Based on reviews from this and many other travel sites, my husband and I chose Aventura Spa Palace for our honeymoon. It was so much more than we were expecting, and we hope to return next year! I will try to break this up and be as brief as possible:
We booked through an rci weeks exchange and were entitled to the unlimited free tours (with advance payment of all-inclusive fee) and included chaza airport transportation. We had contacted the hotel via e-mail and phone to inform them of our room request, that it was our honeymoon, and to be put on the transportation list. Our name did not appear on the transportation list when we arrived in cancun, but we brought the confirmation e-mail we received from the hotel and they gave us no problem.

As everyone has said, we were greeted with champagne and a flower. Check in was smooth. Though they did not book us as honeymooners, all we had to do was tell them we were and they immediately, no questions asked, fixed it and gave us honeymooners wrist bands with all the extra perks that came with it.

Our room was on the first floor with a slight ocean view right next to the south pool. We had a room with a king bed and hammock as we requested. We had a problem with the toilet one morning and they were fast and efficient in the repair. The room was made up and the bed turned down everyday unless we put the "do not disturb" sign up. Once they came back later another time they didn't. Not a big deal to us. We had exceptional and trustworthy room service! We were as far as you can get on the south side and had no issues trekking across the resort. It was a fast walk if you cut through the pool areas, and the resort is so pristine and beautiful, it was always a nice walk. If you want to stay out of the sun, you can always walk along the 2nd level corridor- it connects the entire resort.

The food was surprisingly good for an all inclusive. The buffet selection was vast and did appear to change a bit on a day to day basis. Mundaca had a fajita station with fresh tortillas made on the spot daily- our favorite! We enjoyed the a la carte restaurants, some more than others, but I think that's all based on individual preferences. Go and read the menus and then choose where you want to go. We usually ate between 7-8pm and the most we waited was about 10-15min at mundaca and maybe 20-25min at la hacienda. This was prime dinner time, so we just visited the bar and waited it out. Other restaurants had no wait at all.

The bars were all very good, though the Thai Lounge is a must!! If you want top shelf liquor, just ask for it, otherwise they won't give it to you. They never once hassled us for requesting it.

Not enough can be said about the service at this resort. I don't think anyone can say enough or really emphasize just how spectacular it really is. Tips were never expected, but we always gave a few bucks because the service was that good.

We did use the spa, and though expensive, we would do it again and again. Get the most out of your visit, arrive early to use the aromatherapy room and stay after your massage to use it again. This facility was absolutely incredible!

We enjoyed the lagoons and often found them a bit less crowded than the pools, though we never had a problem getting a chair in the shade and we always had someone coming by offering drinks. The pools were very nice, and we enjoyed watching the activity at the south pool.

We did spend a day at Playa Del Carmen and were able to enjoy the amenities at Playacar Palace. They have a really nice infinity pool and is right on the beach. We did some shopping in playa del carmen, but found the resort prices to be quite a bit cheaper even with haggling. Of course, the selection is limited.

The nightlife was ok, we did hit a few shows, like the fire show which was fun. The disco had its moments, but we preferred the thai lounge far more.

We did the honeymooners dinner. We were disappointed, but did meet some really nice people. It was long and the meal was the worst we had all week, not bad, but not great either. We did get a nice souvenir picture for going though.

This was the most wonderful trip we could have imagined. I would highly recommend this place to any couple looking for an incredible week in paradise. The no kids policy is a big plus!

I can't say enough about how pleased I was with Aventura Spa Palace. My husband and I went there for our one-year anniversary. We were a bit hesitant about planning a summer vacation somewhere in the Carib, but the weather was perfect. It only rained once, and for 30 minutes. Everyday the weather ranged from the mid eighties to low ninties.

Rooms: Excellent. We had a king sized bed room, with partial ocean view. Every room has a 2 person hot tub/jacuzzi, which is awesome. We used it at some point everyday, whether after being at the pool all day and needing to unwind before dinner, or after dinner and drinks, and wanting to unwind before bed. The room was always cleaned thoroughly...both in the morning and for turn-down service at night. Bathroom clean, and shower definitely big enough for 2+.

In-room bar/mini fridge: Always stocked with soda and local beer, and 4 hard liquors (teq., rum, vodka, gin) at your despense.

