small bottle of mescal with a personalized welcome note. This began our love for this smooth, smoky liquor!
We spent time both on the beach and by the pool.
The Grand Club was one of the nicest I’ve ever been to. We had breakfast there in the morning and cocktails and appetizers each evening.
Breakfast included a full array of meats and cheeses, as well as freshly baked pastries, fresh fruit and juices as well as hot items:
Evening cocktails featured a full tequila and mescal bar and other beverages too, as well as a delicious selection of appetizers. We could have easily skipped dinner, but there were restaurants in Playa that we wanted to discover.
If all that wasn’t enough, how about some pie?
The staff at the hotel was also amazing. They were always there for us and always extremely gracious and helpful.
What more can I say? As much as I love going to new places, I can see myself returning here time and time again.
I like Mexico and want to keep returning. Please don’t build walls.
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
Nice to see this review. It brings back good memories as we stayed there last year for 4 nights. They had a nice Superbowl party in the middle of our visit. We stayed in a swim up room which was nice but a little too cool when we were there. I would love to go beck there and we had a great time exploring from Puerto Morales down to Tulum, relaxing at the Grand Hyatt the last part of the trip. I’ve seen many pictures of this property and one thing to note is none of them are able to capture exactly how grand this property is. When we first arrived we were almost in awe as it’s quite impressive.
Thanks. I totally share your enthusiasm for the hotel.
My wife and I have traveled many times to the Riviera Maya, we love it. On every occasion, we provide proper documentation and our legal passport, and we respect and follow the laws of Mexico, as I”m sure you do. But tens of thousands of people come into this country every year with no respect for our rule of law – that why we need a wall.
Yes we badly need it !! Also for stopping the guns and money that we keep on sending the drug cartels so we can still be the world’s number one market for illegal drugs, with no respect for our OWN rule of law, right?
Thank you for your post. I don’t agree with your opinion, but will not debate that here.
No problem with noise from adjacent properties? Seems like I read that was a problem at one point late at night, at least for those not staying up late.
Kate – if you look at the photos in my post of the balcony – do you see the area in RED on the beach? that’s a private upscale club. There is reverberating noise from electronic type music. However the timing is strictly regulated from around noon to 6 pm (I’m not sure of the exact times, but something like that). It is bothersome, but honestly, I was rarely in my room during those hours.
We spent two days on the beach while there. One day we were on the side where that club is. They were playing some EDM type music mixed in with regular stuff and it wasn’t too bad or overly loud. The second day we were further down the beach on the other side of the property and we could faintly hear the music. I never heard the music at night.
Need to know: what were the restaurants in Playa that you had to check out and what did you think of them?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJfbHBjgeoK/?taken-by=katstarr_
for authentic inexpensive mexican – El Fogon https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g150812-d804747-Reviews-El_Fogon-Playa_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula.html
we went here – the 1 restaurant – with rave reviews – but weren’t impressed. Oh well…. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g150812-d2183692-Reviews-Oh_Lala-Playa_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula.html
Deciding between this property and Ziva Cancun for our 15 year anniversary. Have you ever been to Ziva? If we get in the adults tower at Ziva which do you (or anyone reading this) prefer for four nights?
I have never been to the Ziva. I’m not a fan of all inclusives or Cancun, but many people love that hotel.
Is walkability a factor or do you want to just hang out at an all inclusive? If you want an all inclusive go Ziva. If you want a good beach yet experience things off property, go GH. At the GH you are just around the corner from 5th Ave which has a ton of shops, restaurants, bars etc. I’m not a fan of Cancun myself either.
Thx. Just weighing cost savings at AI vs the quality of food at GH and within Playa. Really Hyatt Cancun AI food has mixed reviews on FT oyster an other bloggers. Know food will be great at GH but won’t be “easy” livin.
Any reason water quality to be a concern at GH? I’ve read hotels in Cancun OK for brushing teeth and showering in but not more than that. Same with GH Playa?
What’s your opinion of easy living? The restaurants on the property at GF are not bad, better than all inclusive quality. They do have bar service at the beach as well so you can order food and drinks. The little coffee shop in the middle of the breezeway is really good as is the bar at night. All this is easy living for me:) Depending on how much you eat/drink, you may come out ahead.
I personally wouldn’t worry about the water at GH, this place is pretty nice. I filled my nightly bedside glass of water from the tap and had no issues. If you’re concerned about Mexico in general, bring a little activated charcoal with you and pop a couple of pills as needed.
Personally speaking, I like all inclusives, especially in the DR. However, if and when I were to stay in this region again, I would stay at GH again for sure. Whatever you choose, have a great anniversary!
I would not drink the water anywhere in Mexico.
PJ – will you have club access if you stay at GH? That to me would be the deciding factor. As for the cost of food – restaurants in Mexico are good and not very expensive. So, if you have Grand Hyatt with club access and ate dinner out, you might still be paying less than you would at Ziva.Then again, if you are booking all on points, the difference would not be great.
I have accumulated lots of points and have two free certs from chase at Hyatt as well. I would be using points and have reserved the basic suite using extra points at GH; would be using points and certs at Ziva. Also would have Guest of Honor privileges at GH. I like the free alcohol there at GH though.
Wife’s a little nervous for exploring Playa especially given our country’s new relations since el Trumpo took over. And if at AI we don’t have to think about converting pesos and don’t have to worry about understanding menus at restaurant s outside of the resort (we don’t speak or read Spanish). And if we don’t like drink made for is, don’t have to worry about wasting it. Aka easy living.
Andaz at Riveria Maya looks pretty cool too.
Wife now back in school so money a little tighter than usual.
Decisions decisions decisions.
So here are my personal thoughts. Playa is VERY European, especially by the GH and along 5th Ave. Places like Playa, Cancun, PV etc LIVE off of tourism so I doubt you would ever get much trouble. Sure it “could” happen but doubtful. There are also a crap ton of Canadiens there so if you are worried, just say you’re from Canada. I’ve never done this but hey. Who doesn’t love Canadiens! (shout out to our brothers and sisters up north). I wouldn’t worry about Playa one bit myself.
As far as pesos, I’m buying right now. At 20:1 they are super cheap. Iv’e come home with a few hundred dollars worth each trip as I need it for pocket change, will explain below. If someone quotes you a USD price always pay in pesos. They are probably giving you 15:1 while the exchange is 20:1 or so. Use a credit card when you can, but ask to be charged in pesos.
As far as menus, learn just a few words and your set. Also, these are tourist towns so there’s about a 95% chance that your waiter speaks English.
I go to Mexico every two months for work, not to a nice tropical place like Playa but it is on the Sea of Cortez. I need a little pocket change which is why I want some pesos.
Reviews of hotel and fitness center timely as we are arriving feb 12 for 4 nights. Will anyone else be there then?
Did you take any excursions while there and if so what did you do? Thx.
there are plenty of excursions, but I’ve been to many of them on prior visits. So, this time, we stayed close to home and relaxed. I’m so excited for you – it’s a great hotel!
It’s my father’s 90th birthday on February 13th, so I’ll be with family celebrating.