BookIt.com Verified Traveler Fernando Robles from Cancun

"I just stayed in this hotel with my family, and everything was excellent! It was a holiday filled with adventure, and we enjoyed the nature- waking every morning with the songs of exotic birds or watching the sunrise from the terrace of our room, lying in the hammock with a cup of freshly brewed coffee and warm pastries. Later, when walking through the hotel we were greeted with local animals, like crocodiles. The swimming and the guided tour inside the aviary and zoo in the hotel was amazing. The food was excellent, all a la carte and gourmet. The service and staff made us feel right at home! Congratulations on keeping everything in its natural environment and caring for nature as you do! We will be back soon!"

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Fernando from Cancun, Quintana Roo

"I just stayed in the hotel with the family, and we all had an excellent time! It was a vacation filled with adventure and enjoying nature. Starting, with waking up every morning with the songs of exotic birds while contemplating the sunrise from the terrace of my room laying down in the hammock with a cup of freshly brewed coffee and a warm "sweet bread.... Later in the day while walking through the hotel one can admire local animas including crocodiles among others. The swim in the cenote, the guided tour inside the aviary and zoo that the hotel has was amazing. The food is excellent, all a la carte and gourmet; the service and all the staff make one feel at home! Congratulations on maintaining the natural environment and care for nature as you do! We will be back soon!"

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler BETTINA ELSTNER from MEXICO CITY, D.F.

"a great hotel, very friendly people. beautiful place! fantastic holidays!!! just the gym is quite shabby. would be great to have a map of the resort (ubication of everything) and some information about the animals and plants in the resort."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Brendan from Medford, MA

"Xpu-Ha (pronounced 'shpoo-ha') is perfect for those who want the Mexican all-inclusive experience without the party scene of Cancun. Pros: The staff are all incredibly friendly and genuinely nice. The huts are great with a big Jacuzzi, hammock and most are pretty private and surrounded by lush vegetation. The pool is HUGE and you can easily find a lounge chair (or 5) for yourself. There is also a separate Kids' Area/Pool, and overall this is a great place to bring a family. The grounds are beautiful with all kinds of flora and fauna, with waterways that you can kayak and snorkel in for free. Cons: The food varies depending on the days you're there. Mon-Wed you don't have much variety and are forced to one restaurant at night (or a sushi hut). The food wasn't bad per-se, would have liked to see more Mexican dishes instead of pseudo-Italian. The activities are not really advertised during the week when there are less people. You can't really go into the ocean, but the giant pool more than makes up for it. Since everyone isn't part of the all-inclusive plan, you have to constantly give them your room # and tip them for every meal and drink. They definitely deserve the tips, it just gets to be a bit annoying. Overall, this is an incredible place to just sit back and relax. I miss it already."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Peter Washington from Merida, Yucatan

"check in was an hour late, villas were nice, food was fair,service employees appeared to be very new to the business. The wait staff in the restaurant was very new and inexperienced. There is no beach. No wait staff in the lobby bar,either day or night. The bartender was not really a bartender, he also waited tables.The entertainment was minimal at best. Clients were wondering around looking for something to do. My wife and I did enjoy the jacuzzi in the villa. I made a reservation for 16 mar-19 mar 2012 which I have cancelled."

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"Our travel dates were: 4/29 - 5/3. I should preface my review by stating that we stayed at Xpu-Ha in 2009 when it was owned by the Palace Resorts. We absolutely adored it and figured we would return. This type of resort may not be for everyone. It is an outdoor, nature-esq place. Animals everywhere! At night you MUST wear bug spray or you'll be eaten alive. It is very tropical and really gives you the sense that you are somewhere secluded and far away. Coming from a girl who would never want to go camping, I really love this resort because of the feel and vibe.

Upon arrival, we were not greeted with champagne, or a cocktail, or a cold towel or anything special. In fact, we waited to check in for about 20 minutes. Only one main person was working behind the desk. We came for a 30th bday, and I will say that I added it to my comments and without even asking, they had our room decorated. That was a nice surprise!

