They do have maps and they do give you a tour of the resort, they even go over all your reservations to the restaurants and parks that you made and take notes and give them to you in a nice cool booklet
What a great review! I’ll be staying in the spa building next month. I hope it will be less loud than Arte area. I hope my vegetarian hubby will be happy with the food.
Great video, very informative and helpful! Our family of 4 booked 5 nights/6 days as well for March Break. Any restaurants you loved and would recommend?
Thanks! Definitely BIO - very unique atmosphere and amazing vegan food. If you can get a reservation at Chino Poblano and have the time to do that, I'd definitely recommend it. And the bugs at Cantina Viapy were... interesting! The queso there was amazing, though.
Thank you for this review/overview. My wife & I are going next month (December), but unfortunately for only 3 nights. Any suggestions to maximize our time here?
You're very welcome! Honestly, I would just explore and enjoy the resort, and not worry about going to any parks or excursions. Maybe Xcaret Park via the boat since it's so close, but there's just so much fun stuff to do and amazing things to eat at the resort....
Aw, thanks! I appreciate the positive feedback. It wasn't hard to make the reservations, but they're not very clear about how to do it. You need to email them at hxagservice@hotelxcaret.com up to 30 days in advance of your stay with your proposed restaurant and park/excursion dates and times. They have a form they're supposed to send you, but they never sent it to me, so I found it on a Facebook group. As far as tipping, it's not mandatory, but it is appreciated. We tipped housekeeping for the whole stay the first morning, and brought a bunch of 1s and 5s (USD) to tip the bartenders and drivers.
I like how thorough your video is. I've been to Arte once and I learned some new things I didnt know of. There are flaws within the rooms and service at times but your barely in the room and its based on international standards, so its not a huge concern. I cant wait to go back in a few weeks.
Weird! If you're talking about the swim up bar with the curtain waterfall where they were doing the puppet show, it's called "Pool Bar Playon Piramide". It's on the bottom level of the Casa de la Piramide, next to the river facing the pyramid.
Great video! Still a bit confused about which excursions/activities are included vs upcharge? Is there an easy way to find out. Also, when were you required to where a mask? I know each place can be different. Thanks!
Their website has most of that info, but the short version is that there are 2 restaurants that are upcharged, and aside from the spa I can't think of any excursions/activities that have upcharges, although I'm sure there must be some. It's really the most "all inclusive" resort I've been to. We weren't really required to wear a mask anywhere.
Take the elevator at the pyramid if you don't want to walk up the steps. The hotel exchange privileges may be coming to an end soon. Hotel Xcaret Arte (HXA) opened before all of their facilities were completely constructed and fully functiona but word is that some of the final nails are in place and they're slowly starting to limit the ability of Arte guests to make reservations on the Mexico side. Actually, HXM guests staying at Casa Fuego have been allowed over to the HXA side since it opened. But things are tightening up on both sides. Seems like booking reservation restaurants on opposite sides may no longer be possible except for the couple of restaurants that are open to the public? Traveling to a foreign country that doesn't speak English as the native language? - not a negative for the resort. The onus is on the tourist. Google Translate saved the day for my husband and I in 2016 when were literally trapped in a room in Sicily because a key broke off in a door tumbler leaving us imprisoned in our room before our flight home!
Yeah, I didn't find out about the elevator until after we returned! But it was fun walking up the steps. That'll be a shame if they stop letting Arte guests have access to the Mexico restaurants - it's definitely a big perk of staying there. Oh yeah, I'd never expect anyone in a foreign country to speak English. But I know a lot of American tourists do have those expectations (or don't even think about the language barrier before traveling), so it's definitely something to warn people about so they can prepare accordingly.
Nice video. Thanks for the upload. Were you forced to wear masks at the parks or resort? We are hesitant booking as not my idea of a vacation masked up. Cheers.
Thanks! Yep, they had quite a few vegetarian options on the Xenote tour - everything you'd need for a sandwich and/or salad, and vegetarian soup. We definitely didn't go hungry that day!
Yeah, I think most of the negatives can be attributed to growing pains (and maybe Covid), so hopefully when you go in March everything will be perfect!
Great video! Are you able to make dinner reservations before arriving to the resort or do you do that when you check in? Also, do you need to make reservations to go to the parks on certain days or just tell them when you arrive you'd like to go to a park on a specific day? How does that work? Thanks for the video!
Thanks! Some of the restaurants and parks need reservations, and some don't. For the ones that do, you should absolutely make them at least 3-4 weeks before you arrive, since they can book up pretty far in advance. For example, in this video we needed reservations for Chino Poblano, Tah Xido, and the Xenotes excursion. You can email hxagservice@hotelxcaret.com to make the reservations.
