**UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
Original post by mrsjpc3
Thread views: 6,235
Let me first start out by saying that I know alot of brides on here have had a good experience at Aventura Spa Palace, at least from their reviews. We chose Aventura based on high praise from our travel agent, and many ladies on here raving about it...
But I felt I owed a heads up to you ladies who plan on booking here for your upcoming honeymoon.
So anyway.. we left Miami and flew into Cancun. Aventura is about 1 hour or so south of the airport. We checked in, and to be quite honest we werent exactly 'wowed'. DH and I normally stay at nice hotels when we travel, so we were a little disappointed but didnt say so even to one another.
The room was decent, and we went down to the pool areas. This resort is HUGE - we were starving, having not eaten all day, and were excited to eat at one of the 8-10 restaurants. We were told we could either eat at the snack bar/palapa near the pool, or go inside to the restaurant to eat. The snack bar buffet consisted of boiled hotdogs, dry sauerkraut, tortilla chips, dried and pasty refried beans, and cheez wiz. Not our idea of the 4 star resort food and cuisine they so advertised.
The grounds were so-so, definitely not the picturesque grounds that were advertised on their site. This place had definitely seen better days,, probably in 1992. The grounds where grass or landscaping should have been was dirt, or sticks.
So we went into the restaurant. Here they had a LARGE buffet set up, with so many things to choose from. Again, not the most appetizing of foods: different types of pork in weird sauces, very fishy smelling fish, dried meats. ... so I ate tortilla chips and salsa. There was also NO guests eating in the restaurant which was a little odd.
At this point, we both looked at one another, and kinda laid it out there: we were pretty disappointed in the hotel grounds, pool, and for sure the food. We sat by the 'lagoon' which had a strangely odd scent like raw sewage, and decided to go back to the room, relax, shower and try one of the only 3 a la carte restaurants later on.
We went to La Trattoria, I ordered Filet Migon with risotto, and soup. DH ordered seafood risotto. The result??? I am not sure what type of meat my so called filet mignon was, but it was paper thin, and tasted 'gamey'. My risotto was not creamy, but dry, and was scooped onto my plate with a perfect ice-cream scoop shape, along with instant mashed potatoes. 2 bites later and we were done. The bottle of wine eased our pain however.
We would be the only 2 people who go to an all inclusive for 9 days, and come back 10 lbs lighter, from NOT eating!!?
We went back to the hotel room, and we both finally admitted that we could not picture spending another 9 days here. DH called our travel agent, then American airlines, and got us on a flight home at 7am this morning. We got back here a few hours ago, and went straight to the travel agent who is now in the process of refunding our $4k.
I am sure many of you may have had good experiences here, but honestly, we were not thrilled at all. Your honeymoon should be the vacation of your lifetime, and this was mediocre at best. Our travel agent is willing to send us basically anywhere we want to go in the next day or 2. Any suggestions?
mrsjpc3
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
Thanks for all the suggestions and well wishes ladies. I posted my review on tripadvisor.com, and another LIW bride informed me there was an even more horrendous review just above mine. It really was an eerie place, NO ONE WAS there, and that place is HUUUUUGE! I will post a few pics... the few that we took while we ventured out.... lol
Where is everyone.. the place was a ghost town,, and rightfully so... it would have been nice to maybe meet another couple.. but no one was in sight.. 1500 rooms, maybe 10 were occupied. Very eerie,esp at night time.
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
That is just so weird. Where is every1? So strange. That alone would make me want to leave. I would think that maybe the place has a bedbug problem that I didn't know about or something.
FutureMrs.M
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
one word...bizarre
GraceAndAdam
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
wow, that's really too bad that your honeymoon was ruined! I guess that there weren't that many guests because word got out that the place is like that. DH and I went to Riviera Maya this past summer, and Aventura Spa Palace is one of the hotels we were considering because it looked so nice in pictures and our travel agent had suggested it. But luckily we picked Excellence Riviera Cancun instead. If you and your DH ever want to try going back to Riviera Maya, I would recommend the Excellence. It definitely was not a ghost town, and the service and food was great. Good luck, and I hope you have a better vacation next time!
GinaZ
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
that is creepy there is NO ONE!! My friend and ehr family actually went there over the summer and enjoyed it. I dont know their vacation style though. But it wasn't her honeymoon. She was there with her parents and sister and I think they were partying a lot. Maybe its more of a spring break type of place??
ETA: Im addicted to tripadvisor and went to see your review. There is someone who wrote a review basically in rresponse to yours saying you were lucky it was a ghost town. Its kind of funny cus you can tell tehy took the trip like 2+ years ago before they added a family section to the resort. people are so dumb.
mrsjpc3
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
Posted by GinaZ
that is creepy there is NO ONE!! My friend and ehr family actually went there over the summer and enjoyed it. I dont know their vacation style though. But it wasn't her honeymoon. She was there with her parents and sister and I think they were partying a lot. Maybe its more of a spring break type of place??
