CONTEXT: I'm writing this review from my room the night before we check out, so it's all very fresh. My wife and I came to the Riviera Maya location of The Grand Mayan for a "babymoon" in early/mid May of 2024. We purchased a "7 night stay at a luxury resort in Mexico" package at a charity auction, and that turned out to be redeemable for a "Master Room" at any of Vidanta's Grand Mayan hotels in Mexico. We had never heard of Vidanta so we read a lot of reviews on each location, but we ultimately settled on the Riviera Maya location because we could get direct flights between Cancun and our home airport. We are not Vidanta members. Our goal was relaxation rather than adventure, so we stayed on the property the whole time and did not venture out to see the nearby cities, Mayan ruins, etc. All that is to say, I can't speak to how your experience might differ if you come at a different time of year, stay in a different room type, stay in a different hotel at the resort, want to venture offsite, etc.

STAFF: The staff were all very nice. We want to specifically call out Diana and Mayra who provided incredibly friendly beach-side service, but we also had great interactions with many other waitstaff, concierge, and transportation staff. Even the "least friendly" staff were very courteous and helpful, and I don't think we had a single bad staff interaction. They clearly hire good people and train their staff very well. As I note further down, we visited during the slow season but there were still plenty of staff onsite.

ROOM: We stayed in a 1-king bed "Master Room," which was a pretty good size for two people. The mattress was fairly firm with a pillowtop layer, and the pillows were some of the firmest I've ever had in a hotel (which I appreciated). We didn't love the decor, but that's a matter of personal taste. The rooms and the hallways are all hard tile floors, which we liked because it meant no nasty carpet. We saw cleaning staff mopping other rooms as we passed by, so we felt confident they were actually clean. The downside is that sound reverberates pretty well, so you can hear people talking next door, doors closing in the hallway, and people walking above you. However, the noise wasn't too bad for us and it was worth it to have no dirty carpet.

WEATHER: Because this property is located in a tropical jungle, it's going to be pretty hot and VERY humid no matter when you come. It might be a few degrees cooler during the winter months or a few degrees hotter in the summer months, but either way, be ready for very steamy weather during the daytime. You get a bit of relief at night, but even at night it's still pretty warm. There's a really nice sea breeze coming in off the water when you're on the beach, but most of the resort is covered in vegetation so you don't really feel the breeze except on the beach. I'm not sure if rain levels vary based on time of year, but it didn't rain once during our stay and we also overheard someone say it hadn't rained for the previous couple of months.

CROWD: It was not very crowded during our stay. The day we arrived, one of the staff members mentioned that it was the "low season." I don't know when the busy season is, but early/mid May was a great time to be here because of the small crowds. There were a couple of things that were intermittently closed--some of the restaurants closed two days a week and they were doing some work on the golf course. However, there was nothing we wanted to do that we couldn't because of closures. The light crowd also made it easy to get reservations and tickets for the restaurants, Cirque du Soleil show, and some of the other events. Most importantly, we were always able to get chairs under a palapa on the beach and by the pool.

TIMESHARE PRESENTATION: We didn't go to one. We read the other reviews complaining about it, so we decided before we arrived that we would not attend. Immediately after we checked into the hotel, they had us meet with a "host" who told us about the various amenities and restaurants at the resort, how to use the shuttle service, etc. She then offered us a free breakfast if we went to a presentation the next morning and told us about the discounts we could get if we joined the club, but we politely declined. We had to say no a few times (after all, it's their job to get people to go to the presentation) but we basically said we'd just like to get to our room so we could settle in and we'd think about it later. They never bothered us about it again after that.

GETTING AROUND: The resort is MASSIVE, at over 1,000 acres. Our room was in a building that was pretty far from the restaurants, pools, beach, etc. However, there's a shuttle service that runs regularly and takes you everywhere you'd need to go. They also usually have a staff member at each shuttle stop to make sure you're heading the right way. We always gave ourselves 30 minutes to get wherever we wanted to go and that worked out well. It would be nice to be able to walk, and it might even be faster in some instances, but with the heat and humidity walking across such a huge property is not a viable option.

FOOD: It's a bit pricey, but we never had a bad meal during our stay. Some of the reviews we read said the breakfast buffet was expensive, but at $590 MXN per person (about $35.50 USD at the exchange rate during our trip), that's really not too bad. This is not like a free continental breakfast at random chain hotel--it's a huge spread that includes a wide variety of options including an omelet station, a French toast station, an empanada station, and tons of other stuff. An equivalent breakfast buffet at a hotel in the US would easily run $50+ USD per person. The other restaurants were admittedly pretty pricey and it would be nice to have a couple of cheaper options, but they weren't "shock the conscience" level prices and the food was always good. The one big exception is if you're travelling with a whole family, in which case I expect the food bill will get pretty high, pretty quickly. If you want to explore the prices in more detail, I would recommend downloading the Vidanta mobile app and looking at the menus (you don't need to create an account or login--just scroll down and click dismiss and then select the Riviera Maya location).

SUMMARY: All in all, we had a very relaxing and enjoyable vacation and we would recommend coming here during this time of year.

Some things to love about this place, but others that say stay away.
They will offer to buy your time share and sell you one of their own, albeit without maintenance fees (they must make their money up front). The proposal is good, but the place itself is like a money extracting machine. We are here on May 17, 2024 and are staying at the Grand Mayan. We are familiar with Marriott Vacation Club so I'll make comparisons based on that.
Our two room suite is spacious. The furnishings are quite dated, especially when contrasted with our salesperson telling us rooms (are updated every 5 years. There is a small kitchen, but no dishwasher. (They do offer dishwashing service for a small additional fee.) They come straighten out your room twice a day, a real upgrade from Marriott's once a week on Wednesday.
You are situated in a Yucatan rain forest, so there are iguanas everywhere and cute ring tailed racoon like creatures that will try to steal your food. That's kind of cool!
But, there are no paper towels in the kitchen, the silverware is dollar store quality and EVERYTHING in the resort store is so expensive you will ask the clerk if there is some kind of misunderstanding. We spent $200 US dollars on a few snacks, their least expensive bottle of wine, some eggs and butter. Seriously, triple or quadruple of what you would expect to pay at Whole Foods! I needed to buy a non-plastic water bottle for a tour where plastic is prohibited. They have a "Vidanta" labeled one in the store for $1600. That's over $110 dollars US! I thought it was a mistake, but then saw a plastic cup with straw that sells on Amazon for $2 on sale for US $50! Crazy! The restaurants are pricy too. Don't think you're coming here to pay less. It's New York City, not Ensenada, prices.
I think the property may be OK when their act together. The water park (with lazy river) is not open (under construction). The golf course fairways were being dethatched and the greens (both 9's of the 3 par 18 layout) were being aeriated, so essentially unplayable (but being sold to unsuspecting golfers for full price ($155 without discount card, 65 with).
If you like the wonderful pools (They are super nice) and the friendliest staff I've ever come across (I mean, they are so nice you want to invite them all to sit down for a drink!) and can deal with the seriously outdated rooms then go ahead. If I'm going to Cancun/Playa Del Carmen again I'll try to find another brand to see if this is a one off or if everyone on the Rivera Maya is just trying to extract money from unwary Americans.