Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya

My husband and I eloped here and it was everything we dreamed of and more. The entire staff was always friendly, knowledgeable, and extremely helpful. The resort was beautiful and we had a wonderful experience with Monse, our wedding coordinator and Diaz, our butler. Definitely looking forward to returning

I'm sad to leave this review, but I believe this is likely our last trip to the Cancun/Riviera area of Mexico. We've been visiting for over 20 years, but the continued sargassum issues are too much of a nuisance.

The Hyatt Zilara property itself has some nice features and is a decent option for a quiet couples' retreat. I wouldn't recommend more than 4 days as it's a small resort with limited access to activities. Food, drinks, and pool area and good enough for that. On the negative side, mosquito control is an issue within the hallways and room. We killed over 20 mosquitos in our room over a 4-nt stay.

Mexico Tourism - I fear that the sargassum will continue to drive many loyal visitors away. I realize it's not of your creation, but artificial reefs and tractors on the beach are not an appealing remedy. The smell is an issue, but moreover it's the degrading of water quality. Your beaches used to be so pretty - now the beautiful views are reduced to chocolate milk. Hope you're able to find a solution.

I don’t have much to say about the resort because there isn’t much going on there. I was there 15 years ago when it was Secrets Capri. I can’t say I remember much of the secrets Capri, but I do remember it being more lively. This was my first solo trip at an all-inclusive. I’ve been on 11 total now and I can honestly say this was one of the worst times I’ve had. I don’t attribute to being alone, it was just a strange resort. I met a lot of guests who have never visited an all-inclusive and they thought it was amazing… rightfully so. They have nothing to judge it against. First and foremost, I want to give credit where credit is due. The staff is phenomenal. Besides the pushy Hyatt sales pitch when you first get there, the staff truly makes you feel like you’re at home. I will say that there is a bit of a language barrier, which I haven’t found at most higher end hotels. Typically at resorts like Secrets, now Hyatt owned, I would expect more English speaking staff, but I’m not going to complain about that. If Hyatt is going to consider themselves a higher end resort, they really need to start thinking about how they push the sales pitch for the Hyatt vacation club. First off you’re crazy if you join that, and they need to realize, the last thing you want to feel on vacation… is cheap. Because that’s how they make you feel whenever you tell them no. The food: It was just OK. The best meal I had was the veal saltimbocca at Capri. I ate it twice. Also the Maitre D is great. You can tell he cares about the guests and their experience so thank you for that.
The food at Sabor Gaucho was horrible. The steak was thin and was basically a rubber shoe sole. The steak knife couldn’t even cut through it. The tempest was subpar. The surf and turf was basically a beef stirfry. The sushi was alright but I don’t go to Mexico for sushi. The spring rolls were the best thing they served. Lola was basically a lunch spot that was open for dinner in my opinion. Again, nothing to brag about. Room service was served fast and was edible. The coffee shop is absolutely the shining star at this resort. They have great desserts, the coffee is absolutely delicious, and have a nice ice cream selection with chocolate covered banana bananas. I may as well leave the entertainment section of this review blank because there pretty much was no entertainment. When I booked it, people warned about the entertainment, but I shrugged it off, thinking that they were looking for something elaborate…. No they weren’t kidding. There was nothing. So this is the first time at 11 resorts where I can say that this resort absolutely sucked. I don’t know what Hyatt is going for here, but this must be what they consider the 70+ resort for the elderly. I was in no way shape or form looking for a club atmosphere, but to have nothing at all going on… is absolutely ridiculous. Lastly, the smoking sections are laughable. If you’re a smoker, DO NOT go here. There’s two smoking sections. One in the front of the resort that overlooks the driveway. The other one is on the south side of the resort on the beach… not close to the beach… on the beach and you have to walk through sand to get there. The chairs all throughout the resort are also extremely uncomfortable. In fact, some of the tables at the restaurants are not built correctly or they are being used as dining tables and they shouldn’t be. You can’t even put your legs under the table is what I’m getting at. I definitely booked the wrong resort this time. Thank you to the service for making a terrible resort tolerable.