STAFF:
The staff was very nice, but as other reviewers have stated, they did not deliver. There were only 1-2 individuals who really made us feel special. When this resort was owned by Palace, we felt like celebrities! Everyone went out of his/her way to make our stay wonderful. Not so much this time. I will also say that the staff speaks very, very limited English. I realize we are in Mexico and don't want to sound pretentious, but we hadn't experienced that the last 4 times we were in Cancun. - Best Value shuttle drivers were the best though! They had us laughing the whole ride.
I asked almost daily for change - in either USD or Pesos - and could not for the life of me get change anywhere I went. This made tipping extremely frustrating. We had to sign receipts and although I saved all of mine (except the ones from the pool bar because they didn't give us a copy), I am still not sure the final bill worked out at the end of the trip the correct way.
I also noticed it seemed they were on a skeleton crew.

FOOD AND DRINKS:
I will say the food was good, however, the menu was the same every single day. There were a variety choices, but I enjoy a changing menu, especially when there are only 2 restaurants to choose from. FYI, no buffets. It is a sit down meal always. There were NO drink menus anywhere. We stuck to beer and mojitos everyday because we didn't know what kind of special drinks were available. That was very disappointing, because we were looking for something unique each night. There was one bartender who made us a special drink by the pool. Other than that, nada.
We tried the Japanese restaurant. This area used to be the spa, but Bel Air must have converted it to add another restaurant. It sat approx. 8-10 small tables. The food was good, but it just seemed like they threw the place together to create a quick fix solution to add another restaurant.
Room Service - there is none. Well, apparently there is, but again, we never could find a menu and didn't even know where to call to get it. It was also an additonal charge (again very different from the Palace Resorts).

ROOM:
The room is nice. Nothing major has changed there. I did hear from other guests that the top of their rooms leaked during one of the quick rainstorms and that no one really seemed to care when they called to inform the front desk. We didn't really have any issues. It was clean for the most part. As far as the fridge goes, they restocked it daily, but it was stocked at a bare minimum.

RESORT:
This resort is a wonderful place. There are live animals everywhere. It has such potential to be fabulous. We were there when it was fabulous, but now it just doesn't seem like anyone cares about it. There were MAYBE only 40 guests. A majority of them actually appeared to be locals. We never really saw anyone else (which was perfectly fine with us!). We also noticed it appeared they had schools or camps come daily to come to see the animals. We didn't care about this, but I am sure other people weren't thrilled. There is no real beach to go to, but the pool is really lovely and we weren't bothered by this at all. They offer you a shuttle to a beach, but we never ventured that way.
It made us both sad to see the way the new management is running the resort. We absolutely loved Xpu-Ha the first time we came to visit, but we were very disappointed this time around. All of the little things that make a trip awesome were lacking. It is unfortunate, because as I said, the resort has the potential to be amazing. It just felt like it was becoming an abandoned spot and that no one cares to fix it up :("

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"Overall, my trip to Bel Air was what I expected....with a few minor exceptions. Do your research before booking this resort and know what you are looking for in your holiday. The resort is not a fancy high end hotel so dont expect it. The open jungle atmosphere is great for a relaxing, quiet experience, emphasizing the quiet. The resort is big so aniticipate doing alot of walking or biking to get around.
I travelled alone with my two children 10 and 12. For us it was nice, the resort felt safe and provided activities for the kids to keep them busy. The Kayaking and snorkel area was big enough for them to try out without being intimidated, they loved the biking - although the bikes do need maintenance. The activities guys were GREAT with my kids and tried hard to get people to participate in their daily activities. The volume of visitors was small so often many areas were close to empty. The kids loved not having to compete with adults for the water polo nets or the pool table in the lobby bar.
The rooms were nice and cleaned everyday. There were plenty of animals to look at both as part of the zoo and wild. The lizards were great..and everywhere.
We ventured to the beach which was beautiful however my kids prefer the pool and the company of their new friends.
The couple unexpecteds were:
a) Almost all the guests and staff spoke spanish only...I was expecting a mix. We speak very very little spanish. Everyone tried real hard and we made it work however all the zoo animal signs are in spanish only...so what we could read was limited.
b) The food was very limited. I am not a big food person at all but do enjoy trying new things and I found the selections limited. Breakfast was a small buffet of fruits and pastry with the option of eggs, omlettes and pancakes. The kids loved the snack bar for lunch....which meant i only ate lunch 2 times in the restaurant which is the only time they really serve real salad or vegitables I am a salad lover and found myself longing for fruit and veggies when i came home.
c) Perhaps it is being from the city but i found the schedules there or lack there of a tad frustrating. Room service would knock anywhere from 7:20AM- 9:30PM and the shuttle that had a schedule was never followed...which left you waiting and wondering.

