Palmar Beach Resort Riviera Maya

Our week was from February 11-18, 2024.
We stayed in room 2110 at the adult pool in a swim up suite. We lucked out with the sunny spot at the pool. Our first 6 nights were made uncomfortable by a couple of men that partied all day and all night with friends from the other end of the building and they used our pool patio to walk back and forth all day and all night while being very loud and one of them was rude to us on the first night because he locked himself out of his room and somehow this was our responsibility to get him back in.
We put up with it and tried to ignore them.
Bring earplugs because the wedding parties have the music very loud but do turn it down around 11 pm, so if you want to sleep earlier than that, it could be a problem.
We didn't book a reservation at the only restaurant that requires a reservation (Italian) we spoke to a few people that had and we decided it wasn't worth it. We were approached by a waiter from the Beach Bistro one day at our room patio and he talked us into booking a special steak and lobster dinner that we decided to have on our last night, when we arrived at the restaurant to have our dinner, there was no reservation for us and they had no idea who we were. We went to the front desk and talked to the concierge, who called the restaurant and arranged to have us come back, but we declined, because I was honestly so disappointed by then and decided just to go back to the room and we didn't have dinner that night. We recommend that you only book with the concierge.
Shout out to the door men, they are fantastic and so helpful, getting a cab to go into Puerto Morales was so easy and will cost you around $1,200 pesos round trip (excluding tip). The taxi driver will wait for you for up to 3 hours. That's plenty of time to walk around, shop and go for lunch. The WiFi at this resort is great and I found no dead spots even by the beach it was strong. At high tide the beach is tiny, seems the water is eroding the beach so if you are planning a beach wedding be mindful of that. I did notice that in the evening when there was a wedding reception going on, there was no bartender at the adult pool bar. It would be nice if they still staffed it for people that want to enjoy a beverage on their patio after dinner, after all that's what we paid for right? We shouldn't have to walk to the front desk area to get a drink from the lounge/bar. They have a large common area at the main entrance that has tables and lounge chairs and there are areas with plugs in the floor to charge your device while waiting for your transfer to the airport. I was disappointed that there didn't seem to be any staff there to serve drinks until the day it rained, seemed they only served on a rain day because people weren't pool side.

Tapas restaurant wasn't really worth lining up for, you will probably have to hit the buffet after due to tiny portions (Tapas is only the name, they don't serve tapas) The Beach Bistro has a great à la cart selection and a salad bar, you won't wait long for a drink there. Order a burger!
The main buffet restaurant is hit and miss, they sometimes remember to bring you your drinks. The food is okay, you can usually find something.
The room service is good food, breakfast was the best. They are cheap with the french fries though. You will want to download the resort app to do your ordering and to contact the concierge easily. This brings me to our first night there, we didn't get into our room until 10 pm and all the restaurants were closed so the only choice you have after 10pm for food is room service. I called using the room phone and was told our order would take 1 hour and 45 min! I begged the lady to send it sooner and explained how long we had travelled, she sent it in less than a half hour. After that, all our room service requests came in under 45 min. via the app. I recommend this resort, but we would probably not go back as I think it was too boring for the husband but I like the smaller resort feel.
All in all they do a great job here and the staff work very hard and they seem to take pride in their job. [Details]

We start with very bad experience in the food area. The dishes are looking old, unclean, not fresh vegetables and fruits, going in the food area the smell so bad! Then we had our room almost got on fire in the middle of the night from the jacuzzi in the room. They gave us a room of one bed we was 4 people. I was calling them few times until they let us the room we was supposed to stay from the beginning for 4 people.
My daughter got bad cut in the pool because the tile was broken, we felt the hotel didn't have nothing to offer us, no music by the pools (one pool adult only they have music) but for families they had nothing! No entertainment ! One fire show that was so bad that the guy catch the fire few times on his clothes then the girl in middle of the show her fire holders start to break and we got to understand it's safer for us to be far away so we left. In restaurants we wait for our food for an hour and half each time (breakfast or dinners empty or full) [Details]

The Karisma Hotel and Resort lines are incredible. We had two rooms with five people in total for a week long family vacation. I would highly recommend this location as the pools are wonderful, the grounds are pristine and the food was absolutely delicious. Service was superior and the staff were friendly, helpful and accommodating. I would definitely revisit the Karisma resorts again. [Details]

I brought my family, including my aging parents. My mother fell flat on her face on a hidden step that we all tripped on at least once.

