There are many emotions, Mexico is beautiful and multifaceted. I'll try in order:
1. Flight. Transaero. They flew there during the day, arrived in the evening according to local time. The hotel was somewhere around 20.00. ate and went to bed. In the morning we got up like pickled cucumbers. The plane is normal, Boeing 747. They are fed 3 times: 2 full meals and one snack with pies or pancakes. It will not be enough for men - we took more food at the airport. Water is always given when you ask. The monitors work, but they are of little use, the films (only 2) are old. We turned on their navigator (it shows where you are flying, how much, etc. ) and read our books. It is better to check in for a flight in advance, because. all the couples who were regili at the airport were seated in different rows. They flew back at night.
2. Excursions. We flew with the Biblioglobus. We took excursions from them: Tulum + swimming with turtles, Chichen Itza (pyramids) + cenote + tequila factory, islands (Island of Women + desert island). In order: 1. Tulum. Did not impress. Well city and city. Maybe we were just unlucky with the guide. Swimming with turtles. It's cool, but there were a lot of women in the group and the young man who swam with us was afraid to lead the whole group further and turned everyone around. As a result, our men, at their own peril and risk, swam on their own. Everyone is given vests and masks with fins. Turtles are cool and very big. But there was little time. 2. Chichen Itza (pyramids). Very cool. We were lucky with the guide (Yuri). He told us so many interesting things, thanks to him for that! It is better to buy souvenirs in Chichenizza, they are the cheapest there. But the guide gave us very little time for shopping, it seemed to us that on purpose, because. along the way you are brought to souvenir shops. The cenote is great too. Keep in mind that the boxes for storing clothes are paid. Tequila factory - we arrived tired in the evening. Everyone told, they showed the process, they gave me tequila to drink, they took me to the store) (we bought honey and cigars there). 3. Islands. The uninhabited island is very beautiful, but we could not see it, because. you just get eaten by mosquitoes. We swam mostly, took pictures, looked at the birds. about. Women - a large shopping street.
3. Hotel. Everything cool. We had a select club, these are gold bracelets. The rooms are better than the standard ones, they are bigger and newer, BUT further from the sea. The first days it was fun for us to walk around the beautiful territory, but then we get bored. We always leave the beach at lunchtime, so you get tired of walking back and forth. We decided that if we return to the hotel, we will take a standard room closer to the sea. Also, gold bracelets have access to special liqueurs with good alcohol. The hotel has everything: mini golf, tennis (we were crazy about it), bikes, spa, etc. noses run around the hotel, they eat bread, apples, ice cream.
4. Nutrition. Fine. I won't even write much here. We tried all the a la carte restaurants. The main restaurant is just as good. Here everyone chooses for himself.
5. Beach. We had strong waves for several days and a red flag hung, but this did not stop us from swimming. The rest of the day the sea was calm. By the way, it's really blue. The hotel is the last on the coastline, and a wild beach begins to the left of it. We went for a walk there further to the reef. It's beautiful there too. The sunbeds are so-so, you can see that they are a bit old, but it does not soar, the main thing is they are always there. We had a waiter walking along the beach bringing drinks. There is also a bar and a mini bar where they make delicious milkshakes and ice cream. If you take a piece of bread in the sea, a surprise awaits you)
6. City. In the evening it is very cool and lively. We liked.
7. Shopping. I write above that souvenirs are cheaper at the pyramids. Tequila at Walmart. People also go to the Maya Center. But we weren't there. In the deutik, alcohol is a little more expensive than in the shops.
In general, the holiday was a success, I definitely recommend the hotel!
PS. Without a language, it will not be easy there, we tried to speak English. There is a Russian-speaking girl Irina at the reception.
Initially, we flew to Mexico City, where we were less than 4 days with the Azteca Plus sightseeing tour, a little (well, quite a bit) looked at the center of the capital (we lived on the main square - Zocalo), Teotihuacan, archeol. museum, basilica, cathedral, templo major. There is a lot left that I would like to see sooooo much (for example, due to the upcoming parade, we did not get to the Presidential Palace with its famous frescoes), but alas - time! : (
We flew to Cancun on a domestic flight, from where we were taken to the hotel by an individual transfer. From Cancun Airport to the town of Playa del Carmen, we drove for about 40-50 minutes, but they flew by almost unnoticed, we constantly turned our heads and asked a lot of questions to our patient guide))
We checked in at the hotel lobby, this is where the check-in to the Riviera rooms takes place. According to our observations in the following days, there is almost never a crowd there, but on the day of our arrival, in spite of the records, a large group of Americans drove in, so we had to wait until we were registered for about 15 minutes. They gave us a gold bracelet, escorted to the room. He ended up on the ground floor, that is, on our ground floor (I think it was 9194, if I'm not mistaken). The room is large, even very new, clean, with a jacuzzi (well, who needs it with such a sea?!?; )), the room has everything that usually happens in fives: a modern TV set, air conder, a small refrigerator with a constantly replenished minibar ( soda, cola-fants, beer), a cooler, a kettle and tea-coffee bags, a hair dryer, shampoo, shower gel, body lotion, an iron (why did I pearl mine, even if it’s small ??; )) and an ironing board , safe with combination lock. Maybe something I forgot. On the balcony there is a small sliding clothes dryer, a couple of chairs and a table. On the bed we were met by a couple of towel swans, generously sprinkled with flowers: ) A trifle, but nice.
Children are not accommodated in the Riviera buildings, only adults.
