My name is Stacy and I’m a lucky mom, owner of Global Vacation Pro, and lover of travel!  I’ve been in the hospitality and travel industry for over 20 years, all while traveling worldwide.  Some of my favorite travel experiences have been to Italy, Australia, Hawaii, Mexico, China, Canada and across the USA! I love bringing my experience in hospitality and travel to my clients when crafting custom travel experiences.

We decided to book a last minute 7 day trip down to Tulum and Cancun! We arrived yesterday after a non-stop flight from Denver to Cancun….I was pleasantly surprised with my experience on Southwest Airlines, non-stop, free bags and an overall great experience with WIFI and snacks/drinks for the kids.

We pre-scheduled a private transport with Tropical Elite Tours.  They met me outside immigration and baggage claim and took us right away to our private Mercedes SUV Van!  While the drive down to Tulum was 1 1/2 long, the kids were able to stretch out, and take a quick power nap.

Upon arriving at the hotel – The Hilton Tulum, Riviera Maya All – Inclusive, we were greeted car side with a cool citrus towel, and welcome drink.  Reception was a beautiful, open air atrium filled with over water swings to relax.  The check in process was easy and we all received a handy bracelet that links us to our room account so we can eat and drink to our hearts content.

While we waited for the room to be cleaned, we enjoyed Vela – an International Buffet.  Overlooking the pools and ocean in the main building, we received some much needed nourishment.  Fresh ceviche, grilled Mahi-Mahi, pasta made to order, assortment of cheeses and charcuterie and tropical deserts.

After lunch we jumped in the pool, OCEAN SIDE, heated, infinity style and truly luxurious.  Drink and food delivery poolside? Done!

The resort consists of 5 “Casas,” that span across the property inclosing a lagoon.  One side of the Casa is ocean facing, and the other has a jungle view.  We are situated in Casa 2, close to the main building/pool/restaurants/spa and gym.  Casa 2 is a quick 4 minute walk to all the action.  Each individual Casa also has their own pool….if you order room service you can avoid the LONG 🙂 4 minute walk to the main building and hang out in your Casa all day! Luckily, we are on the bottom floor…so we can walk straight from the room across our oceanfront patio and step into the pool.

Dinner at Mexal was delicious with fresh seafood, authentic dishes such as plantains, tamales, spicy meatballs with Mexican rice and handmade guacamole.

Day 1 was long but wonderful.  The hotel staff is warm, friendly, and always smiling!

Top Highlights of Day 1:

Heated Ocean Side Pool

Delicious Food at Every Turn

Friendly, Helpful Staff

Accommodations for guests with Special Needs are everywhere, even

Remote Location BUT with all the modern amenities you need to stay connected!

Check out our photos and let’s see what fun Day 2 brings!

WATER WATER WATER….! Day 2 during our stay at Hilton Tulum, Riviera Maya All-Inclusive was filled with water.

After a pre-arranged breakfast from Room Service we headed outdoors!

The resort has multiple pools, two expansive infinity pools in front of the main building where you’ll have poolside food and beverage service….plenty of lounge chairs and no fighting over umbrellas! The staff was extremely friendly when we wanted to move a few chairs into some shade, and they brought over extra towels for the kids.  Not to mention the resort is ocean FRONT, overlooking the beautiful expansive ocean, gentle waves and tropical sounds of birds and wildlife.

The main pools are a buzz during the day, with lots of action and upbeat music playing in the background.  The resort also has an activities team that facilitates salsa dancing lessons, nighttime karaoke, beach volleyball and live entertainment.  Poolside lunch for us included Shrimp Ceviche, Guacamole and chips, Popcorn Chicken and almost TOO delicious Miami Vice!  If you ask the F&B staff, “Que Bueno?” they will bring you a surprise yummy concoction.

Aside from the main pool there are several more private pools scattered across the resort in front of each “Casa.” Since we’ve been staying in Casa 2, it’s been easy to walk into the resorts main area OR stay “local” at the pool right outside of our room door.  Beverage service is available at each smaller pool, so you could literally spend the whole day relaxing.

As you move south on the property, in front of the Casas, is a large semi-enclosed ocean lagoon.  The kids and I ventured FAR out! Or what we would call FAR living in the Las Vegas desert…..and STILL the water was only knee deep.  The was an amazing chance for the kids to get used to the ocean, snorkel with large schools of fish and enjoy the ALMOST HOT ocean water, it was great!

Dinner was Italian…on the ocean view patio with a warm breeze and sounds of live music coming from the main pool area.  Chilled cucumber soup, watermelon salad, fresh mozzarella pizza, fusilli pasta with vegetables roasted Sea Bass rounded out our meal.  Desert was passionfruit flan with homemade Biscotti.