She was gushing blood, and they made her sign something on the spot, which turned out to be a waiver. They then offered a doctor, for about 4000 pesos.

Disgusting. Ruined the trip for us.

Also note there are no paper menus. You need internet, which is spotty. We had to leave a restaurant because nobody in the place could access the menu. [Details]

My partner and I needed a vacation away where we could just relax and recover from the stress of our respective jobs. We looked for a nice place that was all-inclusive because we didn't want to plan or think about anything other than relaxing when we got there. For the most part, it was what we expected, except that a number of items and activities were an additional charge - items and activities that have been included in the cost at other resorts that we have visited in the past. That left a sour taste in our mouth. We will not be visiting this chain of resorts again, surprises are the last thing we want when trying to relax. [Details]

Overall good stay [Details]

par ou commencer!
très très décu du resort, ont s est fais voler 365$usd dans notre chambre. les gens a l accueil refusais de nous montrer les vidéos des cameras de surveillance, ils ont aussi refuser de nous rembourser la somme volée. aucune animation, ni a la plage, ni a la piscine. si vous vouler avoir un resort pour la qualité de la plage, oublier ca, l eau ressemblais a l eau de nos lac au quebec (brune, algue, odeur de marécage).
70% du resort sent les égouts, donc très désagréable. attente interminable pour aller passer le test covid, ont a perdu la moitié d une journée juste pour ca et ca coute 140$usd par personne. beaucoup de resto a la carte, mais ils sont fermés la moitié du temps, quand ils sont ouvert, il ne prenne aucune reservation, donc bonne chance pour avoir une place a l heure désiré. La toilette dans la chambre ne flush pas la moitié du temps. Pour les points positif, la bouff est excellente, le service a la piscine est très bien, il ya une section adultes seulement et une autre pour les familles. la propreté est excenllente. Bref en gros je ne recommande a personne cette hotel!!! [Details]

At the start it wasn't the best. We didn't get the room we wanted. It took till the 3 day to get a king bed [Details]

We have been to other Karisma Resorts and other Azul Beach Resorts. This vacation was not as expected and did not live up to the Karisma brand we have come to know and love.

We travelled with two children (4 & 1). You would not even know this resort had a partnership with Nickelodeon. The only time we saw the characters was during the orange carpet event. The breakfasts only happen on Thursdays and we could not participate as we arrived and departed on a Thursday.

The kids club was not as advertised. It notes on the website children 4-12 are able to attend unsupervised between 9&5:30. We were surprised when we arrived this is not the case. Children may only go to the kids club unsupervised between 10-12, 12-1, 2-4 and occasionally in the evenings between 7:30&9:15. In norder to go during these times, children must be registered the day before and MUST participate in the group activity. In many cases this meant sitting at a table doing a structured craft or activity. This was not feasible for our 4 year old who prefers independent play at his own pace. As such our options were to either pay for a babysitter at $22 USD per hour or spend our holiday sitting inside the kids club to permit him to play at his own pace. This significantly disrupted our vacation plans and disappointed our child. I have never been to a resort with a kids club like this and will not return here do to this.

The family section is ideal for accessing the kids club and kids splash pad and pool. However don't expect to sleep at night as it's right next to the entertainment area. The music is so loud we had many sleepless nights between our kids waking up and the thumping music.

Also, the daily pool activities are in the pool adjacent to the family section. If you have children who nap, don't expect them to nap as the pool activities have blasting music during nap times (11-3).

The restaurants were good. However it was dispointing to be in Mexico and not be able to get authentic Mexican food everyday. There were only a few taco options at the Mexican restaurant.

Room service was ok but was very slow to arrive. Also they will not deliver alcoholic beverages through room service as they do in other Karisma resorts.

We had a couple of issues with our room that were quickly resolved. Olaf and Yonathan the concierge was very helpful throughout our stay in resolving our issues.

The beach is not useable. We went to the beach BBQ one day and it was the only time we stepped foot on the beach. Water is brown and there is a ton of seaweed. Other resorts in the vicinity had nets to prevent the seaweed from coming to shore.