Restaurants: Amazing service. People were extremely friendly and willing to serve you as best as possible. We ate dinner at Momonohana (Japanese, and my favorite overall), La Trattoria (Italian), and La Hacienda. We had room servicew our first night due to waiting for my husband's luggage to arrive (didn't make it either out of Boston or Houston...not sure where it got left initially!). Each restaurant had great food, great drinks, and great service. Because we went out between 6:30-7 every night, we never had to wait to be seated. The crowds seemed to come after 7-7:30. Also, we went during a not-so-busy season, which helped. We ate lunch either at the Poolside Bar/Restaurant on the South side, had a sandwich from the Sweet & Coffee Shop on the South side, or at Mundaca. We ate breakfast at Mundaca most mornings, too. Abel is a great server there and Jorge was a great waiter at Momonohana.

Bars: We went to Thai Lounge (upstairs in South side lobby) every night after dinner. Two nights we saw shows after dinner/before the bar. The Mayan Show was neat. The Mexican show was cute, but we didn't stay long. They did have Casino Night one evening, which would be fun for good gamers/gamblers, but I only know how to use a slot machine and my husband stinks at poker! The Thai Lounge has an excellent bartender, Jose, who is there everynight. He makes great drinks all night long.

Pools: Both the North Pool and South Pool are nice. The views from the pools of the ocean is gorgeous. We were a bit closer to the South Pool, so we went there everyday. The North Pool, from what we gathered when walking the grounds, it quieter than the South pool, but it fills up like the South pool. We went out every morning for chairs around 9AM, but people don't seem to get to the pool until 10 or so. There's always music and activities going on at the South pool (at times it seems a bit Spring Break-ish for adults), but if you find a hut with chairs or chairs a bit further down in the South pool area, the noise won't bother you while trying to read. We loved bouncing back between reading, going for a dip, and going to the swim-up bar. The guys doing the music and activies are hilarious. Poolside waitresses are a bit slow at times, so its quicker to go to the swim-up bar. If you tip them early, they remember to come back to you more often than not.

There are lagoons on the property since they don't have a beach, per se. This didn't bother me one bit...the ocean is within reach, in great view, with a rocky wall as a border. To me, this is no big deal whatsoever. There's sand all along the lagoon area, which is just like a beach. You can kayak, snorkel, and swim in the lagoon, which is nice.

Tipping: Obviously its included when you book your trip, but we felt the need to tip regardless. We tipped a couple of bucks for breakfast, lunch, and a little more at dinner. We tipped the poolside waitress a buck or two each day as well. We also tipped Jose at Thai Lounge, the room service deliverer, and the maids before we left. Again, its at your own descretion, but I thought I'd share what we did. We came across honeymooners who said they had tipped $20 at dinner their first night, because they tried to guess how much the dinner would have normally cost in the states and tip that way. The waiter refused, because it was way too much for them to accept.

Spa & Trips: My husband and I did the Romantic Massage together. We really enjoyed this. Its basically us both having a massage at the same time, in a room with music, candles, and scents. We were told we could use the Hydrotherapy room 60 min prior to our massage, but neither of us were really told what that meant. We decided to go 30 minutes prior, and wish we had gone a bit earlier, because in actuality, 10 min before your massage, you're asked to leave the Hydro room to basically wait in a sitting room for your therapist to come and get you...so its not 60 minutes you have, but 50 in the Hydro room. This room had saunas, hot tubs, a cold pool, a massage shower, and a foot bath...all very neat and relaxing. Again, I wish we had gone earlier. I also had a pedicure afterward with Lilian. She did an excellent job.

We did the Tulum Express one day. Tour guide, Gabi, was OK...she actually left a couple at the sight. My husband and I noticed they weren't on the bus where they were supposed to sit (you sit in same row there & back on bus), but she said her count was correct, so we assumed they were up towards the front where we couldn't see. The trip makes a stop at a Mayan souvineer shop to get people to purchase products on the way back, and we didn't see the couple...told her with description of this couple...which she them remebered, and realized her mistake. We saw the couple the day we left...they took a cab back to the resort and we reimbursed for the mistake. The TOUR was worth it, if you want to see ruins, try out the Tulum Beach, and go to a few shops. We were gone basically 9-1:30. I tought it was worth it, because its included in your stay, I wanted to see ruins, AND its only a half day.

Overall I definitely recommend this resort to anyone considering going to Mexico. It was our second time each...me to Cancun, my husband to Cozumel before the Riviera Maya, and we both enjoyed our resort here more. We were so pleased...we would definitely go again, and most definitely recommend this to family.