An after dinner dip in the pool next to our room ended the day on a very relaxed but fun note.  With a son who’s sensitive to temperatures and textures, it’s appreciated that the pool and kept at such a warm temperature.  They didn’t want to get out, but eventually we got them to pass-out and refuel for another day!

Highlights from our Day:

Pools, Pools, Pools

Semi-Enclosed Ocean Lagoon

Friendly and Attentive Staff

La Luca – DELICIOUS Italian restaurant, with a breezy ocean view patio

Our last two days at Hilton Tulum All-Inclusive were relaxed and filled with more water.

The kids explored in the ocean lagoon..swimming with fish and finding it fascinating how far they could wade out in knee deep water.

We booked another dinner at La Luce, and this time, sat close to the pizza oven…where the kids could see the pizza being made by hand to order, they loved that!

After dinner they activities team had set up a movie night on the beach showing Encanto! Complete with popcorn and chili! It was a beautiful breezy evening with the sounds of the ocean playing…plenty of pillows to lounge on and a HUGE movie screen!

Check out day came too quick.  After one last breakfast at the Vela buffet (where pancakes, french toast, omelets, Mexican Tortas and seafood dishes are made TO ORDER)…we packed up and a Bellman picked us and our luggage up for a speedy ride to reception.

Our car with Tropical Elite was on standby for us, a private Mercedes Van.  An adventure at Hilton Cancun All Inclusive was waiting!

Overall Highlights from our stay at Hilton Tulum All-Inclusive:

Sustainably Built Resort – focusing on recycling and protecting the environment

Spacious Rooms – comfortable beds, soft towels, mini-bar filled with fresh nectar, bottled waters and snacks

Easy to Navigate Resort – with small shuttle service running throughout the day, you can stroll to the main building for restaurants and spa OR hop on the shuttle.  We had a very easy time making reservations for lunch and dinner, room service came on time, and snacks were everywhere!

Activities, Activities, Activities! Between the ocean, multiple pools, Kids Club, gym, spa, personal fitness classes, meditation, and exploring Tulum- you’ll be relaxed AND entertained.

Friendly Staff – no matter who we spoke to, we were greeted with a smile, a friendly greeting and asked if we needed any assistance.

Peaceful, Serene, Relaxed…Paradise!

After a pick up from Tropical Elite Tours….and a drive up the Mexican coast, we arrived at the Hilton Cancun All-Inclusive Resort.  WOW! What a difference from Hilton Tulum All-Inclusive.

In similar fashion we were greeted with a cool towel to wash our hands off and a welcome drink.  After a small wait at the front desk, we were pre-checked in, and had to wait for our room to be ready.

The hotel was bustling…lots of people, families and children everywhere! Quite the difference from Tulum’s serene and peaceful environment.  We grabbed a quick bite at the poolside bar and grill, Sunan, and got changed the pool.

The kids immediately got lost in waterpark…filled with waterslides and gun, a dunking machine and obstacle course.  Just after 3pm the sun moved to the back of the resort…and while it was still warm and breezy it was nice to be out of the beating sun, and constant need to lather up in sunscreen.

We also found La Churreria – an UNLIMITED ice cream, churro, popcorn and sweets restaurant…located near the waterpark and filled with YUMMY treats all day long!

Lunch and dinner reservations are harder to come by at Hilton Cancun All-Inclusive Resort.  With the resort jam packed, reservations are limited to 5pm or 10pm, and we did NOT prep in advance.  We chose dinner via Room Service…and while it was only 15 minutes late, the food was not brought up in a hot box and was luke warm to be generous.

While my daughter was eating, I went ahead and order more food for a 9pm delivery, and this time, the temperature was better!

Our room was large and spacious, with two queen beds, a large dining table…modern bathroom with a glass wall (no privacy!!) and huge flat screen TV.  A beautiful ocean front balcony topped it off with lounge chairs and a view of the waterpark, main pool and gulf of Mexico.

After another day of travel and sun it was an early bed time, but ready to check out more of what Hilton Cancun All-Inclusive Resort had to offer with it’s many activities, dining and sun.

Ok! We got this down! There’s definitely a learning curve here at Hilton Cancun All-Inclusive Resort, but after some investigation and talking to staff, it makes your stay more enjoyable.

I got up early, around 7am, and headed down to the main pool area.  Scouted out some lounge chairs under a tree and it a good location to view both the ocean AND the kids.  After placing some fresh towels on the lounge chairs along with a few personal articles (nothing of value!) I secured out pool location for the day.

Breakfast was Room Service….arriving 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time, and HOT today! Waffles, French Toast, local pastries, hot tea and fruit.  Yum!

Also, I stopped by the Dining desk to secure a dinner reservation for day 2 and 3, to make sure we weren’t left to poolside popcorn and Room Service every day!  Luckily, La Luce had a reservation open for both nights, a restaurant we had tried at Hilton Tulum All Inclusive and loved!