Overall it was a disappointing vacation for the price and we will not be returning to this resort. [Details]

It's a nice and quiet place to stay - only about 20 minutes away from the airport. It's not walking distance from any major town/city. We traveled with 2 small children, one of whom utilized the kids club on daily basis. The beach was not great - pretty narrow and loooots of seaweed. the peer was closed for most of the days. definitely do not go for the beach. The pools were many and clean - lots of options. but the beach chairs/pool chairs were few and got occupied really quickly. rooms and territory and food all were great. happy and helpful staff [Details]

This was our second time back to the resort. We absolutely loved it again. The staff, food, cleanliness is still remarkable.
Entertainment incredible, [Details]

We love travelling to Karisma resorts! We went with a 6month old and 2.5yr old. The resort is really targeted to kids and is family friendly. Food was amazing! Kids had a blast. We unfortunately had to use the first aid services however the 24 hr on call doctor was amazing and really helped my son. [Details]

This resort is well laid out and never feels crowded anywhere even though it is relatively compact compared to many others. Families with newborns & toddlers are at one end, with mixed family buildings next to them and then the Adult / Premium customers are at the other end. It's very easy to get around.
Food quality very good; premium drinks available at all bars; all staff friendly and efficient; beach kept clean of seaweed daily; housekeeping very good
They met our special request of a room in the Adult section even though we booked late
Had a surprise greeting and birthday cake waiting for us for my 60th birthday - nice touch! [Details]

We had a good time. The room on floor 4 building 2 was very nice and very clean with big balcony. The staff were excelent and very professional.The food was very good at the restaurants but not so good at the Spoon buffet.The tables and chairs there were old and the plates dirty sometimes.The food selection very poor, no fruit at lunch and dinner. The a la carte restaurants however are very good and open for breakfast and lunch as well.
The other negative side of that resort was lack off coffe, the only available coffe was poor quality from termoss, or pay coffe from Starbuck.
Bars had big variety of top shelf alcohol.
Overall we had a very nice vacation. [Details]

The hotel was clean, fridge was re-stacked everyday. Clean towels all the time. Staff was very friendly and ready to help. Food was very good, I liked that we did not have to make reservation for dinner [Details]

We were upgraded to a family room. Queen sized bed in one area, then a sliding door to separate the bed from a pull out couch which our 16 year old son slept on. He indicated it was comfortable enough. The room was kept very nicely. All the staff were very friendly. The exercise classes in the pool and on the beach were great, very well organized. The nightly entertainment was varied and quite enjoyable. Overall we really loved the resort, but likely won't be back as we would have liked to go into the water at the beach. [Details]

Definitely had a very relaxing vacation. Stayed in a swim up junior suite. Had a lady serve us drinks all day. She was amazing. We didn't really leave our slice of heaven much during the day. Although we attempted the beach, it was way too rough with way too much seaweed. Not the resort's fault and they worked endlessly to try to clear the beach, but it was too much. Other than the beach and lack of nightly entertainment, I have nothing to complain about. However, even though we stayed in the adults only section, the resort was very much geared to families and I would not recommend it if you are coming as just a couple. [Details]

This a great resort. It's small so there are no reservations required for dinners.The grounds are very well kept and the staff are friendly. The food is excellent. The rooms are very nice and all have a jacuzzi tub. The pools are very nice but the beach is not nice at all. [Details]

Just arrived from a seven day trip from Sensatori azul..overall this resort is the most wonderful experience an hotel can offer...all the pampering,they have to offer was wow.... [Details]

All of the staff are super friendly. All smile and say Hola as they pass. The grounds are pretty and well kept. Public bathrooms are clean and always well stocked. Maid service was the best we have seen. The rooms are clean and well appointed. Entertainment is better and more creative than usual. Had one bad experience with the food and waiter at the Italian restaurant. Followed up by an amazing meal at Le Chic and later a romantic lobster dinner on the beach. The spa staff and the spa are also wonderful. [Details]

I had an awesome experience at this luxurious resort. I was greatly impressed, right from the moment I walked into the beautiful lobby and was offered a cold, lavender scented washcloth to "refresh" my "sweaty" face. And then the welcoming experience got even better, as I was given a glass of champagne, while waiting to check in. The lobby had the most wonderful calming smell of lavender (also the shuttle bus smelled of lavender, as well, and I loved the beautiful roomy, cool, laminated hard-wood floors, scenic panoramic view windows, excellent drivers -just to mention a few points). The room was absolutely gorgeous and I just loved the "towel animals" each day on the beds, as well as the "sealed" toilet paper. The maids did a very thorough job of cleaning every day. I just loved the employees at the resort, and was always greeted with "Hola" -they were truly beautiful, very hard working people and just couldn't do enough to please myself and my daughters. The food was absolutely incredible, and we had so many favourite restaurants, that sometimes we would have to toss a coin to reach a decision where to go. The pool areas were gorgeous and I loved the day we spent by the ocean in the Bally beds. Anyway I could go on forever about this piece of Paradise, and how much I loved it, but I better stop. [Details]

