Emporio Cancun

Emporio

First and foremost: beware of booking as “All Inclusive” on a booking website. Even if you are searching only all inclusive resorts, and even if you are never given an option to “upgrade to all inclusive” so you logically conclude that what they showed you in the search results was, in fact, all inclusive, you may get to the resort and be told you do NOT, in fact, have all inclusive and must either pay for everything as you go or upgrade to all inclusive for $87/day per person (worked out to over $1000 USD for us as an unexpected and unwelcome surprise on arrival). This happened to multiple people that we talked to.

PROS: SOME of the employees. About a third of the employees were very nice and helpful and courteous (special shoutout to Robert, Milton, Cesar, Mercedes, Angel, and Giovanni). They were wonderful and made some of the negatives more bearable.

Cleanliness: The rooms and property were well-maintained.

Food: *The food was good, if a bit repetitive (basically the same options each day at the different buffets). If you want a reservation for dinner at one of the “reservation only” restaurants (everywhere but the dinner buffet), book early as they “fill up” quickly (even if it didn’t usually seem all that full when we went to eat).

CONS: SOME of the employees. About 2/3 ranged from neglectful to dismissive to downright rude. There seemed to be a pattern and I fully realize that this is going to sound problematic coming from an American, but MANY other people we spoke to observed the same pattern: If you spoke fluent Spanish and/or were local, you were prioritized; if not, you were often ignored. There was one bartender at the swim up bar (some of us took to calling him “Happy” ironically) who would completely ignore you when you sat at the bar and just keep doing inventory. Most of us discovered that it was quicker to just get out of the pool and go around to the top to get service. Mind you he COULD and DID make drinks for people, he was just much more likely to do so for people he wanted to.

We lost power (and sometimes water and AC) on and off for two days. We understand that things like that happen, but other resorts around us had generators and were able to keep the power going through those days. We were also offered no apologies or compensation for the inconvenience. One person we met was without AC for several nights and, when he complained, wasn’t offered so much as a free meal (he did not pay the outrageous all inclusive fee). This also meant that, while the power was out, the only food they offered were hamburgers and hotdogs. At least they had food, but still frustrating when you’re spending thousands of dollars at their resort.

No one would answer if you called for room service or to ask a question. The first night I had a question and tried to call down but could not get through on ANY line. Heard this same issue from other people as well so it wasn’t just an issue with our phone.

Even after paying for all inclusive, several things would still be “available for an additional cost”. Often felt like a cash grab.

Our last day there we wanted more peace and quiet and went to a smaller “jacuzzi” pool (the water wasn’t hot, but it was smaller, had a swim up bar, and was away from the main pool and the more “kid-friendly” activities in the other pools). Some kids decided that was the perfect place to play volleyball and proceeded to hit the ball around (again, in a SMALL pool) and often hit it towards us on purpose. One employee tried to tell them they should go to one of the other pools MADE for activities like that, but they ignored him. When they noticed we were annoyed with them, they started making gagging noises. I know this is more of an issue with their parents and less with the resort, but it’s emblematic of our experience. Aggravation and rudeness barely made tolerable by the few employees who actually tried. To those employees, I apologize for the negative review. I hope you find a better place to work.

To anyone considering staying here, do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else.

Had a fabulous time! Service was top notch! Especially our service at the pool with David Dominguez!!!!!! 10 stars for David, he made the best “David’s special” drink