Hotel Xcaret Mexico Review: The Ultimate All-Inclusive Resort In Mexico
I discovered this hotel ages ago, and I remember being absolutely mesmerised. A hotel with eco theme parks, with everything from ziplining to gorgeous cenotes. The moment I saw this hotel, I knew I had to visit. After much saving, I finally booked the trip and can’t rave about this hotel enough. Even writing this now makes me feel emotional because I want to go back.
So, what is Xcaret? It’s a luxury all-fun inclusive hotel in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, offering luxury, adventure and nature.
What is all fun inclusive?
When Xcaret says they are all-inclusive, they mean it. With your room rate, you get transfers to and from the airport, food and drink (they are not stingy with the drink), and unlimited park access.
The only things that aren’t included are certain alcoholic beverages (to be honest, I don’t know what is and isn’t, but we had quite a few cocktails, and all these were included), a few restaurants, and some activities in the park.
Rooms.
We stayed in the standard room, which was massive. It was easily the largest room I have ever stayed in. Everything felt oversized from the shower to the bed (I forgot I brought my boyfriend with me at one point). The room came stocked with complimentary drinks and snacks. The housekeeping was excellent. My favourite feature was the balcony with a hammock and an outdoor bath.
Hotel Facilities
This hotel has amazing facilities. They have manmade rivers and inlets where you can kayak, paddleboard or swim. They have some kid pools and pools with swim-up bars. We never struggled to get a sunbed, even if we came mid-afternoon.
The one issue some people may have with this property is the beach. The beach is tiny and you can’t really swim in the water. There are a few deck chairs we used this in the morning to watch the sun rise. This didn’t bother me as the pools in this property make up for it, but if you are really into the beach, then it is something to consider.
The gym is the best I have ever seen in a hotel. There are three on-site, and they are huge. Whenever we went, they were super empty. My dad is super picky with gyms, and when I sent him a video, he said it was one of the best he has seen at a hotel. They also have tennis and paddle courts. As we are from the UK, we struggled with a bit of jet lag and found ourselves waking up at 5 am, and we would always do a walk around the resort at this time, and as it is super large, there are loads of areas to walk around.
There is a spa and a kids’ club. However, we didn’t use either of these facilities, so I can’t comment. I also know they have loads of new facilities such as slides, nightclubs, and teen clubs opening soon.
Restaurants:
Las Playas (no extra charge) – This casual restaurant in the pool area is great for a poolside snack. They do ceviche, tacos, tostados, pizza, salads and fish for lunch. For dinner, they make soup, pasta, and meat. You can also get some nice cocktails here.
Teatro del Rio (no extra charge) – This is a dinner show with music and dancing. You also have a tasting menu, we had octopus tostado, ceviche, surf and turf and chocolate cake with sorbet. This was so much fun, the only downside is you are seated with other groups as the tables are pretty big, but considering this is included in the all-inclusive, I thought it was excellent.
Teatro del Rio (no extra charge) – This is a dinner show with music and dancing. You also have a tasting menu, we had octopus tostado, ceviche, surf and turf and chocolate cake with sorbet. This was so much fun, the only downside is you are seated with other groups as the tables are pretty big, but considering this is included in the all-inclusive, I thought it was excellent.
Xin Gao (no extra charge) – This is a restaurant that serves Asian cuisine. When booking, you have the option of Teppanyaki, Sushi or Fusion. We did the Teppanyaki experience, which was good. However, I wish we had done Sushi or Fusion so we could have chosen our dishes. (Reservation Required)
Cantina Los Faroles (no extra charge) – serves Mexican food. The food is delicious.
Here are some other restaurants the hotel has, but we didn’t go to:
Ha’ (extra charge)– This is a Michelin-star restaurant with a 9-course tasting menu.
Chibali – Buffet style restaurant.
Las Cuevas (extra charge) – Steakhouse and buffet set in caves.
Fuego (extra charge for dinner) – Mexican/Italian Restaurant
Bio (no extra charge) – Plant-based restaurant
Trajinera (no extra charge) – Seafood/Mexican restaurant.
New restaurants are set to open in 2025, so there may be more options now. One regret I have is not going to more restaurants for breakfast. Due to jet lag, we woke up at 5 am, so by 7/8, we would be starving and go to the first place that opened for breakfast. Having researched for this blog, some of these restaurant menus look really good, and I wish we had gone there.
The fantastic thing about this hotel, as well, is that they set up stations throughout the day with little treats. We had a crepe, an ice lolly and a burger.