We visited the Sensatori in Punta Cana in March. By far a nicer resort. Nicer room. Better food. Much nicer beach. [Details]

We had a wonderful mini holiday at this resort. The property is beautiful and immaculately kept. The staff is super friendly and helpful. Our room had a wonderful view over the pool and out to the ocean. The resort was full, but not crazy busy. We could still find places to be quiet. The food was good, but not outstanding. There are two things to be aware of - a one hour policy to keep your chair by the pool or beach - or security takes your belongings away - the music by the adult pool was electro/disco and judging by the clientele around the pool, something more quiet and soothing would be more appropriate. Otherwise, we would definitely go back. [Details]

As expected the overall experience, from service to food to drinks to beach to entertainment to accommodation and the grounds was great! We were well looked after by all the staff serving the bars, restaurants, rooms and elsewhere. This place worked hard to please and also ensured that the beaches were as clean as possible. We would go back for sure! [Details]

We had a fantastic time and our bar girl Nancy was always there for us and I Love George my Yoga guy. [Details]

All the staff at the resort are absolutely wonderful. They go above and beyond to make your stay as memorable as possible. The resort was so clean and well maintained. The food was amazing in all the restaurants and Le Chique was an experience to be had. It was one of the best weeks away I've ever had. [Details]

Most of the 5 star resorts have similar amenities so in the end it the staff that makes the difference. I cannot recall a single less than satisfactory exchange with any staff member. [Details]

Let me start off by saying I am never one to complain about resorts or service, but I had too many issues on this trip to ignore.
Upon arrival into Cancun everything wenthat off without a hitch, from the airport to check in at the resort. We were told by a travel agent when looking into the resort that there was an adults only section. Having traveled to many resorts I assumed this meant a different building, pool, lounge area, beach, and so on, but at this resort it was one 4 story building and 1 small pool. This wasn't a huge disappointment but it was a let down. The food at the resort is deemed by them as "gourmet inclusive" so I assumed it would be different than typical resort food, which it was not, both myself and my boyfriend fell I'll from the food on the 2nd day there and it remained with us for the remainder of the week. Also if you are a beach person, which I myself am, this is not the place for you. The amount of seaweed and rocks in the ocean makes it impossible to be in there.
Also I should mention, if you're not going to this resort for a wedding you may want to look into another resort. Everyday of our stay was a wedding, and although I don't mind seeing weddings on the beach, the wedding party brought along with these people will drive you insane. When it comes to waiting for tables because all the big parties have all the tables, or waiting for drinks because they're all at the bar, or even getting chairs at the pool/beach would be impossible because they take multiples and reserve them for people.
Now these were the smaller issues, the main issues surfaced at checkout.
When we had arrived in cancun there was a little confusion with the people transporting us, originally we had been waiting for 6 people to join us in the transport van but they never showed up, so the bus had taken just the 2 of us to the resort. When we checked out we had checked our pick up time and it was set for 4:10, so at 4:10 when a large bus arrived and we saw people from our flight getting onto it we lined up for it as well, but we were rudely stopped by the travel representative and told to go back inside because this was a private pick up bus and we weren't to go on because we're not on their list. When I asked him who would be picking us up then his reply was "I don't know, that's not my job to know." This response seemed to be scripted because it also came from the guy at the front desk and the guy manning the door outside.
When 4:30 had arrived and we still hadnt been picked up I started to get antsy, thinking we would miss our flight. I tried finding our travel rep to find out if she know anything but she had already left the resort. Finally I was able to track down the one person on the resort who knew something about pick up times, and she had to contact the travel company to get us transportation to the airport. So finally at 4:45 we left, and thank goodness our flight was delayed or it would have cut it too close for comfort.
Never have I had such an issue with leaving a resort, and never have I been spoken to rudely to by staff members.

Safe to say that I will NOT BE returning to this resort. [Details]

Wonderful vacation. The resort has a easy walkable layout. Close walk to beach, restaurants, bars. Personally I enjoy swimming in the ocean. (not many guests swim in the ocean) There are rocks, if these bother you, bring water shoes. Food was great! [Details]

The staff, property cleanliness, upkeep and amenities are first class all the way. [Details]