BlueBay Grand Esmeralda

naresh eeda

Positives: Friendly Staff: The hotel staff was exceptionally welcoming and accommodating, contributing to a pleasant overall experience. Flexible Check-In/Check-Out: The early check-in at 1 PM and late check-out at 1 PM was a significant plus. Additionally, we were allowed to store our luggage until 5 PM, making it easier to enjoy our last hours without the burden of our bags. Quality Buffet and Drinks: The buffet offered a diverse selection of delicious food, and the drinks were well-prepared and enjoyable, enhancing our dining experience. Negatives: Limited Activities: Despite a variety of activities advertised, there was a noticeable lack of events during our stay. Aside from the nightly show, the hotel felt quite quiet and somewhat boring, which may not appeal to guests looking for a lively atmosphere. Humidity Issues: The rooms suffered from excessive moisture, which was uncomfortable. The absence of a dehumidifier made the situation worse, affecting our overall comfort. No Iron in Rooms: The absence of an iron box in the room was inconvenient, especially for guests who prefer to look well-presented without having to request ironing services. Expensive Taxi Service: The taxi service offered by the hotel was quite pricey. We discovered that walking to the nearby road and taking a bus was a far more economical option (30 pesos compared to 800 pesos for a hotel taxi). Limited Golf Cart Availability: While the hotel provided golf carts for transportation, their limited availability often prioritized guests checking in and out, leaving other guests waiting or having to walk longer distances. Terrible beach: The beach was terrible with a lot of seaweed

Aira Manalastas

This is a decent cheap resort. Would I come back? No. I’d rather spend a little more next time to get a better experience. The room was outdated and honestly not clean enough for my liking. The food was okay, with the Mexican restaurant being the best. The resort staff is lovely, they were always happy to help! Shoutout to the lovely servers at the Festival buffet. We loved going there for breakfast and lunch! We went to the Halloween circus show and was pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it. And upon check in, Jacqueline and Cristal were able to get us a room even though we arrived at 7:30am, this definitely made our experience better. We barely spent any time at the beach or any of the pools due to never having a place to lounge as people saved spots like crazy. The beach/water isn’t pretty either. So if you’re looking for a cheap resort, this is the one. But if any of the above points are a deal breaker for you then I’d recommend that you stay away. I gave it a 3/5 stars due to the low cost but honestly would rate it more 1.5-2/5 in terms of the facility and overall offerings of the resort.

Victoria Ramcharan

Has the potential to be a nice place but it’s very run down and the constant smell of the rotting vegetation definitely was a turn off. This was our first family vacation and it turned out to be a disappointment. Every day we were in the front lobby asking to upgrade our room and offering to pay for it and we were denied for no good reason. I do not know why they wouldn’t accommodate us or transfer us to their sister hotel and kept us in unsafe conditions as we were over room capacity and had no where to store 6 pieces of luggage and it was worrisome because we were there catching some of the outskirts of hurricane. A supervisor was supposed to get in contact with us and never did. Every day of our trip we were in the lobby asking to upgrade and asking to talk to a supervisor and we were told no over and over. The staff is also a hit or miss but at the buffets when you find those good ones, we made sure to stay in their section. There are only 2 buffets, no kid slides or water parks. Definitely not enough of golf cart service. It was extremely hard for me to get around with an injured knee. The timeshare staff was borderline deceiving as when we went to check in we were approached by someone who said he was our hotel representative and we would get a tour of the hotel. Well he was only the contact of setting up the timeshare presentation and we did not really get a tour of the property which was disappointing because we only discovered the 3rd pool on our last day. Beach wasn’t too groomed and not enough beach chairs for regular guests. There were more chairs for the VIP section which was mostly empty every time we were there. This wasn’t the first time to a Mexico all-inclusive that I wanted for my mom and my family. They definitely do not care much for their guests and do not strive to be more than a 2 or 3 star hotel.

Jack Bieler

This resort is a little run down, with decent facilities (beach, pool) but showing its age (both elevators in our building were broken most of our stay). They will constantly pressure you to join their privilege club, sit through a presentation for perks, etc. The food looks good, with lots of variety, but for some reason I never had an appetite when it came to actually eating it. The only really outstanding food item was an exquisite cauliflower soup at one of the specialty restaurants. However the low rating is mainly because there was a nagging feeling of dishonesty from the staff. Several incidents left us with very low confidence about the place, and bitter feelings. Can't prove anything but we’ll pick a different resort next time. 1. My wife left a personalized jacket on a chair at one of the bars. No one could have honestly not noticed that it belonged to a guest. It was not turned in to Lost & Found; it just disappeared. 2. My goddaughter left her rings, one with a very small ruby, on the end-table next to her bed. It disappeared one day while we were out, when housekeeping were the only people in the room. 3. Upon checkout, we were not allowed to leave the property until we paid a $50 fee, without any documentation. The desk clerk maintained that it was mentioned on a letter she claimed we had been sent, but refused to explain it, and refused to give permission for us to be released from the resort until my wife relented and paid. We requested a statement explaining the charge and she refused, and the management company did not respond to subsequent email and phone requests.

Paula Pacheco

If you are looking for fancy rooms this is NOT the place for you. The rooms are dated but they are clean (which is what we care about). The food so far has been delicious, everyone has been welcoming and very nice. The hotel is on the larger side but is walkable. The beach is beautiful and the pools are huge! We wish there was a swim-up bar but it’s not the end of the world. Overall, so far our stay has been great and for the price you can’t go wrong.