Our Trip to Hotel Xcaret Mexico

I honestly can’t believe that I’m writing my second vacation recap in one month, but here we are. A mere 9 days after Corey and I got back from our Disney World anniversary trip, we hopped back on a plane to head to Playa del Carmen for a trip to Hotel Xcaret Mexico. I got tons of questions about the resort and our experience on Instagram, so I’m here to share all the details!

First of all, I mentioned this on Instagram but it’s worth repeating: this is a yearly trip that Corey’s real estate team takes as a bonus for agents who meet certain sales goals. Each year, his team lead sets a goal for the entire team. Anyone who hits it is invited on this all-expenses-paid trip. This year, Corey was the only one on the team to hit the goal! So, it was just us and the team leadership. I am so proud of him for earning this trip and we truly had the best time!

Hotel Xcaret Mexico: Our Experience

I knew absolutely nothing about this resort before the trip. Normally I’m a big researcher and I like to head into any vacation fully prepared. But, I was tired from planning our Disney World trip and I just didn’t do nearly as much research as I normally would. So, we landed in Mexico without much of a plan besides wanting to relax, take things nice and slow, and hopefully sleep a lot.

One of the coolest things about this resort is that they call themselves “All Fun Inclusive”. That means that in addition to food/drinks being included in your resort stay, you also have free access to 8 adventure parks. EIGHT. Some of them are right by the hotel and can be done in just a few hours, and others are more of a drive or require a full-day commitment. It would be absolutely impossible to see and do everything in one trip unless you’re there for two weeks, so we didn’t put any pressure on ourselves to do anything other than enjoy the resort.

Our original plan was to hit up a couple of the adventure parks during the three days we were there. But, in the end we decided to just focus on spending time at the resort. I was slooooowly starting to get sick as we were there (my oldest had the flu when we left and by the time we got home from our trip it had officially hit me), so we really leaned in hard to resting and just taking in the sights.

So, this little trip recap won’t cover any of the adventure parks around Hotel Xcaret, just the actual resort. You’ll have to stay tuned to next year’s trip report for that, I guess.

Our Room

Let’s start by talking a little about the room because OMG I’ve never felt so fancy in my life! When we checked in we were given a spa river suite. I believe that was technically an upgrade from the standard room. We had a volcanic stone tub on our balcony, the most unbelievable views, and we even got free access to the hydrotherapy circuit in the spa (more on that later)!

Aside from the tub on the balcony (and the little spa perk), our room was the same as any of the others. Meaning, every single room in this hotel is super fancy and gorgeous. The shower was the most luxurious shower I’ve ever taken in my life. I think we took at least two a day every day we were there. Just because we could.

I also took a jacuzzi bath in our room and a bath in the fancy tub on the balcony. So, I was extremely clean the entire time we were on vacation.

The Views

Really, the star of the show when it comes to Hotel Xcaret is the VIEWS. I could not stop exclaiming over the incredible things we were seeing at every turn. The resort is huge and I kept telling Corey that it all just felt fake. It was like we were on a movie set and at any moment we’d hit the end of the sound stage and be back to reality.

Honestly, it was just silly. Real life doesn’t look like this.

We regularly got lost exploring the resort, and I don’t think we took the same path twice when we were getting around. There were new little things to find around every single corner and I was constantly surprised. By the end of the second day even I was getting tired of hearing myself exclaim about how gorgeous it was. I had genuinely run out of words at that point and couldn’t even fully process it any more.

I’m telling you, this place is unbelievable. Like, for real. I’m still not sure I believe it really exists.

The Food

Ohhhh boy, the food. I don’t know about you, but when I think of an all-inclusive resort I don’t generally imagine it to have the best food or drinks. Usually, the food is fine and the drinks are weak. But that is absolutely not the case here. Hotel Xcaret has 10 restaurants that are included in your stay, plus one that has an upcharge. We ate at several of the restaurants during our stay and the food was nothing short of fantastic.

The breakfast buffet in Mercado de la Merced was huge and full of so many incredible options. Dinner at Xin-Gao was so delicious. I can’t even tell you how thrilled Corey was to have a fancy sushi meal that wasn’t an extra charge. The Brazilian steakhouse experience at Las Cuevas was so fun, and when else can you say you ate dinner in a cave?

The one meal we did that was an additional cost was Sunday brunch at Las Cuevas. They’re kind of famous for this buffet style brunch and there’s a reason – it’s incredible. I actually got so overwhelmed by all of the options I had to have Corey talk me off the ledge a bit and walk around with me while I got my bearings. The food was incredible, the options were literally endless, and it was so dang fancy. If you’ll be there on a Sunday and have some extra room in the budget, I highly recommend it!

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the food heading into this trip, but I was so pleasantly surprised. The food was all delicious, the drinks were freshly made and not at all weak, and everything (including room service) was included in the price of your stay!

The Spa

And that brings me to my last little section to recap – the spa! I’m not normally a huge spa person. I don’t love being touched by strangers so massages are not really my thing. But, Corey loves massages and really wanted one. I could have let him go on his own but after seeing where the spa was I felt like it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I couldn’t really pass up! So, since the trip was covered for us we decided to splurge on a couple’s massage. You’ll remember we also had free access to the hydrotherapy circuit with our room. So, we spent most of one afternoon exploring the spa area.

At this point in our stay, I really didn’t think anything about this resort could shock me anymore, but this spa was breathtaking. There are really no words, and the pictures don’t even do it justice. It was incredible, so gorgeous, and so fun to get to experience.

The Hydrotherapy Circuit

I didn’t know what to expect from the hydrotherapy circuit but both of our overall impressions were that it was cold. It’s February and weather on our trip was a little on the cooler side (high 70’s most of the time). Maybe it would have been different if we went in the summer. But, I found myself shivering through much of the circuit. I half-joked to Corey at one point that I felt a little like I was being tortured.

It was a really fun and unique experience and I’m glad we did it. But, I don’t think I’d have loved it if I had paid $50 a person for it. If you’re less of a wimp than I am when it comes to cold water, or if it’s hot outside, you might like it more.

Of course, it maaaaay have been worth the $50 just to get to experience these views and lay in the big, fancy hanging swing beds.

The massages took place on the other side of the resort. It was a long walk over to the beach where we had our massages, but the walk was worth it. I mean, what other chance would I have to get a massage with this view?!

Overall Impressions

I didn’t really know what to expect as we headed into this vacation. We’ve never done an all-inclusive resort stay, so this was new to us! We had a really great time and are keeping our fingers crossed we get to go back next year.

I was highly impressed with every single aspect of this resort, and would 100% consider it for future vacations. It’s kind of hard to believe that we barely even scratched the surface of all the things you can do. I mean, we didn’t even visit a single adventure park! I’m hopeful that if we get to go back next year we’ll be able to be a little more adventurous and try out a few things.