How do we know which Casa to check in at? We are there in 2 weeks and see it could be one of two casas we would be in based on our room type (river view suite).
The hotel pools are fresh chlorinated water. The cenotes are natural fresh water. I'm pretty sure the rivers are fresh water, but there might be salt water in there from the ocean.
Yeah, I'm sure if the life guards see you without one they'll say something. Plus, the water is very deep, so it's actually really helpful to have them so you can stay afloat without as much work.
great video! We go this year and I'm wondering a few things: how was beach snorkeling? Also, from what I've heard, I don't think you can hop resort to resort now in Arte unless you are staying in the Artistas house. Not happy about loud in the room as we are light sleepers and like our peace and quiet on vacation, which is what we loved about no parties at Arte. I am nervous it's going to be a bit difficult with our family of 3 and having privacy. Hotel in Halifax (Muir) has that lighting issue with bathroom and lighting and we hated it; dang. Husband will NOT be pleased with that and it will actually be a vacation ruiner for him in some ways. :( I'll just have to make sure he's got loads of tequila and modelo. They've also taken the room service TV away apparently. Really appreciate your thorough review and I'm long winded; sorry. lol.
Glad you enjoyed it! We didn't do any snorkeling, but it should be amazing - lots of fish in the river water! I don't think hopping TO Arte was ever allowed, mainly because it's an adults-only resort and they don't want kids coming over. But hopping from Arte to Xcaret was fine. Probably for the best about the room service TV.... Anyway, hope you have an incredible trip!
@@DarkSideOfDisney Thanks for the reply!!! Our daughter is 17, so that's why we aren't Artistas, but apparently are in the Musica as we upgraded to a jump off room. That little secret I cannot wait to see the reaction for! I should have noted we are at Arte. Wanted that added peace and quiet. lol I didn't make much sense there in my quesiton; oof. I meant to say you cannot hop from Arte to Mex side unless you are in Artistas. I just re-watched your video since our upgrade since you were in Musica.
You have to pay extra to eat at Xaak. No idea if it's worth it. Other than that, it's considered polite to tip the bartenders and cleaning people and transportation drivers.
Did you really need 5 hours to go back to the airport? Do they make you leave 5 hours before your flight? Or is that optional? Loved the video thanks for all the tips!
Honestly, the process of getting back to the airport was a mess. I hadn't experienced it yet when I recorded the summary, or else I would have put that on the "cons" list. They overbooked the bus (not enough luggage space) so we ended up waiting for about an hour for a van to come. And unfortunately the traffic between the resort and the airport is very unpredictable - there was some sort of road blockade, so yeah, the drive ended up taking over 90 minutes. The line to check luggage for Southwest was insane and wasn't moving at all - luckily we didn't have to check anything, but if we did we would have been waiting there for probably another 90min. In the end, I think we only had about an hour at the airport before our flight boarded. So yeah, unfortunately 5 hours is about right. For what a day/night at Xcaret costs, it might be worth it to get a hotel near the airport and fly out the next morning so you can maximize your time at the resort.
You didn’t watch the show at the Xcaret Park. Just the show alone is worth the amount you pay to get into the park. I would watch the show 2 or 3 times or more if I could during my stay.
They are not great about answering the phone or emails, and when they do, they'll probably confuse you even further. Honestly, I'd join the "Xploring Hotel Xcaret Arte" Facebook group, and ask on there. The people on there will be able to tell you exactly which room to book to get an oceanfront view.
![Hotel Xcaret Arte | RESORT & FOOD Tour! (Part 1) [English]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0No50MxFmew/mqdefault.jpg)
![Hotel Xcaret Arte | RESORT & FOOD Tour! (Part 1) [English]](/img/tr.png)
I went to Xcaret Arte for the first time two years ago. Last year, we became members, and believe me, this place is just amazing.
Going next week. This by far has been the most informative video I've watched. Thanks
How was your trip? I'm thinking of booking here for my birthday in November...
They do have maps and they do give you a tour of the resort, they even go over all your reservations to the restaurants and parks that you made and take notes and give them to you in a nice cool booklet
That must be new! Definitely didn't have any of those things on our visit.
@@DarkSideOfDisney from what I've researched, this can also be dependant on which Casa you're booked into.
I'm completely impressed by your video. So, informative.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
Well done! Very immersive and fun video :) I enjoyed every second of it. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.
You're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.
Great video! Looking forward to going to Hotel Xcaret later in June. Also excited to try a hammock beer! 😂
Glad you enjoyed the video. Hope you have an amazing time there!
