BookIt.com Verified Traveler Patricia from Boulder, Colorado

"I recently returned from a week stay at The Reef Playacar and had a wonderful time. I like that it is small and has lots of vegetation giving the feeling that you are in the jungle. It has a fabulous beach with soft sand and no rocks. I never had to worry about hurting my feet in the ocean and even swam in it at night without fear. It was one of the best beaches I have ever stumbled upon. The waves were just right. Staff was very nice and friendly. We were impressed with the SCUBA staff who were professional and safe. Drinks were good. Room was nothing fancy but it was very clean. Food was hit or miss as far as taste goes, but there was a good variety/selection to pick from. And you could always go to a sit down restaurant rather than the buffet for dinner. I was disappointed in the lack of seafood available. Many tourists there were unhappy that the restaurants had the nerve to charge an extra $17 for some meals. In my past experience all-inclusive meant ALL- INCLUSIVE. The resort has a good, relaxed vibe. It was the fun people that I met and the good friendly staff that made it so memorable. I would return next week if the price was right. The BEST DAYS travel desk did not have my name on their shuttle list when I arrived at Cancun's airport. I had to wait for them to make phone calls to sort it out. Once I was checked in all my stresses melted away. I left this resort/vacation with a big smile on my face."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Steve from Kittredge, Co

"I have stayed here 2 times and will return with the right price. I have seen some reports of poor service, like waiting for coffee. I have learned that people simply expect top quality service everywhere they go. that is not always the case in travel. different countries and businesses have their own idea of customer service. If you're so lazy that you cant get off your butt to get your own coffee then it is an easy forgone conclusion that your not an experienced traveler and a serious winey baby ( get over it ) the reef offers a nice little get away and makes an honest effort to give a good presentation."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Mirjana from Melbourne

"We had a great stay at the reef we are very confused as to why there are negative comments! The staff are very friendly you have to remember when spoilt holiday makers are rude to these staff who get paid $3-$4 dollars a day US it must be hard to stay up beat all the time and please everyone with high expectations! This is the best part of the beach in playacar and we come from Australia we know good beaches this was the best we have seen! The food is ok but then again it's a buffet we didn't expect much eat in town there are great places we found on trip advisor! I would highly reccomended this resort and we would stay again! The only negative is the wifi which wasn't clearly stated by the hotel and the fact our transfer guy didn't show up when he was meant from best day service people"

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler A Recent Traveler

"Awesome place, already recommended to my Doctor, neighbors and family."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Keith Stampher from Colorado Springs, CO

"SWEET SMALLER, OLDER HOTEL WITH A QUAINT ATMOSPHERE AND WONDERFUL STAFF. NOT A LOT OF 'ACTION' OR NIGHTLIFE. CLOSE TO PLAYA DEL CARMEN AND FOOD IS GOOD. WHAT IS SPECTACULAR ABOUT THIS PLACE IS IT IS INTIMATE, FRIENDLY, AND RELAXING."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler G McLeod from Pitt Meadows, BC

"If you like a smaller more personable resort, this is for you. The room we booked was for a King but we got a double bed and had to be moved the next day. Everything else ran smoothly and we enjoyed this resort it was a bonus to walk 15 min to Playa 5th ave. "

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Carolyn Ruff from Shakopee, MN

