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Around 45 minutes in good traffic

It really depends on the person. If we knew we were going to ask for drinks repeatedly, then we started with a tip of 5 to 10 dollars, other times we tipped one out two dollars per drink, or every other drink. During dinners we tipped at least $100 pesos, and I switched over to saying in pesos because I've just remembered something. We tipped in pesos the whole time because when they go exchange their dollars, there's a fee, so they lose out on some of the money just by exchanging their money into pesos.

The dress code is casual, as long as you look presentable and don't show up in your beach clothes/cutoff shirts/tanks/flip flops, etc. Everyone I saw was dressed pretty nicely for dinner though. We didn't get a chance to try all the restaurants but Bloved and the Mexican restaurant were our favorites.

@chuytravels thanks! So there is not strict rule for men to wear long pants? I know some places have strict dress codes. If a guy were to wear shirt khakis and a normal crew type of shirt then that's ok for the restaurants?

Yes that should be fine. The main thing they focus on for men is that you wear a shirt with sleeves and closed toe shoes.

Hey! So you'll get a link when you check in, and from there you can make your reservations. You're usually good making reservations the day before, especially if you do it first thing in the morning or after midnight if they open the reservation system by then. In our case, the day we wanted to go to the Mexican restaurant, the restaurant was closed, so we went straight to the restaurant (since that's the one where they set up snacks and they keep it open during the afternoon) and we asked to make reservations there the day of, and they said yeah, no problem! There's a kiosk by the pool area where you can ask them to schedule everything for you. In our case, we just walked right into the spa and scheduled the spa service that comes with the privilege package. (Massage cost extra) I did not see pictures of the drinks and didn't pay too much attention since I was pregnant when I went. I did sit at the pool bar with my cousin while she had some drinks, and they were super friendly. Blending and mixing whatever she asked for and also making "pretty" drinks for her, at her request lol she also drank beer, and they left two cans of beer in the room per day as well. She also drank wine at Bloved which was included and if I remember correctly, when we went to the tapas restaurant, they showed us a wine menu but I believe that was an extra cost. Most workers speak English, some are fluent and others know just enough to get by. Usually the housekeeping doesn't speak English, but overall it's easy to communicate. If the person you're speaking to doesn't speak English well, the person next to them probably does!

@chuytravels thanks for the insight! Appreciate it. You mentioned the 30 min massage is extra? Is that only in the spa? The romance package says there is a 30 minute massage and I'm curious if that's at the spa or outside by the pool. Also, I noticed the Privileged beach area has these nice mattress, are those often taken up early or are there a couple left over always?

Sorry, I have another question 😅. How was your experience at the spa? Was it nice? What features were you able to use? Is there a time limit?

Oh! If you're getting the romance package then I believe you do get a massage, but I have never been there with that package so I don't know if it's at the beach or in the spa, but I'm sure it you prefer one to the other they may try to accommodate you with what you prefer. I do know that there were ladies offering massages on the beach and they said they were cheaper than at the spa. I've only been there with the privilege package and you can access the jacuzzi and sauna (my cousin went in since I was pregnant I couldn't go in, but I have been to their Costa Mujeres location where I did the dry sauna, hot/cold shower, cold plunge, and steam aromatherapy and the pool area with the "water massagers" overlooking the beach. They then gave me a mint water at the end. All assisted by someone who was checking up on me, meanwhile, my cousin's experience was different as she said they just told her to go in and she only went into the sauna and jacuzzi and a group of people came in after her so she left) As far as the beach mattresses there were times when they were all taken, and times when they were all empty. Your best bet is to go first thing in the morning to get one if you want one in the first part of the day since we noticed they usually emptied out towards the end of the day... And the sunrises are beautiful there so that's a good time to get your beach bed!!!

Also, the spa in this resort is not very big. Their spa at Costa Mujeres is way bigger and fancier. I didn't have a time limit at the spa.

Tienen el club de niños, pero creo que es para niños de cuatro en adelante y te cuidan a los niños por unas cuantas horas. Cuando fuimos en la noche mexicana rompieron piñata con los niños y vi algunos niños jugando algunos de los juegos, igual que la fiesta de espuma, había niños al principio, pero la verdad es que no tiene muchas actividades para los pequeños. Te cuento que yo fui al otro hotel Catalonia Costa Mujeres con mi hija cuando ella tenía tres años, y le encantó. Todo es muy similar en lo que ofrecen, pero tienen una piscina pequeña para niños. Lo que le gustó más a mi hija fue la playa, y la variedad de comida y helado. No se aburrió.

I remember there being ceviche and other similar seafood dishes, but do not remember seeing other type of fish. It could possibly have been there, but I personally only ate breakfast there. I did really like the fish dishes at Bloved though. I wouldn't necessarily say it's baby friendly, but totally manageable to be there with a baby. They have cribs available but you must let them know ahead of time if you'll need one to guarantee it. The kids club is not for babies and there isn't a kids splash pad like at their Costa Mujeres location, but it is easy to get to snacks, pool and beach during the day since they are all in the same area.

You can definitely take long walks on this beach.

You can ask for a room that faces the quiet pool. Preferably the building that faces out of the resort on one side and the quiet pool on the other side. There's no music on that side and it's mostly older people that frequent the pool. It was pretty empty every time I walked by.

You cannot drink tap water, but they'll have bottles of water for you in your room and plenty to drink around the resort. To be safe, you can use bottled water to brush your teeth. Showering is safe. The resorts use safe water for everything the guests are consuming. As my general rule when I travel anywhere, is to avoid buffets as much as possible, since so many people put their germy unwashed hands on the utensils and drop the utensils in the food etc. At the buffet there, you can stick to the areas where the chef is cooking and serving your food in front of you, this way you're not eating food that's sitting out. You also have the snacks during the day in which people will cook things fresh for you during the day, and you can make reservations to sit down restaurants for dinner. If you get the privilege package, you always have access bloved, which has great fresh food as well. When we went to this resort, we didn't eat from the buffet at all. Just a note, if you decide to take any day trips to the cenotes, make sure you don't accidentally drink water from there, as that could upset your stomach. Many ppl get upset stomachs because of that and think it's the food or drinks.

