Arie W.
Yelp
Hotel Xcaret México
Resort/Rooms
The resort was breathtakingly . Our room was HUGE and spotless. From our patio, it was just a few steps to the infinity pool. The kids loved laying out in the hammock and relaxing in the jacuzzi.
We had our own butler, who was amazing. On day 2, I requested a woman instead. She was fantastic as well and literally did all of the running around for me, which allowed me to relax more. Three people (outside of your butler) visit you each day - One to clean the room (they don't just make yours beds fyi; they replace ALL bedding each day), one to refill snacks drawers + mini bar, and one for turn down service (she brings *special* snacks, fluffs your pillow, dims the light, turns on jacuzzi, etc).
I flooded our room with the jacuzzi (there's a reason they want to turn it on for you lol), and the staff quickly came to clean everything. They got the room dry and replaced everything inside, including the mattresses. I made a huge mess. It was awful, but the staff was really nice about it. It took the team of 5 about 30-45 minutes to clean.
Parks
There are 7 theme parks and 5 excursions - with unlimited access included in the price. We visited 4, which was plenty to leave us exhausted. Our favorite was Xenses. The entire place is...trippy. Our least favorite is Xcaret. It's mainly animals, but there are no barricades to separate the animals from the people.
Food
There are 12 restaurants at the resort. My favorite was Las Playas, it is underneath the infinity pool. The boys loved Chibali, which is a restaurant geared towards kids - unlimited ice cream, candy, etc. All of the restaurants were unlimited, including room service, and the kids definitely took advantage of it! They would wake up and order room service for breakfast, then get dressed and go to a restaurant for a 2nd breakfast, then lunch at the park, then dinner at the resort, then another dinner at a different restaurant, then ANOTHER DINNER via room service.
There are also tons of snack carts throughout the resort. They have burgers, popsicles, cookies, tacos, coconuts, drinks, marquesitas, cotton candy, etc.
Parks have restaurants as well. They are included in your stay. My favorite was the buffet restaurant at Xplor. It at least had something we could all eat. My least favorite was La Cocina at Xcaret park.
TIPS
I packed 2 swimsuits for each day, a dress, and shorts. You really only need a swimsuit, since you're in water almost all of the time. I would only switch to actual clothes at night when we went to dinner.
You NEED water shoes. All of the parks are in the jungle! You're basically hikes and walking through rocky caves. I purchased our water shoes from Amazon for around $20 each. They look like sneakers and have extra support on the bottom - good for walking and swimming. They dried fast too! I brought 3 pairs of sandals and a pair of heels. The day I switched, I regretted it.
Bug spray is a must! We tried the mosquito bracelets, but those weren't a good idea since you have so much on your wrists already (resort wristband, Apple Watch, wristband for extra activities, locker wristband). The locker wristband is huge and itchy (made out of Velcro).
Use the resort transportation. We booked private transportation to take us to the resort from the airport (about an hour away), and it was okay, but to drop us off at the airport, we opted for the resort's shuttle, and it was amazing! The seats were huge and comfortable. There was wifi, bathrooms, ac vents at each seat, and a foot rest.
I spent around $360 for photos, and it was 100% worth it. I'm usually the one taking the photos, which means I'm not in them. If you purchase photography, you don't have to worry about that, AND it also allows you to leave your phone behind. We ended up with around 5,000 photos.
During the trip, I left my government issued phone overnight, in a bag outside near the pool. When I remembered the next day, I went to the pool, and it was still there!
I lost my driver's license on the ATV trail, it was returned to me. My son lost his shoes in the river while zip-lining, they were returned to him. I left my phone at one of the restaurants, it was turned over to security, who gave it to our butler.
Cost
The TOTAL trip with all the extras was just under $19k. It was 100% worth it. We had the best time!
If you book much earlier (a year in advance) and downgrade the room, you could probably get a week for around $5k. We booked about a month and a half before, and we went during peak season.
This was the BEST vacation we have ever taken and will definitely be hard to top.