The Reef Playacar-All Inclusive - Playa del Carmen

First of all let me start my saying this was the greatest 10 days we've spent in any location on any vacation we've been on.. The resort was FANTASTIC!!!! Especially for the price that we payed. The staff were very accommodating and very peaceful.. We felt like it wasn't one of those Big Commercial resorts. It felt like family.. The resort was so clean and the food was great.. I know this comment sounds to good to be true but it truly was a great experience for us. The only negative thing I can say is there's no free WIFI, and we were promised a couples SPA on the beach and it was some misunderstanding with the Concierge service provided in the lobby!! But once again the positive side is you will always be back to this resort!! I got Scuba certified at this resort as well the marina Crew was fantastic.. Jeremy and Stefon was great.If you like to drink top shelf liquor like absolute Vodka and Whiskey and Coors light, than i suggest you to upgrade for only $15 more a day and it gives you a Gold Band around your wrist. There is also a VIP section for the Gold Band.. I think I said enough lol.... One more thing Unlimited ICE CREAM..

Hotel was very nice...very comfortable and the beach was absolutely beautiful...staff is very friendly as well...rooms very simple but comfortable...food was good and even though it felt like we were eating the same stuff almost all week, it was plenty and we never felt hungry...hotel has a beautiful tropical garden and you can enjoy walking through it on your way to the beach and the restaurant...i would definitely recommend this hotel to my friends

Hotel was okay, restaurants were very predictable and never changed their menus. Got very bored with the food. Lots of noisy neighbors who came in at night - had to call security more than once.....

This resort was very impressive from first glance- offered nice clean rooms with balcony, jacuzzi; 3 bars, 2 pools, 2 restaurants and a buffet; very cheap! But when you look closer, as in stay there, you see that their food is terrible and preparation methods unsafe- myself and my travel partner both got sick on different days with food poisoning and it seemed to be the talk of the resort that others were experiencing the same thing. i don't know how many people I talked to that were up the night before with diarrhea and vomiting the entire night and feeling very ill the day after. I think I counted about 50 that I talked to alone. I called the front desk and the man assured me it wasn't from the food and that he hadn't received any other complaints and would I like him to call a doctor? Only to find out 3 people went to the hospital with similar symptoms that night! Not impressed....

Our hotel stay was very good, the only complaint I have is the food wasn't very good and they didn't clean up after people were done eating very quickly so you would come to the restaurant and the tables still had dirty dishes on them and the birds would get up on the tables and eat off the dirty plates. Our rooms were spotless and the staff was very nice. It was a short 10 minute walk to town. We have been to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. Best=Puerto Vallarta 2nd= Riveria Maya Last=Cancun

The Reef was a bit more expensive than our last Mexico all-inclusive trip however it was not worth it. The hotel itself had a cool setup-the rooms were in seperate villas among some lush foliage and whatnot around the grounds. There were also a couple pools with a staggering area with beach beds and chairs. The beds were exceptionally wonderful and by the far the highlight of this place. The staff was not as friendly as what I have encountered in Mexico before. They weren't very entertaining nor were they very nice. The room is dark and small and the bed is SO uncomfortable so after a couple days we "upgraded" to a suite which had a private balcony and jacuzzi and a nice bed, etc. We paid an extra $400 for the new room for the last few days of our stay. The jacuzzi did not work and was disgusting looking the whole time we were in there. We complained 3 times to the manager and he said he would have it fixed, he supposedly did, but it wasn't fixed. We ended up leaving before it could get resolved and after getting home I had to call the hotel numerous times to speak to the manager about a refund for the supposed "upgraded" room. I was always told he was unavailable and would call me back, and he never did. We ended up filing a dispute with Visa and recouped our money that way. Very disappointing. The food here was okay, not too many options and the quality was standard. My boyfriend ended up getting sick the last 2 days here, we were very careful with the water, so it must have been something else. I would not recommend the Reef to anyone though, I would have rather paid a bit more elsewhere and had a piece of mind than saved a few bucks and settled for this place.

The Reef Playacar is not worth staying at. The rooms are plain and not very inviting. There wasn't a good variety of food offered on the buffets. Furthermore, neither the Mexican Grill or the Italian Restaurant are worth going to. The food was not good. The outside of the resort is very pretty and the staff at the resort were very kind.

Overall our stay at the Reef Playacar was somewhat disappointing. WE enjoyed the overall location of the hotel and the outside amenities. The beach access is probably one of the nicest in the area. But we were very disappointed in the rooms since they seemed to have clearly deteriorated since our last stay a couple of years back. For instance was the bathtub fixed with a rough patch that covered about half the bottom and still leaked - which did not seem bother anyone. The AC was loud, AC drainage leaked into the room and the drapes had mold spots. Also be aware of very agressive sales people appearing to be hotel employees (which they are not!) trying to sell 25yr memberships for $13K for preferential access at certain hotels. This was very annoying!

The Reef Playacar hotel itself is in a great location, a very comfortable walking distance to the center of Playa del Carmen (5th Ave). The scenery at the hotel is very luscious, it almost feels as if you are in the middle of a jungle with all the comforts of a resort. The beach is breathtaking. The food was very good, and we never felt as if we were eating the same food every day. The staff at the hotel is very humble and extremely helpful. Try to speak Spanish, whatever little you might know. The only concern I would have is the room quality, it is clean and comfortable enough, but after all-you aren't going to Mexico to stay in the room all day!

The Reef Playacar has very nice rooms, landscaping, beautiful pools, beach and scenery. The entire staff was very pleasant and helpful, if we had any questions they did not hesitate to help in any way. There were very few communication issues, checking in was a breeze and they took our luggage and brought us right to our room. The bellhop explained the air conditioner and TV remote controls and asked if we had any other questions. It is both nice for families and for couples as well as we went for our anniversary and had a great time. At the swim-up bar and the buffet they never let your glass go empty, each time we returned they remembered what we ordered before. They have great nightly shows @ 9PM, fantastic entertainment both for adults and children. They have pool tables at the upstairs bar, and a ping pong table for both adults and children to enjoy. We were there for 7 days, the entire staff were all very hard workers; we saw the same staff there all 7 days. You can either walk 15 minutes or take a taxi for $2 to 5th street which has all kinds of shops for shopping and another beautiful ocean to enjoy. Overall it was a fantastic hotel, we would most definetly go back! The hotel front desk was very helpful.