We spent a week at Hyatt Ziva Cancun celebrating my MIL's retirement with a group of 16.5…read morepeople--the .5 being our 8-month-old . We had an AMAZING vacation, but separating how much fun we had as a group from the resort itself, the resort was just okay for us.
CHECK-IN/ROOM: Check-in was mostly smooth, although as UVC members they "upgraded" us from the ocean-view room I specifically chose to ocean front without asking. I care literally not at all about scenic views , so I would've preferred what I booked.
The $12 bracelet room keys were convenient WHEN they worked. More than half our group had issues with bracelets/cards needing resets.
Our Pyramid room was quiet and comfortable but dated. Our biggest issue was the crib. Despite requesting it before arrival and multiple times after check-in, it took hours. Eventually our concierge discovered it kept being sent to our originally booked room instead of our "upgraded" room.
PROPERTY: Convenient layout, nice pools and beautiful water. Generally stroller-friendly, although elevators occasionally wouldn't go to our floor, leaving us carrying a baby AND stroller down stairs.
FOOD: Our biggest disappointment--maybe 4/10. My family is full of foodies, and most things weren't bad quality, just bland and under-seasoned. La Bastille and Chevy's were our favorites, with Tradewinds' chimichurri getting an honorable mention.
Dinner service was DREADFULLY slow. Two-hour dinners were common even with only 2-3 people. On the positive side, we rarely waited long to be seated, and Carla from Lorenzo's was wonderful helping accommodate our large group.
Room service was fine, but dirty trays and half-eaten food constantly sitting in hallways and attracting animals wasn't my favorite.
DRINKS: We had some professional drinkers , and overall drinks were good. Ariel and Guillermo at the swim-up bar were fantastic--funny, attentive and personable. They remembered us AND Cooper's little non-alcoholic drink order. Ariel even made us a shot that took literally 10 minutes and it was SO good.
CABANA 5: Possibly the BEST decision of the trip. We rented it for six days. It's across from the swim-up bar but far enough away to avoid the crowd. The tanning pad was perfect for Cooper to "walk" through the water and for our floating card table/drinking games. With 16.5 people, the cabana became our home base and genuinely made the trip easier.
Immanuel and Angel were our butlers. Immanuel was sweet but sometimes disappeared for long periods. Angel was AMAZING--fast, attentive and so sweet. They brought food/drinks and even grabbed food from the nearby Asian food truck.
We had an issue with the included cabana facials and an employee repeatedly trying to determine who could use ours and when. Carlos, a manager, handled it wonderfully once we brought it to his attention, and Hugo was great about working around Cooper's naps.
BABY: Traveling with our 8-month-old was easier than expected! Every restaurant had high chairs and usually something soft enough for him. Walkways were mostly stroller-accessible and many were shaded. Staff were SO sweet with him. We brought a sleep pod over his crib for naps, which I highly recommend if your baby needs darkness.
SPA: Most of our group used it and everyone enjoyed it. My husband and I did 50-minute massages and the fish pedicure and loved both, plus the spa facilities.
CLUB LEVEL: Included through UVC, so of course worth it for us . If paying substantially extra? Probably not. We enjoyed playing pool there at night, upgraded liquor and extra food options, but I personally wouldn't pay a large premium.
ENTERTAINMENT: We planned most of our own activities, but played 11 a.m. volleyball religiously and OSCAR IS THE BEST! Hilarious, personable and SO much fun. Anything he was involved with around the pool seemed like a good time.
SALES PRESENTATIONS: A few non-members were offered Leisure Cash for what they were told was approximately a 50-minute presentation. FOUR HOURS LATER, they were still there. If you attend one, do NOT make plans based on the quoted time. That huge difference left a bad taste in our mouths.
WOULD WE RETURN? Honestly, probably not.
That doesn't mean we had a bad vacation--we had an AMAZING time. But that had more to do with our group, the memories and some wonderful staff than the resort itself.
There wasn't one catastrophic problem; it was an accumulation of dated areas, key/elevator issues, mediocre food, slow dinners, the crib mix-up and sales experience.
For roughly the same price--or sometimes a little more--I think other resorts offer more, are newer/better maintained and have better food.
Hyatt Ziva Cancun isn't a bad resort, and I can see why some families love it. It just wasn't the right resort for us to want to return to.