ETA: Im addicted to tripadvisor and went to see your review. There is someone who wrote a review basically in rresponse to yours saying you were lucky it was a ghost town. Its kind of funny cus you can tell tehy took the trip like 2+ years ago before they added a family section to the resort. people are so dumb.
lol, thanks for reading my review on trip advisor. I tried to be as nice as possible... there was another review posted after mine, saying basically the same thing.. how horrible it was, but its gone? I cant understand how there are 1500 excellent reviews of this place.....
GinaZ
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
Posted by eleven29bride
Posted by GinaZ
that is creepy there is NO ONE!! My friend and ehr family actually went there over the summer and enjoyed it. I dont know their vacation style though. But it wasn't her honeymoon. She was there with her parents and sister and I think they were partying a lot. Maybe its more of a spring break type of place??
ETA: Im addicted to tripadvisor and went to see your review. There is someone who wrote a review basically in rresponse to yours saying you were lucky it was a ghost town. Its kind of funny cus you can tell tehy took the trip like 2+ years ago before they added a family section to the resort. people are so dumb.
lol, thanks for reading my review on trip advisor. I tried to be as nice as possible... there was another review posted after mine, saying basically the same thing.. how horrible it was, but its gone? I cant understand how there are 1500 excellent reviews of this place.....
I saw one either right before yours or after yours that was probably the one your talking about...I think it was written by a couple that went there to try and get a room without a reservation and the hotel like held them for questioning. Weird. I think people who havn't had the opportunity to stay at nice places are easily fooled to thinking that this is a 5 star place and don't realize they could spend the same money at an Excellence or Secrets resort and see how much better it is (supposedly.)
mrsjpc3
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
Posted by GinaZ
Posted by eleven29bride
Posted by GinaZ
that is creepy there is NO ONE!! My friend and ehr family actually went there over the summer and enjoyed it. I dont know their vacation style though. But it wasn't her honeymoon. She was there with her parents and sister and I think they were partying a lot. Maybe its more of a spring break type of place??
ETA: Im addicted to tripadvisor and went to see your review. There is someone who wrote a review basically in rresponse to yours saying you were lucky it was a ghost town. Its kind of funny cus you can tell tehy took the trip like 2+ years ago before they added a family section to the resort. people are so dumb.
lol, thanks for reading my review on trip advisor. I tried to be as nice as possible... there was another review posted after mine, saying basically the same thing.. how horrible it was, but its gone? I cant understand how there are 1500 excellent reviews of this place.....
I saw one either right before yours or after yours that was probably the one your talking about...I think it was written by a couple that went there to try and get a room without a reservation and the hotel like held them for questioning. Weird. I think people who havn't had the opportunity to stay at nice places are easily fooled to thinking that this is a 5 star place and don't realize they could spend the same money at an Excellence or Secrets resort and see how much better it is (supposedly.)
Yup, that was the review... dont know where it went? I agree, and afterwards our stupid travel agent says.. 'well 5 star resorts in mexico are really like 2.5 -3 stars in the US. Yay idiot, thanks alot.. .
KerriJohnS
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
Creepy! WOW! It really is like a Ghost Town! What is going on with that! It's like the Twilight Zone! Well at least you have a great story to tell for years to come! And pics to proove it too! Think about telling your grandchildren all about it and showing them the pics! I know it wasn't funny while you were going through it... but mostly anything can be funny after the time passes. I hope the next place turned out perfect for you guys!
mrsjpc3
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
Posted by KerriJohnS
Creepy! WOW! It really is like a Ghost Town! What is going on with that! It's like the Twilight Zone! Well at least you have a great story to tell for years to come! And pics to proove it too! Think about telling your grandchildren all about it and showing them the pics! I know it wasn't funny while you were going through it... but mostly anything can be funny after the time passes. I hope the next place turned out perfect for you guys!
aw thank you. Yea, its already a funny story to tell. no one can believe we were back from MX the next day! Oh well, better than having a crapppy honeymoon in my opinion.
Shelleybean11
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
What a horrible experience for your HM! I am so sorry. At least you have an interesting HM story for your granchildren LOL
mikendeanna
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
omg im soooo sorry that is horrible
mbscheer
Thread views: 6,235
Member since
Re: **UPDATED with 'ghost town' pics!! ** 10 thumbs down.. just got back from our 16 hour honeymoon at Aventura Spa Palace
Sorry you had such a bad time but thanks for the post. Me and FH were looking at this as a place for our honeymoon
