We do, too! I am always like, "I have been there!" We loved this resort and the staff. We found great deals for this place on black Friday or near Thanksgiving last year. Maybe it is time for you to return! Mexico is amazing! Thanks for watching! 🙂
My dad surprised my husband and I with a fully paid 7 day trip! We’re going in June. Only 6 weeks left. No kids (4) ! 😩 great job on the review. I’m so excited 🎉🎉🎉
That is an awesome surprise! Thanks Dad! It was an amazing trip for us. Bring pesos and definitely check out Xcaret. The caves are so much fun! Safe travels and have fun! 🙂
We just got back from there. Hello friends in Florida. That place was awesome. The caves, the history can't wait to go back and stay for more than a day. Enjoyed watching Stay blessed new friends 👍👍
OMG that pool! What a beautiful resort! Love the monkeys! The lizards I would have to get used to! lol nice to see your boys helping with the tours. Great video 😃
The pool area was amazing, and so was the arena. I loved the little boat that brought you over to Xcaret. You felt like you were in the jungle with all the animals that roamed the property. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
We had a lot of fun! Hopefully, you will, too. Definitely check out Xcaret right next door. You can take a little boat or walk a few minutes. Good luck and have fun! 🙂
It was a little slice of paradise! Seriously, Mexico is beautiful like Hawaii, closer, and cheaper. You just can't drink the water lol. It is definitely worth a visit at least once. We recommend using shuttles and taxis your first time. The driving over there seemed like the most dangerous thing lol. 🙂
@@FloridaandBeyond We have been to Mexico a few times. Yeah stay away from the water! I took a taxi in Matamoros years ago and the driver stopped on green and floored it on red! It was so crazy!
Great Job guys!!! I've always wanted to check out one of the Xcaret hotels. This looks like soooooo much fun! I don't know how I feel about monkeys flying over my head daily, but man does it look cool! I can't wait until we can get our turn to go! Fantastic video we loved it! ~ London and Nat
Look for a deal on Black Friday! The Occidental is more affordable than Hotel Xcaret. I think because your kids are still little, they would allow 4 to one room. They didn't allow four adults to one room. That seemed like a common thing in Mexico. Everyone was very excited when the monkeys came out lol. Thanks for watching! 🙂
You said there was a boat ride to the park! I’m looking at buying tickets for the whole park and to watch the show at night! Does the boat bring you back? I’m not exactly sure. What’s included for the park with hotel stay?
@AmandaElms-tn5nc There is the tiny boat we got on. If you don't want to take the boat or you miss it, you can walk back. It is a 2 minute walk. The advantage of staying at this hotel is that you are right next to Xcaret with multiple entrances from the hotel to the park. Don't pay for the shuttle to park. It is not needed. You never have to leave the hotel complex to get to the park. We had a wonderful time, and hopefully, you will, too. Swimming in the caves was a bucket list item for me! 🙂
@AmandaElms-tn5nc yes get plus tickets if you want the buffet. We thought the buffet was really good. If you want to do extra activities like Sea Trek®, a walk on the seabed; Stingray Sea Trek®, to observe these majestic species in its natural habitat; or Sharks, a Hands On Adventure! to dip into the great world of the nurse sharks, that is, the total package. We want to swim with sharks next time!
Thanks for the awsone video, very will done and lots of info. Do you know if they have gluten free itams? also what do men have to wear in the specialty restaurants? Thanks aging for the awsome video.
Thank you! From what I can see from online, they do have gluten-free options. Someone said they had gluten-free bread even. So, the dress code was no shorts or flip-flops. We did not have anything dressy. They were okay with polo shirts and jean pants for the guys. We didn't know there was a dress code until we got there, so we were glad it wasn't too strict. 🙂
Was the resort busy in March when you went? We are looking at going the 2nd and 3rd week of March for 2 weeks. What time did you have to be up to save chairs by the pool? Thanks again!!
@cadekaltenthaler4924 the crowds were average. There were some chairs available. If you plan to stay here, definitely visit Xcaret. You can walk to the park from the hotel or take a boat. The cave swimming is amazing!