Parks:
Xcaret – This is the main park and is super large. It is set in the jungle with underground rivers, cenotes and the ocean. Xcaret showcases the history of Mexico, including Mayan villages, a Mayan ball game court, and archaeological sites. They also have a ton of water activities like snorkelling. Their show Xcaret Espectacular is a representation of Mexican history. It includes traditional Mexican dancing and reenactments of Mayan games.
As a hotel guest, you get free transportation to the park (we took the boat and walked, as it is only a 24-minute walk). Food isn’t included, but as it was super close, we returned to the hotel for lunch and some drinks.
Xel-Ha – This natural waterpark has a gorgeous inlet, rivers and cenotes to explore. The main activity in the park is to wade through the mangroves on a rubber ring or by snorkelling to get to the inlet. To get to the mangroves, you can bike, take a train or walk. In the mangroves and the inlet, there is plenty of fish and fauna, and it is truly a stunning place to snorkel. However, you can also zip line and cliff jump in the inlet if you are more adventurous. They also have plenty of areas to relax, a jungle walk where you can explore cenotes and caves, and some waterslides (I cannot comment on the waterslides as I am terrified of waterslides, so I did not dare to try them).
There are quite a few activities that you can do, which are at an additional cost, such as a speed boat, snorkelling and a manatee encounter. We didn’t do any extra activities as none really stood out, but we still managed to fill our day.
This is quite a bit further away from the hotel than the other parks (about an hour and a half), so you must spend all day there. We picked up at 9:30 and the bus departed Xel-Ha at 5pm. We didn’t feel that the day dragged; the park is also all-inclusive, so you do not pay extra for food and drink.
Xpolor/Xplor Feuego – This park was 100 percent our favourite. Oh my god, did we have fun there! So once you arrive at this park, you will walk into these amazing caves, and a lot of this park is actually set within caves. It is so stunning and really cool. The activities in this park include:
- Ziplining (I was terrified to do this, but it felt super safe here, and we didn’t experience any stopping mid-way, which can happen at some ziplining places). They also let you go as a pair on some of the ziplines, which was super fun. There is a good amount, and some end up in the water.
- Atv’ing, we had such a laugh doing this, it felt like we were in Jurassic Park. You get to go through caves and puddles.
- Underground expedition – This tour takes you through the waters of underground rivers. They also have a little obstacle course and a slide in parts of it. It really feels so cool, and the scenery is stunning. It was utterly unique, unlike anything I had ever done before.
- Swimming in the cave is where you swim/float through the cave. This was really relaxing and super enjoyable.
- Rafting through the cave – On your way to this activity, there is a sign joking about couples divorcing after doing it. My boyfriend and I laughed when we saw this, thinking it won’t be us. Oh my god, it almost was! Rafting in the cave is tough, and we both definitely got stroppy with each other. It is a fun activity, though, once you get the hang of it! Maybe go separately!
This hotel is all-inclusive again, so all food, snacks and beverages are included.
Xplor Fuego is this park in the evening, we didn’t do this; however, I can imagine it is amazing.
Xenses – We thought this park would be the least exciting to visit. However, we really enjoyed this one. It is a half-day park. It is all about your senses and has loads of optical illusions. It also has a Xensatoriam which is where you go in the pitch black and explore different ecosystems. I lasted ten seconds, then felt so scared and walked right back out! My partner enjoyed it, though. They also have a wet area with a mud pool, salt float and zip line.
Xavage – We did not go to this park as we didn’t have enough days, and it looks to be temporarily closed at the time of writing this. However, this is the most extreme and adventurous park the Xcaret group has. It has a splash zone with slides, a pool, kayaking, white rater rafting, and high ropes.
Tips for visiting:
- Bring water shoes
- Make sure you have reef-safe sunscreen. Please don’t wear if you don’t
- Contact Xcaret a month before your trip to book parks and restaurants (I believe you also need to book the shuttle).
- Download the Xcaret app so you don’t miss anything.
- Research the hotel and park so you know everything you need to do. We missed some things, so I really wish we did more research.
- Make sure you have enough time. We squeezed our trip into 4 days, and I would love to go for a week if I went back. That way, we could have done everything at a more relaxed pace.
Overall, Xcaret is a great hotel, and I can’t wait to go back with my kids one day. It is such a well-oiled machine, and everything is organised from the shuttles to the check-in process to the housekeeping. Honestly, I can’t give this hotel enough praise. If you are going to the Riviera Maya, I highly recommend checking it out.