The only bullshit was that the room was closest to the reception and to the bus stop that took people to the beach, on the corner of the building and at ground level. Two troubles followed from this: 1- it’s a bit noisy almost around the clock (because of the change of belts, it’s not easy to fall asleep, and here it’s a low bow to the gentlemen of the Americans, who never like to make a fuss, stomp loudly at the room and scream at night), 2 - the dampness of the tropical climate is negative affected our... closet! The smell of this very dampness was constantly present in it, although in general there was no such trouble in the room. A couple of days later, we changed the number without any problems (now it was 9303 on the third floor of another building, but exactly the same in terms of configuration), and both troubles disappeared almost to nothing (they are sleeping, these Americans?; )), although I brought a denim jacket the smell of dampness home despite all the weathering. From the Riviera buildings you can get to the beach either by the already mentioned bus, but it runs according to some kind of schedule, we preferred not to wait for it, but to stomp on foot through the entire territory of the hotel with various interesting things along the way - always hungry beggars, funny in their greed coatis (almost everyone eats, but meat and sausage cuts and grapes were more likely to be eaten, bread was taken last and with obvious reluctance, but they never left it : )), cat cafe, Poncho mink in the roots of a tree, donkeys in a paddock, " blue agave beds, thickets with monkeys (which didn’t seem to us by the way). the other - the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea! )) They are naturally turquoise, you can’t take your eyes off, and it’s just reluctant to get out of the water! )
On the beach, a waiter rushes between the sun loungers, fulfilling almost any of your desires in terms of drinks, from simple water to delicious cocktails.
Since Sandoz is the last in a series of hotels in Playa, after our hotel beach there is already a wild beach and thickets of the jungle, everything is very picturesque and many people go there to take pictures. Probably for the same reason, in a week on the beach of our hotel, we "visited" three American weddings and one bachelorette party : ) - backgrounds for photos are very beautiful, as if you really are far from civilization. We walked along the coastline towards other hotels - there is no such thing at all. Yes, and I, in fact, chose the hotel because of its proximity to nature, and I preferred Playa to Cancun because of the wide, large beaches.
The food at the hotel is very good, varied and plentiful. Breakfast is pretty standard, but there is always something to choose from for different tastes and preferences. For lunch and dinner, the choice of dishes is very diverse, there are all kinds of salads, vegetables, greens, and meat in different variations, and seafood, and sushi (not a signature dish, frankly), pastas, pizzas, American-style hamburgers and fries, I recommend trying guacamole and ceviche (I ate this stuff, it seems, for two lives ahead; )), a lot of sweets (pastries, cakes, ice cream with various syrups and powders), fruits (papaya, sweet, but very peculiar in smell; melons of two varieties; watermelons; grapes; plums; apples (by the way, apples grow very poorly with them, because they are like exotic for them, and if you are treated to an apple, this is a sign of great respect : )); pears; guava; bananas; oranges; grapefruits - like everything, but I could forget something). In short, in order not to get better, you have to try hard : ) There are several restaurants and buffets where you can eat during the day, in addition, there are several more a la carte. Honestly, we never got there - with such an abundance of food in the main restaurants, there was not the slightest desire to mess with something else. Several times a week there were theme nights in the main restaurant - either Italian, with an abundance of different pizzas and pastas, then Mexican, spicy, then American, with big burgers, and so on.
The drinks that were served at lunch and dinner were not impressive - neither wine nor champagne tasted different. But we had drinks included almost throughout the hotel, and our lobby had an excellent premium bar with quite high-quality alcohol. We are not fans of this, but the bartender made cocktails quite pleasant.
The hotel staff is very friendly, they will tell you ¡ hola a hundred times a day! and smile, and there is a suspicion that they do it quite from the heart : ) There is a bicycle rental near the second reception, the guests of the Riviera rooms can rent them for free for 3 hours a day. So, we decided to explore the town, and, taking a bike, a little ride through the streets. We were greeted everywhere, even just people walking around the city on their own business! It would be truly disgusting not to answer them in the same way) I won’t describe the sensations of a trip around the city - this mega-positive definitely needs to be seen and felt for yourself!
We went from the hotel on an English-speaking excursion to Coba and Tulum with a stop at Paraiso beach and a cenote. We bought it right on the beach, while its cost for two came out the same as for one from our hotel guide. Despite the fact that my husband speaks English to you, I quite managed to translate everything for him along the way. Tulum is magnificent, Paraiso Beach lives up to its name, Coba seems to be lost in the endless jungle, and its main pyramid is so steep that when I finally crawled to the top, there was only one thought, and not very majestic: why, why did I climb here? ?!?; ) But the view from the top compensates for all the labor costs)) The water in the cenote is so clear and soft that the hair for another three days both looked and felt as if washed with the most luxurious shampoo. Swimming in this water under a vault covered with stalactites, roots and vegetation was a pleasure in itself. Again, it must be experienced, and I would love to do it again and again!
Near the main pool in the hotel, next to the booth distributing towels, there is a stand for one of the main nightly entertainment - Coco Bongo discos. For lovers of nightlife - highly recommended! You will hardly see such a show anywhere else, the atmosphere is just carnival! The price of the entrance ticket includes all drinks to choose from, the waiter served our table quickly and without problems. A ticket for VIP seats costs twice as much, but these places are located surprisingly cramped, and whether it is necessary to take a ticket with places "to sit" to an institution with such a lively atmosphere is up to everyone to decide on their own. We didn’t regret for a second that we had a “standing” table - it’s simply unrealistic to sit there, we danced all the time)
Well, in general, the trip itself as a whole, and its components, such as Mexico City, Teotihuacan, the Sandoz Playacar hotel, excursions and disco - I liked everything very much, it was impressive and lived up to expectations to the full and even more. Still a lot of impressions, but you can’t remember everything at once. In short - I want more! : )