So they have 2 buffets options. If you don't want that, there is, I think, room service. I would confirm with the hotel. Here is a link to the restaurants. Also, the one buffet does a made to order omelet bar. Here is the link : www.barcelo.com/en-us/occidental-at-xcaret-destination/cuisine/
Question: You mentioned having to wait an hour for specialty dining. Did you mean you had to wake up early, wait in line for an hour, just to get a reservation to the non-buffet dining restaurants?
Yes! I got up at 6:50am and went down there to find a huge line. I had to wait until 7:50am in line to book my specialty dinner for that night. The buffet, pizza, and taco place is good, but we wanted to have some of the specialty dinners. We only made it to one out of the 4 nights we stayed there. We wish they would have a better system, like book the night before online. It would have made it easier. We enjoyed this resort a lot, just not that. 🙂
@@FloridaandBeyond Thanks for the quick reply! I saw on their website a dress code for the specialty restaurants too. DO you recall if they were strict about that? It said long pants and closed toe shoes.
@VirginiaSlimRTM No shorts, no beach wear, and closed toe shoes. I did not have anything dressy, so I just wore black pants and a shirt with sneakers. They seemed okay with that. The boys wore jeans pants and polos with sneakers.
We found a local money exchange place and got like 8k pesos to bring with us, which is like a little over 500 USD. We made sure we got 20, 50, 100, and 200 pesos. I watched a video that recommended what to tip each person. 25 to 50 pesos a day for cleaning staff, 40 to 50 for Hotel porters, and 10 to 20% in restaurants and bars. I tipped about 100 peso for breakfast and 200 peso for dinner. You can still tip in USD, but we wanted to tip in Pesos because it is easier for the staff. We have heard they have to pay an exchange fee, which means the staff loses money on the tip when in USD. Most people will tell you to pay in pesos. We used USD when we needed to and our credit card at certain places that were bigger, like Xcaret. We also heard that you shouldn't put tip on credit card. Have fun next month! The place is amazing! 🙂
We did not have that experience, but we did agree to do the timeshare like the second day. It was an interesting deal, but we did not buy. We have done a lot of timeshare presentations and this was the least pressure and probably one of the better deals as it wasn't actually a timeshare. They gave us a free taxi ride to Cancun, which was like an hour and saved us a few bucks. I say no, thank you a lot, or we have already talked to someone about this when they ask. Have a great day! 🙂
We explained it in the video, but to recap, you could only do it the morning of. I had to get up at 6 am and go down to the help desk. I waited an hour to get reservations. It was the one thing we did not like about this hotel. We did a whole pros and cons at the end of the video. 🙂
I went about 17 years ago. I absolutely loved it. I snorkeled everyday in their private lagoon. Thinking about going back. However, the drive from the Cancun airport was very sketchy. I remember driving by several Cartel mansions with guards by the street. Is Mexico still safe? I worry about the Cartels stopping a shuttle and killing the tourists.
So when we went we took a shuttle from the airport. Nobody stopped us. It was resorts and stores from the airport to resort. In the center, from time to time, you would see police stations where the military would be looking for drugs. They never stopped any of the shuttles, though. When we were there with our children, we felt relatively safe. We took taxis and shuttles when we were at this resort, and we stayed in the hotel zone in Cancún. We took the city bus there. You have to use common sense as a tourist and stay away from anything shady like most places you travel. We loved the Occidental Xcaret and the fact that it was walking distances to Xcaret Park. Mexico has a lot of soldiers protecting the tourist areas. Watch our other videos on Mexico to see how much fun we had! 🙂
This is the Occidental Xcaret, not Xcaret Hotel, which is next door. I think we paid for 2 rooms 2k for 4 nights for 4 people, which included a taxi ride from the airport. Xcaret hotel is 599 to 750 a night. This was 250 a night and included food, water, and alcohol. The rooms were a little dated, but the staff and food was incredible. We loved being next to the park. The Cove area was amazing.
