Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Cancun

We had 10 nights at this resort in June. Met up with a couple of friends. Rooms are decent and the location is literally right on the beach (more about that later). The bathroom in the room we had was tiny, the shower was in a dark corner and felt very claustrophobic. Bed super comfy . There is an adults only pool which is basically a dip pool, no deeper than knee deep. there is what looks to be a jacuzzi attached to it but it never worked if it was a jacuzzi. There is a bar here too and there was never a problem getting a bed, even the beds in the water. it wasn't full capacity though. The main pool was popular and also had a bar, the kiddies seem to love this one. There is a decking area which has fantastic views of the ocean. there is a small rectangular pool which was mostly empty but you can get drinks form the taco bar. We witnessed people using it as a foot cleaning tool after being at the beach but it was fairly clean. The final pool is attached to the swim up rooms but is usable by all. it has the swim up pool bar but was shut for a few days during our stay. It has a lovely chill area with swing lounge beds and tyre swings. Also a giant chess set. This was a lovely area, great for relaxing. Towels are provided around the pools, not in the room so you can use as many as you like. The grounds are lovely and are a real plus point for the resort. The beach - it would be so nice if it wasn't for the seaweed with its absolutely disgusting smell. I love to walk up and down the whole beach past all the resorts but that was an absolute no go here, its eyewateringly bad at some places. Also very little beds to use and the cabanas were not for normal guests either. Food and Drink: only 1 place for breakfast which is fine, when its fully functioning. The cooked food is brilliant to be fair but the buffet was awful if you wanted just a light breakfast of fruit. Lunch was either the Beach restaurant or Rita's taco. same menu - every single day. Althougth the food is really good, there is only so many tacos you can eat in 10 days. The tomato soup in the beach restaurant is hands down the best tomato soup I have ever had, wish I had discovered it at the beginning of the holiday. The two main menu's were also hit and miss, same menu all the time, no weekly change over. there was never a time that all our food was out at the same time, someone was always waiting for their food. You get a number of points depending on your stay, fizzy pop was 360 points beer 480. sweets and crisps are available. We never used half of what we had. You spend them in the coffee shop and perhaps the smoothie place but we never got there in time. The coffee, sandwiches and cakes etc were part of the AI package. I don't know what they were doing with the drinks or the glasses/plastic beakers but every drink had a strange taste to them other than the bottled water. i couldn't put my fimger on what it was but something didn't taste right. maybe what the glasses were washed in as the cans of pop were fine too. This was every bar. The wine as part of the AI package is undrinkable. The most amazing thing about this resort is the staff, every single one of them are absolute stars, didn't feel like they were hankering after a tip either. Super friendly and really wanted to help. Also not to mention the reception area was lovely too, all nice relaxing chairs and beds to sit on. There is absolutely nothing outside the hotel so you are stuck where you are unless you do some day trips or get an uber. This has never been an issue for me in the past but this resort is on the smaller side so can be a bit boring. Also - no smoking, not a issue for me but my other half does smoke, ruined the vibe for him a little but at least he smoked less! Would we go back, no, but it wasn't a horrible experience at all.

Most relaxing holiday we’ve ever had, as soon as you enter this hotel there’s a calmness about it. Staff were very welcoming wherever we went our particular thanks to Emilio who served us breakfast in the Beach House Restaurant such a fun guy. Jorge & Alfredo in Latino and the beach house on an evening very attentive service. Also Maria the TUI rep who always goes the extra mile with her service. Last but not least Belkim such a lovely smile, you feel happy just chatting with her. We were delighted with our ground floor room & terrace, lovely position near the adult pool and not far from the beach. Very pretty setting and well maintained attractive gardens. Room cleaned well and lovely white fluffy towels changed daily. Excellent air conditioning which was always needed. We arrived on 19th June for a weeks stay and the hotel was 40% occupancy which we enjoyed. There were only two restaurants open each evening instead of the usual three. We really enjoyed the Mexican night, buffet that evening in the Beach house and Mexican dancers. Another night there was a fire show on the beach, really good. Three other evenings there were people singing near the Five o’clock somewhere bar. Aqua aerobics with Tonny was good fun, we were disappointed to miss the foam party as we left the hotel on the Friday lunchtime. Tonny is a great guy always telling us we were Perfect, bless him. Smoothies were delicious, think would be better if this area was open till 5pm and also ice cream available here. You can only get ice cream in the restaurants which is a shame. We really enjoyed the margaritas and A/I red wine was very tasty. Food was always good for us having a weeks stay but think be a good idea if menu changed weekly. Taco’s in Rita’s taco house on a lunchtime are a must! The guys clearing the seaweed on the beach did a 1st class job, we spent six days on the beach but our last morning there was a lot of seaweed which did smell, so we went to the adult pool area. A huge thank you to all the very happy staff at Margaritaville Island Reserve Cancun we’ll be back!