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Old 10-14-2022, 09:18 PM   #1
81MC
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So I need suggestions for Mexico, like, specific food resorts or how to book. Never done all inclusive or whatever, and as much as I don’t want to go it’s sort of not much of a choice.

Needs beach.
Needs to be small child friendly.
Needs to be within a couple hours if major airport.
Needs to be clean (for me. Don’t handle hotels well).

Preferably a couple grand per person 7 days.

Is that unrealistic? I’d appreciate tips or whatever specific recommendations you have. Thanks
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Old 10-14-2022, 09:25 PM   #2
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Go look on Expedia/West jet vacations. Lots of options.

You just need to sort through actual reviews vs stupid ones like "the tile was slippery when wet" and "there was sand everywhere".
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Old 10-14-2022, 09:37 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 81MC View Post
So I need suggestions for Mexico, like, specific food resorts or how to book. Never done all inclusive or whatever, and as much as I don’t want to go it’s sort of not much of a choice.

Needs beach.
Needs to be small child friendly.
Needs to be within a couple hours if major airport.
Needs to be clean (for me. Don’t handle hotels well).

Preferably a couple grand per person 7 days.

Is that unrealistic? I’d appreciate tips or whatever specific recommendations you have. Thanks
What side are you looking at? We took our kids to the RIU hotels. Good family rooms and kids clubs and pools.

Feel free to pm me. Im a TA and can give suggestions if needed.
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Old 10-14-2022, 09:41 PM   #4
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Following. I have a similar situation, where we are looking to stay in Puerto Vallarta for a week. Doesn’t have to be “all inclusive”, since we’re not big drinkers / lounge around the pool all day types. Probably at least half the time we’re off doing something. I’d need safe food on site or nearby though, since Mrs Ironhorse is also “on vacation”.
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Old 10-15-2022, 12:20 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by 81MC View Post
So I need suggestions for Mexico, like, specific food resorts or how to book. Never done all inclusive or whatever, and as much as I don’t want to go it’s sort of not much of a choice.

Needs beach.
Needs to be small child friendly.
Needs to be within a couple hours if major airport.
Needs to be clean (for me. Don’t handle hotels well).

Preferably a couple grand per person 7 days.

Is that unrealistic? I’d appreciate tips or whatever specific recommendations you have. Thanks
If you are looking for child friendly, I am telling you now look into Club Med Ixtapa. Direct West Jets flights and this place is great for kids and adults that don't want to have to worry about them all day. We went for 7 straight years. It isn't as extravagant as some resorts, but it is 100% set up to take care of your small to early teen kids, and they will have a blast.

https://www.clubmed.ca/r/ixtapa-paci...-01_2008-01-01

I also want to clarify that if you don't have kids, don't go here. This place is 100% set up for taking your kids off your hands all day so you can do whatever. They have tennis courts, circus school, archery, soccer (the site is huge), and they have stage shows that your kids are a part of every night. They have teams of young adults that just do everything they can to make sure your kids have fun. Much more than a kids day care or teen club. They actively ensure that every kid is having the best time of their life.

Also, the flight is only about 5 1/2 hours and the transport to the resort is say 20-30 minutes. The resort provides the transport.

Last edited by RogerWilco; 10-15-2022 at 12:35 AM.
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Old 10-15-2022, 12:48 AM   #6
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You don't seem to be quite in the right mindset, if you go that way and feel like you are being forced you will have a bad time even if you are actually having a great time.

What time are you planning to book? it make a major difference in what is available, crowds, and weather (rainy or dry season).

Most hassle free -> do a direct fllght from Calgary. This means most beach destination are available but not all of them are available year round. Pacific side will be shorter.

Avoid anything 3 star or under in Mexico. Even 4 star can be iffy at times compared to Canada / US, but check reviews. Brand names (i.e. Riu) may be a bit more consistent.

Also understand you are on a beach in open room settings in most areas, not uncommon to get an iguana in the room. And it will be humid.

You also want to decide how much the beach matters. Cancun / Playa del Carmen / Tulum are Caribbean side with white sand / softer and less waves. Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo, Ixtapa, Manzanillo are Pacific side and rougher waves, but can be beautiful.

