Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya

My husband and I usually opt to have self-catered adventure holidays, but let me tell you why we would return to this jungle paradise all-inclusive resort...The grounds are meticulously cared for and the local wildlife are enjoying their best life! The staff went above and beyond to make our stay as enjoyable and relaxing as possible. The rooms were spacious, well stocked and turned down regularly (or as requested) and CLEAN! The restaurants had lots of options to meet all dietary needs and the food was amazing. The entertainment staff are so talented and so much fun! The beach is cleaned daily and it's nice to have the option where to spend your day - poolside or beach cabana. [Details]

My friends and I stayed here for 5 nights on a girls trip. We had a really lovely time overall, and it was much nicer than my only other Riviera Maya resort experience. The staff go out of their way to make you feel welcome and taken care of, and the landscaping and ambiance in all locations is amazing. There is a nice mix of fun to be had, as well as quiet relaxation opportunities. I would say this is not a high-energy nighttime party atmosphere, which was perfect for us - the party is more in the daytime.

My main downside was the food - specifically my experience as a vegetarian. Most a la carte restaurants do not have vegetarian main dishes listed on the menu, you have to ask for them seperately. To be fair, I was given *a* main dish at each restaurant, but they were not the same quality as my meat-eating friends enjoyed. The breakfasts are wonderful, and the buffet offered a great variety of good quality food. But for dinner I routinely was given no vegetarian protein, and the dishes felt lacking in variety. There was not usually any kind of sauce or cheese, the dishes mostly consisting of a bunch of mis-matched vegetables roasted or fried quite blandly. The food truck's only vegetarian option was nachos (hold the chicken), so that was also quite frustrating at lunch / snacks.
That said, if you are not vegetarian (or worse yet - vegan), you would probably quite enjoy the food. [Details]

Pool was nice. Didn't like no fresh fruit at pool bar. Room was nice [Details]

Our stay here was excellent. The staff at the Valentin go above and beyond for you. The food was delicious went to all the restaurants the French was our favorite. Definitely will go back. We were a group of 10 we arrived late. The staff at the beach restaurant treated us like royalty we arrived 10 mins to closing. No issue within 15 mins we all had steak dinners thank you for that. [Details]

Our experience at Valentin Imperial exceeded all of our expectations! The accommodations were gorgeous and so clean, the drinks were quality and the food was comparable to a 5 star restaurant, every meal! The beach was beautiful and clean, the property was very mature and well maintained. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful. We are already planning to return! [Details]

Loved this hotel, great service and wonderful gourmet food. Especially enjoyed the Mexican food. I would return in a heartbeat. All of the staff were so professional, friendly and willing to help. [Details]

From the time I entered I was in awe. The cleanliness of the marble floors, the hospitality from staff. All your needs and more were looked after. Staff exceptionaly well trained. Room service to weary travellers was 24hours. The foliage in the gardens, the ponds, wildlife and of course the pools took my breath away. Clean,clean,clean.Different restaurant every night if you wish. Not a bad one there . Even food trucks at the pool .Never had to worry about security. Highly Recommend this resort great adult only place to relax and fall in love all over again. [Details]

This resort has something for everyone- you can customize your vacation depending on what you are looking for! There are quieter areas and more "party type" areas. Grounds are breathtaking-lovely well maintained paths to walk on. The food is very good (including a churro cart and 2 food trucks and a great coffee shop) The staff are simply exceptional.They work hard to make your experience amazing. While it is a bit spread out it is very walkable but they also have carts that are easily accessible to transport you as well.
Beach is very good and swimmable. [Details]

A classy, yet fun vibe to this large resort. Fine dining options with beautiful decor in the restaurants. [Details]

The hotel is very well kept - clean, organized, beautiful, and themed great. The services offered are comprehensive, with large variety. Each day features a high array of different activities to partake in. The bars are great, and the main pool is large and lively. The beach is nice and relaxing, with amazing, beautiful white sand. There are opportunities to partake in excursions (for extra pricing) with shuttle services to and from the resort arranged and organized, with the hotel location being centralized between Cancun and XCaret. Overall a fantastic experience! [Details]

Overall, it was a great experience, one of our best in the Caribbean. [Details]

We are normally Excellence goers but could not get in. I heard Valentin is good too. It was great. Some things even better than excellence and some not as good but nothing that took away from our enjoyment. Pool entertainment was great. Having a reserved Bali bed with prive package was great. [Details]

Lush, sprawling resort that offers both a jungle feel and beautiful beach while adding the largest pool in the Mayan Riviera. The Deluxe Jr. Suite is plenty big and offers all the amenities we would ever want. We only shower and sleep in our room anyway - and the bed is marvelously comfortable! [Details]