Oh-and be careful of the guest service people inviting you to come to their hotel celebrations at other resorts. They'll try to sweet talk you into a time share. If you aren't interested in a time share, just tell the guest service people you aren't looking to plan out your activities day to day yet, and thanks but no thanks. I hope this helped :)

We just got back from our vacation to Riviera Maya Mexico. We stayed at Aventura Spa palace from 7/7 to 7/12. Both my husband and I were extremely disappointed. My advice is to not recommend this resort to ANYONE. Here are a few of the issues we came across. The majority of the other guests at the time of our stay were extremely upset. This is at best a 2 star resort.
1. Ceremic tile was all cracked with missing pieces that cut our feet when we walked across the floor. We had to wear flipflops.
2. Room was not clean
3. No drinks upon arrival
4. We had a romance package and did not get to actually receive it until they finally discovered it 1/2 way through our stay.
5. We were urged to go on a tour of the hotel to see all that it had to offer, just a tour, nothing else. It turned out to be a very agressive timeshare/membership sales pitch.
6. We could not set up our pick up back to the airport since our NWA travel agent at the resort was "sick" and then on vacation. We finally got hold of the "worry free" and had them pick us up which they were extremely late picking us up. We almost missed our plane.
7. There were a huge amount of ants on our balcony that we couldn't go out and sit.
8. In the restaurants, they had wild cats roaming around begging for food. GROSS!
9. They didn't have our names in the computers so by the time we got our names in the computer, our tours were already booked for the days we wanted. We had to be placed in the very few openings they had
10. We had a broken elevator which the resort just shrugged off
11. Room service was always cold and they messed up our order 4 out of the 5 times we used them.
12. For our anniversary, they delivered our champaigne late which was very warm and messed up the small cake we were supposed to receive. We then decided to take a dip in the whirlpool tub. We filled it up and then turned on the jets. Once the jets were turned on, all this dirt and sediment came gushing out. We called the front desk, and they came up, drained the whirlpool, swished around tap water in it, and then filled it back up !!!!!! We contacted the night manager Daniel Schieman on 7/9 at 11:52pm and he just took notes and did not seem shocked when he heard how our stay was.
13. We went to the spa 2 times. The holistic massage was wonderful but the facial was short and we have received better ones at JCPennys.
14. No beach, which we knew a head of time, but we were under the impression that it was due to the hurricanes. Not true. Tulum had a beautiful beach and resorts down the road (Catalonia??) also had a real beach that tourists were pleased with. The only people that were happy with their trip to Mexico was the people who stayed at Dreams and this Catalonia resort.
15. Our transportation to our resort was in a crowded non air conditioned van who had people going to all different resorts. It took us more than 2 hours to arrive to our hotel. Also our driver gave 1 of our bags of luggage to a couple in Playa del carmen. They noticed it right away since it didn't even look like theirs at ALL. They ran down the street screaming to get the drivers attention.
There are many more things that went wrong and I have pictures I can send you if you'd like to see them. We'd NEVER stay in a Palace resort again! The other guests we ran into were really upset with situations similar to ours. The enjoyable experience we had was the tours. The Mayan ruins were wonderful!
Please spread the word to people going to this area that this is NOT the place to stay. I would hate to see people waste the money and time. This was by far the WORST vacation we have ever been on. We have been to the Dominican Republic and Hawaii, and have not had a negative experience. We absolutely loved Secrets Excellence in Punta Cana where we stayed and would go back to Secrets resorts in the future........NEVER PALACE
We were extremely disappointed with this whole experience.

so, if your looking to go on a honeymoon this is the pace to stay... my friends and i went here for our highschool graduation present and at first on the north side thought it was boring (there where a lot of older couples)... but so beautiful -we went to the south side and thats where its at!!!! i dont think ive ever had a better time in my life free drinks food sun and we met a whole bunch of differnt interesting people we would walk around and people would know us (princess alyssa and gay mike) we deffently left our legandary mark there! im telling you if your looking for the vacation of a life time u must deffently go here...

the best part of the whole vaction was hugo the pool activity guy so if u go there look for him! he made our stay so wonderful! and made me a lot better at water vollyball! plus hes a rele good dancer! im just telling you.... this is the most spectacular place in all of mexico SO GO!!!

<3 princess alyssa and gay mike! 08'