What a beautiful resort!
VERY USEFUL INFO ABOUT THE POOLS
This was a great blog and very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Great video! Been trying to find a video in English! 😆. Went to HXM last September and headed to Arte this September! So excited!!
Thanks! Hope you have an amazing time!
I really appreciate your video. very informative
so happy you are still making videos. the darkside of disney!!
Wow amazing video! How could you leave such a beautiful place? They would have to take me kicking and screaming haha
What a great review! I’ll be staying in the spa building next month. I hope it will be less loud than Arte area. I hope my vegetarian hubby will be happy with the food.
Thanks! I'm sure you'll both have a wonderful time. The vegetarian food was incredible, so I'm sure he'll be very happy!
Thanks for making this!
You're very welcome!
It’s crazy that they took you guys from Arte to Mexico side resort to catch the boat that goes through Arte before you get to the Xcaret park.
It would be cool if there was a stop at Arte, but unfortunately that's not the case. Still a cool boat ride, though!
Great video, very informative and helpful! Our family of 4 booked 5 nights/6 days as well for March Break. Any restaurants you loved and would recommend?
Thanks!
Definitely BIO - very unique atmosphere and amazing vegan food. If you can get a reservation at Chino Poblano and have the time to do that, I'd definitely recommend it. And the bugs at Cantina Viapy were... interesting! The queso there was amazing, though.
@@DarkSideOfDisney Bio looks amazing! I don't know if we can bring kids over to Chino Poblano, located in the adult's-only Arte? Will check 🤞
@@debbiefung6324 you likely won’t be able to bring kids but who knows! Definitely call ahead
Las Playas and cantina los faroles were my favorite.
I’m completely sold
thanks a lot for showing us around this gorgeous resort. Is the life jacket provided by the hotel for free?
You're welcome! Yep, the life jackets are provided for free.
We stayed at Xcaret Mexico, but the next time we’re going to stay at Xcaret Arte.
Thank you for this review/overview. My wife & I are going next month (December), but unfortunately for only 3 nights. Any suggestions to maximize our time here?
You're very welcome!
Honestly, I would just explore and enjoy the resort, and not worry about going to any parks or excursions. Maybe Xcaret Park via the boat since it's so close, but there's just so much fun stuff to do and amazing things to eat at the resort....
Hello! This is the best video I’ve seen on this resort. Was it hard to make reservations? What is the tipping policy?
Aw, thanks! I appreciate the positive feedback.
It wasn't hard to make the reservations, but they're not very clear about how to do it. You need to email them at
hxagservice@hotelxcaret.com up to 30 days in advance of your stay with your proposed restaurant and park/excursion dates and times. They have a form they're supposed to send you, but they never sent it to me, so I found it on a Facebook group.
As far as tipping, it's not mandatory, but it is appreciated. We tipped housekeeping for the whole stay the first morning, and brought a bunch of 1s and 5s (USD) to tip the bartenders and drivers.
I like how thorough your video is. I've been to Arte once and I learned some new things I didnt know of. There are flaws within the rooms and service at times but your barely in the room and its based on international standards, so its not a huge concern. I cant wait to go back in a few weeks.
We were there for a week and could Not find that water fall edge pool bar you were at!
Unless that wasn't on the Arte side. Your video says Xcaret Arte though...
Weird! If you're talking about the swim up bar with the curtain waterfall where they were doing the puppet show, it's called "Pool Bar Playon Piramide". It's on the bottom level of the Casa de la Piramide, next to the river facing the pyramid.
Great video! Still a bit confused about which excursions/activities are included vs upcharge? Is there an easy way to find out. Also, when were you required to where a mask? I know each place can be different. Thanks!
Their website has most of that info, but the short version is that there are 2 restaurants that are upcharged, and aside from the spa I can't think of any excursions/activities that have upcharges, although I'm sure there must be some. It's really the most "all inclusive" resort I've been to.
We weren't really required to wear a mask anywhere.
Take the elevator at the pyramid if you don't want to walk up the steps.
The hotel exchange privileges may be coming to an end soon. Hotel Xcaret Arte (HXA) opened before all of their facilities were completely constructed and fully functiona but word is that some of the final nails are in place and they're slowly starting to limit the ability of Arte guests to make reservations on the Mexico side. Actually, HXM guests staying at Casa Fuego have been allowed over to the HXA side since it opened. But things are tightening up on both sides. Seems like booking reservation restaurants on opposite sides may no longer be possible except for the couple of restaurants that are open to the public?