We did not use the room service. From what I can find online, there is a 24-hour room service. It will cost a fee through unless you are staying in the Royal Area. I would double check though with the hotel. They have presents on Facebook to ask any question. Hope this helps! facebook.com/OccidentalatXcaretDestination?mibextid=ZbWKwL
We had a lot of fun! It is like staying in the jungle with amenities. The staff was friendly. The arena was incredible, and the giant pool with the cups was one of our favorites. The food was really good too. We tried a lot of Spanish food at the buffet and the Hacienda Specialty restaurant. We liked taking the boat over to Xcaret. I hope you have as much fun as we did. México is a blast! 🙂
As a big history buff I enjoyed the ruins. Water looked good too… pretty genius putting up the net to limit the seaweed. Beautiful place 🤩
It is amazing! We had so much fun. We would love to go back one day!
Muy buen video... Sigan haciendolo asi!!
Gracias! 🙂
We LOVE this resort. Enjoyed you video. I watch these kind of videos when I am missing the resort. LOL that is a lot.
We do, too! I am always like, "I have been there!" We loved this resort and the staff. We found great deals for this place on black Friday or near Thanksgiving last year. Maybe it is time for you to return! Mexico is amazing! Thanks for watching! 🙂
My dad surprised my husband and I with a fully paid 7 day trip! We’re going in June. Only 6 weeks left. No kids (4) ! 😩 great job on the review. I’m so excited 🎉🎉🎉
That is an awesome surprise! Thanks Dad! It was an amazing trip for us. Bring pesos and definitely check out Xcaret. The caves are so much fun! Safe travels and have fun! 🙂
We just got back from there. Hello friends in Florida. That place was awesome. The caves, the history can't wait to go back and stay for more than a day.
Enjoyed watching
Stay blessed new friends 👍👍
It was an amazing place! We would definitely return ourselves. Thanks for watching! 🙂
Thank you for your video. It was very thorough and answered so many of my questions. Thanks my fellow Floridians 💜
Thank you for watching! We are glad this video answered some of your questions. 🙂
Hello from Naples, Florida. Now, that was nice!! We enjoyed. Thanks for sharing the amazing views with us, have a great week 👍 💯 ❤
You are welcome! We had the best time! 🙂
OMG that pool! What a beautiful resort! Love the monkeys! The lizards I would have to get used to! lol nice to see your boys helping with the tours. Great video 😃
The pool area was amazing, and so was the arena. I loved the little boat that brought you over to Xcaret. You felt like you were in the jungle with all the animals that roamed the property. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
this is so stunning, I cant wait to visit someday too. Thanks for sharing.
We were in love the whole time there! The resort was amazing! We would like to return one day and stay in the Royal club rooms. Thanks for watching! 🙂
WHEN HIS HOTDOG ROLLED OFF THE PLATE I DIED BWAHHAHA
Buffets are always challenging. I hate when I drop food.
What a great place! Thanks for sharing. ❤
Thanks for watching! 🙂
You captured the beauty of this place so well!
It was a beautiful place! We would definitely go back if we had a chance!
@@FloridaandBeyond you should make it your vacation home
@@spiritdaysarah I wish! Lol
@@FloridaandBeyond😂😂😂
Loved this resort.
We did, too! We loved all the nature!
Like 15! What an amazing place! I’m so surprised that some of these places can rival the really good Hawaiian resort! Amazing! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
That is what Mike and I were saying. Mexico is like Hawaii, but it is closer and cheaper. Everyone should visit at least once.
Great video folks. We will be going there in August.🤘
We had a lot of fun! Hopefully, you will, too. Definitely check out Xcaret right next door. You can take a little boat or walk a few minutes. Good luck and have fun! 🙂
Wow that is just beautiful! Amazing place!
It was a little slice of paradise! Seriously, Mexico is beautiful like Hawaii, closer, and cheaper. You just can't drink the water lol. It is definitely worth a visit at least once. We recommend using shuttles and taxis your first time. The driving over there seemed like the most dangerous thing lol. 🙂
@@FloridaandBeyond We have been to Mexico a few times. Yeah stay away from the water! I took a taxi in Matamoros years ago and the driver stopped on green and floored it on red! It was so crazy!