I would suggest just pick a 4.5 or 5 star with great reviews with kid friendly pools and you will be fine.
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Old 10-15-2022, 01:27 AM   #7
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My experience, 4.5-5 star only and not the massive ones, it's totally worth the extra few bucks, higher end Riu's like the Riu Palace Riviera Maya are great but their not as kid friendly as claimed, a buddy of mine with an 8 and 11 year old raved about the Finest-Playa-Mujeres just north of Cancun.
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Old 10-15-2022, 02:13 AM   #8
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cant speak to specific resorts but I found the beaches/sea on the Cancun/Mayan Riviera nicer for kids to swim in than the sea at Pacific Puerto Vallarta, if you just swim in the hotel pool makes no difference but my kid liked to swim in the sea
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Old 10-15-2022, 03:08 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15 View Post
Go look on Expedia/West jet vacations. Lots of options.

You just need to sort through actual reviews vs stupid ones like "the tile was slippery when wet" and "there was sand everywhere".
"too many mexicans"

a personal favorite of mine
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Old 10-15-2022, 07:12 AM   #10
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I’ve done Mexico several times over the years but none in the past five or so, but really prefer the Mayan Riviera compared to Cancun. I find Cancun dirtier as it caters to the college crowd. Mayan has massive resorts, specifically Grand Palladium, great food selection, but the beaches are pretty mediocre vs. Say somewhere like Cuba. Having said all this, look up the traveller ratings on trip advisor and specifically read the recent reviews as those give a good indication of how the resorts are handling shortages recently. Second, use tripcentral.ca’S classic grid to compare prices for resort to resort day to day. Then book with Expedia or your preferred travel agent. My two cents really. Tulum can also be nice for what it’s worth.
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Old 10-15-2022, 08:01 AM   #11
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Tripcentral.ca

Can compare times/places/level of hotel.
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Old 10-15-2022, 08:01 AM   #12
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Old fashion advice I know, but I recommend a travel agent a lot of times for a lot of specific questions and assistance with booking. You really don't pay anymore, have the service aspect associated with it, have someone to call and email if something happens and so on.

I think a lot of people have gotten away from booking directly with travel agents and just book online thinking it's cheaper or something. The benefit with travel agents is the technical knowhow, sometimes finding some specific deals and structures for a trip and than follow up service if need be.

I can't tell you how many times people booked some flight or some package on some site or at Costco or something and than it's a mad dash for some call center overseas to deal with the problem.

When people generally argue the fact that travel agency's are obsolete, I fire back that top executives, high level business travelers and generally speaking high net-worth individuals will use travel agents for the specific reasons outlined above. They don't have the time to waste with 4 hour hold times on Air Canada 1-800 numbers etc, they need action done.
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Old 10-15-2022, 08:12 AM   #13
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Following. I have a similar situation, where we are looking to stay in Puerto Vallarta for a week. Doesn’t have to be “all inclusive”, since we’re not big drinkers / lounge around the pool all day types. Probably at least half the time we’re off doing something. I’d need safe food on site or nearby though, since Mrs Ironhorse is also “on vacation”.
For a non all inclusive we just booked the new Marriott hotel in Mazatlan. It opens at the beginning of December so no reviews yet. There are some actual pictures online and it looks pretty nice. The beach is supposed to be great and the location provides a lot of options for restaurants and shopping in the "golden zone." I fully expect that the hotel will not be ready for opening day and that there will be ongoing construction but as long as the pool and bar are finished I'll love with some construction.
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Old 10-15-2022, 09:13 AM   #14
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Go see a travel agent . You will get the same or a better price as online and they can answer all your questions.
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Old 10-15-2022, 10:52 AM   #15
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Also think about what you want to do. If you just want to sit on the beach/poolside it doesn't matter much, but if you want to do more then look into what activities are available. Several years ago I took my kids to Sandos Caracol eco resort, it had a jungle/nature area where you could go for walks, wildlife wandering around the resort, and a kids program (plus the usual offsite excursions), I liked that better than other all-inclusive resorts I have stayed at.
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Old 10-15-2022, 11:30 AM   #16
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A couple of thoughts I have had over a few trips to Mexico:
. I liked cancun, although we were there 18 or so years ago. Our hotel was across the street from a bubbba gimps, margaritaville and outback steak house. I was nice when we got tired of the resort food. We could also walk to the out door shopping mall. Beach and water were great
. Mayan riviera - did not like the beach as much as cancun at the resort we stayed at. The bus ride ride to and from the airport added a little more than two hours to the travel day. Our resort was big, food was decent
. Matzatlan - meh. It was warm. Beach was not much better than sylvan lake. Resort was meh. Food was meh

