- Mexico Holidays
- Playa del Carmen
- Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda
The hotel is located in a natural paradise, right in front of the beach, a privileged position in the Riviera Maya. Playa del Carmen is just 15 minutes away and Cancun International Airport is about 35 minutes by car. The public transport links are within walking distance and easily accessible from the hotel. The spacious, luxurious rooms feature elegant furnishings and décor. In addition, the hotel offers a variety of services, facilities and restaurants. On the beach in the Riviera Maya district of Playa del Carmen, this all-inclusive hotel offers private beach access, an on-site spa, and several specialty restaurants. The rooms at the property overlook the sea, and include satellite TV. They come with a minibar and safe. Guests can enjoy water sports such as snorkeling and windsurfing at this Playa del Carmen resort. A gym and sauna are on the property. A game room and kids club are available. The shops and restaurants of Playa del Carmen's Fifth Avenue are only 15 minutes from BlueBay Grand Esmeralda. Cancun is less than an hour from this resort.
Weve had an amazing holiday, like with every experience in life there's always a balance of good and not so good in addition to personal expectations. Bad points - im vegetarian and selection is limited, one of the department blocks smelt musty and had undesirable views of chopped trees! We was moved to a better room. There's no ice-cream No fruit for pudding in evening in festival The rooms could benefit from a little finesse. Good points - staff are amazing Location is brill, beach is lovely despite the seaweed and you can walk a little away from the hotel and get away from the seaweed. The lagoon is beautiful Pools are gorgeous We absolutely loved all the Wildlife Air-conditioning is top notch Some amazing excursions- swim with whale sharks was out of this world!!
All round amazing stay, don't be to put off by negative reviews and don't be frightened to ask to move room if not happy.
Would I recommend BlueBay Grand Esmeralda to family or friends? Unfortunately, no. There are far better resorts in the area offering a considerably better experience at a similar price. The biggest disappointment is the enormous difference between the five-star experience being advertised and the reality I experienced. The resort feels tired, dated and desperately in need of major investment, renovation and modernisation. There are some genuinely friendly and hardworking staff, but unfortunately they cannot compensate for the overall condition and management of the resort. For me, this was one of the most disappointing hotel stays I've experienced in Mexico. There may still be the foundations of a beautiful resort here, but in its current condition, I simply couldn't recommend it. Overall rating: 2/10 – extremely disappointing.
Period 23-28 July 2026 .Visited bluebay resort Cancun for my 40th bday with my son.to get checked in took almost 2 hrs. The initial room given was fine.however to book arrangement for dinner was horrible and most places you had to walk even though there was shuttle service provided since the resort is big.on the 24th in rm1201 I heard a loud noise only for my son to come out the bathroom with ceiling residue on his head and he said the ceiling fell in.i tried calling front desk and they said they were sending someone and never did so I ran to the lobby area and after almost an hr we were assigned a new room however that room was poorly maintained so I requested another room which wasn’t as nice as the initial room and we were locked out 4 times from the room.a request for a refund was sent by the travel agent however to date she is still getting a run around Do not visit
We first stayed at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda in 2025 and had a fantastic experience with zero complaints, which is why we booked it again for our 2026 vacation. Unfortunately, the quality has plummeted, and our experience this time was filled with issues from start to finish.
Upon arrival, we were met by a Circle One Membership Club representative speaking broken English. She thanked us for returning and offered a "VIP day" alongside a $500 discount for a future booking. The catch? It requires signing a 10-year club membership contract that is notoriously difficult to cancel. In my opinion, this Circle One membership feels like a total scam. 2. Poor Room Conditions & Water Damage Our room was aged, dirty, and showed visible signs of mold. To make matters worse, during a thunderstorm, water started leaking heavily from the ceiling, completely flooding our room. 3. Neglected Beach and Repetitive Food The sea was a murky brown color because the staff rarely bothered to clean up the sargassum/seaweed. As for the dining options, the breakfast and dinner menus remained completely identical every single day for an entire week. 4. Rude Front Desk & Misleading Payment Policies We booked an excursion on-site and were explicitly told we could pay for it in cash (USD) during checkout. However, when checking out, the front desk flatly refused to take cash, insisting on card payment only. When we explained that their own staff had misinformed us, they rudely suggested we walk down to the beach to argue with the tour providers ourselves—knowing our airport transfer was departing in just 10 minutes. The front desk staff was extremely unprofessional, even stating that we could "cancel our flight and transfer" if we couldn't pay by card. We will never return to this resort, and we strongly advise others to look elsewhere.
My husband, our teen daughter, and I stayed at Blue Bay Resort for five days, and this was by far the worst resort experience we have ever had.
On our second day, I was playing volleyball in the pool. I had only had two drinks when I suddenly became extremely ill. I went to our chair for water, told my daughter to get my husband, and then began going in and out of consciousness. The resort doctor told my husband I needed to go to the hospital by ambulance.
The hospital was a nightmare. I waited for an extremely long time with little to no treatment and eventually told my husband I wanted to leave because I did not feel safe. Given how suddenly I became ill, I strongly suspected that something had been put in my drink.
Then came the truly unbelievable part.
When we left the hospital, the ambulance drivers demanded $10,000 from my husband immediately. They refused to provide a bill or itemized documentation before payment. We refused. When we returned to the resort, the night manager came to our room and demanded that my husband go downstairs and pay the ambulance drivers who followed us back. She was incredibly rude and condescending, called him a liar, and swore at him in Spanish, despite him understanding what she was saying through a translator.
At the lobby, they again demanded payment. At one point, they took cards out of my husband’s wallet and attempted to run them through a machine. The resort also deactivated our room keys during the dispute. Thankfully, our daughter was still inside the room.
The resort doctor apologized, but management provided virtually no support afterward. The last day, our shuttle to pick us up didn’t show when they were supposed to.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the resort itself was terrible. The seaweed was barely cleaned up and the smell was awful. The food was repetitive and poor quality. The facilities are run down and there is one bar by the pool that had one bartender all day. We have stayed at several resorts in Mexico, and this one is at the absolute bottom of our list.
After this experience, I would never return to Blue Bay Resort. Travelers deserve to know what happened here before booking.
And yes, some of the glowing reviews are hard to reconcile with our experience. I can only speak for ourselves, but ours was absolutely horrible.