Overall, for me with the research i had done this was a great holiday for my family. The kids loved it. For myself, I needed a quiet relaxing trip and that is what i got.
Of special note, if you can, take your own snorkel gear....when you hit the beach front go right towards the destroyed portion of the hotel. If you walk far enough you hit a BEAUTIFUL ocean area (shown in the hotel pics) Although the hotel does not openly tell you, they will let you swim or snorkel here still. The fish are everywhere, and the water is beautiful BUT you need to have your own gear. It is a shame they have not upkept this area....."

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"I don't understand how anyone can write a good or even half good rating on this hotel. The property is SHABBY at best and I can't believe they are allowed to continue services. I've been to many resorts and this is by far the worse of the lot for lying about the bulk of their claims. I plan on reporting all of this to anyone who will listen. I have nothing to lose by helping someone keep their hard earned money in their pockets if they'd even think about using it at this so-called hotel. I work very, very hard for what I make. Just for the record, I'm a professional in a very good field but don't believe that anyone should be slighted by false advertizing.
Robes in the rooms - yeah, right!
I cannot tell you how very bad this hotel is! On the second day we were moved due to the fact that the 'bungalo' we had would have no water. The next room was a downgrade from the original.
They report they have 3 restaurants- THIS IS A BLATANT LIE! Further, the only restaurant that was open the first three days and now a forth has the exact same menu every day for every meal breakfast, lunch and dinner - and the food is NOT GOOD AT ALL. The service.....except for one waiter who tried very hard was extremely inexperienced and no one seemed to know how to train them.
The so-called beach- NO BEACH ON THE PROPERTY. You can see one but don't think about coming anywhere near it. The 'beach' has no sand/..just rocks that you cannot pass. You have to go to a nearby beach that the hotel inhabits about 500ft of - LITERALLY. There are boats that are to the immediate left of the beach and windsurfing kites that you share a space with. To the right there is a private resort that you cannot access the beach because it belongs to that hotel. There is no food for hotel guests on that so called beach either. We were there for 8 days/.no one was on the beach with beverages or towels for 6 of those days. They report on their page that there is. The property next to the beach is owned by Barcelo Hotel and rest assured they will embarrass you and throw you off "their part of the beach... if your towel filters even a little on to their part of the beach. There are about 20 beach chairs so be prepared to lay on your towel on a little part of the beach if your number 21.
They say that this is an eco-friendly, animal habitat and they charge you to take pics with some of the animals! Fact is, I really wonder if some of the cages they keep these animals in doesn't border on cruelty. This hotel should be on any site at all. I didn't know that the bank owns a good piece of the property and you can tell that due to its disrepair.
Our online travel aency "helped... us rent a car which also turned out to be the car from hell. The place was called BLUEWAY - STAY AWAY - FAR AWAY. It overheated several times and no one would pick up the phone when we called for service. We still had to pay full price. I think that the majority of people who go there and give these reviews are people who go there for a weekend - I wouldn't even go back for that!
"

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"This hotel shouldn't be on any .com site it is the pits. No beach for swimming although somewhere in the description it is vaguely stated try to find that. the hotel used to be grand a long time ago but went into disrepair and 2/3rds of the hotel is fenced off and in bank ownership so you only have 1/3rd of a property to use and it looks it. The adjacent property the Barcelo Hotel will not let you rent the lounge chairs or palaps and they really don't want you on their beach front although they can't stop that they still try. It truly embarrassing when they try to kick you off the beach in front on hundreds of tourist.The food on the buffet was not replenished and most of the time unidentifiable. It was awful tasting and most of the time limited to 2-3 selections. Had to ask for butter every time i had bread/toast. I have never heard of an all inclusive hotel where they still expect you to tip for services. I was digging in my pocket the whole week.
Take my advice I have going to Mexico for 30 years and never had such a bad experience. I had a car so i was able to leave and go into Playa Del Carmen for dinner several nights that's the only thing that saved my vacation from being a complete disaster."

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