In three weeks we are going to Cabo. We are staying at a Hyatt resort. Hopefully the resort is as good as it appears in pictures
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Old 10-15-2022, 11:57 AM   #17
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We’ve done quite a few of these and here are our criteria:

5 stars if we can. 4.5 if we can’t.
we like ocean and beaches. We like pools too but don’t hang in them.
Consider your children of all ages. We always take them into account especially as they have gotten older. A quick way to not get a break is to not consider your kids and what they will get up to.
We like a quality buffet with lots of options as we have quite different eating types in my family. Similarly, if any member of your travelling squad needs special food considerations make sure they can be accommodated.
We tip a lot. That’s a personal choice. We tip in usd$1 or 20 pesos. Put a tip in your fridge and a list of what you need. For us it’s cerveza and agua. And we empty the fridge daily so it gets refilled and we put spare water and beer in our suit cases. Oddly precious commodities when you need them.
Take anti hang over pills. With kids, you will thank me later.
I personally like dreams resorts but AMR is going through a rebranding so not sure if it’s the same dreams.
We love big waves as a family but these may not be the best for younger children.
My skin burns so I wear spf shirts there. When I started, it was me and lots of kids only wearing them. Now many people wear them. I’d recommend taking one even if only to give your skin a break once in a while if you burn and not tan.
I always chuckle when people report understrength drinks. So get a double! I don’t mind them as it keeps me going.
We avoid cancun but have stayed south on the riviera maya and north on playa mujeres. North used to be cheaper as it was newer but that might be changing.

Every all inclusive is different!

Agree on some of the things people rate resorts on. Some people let their very first experience checking in wreck their whole vacation. “ I didn’t get a drink at checkin and I should have known that I would have to ask for drinks the rest of the trip. How could they not know what I drink?” And my other favourite: “I don’t tip and I never do on principle. I always get served so why bother? I noticed that tippers seemed to get better service. Terrible resort.”

Good thread!
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Old 10-15-2022, 12:08 PM   #18
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Quote:
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So I need suggestions for Mexico, like, specific food resorts or how to book. Never done all inclusive or whatever, and as much as I don’t want to go it’s sort of not much of a choice.

Needs beach.
Needs to be small child friendly.
Needs to be within a couple hours if major airport.
Needs to be clean (for me. Don’t handle hotels well).

Preferably a couple grand per person 7 days.

Is that unrealistic? I’d appreciate tips or whatever specific recommendations you have. Thanks
Have you considered a private house that you could book through something like VRBO. That is what my family always does.
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Old 10-15-2022, 02:10 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by 81MC View Post
So I need suggestions for Mexico, like, specific food resorts or how to book. Never done all inclusive or whatever, and as much as I don’t want to go it’s sort of not much of a choice.

Needs beach.
Needs to be small child friendly.
Needs to be within a couple hours if major airport.
Needs to be clean (for me. Don’t handle hotels well).

Preferably a couple grand per person 7 days.

Is that unrealistic? I’d appreciate tips or whatever specific recommendations you have. Thanks
I'm at 'The Fives' in Mexico right now. Google that, seems to tick your boxes rather well other than maybe the 'Couple Grand' bit.
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Old 10-15-2022, 02:18 PM   #20
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I'm at 'The Fives' in Mexico right now. Google that, seems to tick your boxes rather well other than maybe the 'Couple Grand' bit.
Look at Mr. Fancy pants. You better post some pictures of the foam party.
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