For those who honeymooned in Mexico

[sheartm7]

What resort did you stay at? How did you like it? Would you book that one again or try a different one?

TIA :)

[Kristy]

We didn't honeymoon in Mexico, but were just there in June for vacation. We stayed at Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort (http://www.palaceresorts.com/Resorts/MoonPalace/Index.asp) and it was absolutely heavenly. It's all-inclusive and there's so much to do, the food is great, the service was great, beach was great, pools were great, etc. I could go on and on lol! Highly recommend them, we had an amazing time. We're trying to plan another trip there sometime soon.

[HeatherFL]

I stayed at the Moon Palace too for my honeymoon. My ex-husband and I (we're still friends ;) ) really enjoyed it. I also liked the Ritz. They had to redo it and I think it's now open. If you want to be closer to downtown Cancun, the Moon Palace is a little far out, but other than that I would also highly recommend it. :)

~H.

[maplekitty]

We stayed at El Dorado Royal resort in Playa Del Carmen. It was absolutely beautiful! This is a 5 star resort at it's best! However with that, know that there are no "casual" restaurants for dinner really, there is one restuarant that is more casual than others, but everyone dresses up. But, I like not having to dine next to "Fred from Wisconsin" in his speedo swimtrucks and his bare hairy chest staring at me! Yuck! :p

There are casita suites at the resort and honestly it's a waste of money! The rooms aren't any nicer that the normal hotel rooms, and they are actually quite far away from tehr est of the resort, as many people complain about the distance to walk to the restaurants.

Anyways, so a search on tripadvisor and read the reviews. :)

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We were scheduled to stay in Playa Del Carmon last March but Suntrips decided to cancel our trip at the last minute. By the way DO NOT book through Suntrips. Anyway at the last minute we ended up staying at the Gran Costa Real in Cancun. It was wonderful and I would love to stay at their Playa Del Carmen resort
http://www.realresorts.com.mx/Royal_Porto_Real/

They seem to have very reasonable prices, we had the all inclusive package. If you plan to spend a lot of time at the resort that is the way to go because everything is included! Another thing with the Real Resorts is if you tell them you have stayed there before they will automatically upgrade your room. We were upgraded to a presidential suite. OMG we had the biggest balcony at the resort, it was amazingl. Our room was super nice and the shower was huge!!!! We looked at the Palace Resorts and they were just a little too pricey for me.

Check out tripadvisor.com we got a lot of good information on that site.

[kk junebug]

we stayed at the RIU Palace in Cabo San Lucas. and we LOVED LOVED LOVED it! it's an all-inclusive, which i know some people don't care for, but we loved it.
the resort is HUGE (which is another thing some people complain about) and totally brand new, it opened in 2004. It's right on the beach but it also has 2 giant pools w/swim-up bars, etc.
Before deciding we spent A LOT of time on tripadvisor.com and it really helped..just be aware that some people complain about EVERYthing no matter what its like so......
but we LOVED mexico. we're hoping to go back to Cabo next fall.....:D

[sheartm7]

Thanks guy - I've gone to the websites of all the resorts you mentioned, though I'm having trouble finding the prices. They don't seem to like to give that out. ;)

[lil_geek]

Em - check something like expedia, exit, (I am drawing blanks since I'm sure the canadian website for places are different!).

You will likley get the best price through an online reseller... as opposed to booking your hotel and flight separate. (Ie: The place we stayed for our honeymoon was listed as $300/night/PP plus you would need a flight. We paid $1199 each online for 7 nights including flight)

[maplekitty]

Thanks guy - I've gone to the websites of all the resorts you mentioned, though I'm having trouble finding the prices. They don't seem to like to give that out. ;)

Tripadvisor lists the prices too. They sort the resorts by popularity/reviews, how many stars the resorts are, and also by price.
And it's much better than going to the actual resort websites, because real people give real reviews. They post their actual vacation photos, so you see what it really looks like - not staged photos form the 80's ;)
Just keep in mind, as a PP said, some people complain about *anything*. You can't control the weather, some people just don't have a wide enough taste palate and complain about the food, so just keep that in mind!
So really...go spend a few days just flipping through tripadvisor, read the forums, read the reviews...that's how I made my decision for our honeymoon and it was definitely worth it!

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We booked our package vacation through funjet.com and had no problems at all.

[{b}]

We went to the Royal Hideaway (5*) in Playacar (south of Cancun) in August of 2002 and it was wonderful. We can't wait to go back, we're thinking of maybe making it an every-10-year-anniversary trip. Or more if we can afford it!

They had some pretty damage last year from the hurricanes, my parents were at the sister resort next door this past March and said there was still a lot of construciton going on. If they have since reopened, they may be a little cheaper, trying to get people to come again.

[JRPAGV]

We also stayed at Royal Hideaway (http://www.royalhideaway.com/) in Playa del Carmen (for our honeymoon in summer 2003). We absolutely LOVED it, and would stay there again and again!

[JRPAGV]

They had some pretty damage last year from the hurricanes, my parents were at the sister resort next door this past March and said there was still a lot of construciton going on. If they have since reopened, they may be a little cheaper, trying to get people to come again. Aw, that makes me sad. :( We have such good memories from there.

[{b}]

Mom said it was mainly looking pretty good, but the front building, which housed the Mexican restaurant, pool bar, lunch cafe, etc. had the roof blown off and all the windows blown out. From what she could tell from the beach, that building took the brunt of the damage.

It is sad - we loved it so much, we can't wait to be able to go back!

[ash313]

did not honeymoon but vacationed in June - Secrets Capri - we LOVED it and will go back! TONS of honeymooners were there - it seemed like it was mostly honeymooners. They put a cute sash on the door that says "honeymooners" It is a very small resort and very beautiful. FWIW We had to stay one night at Moon Palace b/c our flight was cancelled and we had a very bad experience there - I know others have enjoyed it so I don't know if we just got a bad block of rooms or what but iour rooms were pretty nasty.

[KrissyCat7]

We stayed at Aventura Spa Palace and absolutly loved it. We are planning on going back within the next year.

www.palaceresorts.com

[rachrich]

We honeymooned at the Barcelo Maya Beach Resort-which is not far south of playa del carmen. It's all-inclusive and we LOVED it! there was so much to do during the day, and at night. I'd recommend it to anyone. We want to go back to the area, but want to try a different resort just to try something new, not because we didn't like the barcelo. The Moon Palace sounds cool-because the whole golf deal DH would really love it. And I know there's one for "adults only" but can't remember what it's called. Barcelo is a family resort, but there weren't kids running around screaming, if you're concerned about that. We booked through Apple Vacations and had no problems.

[Kristy]

[QUOTE=rachrich;941271] And I know there's one for "adults only" but can't remember what it's called. [QUOTE]

Is it Le Blanc? We highly considered it because it was adults only, but in the end decided on Moon Palace because at the time the price was better. I've heard good things about it though.

[TracieB]

We stayed at Aventura Spa Palace (adults only) and it was WONDERFUL! We loved it. I'd highly recommend it. We booked through a travel agent after doing much research on tripadvisor.com.

[emmasart]

We stayed at El Tamarindo, a few hours south of Puerto Vallarta by car.
www.eltamarindoresort.com/ (http://www.eltamarindoresort.com/)

It was completely amazing.
You can check out pictures from our honeymoon here. (http://www.emmasart.com/emma/gallery/honeymoon)