Excellent service, resort grounds were very well maintained and clean. We always felt safe. The staff are amazing!
The beach was well maintained [Details]

We had an ocean front Emerald Jr. Suite and it was everything we had anticipated. The lush green well-maintained grounds only add to the charm of this resort. Wonderful staff, great dining facilities, comfortable Bali beds on the beach and good evening entertainment, especially Sebastian who mesmerized us with phenomenal magic stunts. This resort has it all. [Details]

VIM was our first all inclusive resort experience and while we enjoyed our time at the resort we felt some things could have been improved upon. The beach was stunning; however, you will be regularly approached by people trying to sell you things. All of them only asked us once as they went by and left us alone after we said no. Most of the restaurants were fantastic, but we didn't like having to scan using our phones for the menu. There were times the wifi wasn't working, so we couldn't see the menu. The evening entertainment was spot on and enjoyable every night. The grounds are lovely, but it was sad to see people (ie guests) being lazy and leaving their trash on the ground. Garbages are everywhere so it's inexcusable for guests at the resort to not put their garbage in the bins. Staff were amazing and always friendly. I was sad to learn that they work 6 days a week, surely the resort can afford to pay them more and work 5 on with 2 days off. Onsite shopping is expensive! Go to Playa del Carmen or Tulum for better shopping experiences. Be wary of the excursion company at the resort. It was obvious that the shopping areas the excursion guides took us to received some sort of kickback. We did not like the set up of the bathroom in our room. The toilet has zero privacy (it's just a glass door with some frosted strips across it). Apparently we were in a renovated room and this is a huge design oversight by the resort. Overall, we felt the cost we paid exceeded what the resort offered. We may return if we find a better price. [Details]

The resort was awesome, food was great, staff was amazing. It had the worse beach we have ever been too and I understand that all resorts doctor their photos but there beach shots are very miss leading. [Details]

We thoroughly enjoyed our 2nd time at this beautiful resort. The staff are amazing and truly help make every day special. There are plenty of dining choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the food was great. The rooms could use updating, while ours was always cleaned beautifully, the room itself was looking a little dingy. [Details]

Great stay food was awesome staff work hard to make your stay great [Details]

Since our last visit about 2 years ago the hotel has put several changes in place to make it more Covid 19 resilient. However they were not always enforcing their requirement for face masks in some of their bars. They have switched their restaurants to an ala carte situation with QR codes which was welcomed on our part. We felt quite comfortable dining inside in the restaurants as their tables were well spaced out. We have been to this resort many times and we will continue to go back. [Details]

We were at the Valentin for 2 weeks at the end of September. This was our 21st time at this fabulous resort after having to cancel last year because of Covid. The staff and management went out of their way to ensure that the resort was safe for visitors. The Covid safety measures (required at all hotels) were reasonable and had no negative effect at all on our enjoyment. As always, everyone treated us like royalty and ensured that our vacation was outstanding in every way! We were treated this way from our very first visit. The Valentin has a special ability to hire and train staff who are fun, friendly, professional and talented and who go out of their way to ensure that you'll have the best vacation ever! The incredible staff are this resort's most valuable asset, but the resort itself is also special. This isn't just a “hotel on a beach”, but a lush property with perfectly maintained, beautiful grounds, meandering paths and low-rise buildings that are meticulously maintained. There's a variety of restaurants and bars and never a problem finding great food or just the right cocktail! The main pool is huge and has been laid out in such a way that one end caters to those who want DJ music, games and entertainment and the other end is for those who want it a bit quieter. There's also a long, winding lazy river. The beach suffered a bit in the last hurricane, but the Valentin is working hard at getting it back to perfect - including brand new palapas. We're returning to the Valentin in December and look forward to trying out the new coffee shop. We've been to many other resorts in Mexico, but the Valentin is our “go-to” place, and now we don't go anywhere else in Mexico. [Details]

This place is amazing! Chose the top floor of the golden buildings and was so impressed. Spacious and clean room. Not musty and really comfortable bed! Grounds are so beautiful and tropical. Three choices in pools - fun pool, quiet pool and beautiful ocean. Spent all our days at the ocean and the sand is lovely, water is clear and swimming area is amazing. Food was so good and martinis were exceptional. Very good value for price! If you want a fantastic vacation spot, this is the place. The staff were top notch as well. We will be back. Note: We met many return travellers and I now know why people keep going back. [Details]

This was our second stay at this resort and our first time in Mexico for Christmas. We love the smaller size of this resort compared to some of the other huge resort complexes that we have stayed at. We had a great time at the beach enjoying the warm waters of the ocean in the mornings before relaxing by the pool in the afternoon, finish that off with a nice dinner in the evening, the French restaurant is a favorite. [Details]

This was our fourth stay at the Valentin and it was just as wonderful as the previous three stays. I highly recommend this resort for a number of reasons - first FOOD - we are food lovers and Le Marche buffet for breakfast and lunch has a wide variety of choices. All specialty restaurants are great with Ginger as our favourite! Staff is welcoming and friendly. Rooms are very comfortable, lazy river is great and the beach is fantastic. This resort puts a lot of effort into their groundskeeping and horticulture. We really appreciate the grounds staff and how beatiful they keep the property. Special thanks to Zyanya an amazing yoga instructor! We will definitely return again and again... [Details]

Overall, a good experience. Resort was beautiful, landscaping was incredible and the staff was very friendly.