"This was our second stay at The Reef so I will be making comparisons to our first stay which was the same week but 2010. Both times we brought our 4 children. My review will be critical but fair (I think). Overall, I would give The Reef 3.5-4 stars. It was better than average so probably closer to 4 than 3.5 but we had some 'issues'. Not deal breakers but issues nonetheless. My first issue came when making the reservations. My son is 17 and we considered allowing him to ask a friend to join us so I looked into how much it would be for an extra room. Here is my issue: my son and his friend are both 17. They CANNOT be in a room without an adult (over 18). They set the age for children at 12 and don't allow 4 to a room unless one is under 12. However my 13, 15 and 17 year old were all charged as an adult. It ended up being a moot point but it has the potential for being an issue when my youngest is over 12. We needed 2 rooms regardless for the 6 of us. Our rooms were immediately ready when we arrived a bit earlier than we expected. We were placed at the bottom floor of two adjoining villas so within close proximity that it wasn't an issue. The breakfast buffet was great. LOVED the fresh fruit and while they did attempt to change it up a bit, the one fruit that was ALWAYS present was papaya...which they would then mix with other fruits for the next meal, much to my dismay. DO.NOT.LIKE.PAPAYA. They sorta hid the bacon as it was kept at the omelet station and given out as requested but one couldn't choose it. The lunch buffet was also very good although I would have liked to see more mexican chicken dishes (pork was more frequent than chicken). The dinner buffet was somewhat lackluster. Not a big fan of many of the desserts. I would have liked to see shrimp in the buffet at least once. It was great to see Boticelli AND the Terrazo Grill both open at the same time. Our last visit had them open on alternating days and there was ALWAYS a huge line/wait. There was neither this time. I was somewhat disappointed to see new items added to the menu at an additional cost. While I understand it, I don't like it. ALL INCLUSIVE. The wait staff at both were charming. The snack grill did NOT disappoint, although we pretty much stuck with the burgers. The kids were not impressed with the pizzas. I did try the late night snack bar for chicken tacos after the dinner buffet disappointed and the tacos were EXCELLENT. Disappointing was the ice-cream parlor was closed. They DID attempt to have a soft serve ice cream machine in the snack bar but by the third day it wasn't working and was not operational by time we left. The entire staff were very accommodating. We had a HUGE issue with a woman in the room next to us. Sometime after 9am, the key cards to our rooms stopped working on one room (we had the cards keyed to open both rooms) and as my husband was trying to find out what keys did work in which door, the woman started screaming at him, through her door, that she was sleeping. HE WAS TRYING TO OPEN OUR DOOR. We let it go then around 10pm we were trying to get our overtired 10 yo to bed and she came out of her room, again, screeching at us that we were drunks and loud ALL DAY and that she was calling the front desk (which we heard her do, loudly, through the door). So we marched to the front desk to explain. They KNEW we had issues with the door earlier and noted that it was only about 1015 and had seen our kids and knew that we spent most of our time at the pool and were very respectful of others. We never heard anything more from the incident. It would have been nice if we knew that there was some kind of resolution. My husband ended up talking to the people on the other side of her and they too were shocked at HER behavior. That issue alone was what downgraded the rating in my mind. I would have liked to have seen SOME kind of resolution and it was never mentioned again. Ultimately, we had a wonderful vacation and will probably go back to The Reef again. It's unique setting also helps to make it attractive."

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"The 'Reef' was a great place because it was small and friendly. The employees were always upbeat and very helpful. Some things for the advertisement people to address:
1. the mini bar in the deluxe room was a small frig with two beers and five colas. Bar? Not worth the add on because you can load up at any of the bars and have no need for the mini bar. I was expecting a few small bottles of wine and liquor. The high end restaurant 'Botacelli's' turned into a nightmare. We asked for an outside table and received the best table in the house. Downhill from here. We were basically ignored sitting quite some time before a wailer can an took our wine order. No rolls, no salad, no wine until after the soup arrived( very cold). Wine arrived -we ordered Chardonney and got Pinot Noir? Still no rolls, salad etc. Meal arrived with the new wine. Meal was horrible-cold, poorly prepared and uneatable. We walked out after speaking to the manager who's only concern was the signature on the wine order. This restaurant lists a dress code but I saw absolutely no regard for it. Remove this terrible experience and the 'Reef' rates an A-."

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"The worst hotel I ever went!"

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"A lttle disappointed. Very small property. Only 3 restaurants and one was always closed. And 2 of the 3 had extra charges for food. I thought we book All Inclusive ????? Had to pay for a room key, only filled the soda in the room 1 time ???? Then we had to pay .90 cents per can (what up with that ???) Bothered alot by personel wanting to take you on a 90 minute tour of the property. What they want is for you to by a time share. They tell you that's not what is is, but that's exactly what it is. Don't go ... save the 90 minutes to do something else. Staff was very nice but no entertainment. I'm used to an entertainment tem walking around getting the croud moving, playing games, trivia, etc. Nothing at this resort at all. At night the little entertainment they had above the lobby was the worse I ever seen. Set up some tiki torches outside and get some good entertainment. For Mexico, where was the Mecican food ??? Cheeseburgers and Hot Dogs were what you got. Might want to throw a burrito or taco in the mix. We asked a server about that and he said to go to Taco Bell ... nice. You might want to pay a few dollars more and go to a different resort."

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"Very cozy hotel with very nice surroundings, pools were nice and the beach was beautiful. The staff was friendly but the restaurants need more food variety and they were not open for dinner every day. Although it rained everyday, we were there we had a good time overall!
The time share sales people were pushy but if you told them no they left you alone. The entertaiment staff was fun and did their best with the shows and games every day."

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