Great Job guys!!! I've always wanted to check out one of the Xcaret hotels. This looks like soooooo much fun! I don't know how I feel about monkeys flying over my head daily, but man does it look cool! I can't wait until we can get our turn to go! Fantastic video we loved it! ~ London and Nat
Look for a deal on Black Friday! The Occidental is more affordable than Hotel Xcaret. I think because your kids are still little, they would allow 4 to one room. They didn't allow four adults to one room. That seemed like a common thing in Mexico. Everyone was very excited when the monkeys came out lol. Thanks for watching! 🙂
You said there was a boat ride to the park! I’m looking at buying tickets for the whole park and to watch the show at night! Does the boat bring you back? I’m not exactly sure. What’s included for the park with hotel stay?
@AmandaElms-tn5nc There is the tiny boat we got on. If you don't want to take the boat or you miss it, you can walk back. It is a 2 minute walk. The advantage of staying at this hotel is that you are right next to Xcaret with multiple entrances from the hotel to the park. Don't pay for the shuttle to park. It is not needed. You never have to leave the hotel complex to get to the park. We had a wonderful time, and hopefully, you will, too. Swimming in the caves was a bucket list item for me! 🙂
@@FloridaandBeyond and just to confirm you had to buy tickets for that correct? I’m on the Xcaret Park website to purchase the Xcaret plus tickets
@AmandaElms-tn5nc yes get plus tickets if you want the buffet. We thought the buffet was really good. If you want to do extra activities like Sea Trek®, a walk on the seabed; Stingray Sea Trek®, to observe these majestic species in its natural habitat; or Sharks, a Hands On Adventure! to dip into the great world of the nurse sharks, that is, the total package. We want to swim with sharks next time!
Thanks for the awsone video, very will done and lots of info. Do you know if they have gluten free itams? also what do men have to wear in the specialty restaurants? Thanks aging for the awsome video.
Thank you! From what I can see from online, they do have gluten-free options. Someone said they had gluten-free bread even. So, the dress code was no shorts or flip-flops. We did not have anything dressy. They were okay with polo shirts and jean pants for the guys. We didn't know there was a dress code until we got there, so we were glad it wasn't too strict. 🙂
Was the resort busy in March when you went? We are looking at going the 2nd and 3rd week of March for 2 weeks. What time did you have to be up to save chairs by the pool? Thanks again!!
@cadekaltenthaler4924 the crowds were average. There were some chairs available. If you plan to stay here, definitely visit Xcaret. You can walk to the park from the hotel or take a boat. The cave swimming is amazing!
Hi. I’m not big on buffets, were there other options besides the buffet for lunch? Thanks
So they have 2 buffets options. If you don't want that, there is, I think, room service. I would confirm with the hotel. Here is a link to the restaurants. Also, the one buffet does a made to order omelet bar. Here is the link : www.barcelo.com/en-us/occidental-at-xcaret-destination/cuisine/
Question: You mentioned having to wait an hour for specialty dining. Did you mean you had to wake up early, wait in line for an hour, just to get a reservation to the non-buffet dining restaurants?
Yes! I got up at 6:50am and went down there to find a huge line. I had to wait until 7:50am in line to book my specialty dinner for that night. The buffet, pizza, and taco place is good, but we wanted to have some of the specialty dinners. We only made it to one out of the 4 nights we stayed there. We wish they would have a better system, like book the night before online. It would have made it easier. We enjoyed this resort a lot, just not that. 🙂
@@FloridaandBeyond Thanks for the quick reply! I saw on their website a dress code for the specialty restaurants too. DO you recall if they were strict about that? It said long pants and closed toe shoes.
@VirginiaSlimRTM No shorts, no beach wear, and closed toe shoes. I did not have anything dressy, so I just wore black pants and a shirt with sneakers. They seemed okay with that. The boys wore jeans pants and polos with sneakers.
Hi!! We are going next month, appreciate this review. As far as tipping, should we convert our USD cash to MX? Or can we tip in USD?