We spent most of the day enjoying the pool, water park and ocean.  The kids made friends with others and had a blast going wild!  The Pool Bar had drinks flowing…and there’s a pool side BBQ stand with Hamburgers, Shrimp Skewers and Fries.

After a long day in the water, we sat OCEANSIDE at La Luce…a view you couldn’t duplicate!  With the cool breeze, warm balmy temperature and friendly staff, we were in for a delicious dinner.

The menu at La Luce included hand tossed pizza in the custom, wood-fired oven, minestrone soup, spaghetti pomodoro and grilled salmon, all delicious!

Post dinner activities included a walk on the beach….which was lovely, but filled with a TON of seaweed and somewhat deceiving from the pictures on the Hilton Cancun All-Inclusive Resort website.  I had envisioned a long expansive broad beach with easy to access water for exploring.  Instead the water is murky, filled with seaweed and hard to reach.  Check out the photo comparisons:

Evening activities across the resort included a live Mariachi, local vendor craft show, specialty drinks served in the main lobby and nighttime ice cream delights in La Chuerrria.  While this resort does seem more commercialized than Hilton Tulum All Inclusive, the term ALL INCLUSIVE really means ALL INCLUSIVE!

The sun rose to the smell of coffee over the Cancun horizon today!

After dropping off our pool gear and towels at the lounge chairs we wanted to secure for the day, I made my way down to the main lobby to check on a large cc charge that hit in the night from the hotel…..turns out it was another authorization for incidental charges, but we got it cleared up.

Several small breakfast buffets were popping up, at the Pool Side Bar and Azulinda.  I grabbed a small muffin and hot tea and ventured out to the shore to see the sunrise.

Our dinner reservation wasn’t until 8pm, so we let the kids sleep longer and headed down to a late breakfast at the international buffet Vela.  We enjoyed cinnamon french toast, fresh fruits, hash browns, coffee and pastries…all delicious.  Service for beverages was quick, and staff seemed rushed but pleasant and kind.

The next 7 hours were spent between the main pool and water park, Katie found her friends from yesterday and Rocco and I joined a fun class of water aerobics.  It was actually a lot more fun than you’d anticipate.

The main pool featured a grill with seafood and burgers, served up fresh and quick!

Poolside drinks are served and smiles all around!

Dinner was at La Luce again, and we really enjoyed it! The wood fired pizza, made to order….spaghetti, calamari and homemade focaccia.

After dinner we made our way over to the Amphitheater….a live acrobatics show inspired by Cirque du Soleil lit up the night, impressing the audience with aerial stunts, acrobatics, juggling and music.  It was a great show, put on by the Activities team.

We nearly crashed in the bed after the show….being in the sun all day wipes you out!

Only 1/2 day left 🙁

Go to the bathroom on the plane...BEFORE YOU LAND IN CANCUN…the Cancun airport bathrooms are YUCK!

Don’t worry about the electronic immigration form the airline send you…you’ll be asked to fill out a paper one before you land.

Bring bugspray, a hat, extra sunscreen and extra underwear (no explanation needed!)

EVEN IF you’re staying at an All-Inclusive…bring some small bills of cash, you may want to tip your driver, bellman, spa staff and others around the resort that go above and beyond in service.

Stay Connected! Learn what your resort has to offer JUST IN CASE you end up wanting to participate! Live Entertainment, Shows, Exercise Classes, Unique Food Tastings, Local Craft Vendor Shows, Tequila Tastings….you won’t know unless you are in the know!!

Unlimited food and beverage is just that…unlimited.  Pace yourself…or you’ll end up with a belly ache.  There’s plenty of time and food to try everything at least once.

Take a walk!  Some resorts include all aspects you could want in a vacation, leaving you no need to leave.  BUT, I suggest taking a long walk down the beach and explore….take some deep breaths, explore the shoreline, burn the beautiful Yucatan peninsula into your memory….you’ll be glad you did.

If you’re traveling to Maui anytime soon…and looking for a fun and delicious local spot for Hawaiian BBQ, you should check out Aloha Aina BBQ.

Aloha Aina (translation Love of the Land) BBQ is along the Hana Highway, just past Paia.  There’s no need to go ALLLLL the way to Hana to get delicious BBQ…while still enjoying the shorter scenic drive.

Aloha Aina is located on the Maliko Farms Market…along with a Kombucha Cafe, Espresso Bar and Vegan Food Truck.  Their menu features brisket, juicy baby back ribs, tender pork belly, and the juiciest Huli Huli chicken.  Also a highlight for those that don’t eat chicken or beef/pork like me….was locally caught blue marlin served as an Ahi Poke bowl…it was so good!!!

Definitely a great local place to check out when exploring Maui!!