City Playa del Carmen - 4 Nights, Playa del Carmen, Mexico

The staff were amazing and accommodated me just fine. My only suggestion is to get better pillows, since they’re on the small side and I had to ask for extra ones. Otherwise, a great place in a great location.

Be careful with your things here. My friend and I stayed for a week, and while we were having breakfast at the hotel restaurant, someone stole my friend’s sling bag. Staff said it was Sunday and no manager was available to access the security cameras. We called 911 and the police came, but they said it was private property and they couldn’t access the footage either.

On arrival, late at night with our 20-month-old baby, we were told there were no rooms left and were moved to the suites building. They called it an upgrade, but I’m not sure it was. Our daughter’s shoe and an iPhone charger also disappeared from the room. We raised it with management, but they couldn’t find them. We had a difficult stay. The front desk receptionist spoke no English and used a phone translator, which made it hard to get basic information about the beach and parking. We lost our first morning trying to sort that out, and the receptionist’s manner felt indifferent and rude. I find it disappointing for a hotel of this brand to have non-English-speaking staff in customer-facing roles.

The hotel was clean and felt safe, and it’s handy for day trips: it’s on the highway, so pickups for places like Chichén Itza or any of the Xcaret are usually right at the doorstep. It’s about a 10-minute walk to 5th Avenue and roughly 15 minutes farther in the same direction to the ferries to Cozumel. The buffet serves the same spread every day, so don’t expect much variety. City Express Suites and this hotel are actually in the same building, which explains the confusing photos. One side is painted pink and has slightly better rooms, so they call it City Express Suites. Both sides use the same pool. If you stay at Suites, breakfast comes on a ceramic plate, while City Express uses hard paper plates, lol.