We found a local money exchange place and got like 8k pesos to bring with us, which is like a little over 500 USD. We made sure we got 20, 50, 100, and 200 pesos. I watched a video that recommended what to tip each person. 25 to 50 pesos a day for cleaning staff, 40 to 50 for Hotel porters, and 10 to 20% in restaurants and bars. I tipped about 100 peso for breakfast and 200 peso for dinner. You can still tip in USD, but we wanted to tip in Pesos because it is easier for the staff. We have heard they have to pay an exchange fee, which means the staff loses money on the tip when in USD. Most people will tell you to pay in pesos. We used USD when we needed to and our credit card at certain places that were bigger, like Xcaret. We also heard that you shouldn't put tip on credit card. Have fun next month! The place is amazing! 🙂
Did you find they were constantly trying to get you to timeshare/membership meetings? One of my least favorite things about some all-inclusives!
We did not have that experience, but we did agree to do the timeshare like the second day. It was an interesting deal, but we did not buy. We have done a lot of timeshare presentations and this was the least pressure and probably one of the better deals as it wasn't actually a timeshare. They gave us a free taxi ride to Cancun, which was like an hour and saved us a few bucks. I say no, thank you a lot, or we have already talked to someone about this when they ask. Have a great day! 🙂
Are those special restaurants easy to make reservations daily? Thanks
We explained it in the video, but to recap, you could only do it the morning of. I had to get up at 6 am and go down to the help desk. I waited an hour to get reservations. It was the one thing we did not like about this hotel. We did a whole pros and cons at the end of the video. 🙂
I went about 17 years ago. I absolutely loved it. I snorkeled everyday in their private lagoon. Thinking about going back. However, the drive from the Cancun airport was very sketchy. I remember driving by several Cartel mansions with guards by the street. Is Mexico still safe? I worry about the Cartels stopping a shuttle and killing the tourists.
So when we went we took a shuttle from the airport. Nobody stopped us. It was resorts and stores from the airport to resort. In the center, from time to time, you would see police stations where the military would be looking for drugs. They never stopped any of the shuttles, though. When we were there with our children, we felt relatively safe. We took taxis and shuttles when we were at this resort, and we stayed in the hotel zone in Cancún. We took the city bus there. You have to use common sense as a tourist and stay away from anything shady like most places you travel. We loved the Occidental Xcaret and the fact that it was walking distances to Xcaret Park. Mexico has a lot of soldiers protecting the tourist areas. Watch our other videos on Mexico to see how much fun we had! 🙂
Looks nice, more old school Mexican decor, rooms look very basic and Xcaret is considered an expensive resort .
This is the Occidental Xcaret, not Xcaret Hotel, which is next door. I think we paid for 2 rooms 2k for 4 nights for 4 people, which included a taxi ride from the airport. Xcaret hotel is 599 to 750 a night. This was 250 a night and included food, water, and alcohol. The rooms were a little dated, but the staff and food was incredible. We loved being next to the park. The Cove area was amazing.
Hi. Is there room service?
We did not use the room service. From what I can find online, there is a 24-hour room service. It will cost a fee through unless you are staying in the Royal Area. I would double check though with the hotel. They have presents on Facebook to ask any question. Hope this helps!
facebook.com/OccidentalatXcaretDestination?mibextid=ZbWKwL
When did you stay here?
Just last month over spring break!
We are going in july!
We had a lot of fun! It is like staying in the jungle with amenities. The staff was friendly. The arena was incredible, and the giant pool with the cups was one of our favorites. The food was really good too. We tried a lot of Spanish food at the buffet and the Hacienda Specialty restaurant. We liked taking the boat over to Xcaret. I hope you have as much fun as we did. México is a blast! 🙂
Like 44 👍 💯 ❤
Thank you!
Free ?
@juanrivera1572 not sure what you are asking? It is an inclusive resort. Your food, water, activities, and alcohol come with the cost of your room.
I paid 120 a night for two people.
Good deal! We really enjoyed this resort. Good location! Thanks for watching!
no food in the room....suppose to be relaxing
Well, I think they may have allowed room service, but it says fees apply. We did not use it.