Check in was brutal. We got to the resort at 10:30 but only got to our room at 3:30 and didn't have access to our luggage. Not how we wanted to spend our first day of Holidays. The beach experience was non existent because of all the sea weeds. We were told that Valentin had one of the nicest beaches in Mexico and we might have spent 1 hour throughout our week. [Details]

We stayed in building 8. It was great! Our concierge, Marcela was absolutely fabulous, she was wonderful to speak to, always smiling and always helpful. The grounds were kept beautifully. We have been to this resort four other times. This time was a little bit more low key. We were disappointed that the beach wasn't functional (with the seaweed) but that wasn't your fault. The pools were beautiful and all the staff was lovely. Sushi was our favourite restaurant- just sitting at the sushi bar and having the awesome sushi chef make our food in front of us was wonderful. [Details]

All the staff was so friendly. Anything that we requested was always delivered with a smile and kind words. The resort was clean and well maintained. [Details]

From stepping out of the transfer to the hotel we felt like royalty. Every detail was taken care of and thought about. They even hand you a cool damp hand towel upon arrival!
The check in was a smooth process and they immediately got a bellboy to get our luggage, got us a golf cart and took us to our room.
The room was average sized with a king size bed, couch, large bathroom with walkin shower and jacuzzi tub. We upgraded to privilege club and there were 4 "top-shelf" bottles of alcohol waiting for us in our room. There were even bluetooth speakers to hook up to in the room.
The beach was clean and had many lounge chairs and palapas available. The ocean was extremely wavy all week so hard to swim in. No seaweed anywhere!
The biggest advantage for us to the privilege club was having a reserved palapa by the pool. We never needed to wake up early to get our spots.
The pool was amazing. It is extremely large, has 2 bars and a lot of areas to go. It never felt crowded. They have floaties available which became handy to float around and rest a drink on.
Food was great. Always a great variety at breakfast and lunch. The snack bar at the pool was handy in the afternoon. The restaurants at night were fantastic. They all had a dress code of long pants for men which you should know before going. We went to all restaurants except the Indonesian one.
A few staff that were great:
-Jared the privilege pool concierge. He went out of his way to help you. He moved out cabana to a more shady one. He got us waters numerous times a day. He just did anything he could to make you feel special.
-The heaven bar staff: Manuel, Israel, Jonathan and Omar. Again did everything they could to help you.
We will definitely be going back. [Details]

We spent a week here and had a fantastic time. The staff is so kind and accommodating. I have Celiac disease and the staff took extra steps to ensure the food was safe for me to eat - huge bonus! The room was clean and quiet and we had a perfect ocean view. Resort was immaculate and never felt crowded. We easily got chairs everyday at both the pool and beach. Would absolutely return. [Details]

We spent 3 terrific weeks at the Valentin in December. The staff is outstanding and truly the Valentin's greatest asset. As always everyone was warm, welcoming, friendly and talented, and they made us feel we were returning "home", on our 16th time at the Valentin. The grounds are beautifully groomed, the restaurants are diverse with a variety of great food and inviting ambiance, and the entire resort is carefully and constantly maintained (some hotels start to look “tired” when they've been open this long). Because we've been there so many times, it's impossible to name all the kind and caring staff with whom we've interacted without accidentally leaving someone important out. However, I'll take a risk, and mention a few we interacted with most often in Dec. (in no particular order). Jesus, Gerardo, Alfredo (for such warm welcomes, and being a lot of fun); Joselo V (for always trying to make our stays perfect); Antonio at the pool; Jorge, Luis, Melina, Omar (breakfast was always fun – a never-ending supply of mimosas!); Noami, Luis, Albino (made lunch very special) and Yolanda who always seems to be everywhere! Please tell Monserrat we miss her and hope she's back soon. Vianey (what would we do without you!), Nallelly, Theresa and Sheila – whose skill, professionalism and fun made dinners a treat. Ramon's sense of humour and joking (Alsace) made us feel “part of the family”. Angel, we didn't see you every day because of your new duties, but you always stopped to say hi. We look forward to returning to the Valentin in March. [Details]