Si, solamente tiene que reservar para comer en la noche. En el día tienen tacos, crepes, helados, y frutas. Saludos!

Yes, they tend to do things in English and Spanish since most ppl there are bilingual and at some point they would also have some of the entertainers engage in French and Italian.

@@chuytravels thank you!

There are mosquitoes in the area, but I actually didn't get bitten while I was at the resort, so it was manageable, at least when I was there at the beginning of December.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it there! I would definitely go back again as well. The beach is wonderful, and the food options I think are better than what you would get at other All inclusive for that price. I don't need the super fancy resorts, just good beach, good food, clean and good service.

Yes, all restaurants and snacks. The only restaurant not included is Bloved, unless you have the privileged package.

The bloved not inclued? Is more expensive restaurant?

Bloved is part of the privilege package. If you pay extra when you book your room with privilege package, you get discounts, you can use the some spa services, special area on beach, Bloved, room service and more. The only time you'll use money in the resort is for tips. Si pagas por una habitación privilege puedes ir a Bloved. Eso

There is a kid's club for kids 4-10yrs old and a teens club. It's supervised and included, although it's for the late morning and afternoon/evening hours. The two areas are very different from each other. For smaller children it almost has a childcare setting and for teens, it's more like a hang out spot with gaming consoles.

The state actually passed a law not long ago, to prohibit smoking in any public space including beaches. Some areas and resorts are more strict than others. From what I've heard, Catalonia hotels do follow the law pretty closely. I don't know if they've set up designated smoking areas, but I didn't see those when I was there.

It is just one bathroom. The toilet and shower are in separate rooms though. And there's the outdoor shower and the indoor shower.

You're welcome! It really is a great option in that area.

I really liked both. The beach at playa Maroma is nicer in my opinion, since it didn't have as much debris on the sand, as costa mujeres. Although playa Maroma is older, it is well taken care of, and very clean so the grounds and rooms were both great in my opinion. Playa Maroma grounds are much smaller than Costa Mujeres. But I liked that since there's less walking from place to place (for food, pool, beach) Obviously the aesthetics are different from one to the other, so I did get a more beachy feel at Playa Maroma, but they're both equally great when it comes to quality of service, food, and cleanliness. If you don't mind a smaller resort then it's really great. You can't beat the food options that Catalonia resorts give you for the price. If you like the pool, then there's only one, so you can't get away to the quiet pool if the other is too loud or vice versa at Playa Maroma. I don't know if it was just my experience, but I went in the beginning of December 2022 to Costa Mujeres and beginning of December to Playa Maroma, yet playa Maroma seemed less crowded. The restaurants were pretty empty when we ate there and even Bloved was mostly empty every time we went (at Costa Mujeres we had to wait around a couple of times) also, Playa Maroma was very noticeably filled with mostly European guests and while speaking to staff, they said that's always the case.

Horchata

Yes, I think it's $35 plus tax now, per night ... They give you access to the museum of graffiti, and you can use their bikes... Plus some of the facilities they have in the building. (Always check for resort fee and parking cost when going to the Miami area, it will add up!)

Thank you!

It's a Coatí! It's in the racoon family, so basically Mexican jungle racoons lol. They're super good climbers though.

thank you!

Sí, en el vídeo se ven un poco. Hay tienda de ropa, otra con muchas otras cositas que puede necesitar uno, y tienda mexicana.

Por eso grabé este vídeo. Para todos los que ahora vivimos lejos. Saludos!

The food of Arroz a la Tumbada is part of the Guinness world record too, but I wasn't able to show the area of the food because of the crowd trying to get their free food. They give free horchata and free arroz a la tumbada that day.

Alvarado knows how to keep culture and tradition alive!

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The video doesn't do it justice! It looks so much more grand in person.

We didn't do excursions leaving from this resort, as most well worth excursions take all day (the all inclusive food would go to waste for the day pretty much). What we did, was stay at a non all inclusive first, in the hotel zone of Cancun. We explored the area, and took a day trip to Isla Mujeres, one day, we went to Xcaret another day, and visited family. We then went to Catalonia Costa Mujeres, to just relax and enjoy the all inclusive aspect of it. The food was really good in my opinion. My picky hubby also liked the food. There was variety in restaurants and snacks that you don't typically get at other all inclusives in the same price range. Also, they accommodated vegetarian dishes for my child, that weren't even on the menu.

It was a lot of fun!!

It was fun and much needed!!

It was sooooo good! Definitely a must try!

Everything was already included. We didn't pay extra. There's only one restaurant where you have to pay to dine in. All the other restaurants and snacks, are included.

Yes anyone can get fresh juices/smoothies

Some rooms have tubs. I know the romance rooms do.

Yes, there is another bar serving alcohol on the beach. Located on the other side of this one with the juice bar in the middle. The update varies in price and for how long you're staying. Also depends on what time of the year you're going.

Massages are extra. You do get a discount if you get the privilege package. I can't remember if it's 10 or 20% the prices for massages were comparable to what you pay in the US

We were mostly gone during the daytime, but I did notice they had some painting activity for the kids when we were heading out one day. We didn't check the schedules for activities and entertainment but there's definitely a daily schedule with different themes, for example, they do the piñata with the kids on Mexican night, and I noticed they were playing games at the entertainment pool with the kids. I also noticed kids and adults playing bingo by the pool.