Traveling to a foreign country that doesn't speak English as the native language? - not a negative for the resort. The onus is on the tourist. Google Translate saved the day for my husband and I in 2016 when were literally trapped in a room in Sicily because a key broke off in a door tumbler leaving us imprisoned in our room before our flight home!
Yeah, I didn't find out about the elevator until after we returned! But it was fun walking up the steps.
That'll be a shame if they stop letting Arte guests have access to the Mexico restaurants - it's definitely a big perk of staying there.
Oh yeah, I'd never expect anyone in a foreign country to speak English. But I know a lot of American tourists do have those expectations (or don't even think about the language barrier before traveling), so it's definitely something to warn people about so they can prepare accordingly.
Did you reserve the restaurants and parks before hand or did you do that when you arrived?
For anything that needs reservations you definitely want to do it well in advance of arriving. They get booked up pretty quickly.
Nice video. Thanks for the upload. Were you forced to wear masks at the parks or resort? We are hesitant booking as not my idea of a vacation masked up. Cheers.
Nope, no mandatory mask usage that I remember, and this was months ago, so I'm sure it's even more relaxed now.
great video! do you happen to remember if the food at the xenote part was vegetarian friendly?
Thanks! Yep, they had quite a few vegetarian options on the Xenote tour - everything you'd need for a sandwich and/or salad, and vegetarian soup. We definitely didn't go hungry that day!
Wow for you pay for you’d expect it to be prefect…we are going soon in March….thanks for your video!
Also, I really appreciate your honesty! Very helpful!
Yeah, I think most of the negatives can be attributed to growing pains (and maybe Covid), so hopefully when you go in March everything will be perfect!
Great video! Are you able to make dinner reservations before arriving to the resort or do you do that when you check in? Also, do you need to make reservations to go to the parks on certain days or just tell them when you arrive you'd like to go to a park on a specific day? How does that work? Thanks for the video!
Thanks! Some of the restaurants and parks need reservations, and some don't. For the ones that do, you should absolutely make them at least 3-4 weeks before you arrive, since they can book up pretty far in advance. For example, in this video we needed reservations for Chino Poblano, Tah Xido, and the Xenotes excursion. You can email hxagservice@hotelxcaret.com to make the reservations.
Thank you! Is the food/drinks in the parks extra if you are staying at the hotel?
It's all included with the stay
Did you book directly or 3rd-party?
I booked through Southwest Vacations. No complaints.
Did you take your phones to every park? Worried about getting mine wet!
Yep, sure did! Used a waterproof case, which worked perfectly. In fact, this entire video was shot on my phone!
How do we know which Casa to check in at? We are there in 2 weeks and see it could be one of two casas we would be in based on our room type (river view suite).
Someone will be there to greet you and lead you to your casa when the bus drops you off at the main lobby. It's a weird setup, to be honest.
Awesome video
What was the price in total if you dont mind?
Thanks! It was right around $5000. Not cheap!
@@DarkSideOfDisney yikes, lol. Thanks
Can you tell me if I have to call the hotel
To book a reservation from the airport ?? Or do I just hop on the bus when I land ?
The attendant at the airport will be expecting you - they'll have your name on their list.
Are the rivers, cenotes, hotel pools salt water or fresh?
The hotel pools are fresh chlorinated water. The cenotes are natural fresh water. I'm pretty sure the rivers are fresh water, but there might be salt water in there from the ocean.
Is one required to wear a life vest in the river?
Yeah, I'm sure if the life guards see you without one they'll say something. Plus, the water is very deep, so it's actually really helpful to have them so you can stay afloat without as much work.
What room did you guys book?
We didn't book a specific room - just booked a swim-up, so I think we could have ended up anywhere.
Where did you get your HM mask?
Pretty sure I got it on Etsy.
great video! We go this year and I'm wondering a few things: how was beach snorkeling? Also, from what I've heard, I don't think you can hop resort to resort now in Arte unless you are staying in the Artistas house. Not happy about loud in the room as we are light sleepers and like our peace and quiet on vacation, which is what we loved about no parties at Arte. I am nervous it's going to be a bit difficult with our family of 3 and having privacy. Hotel in Halifax (Muir) has that lighting issue with bathroom and lighting and we hated it; dang. Husband will NOT be pleased with that and it will actually be a vacation ruiner for him in some ways. :( I'll just have to make sure he's got loads of tequila and modelo. They've also taken the room service TV away apparently. Really appreciate your thorough review and I'm long winded; sorry. lol.
Glad you enjoyed it! We didn't do any snorkeling, but it should be amazing - lots of fish in the river water! I don't think hopping TO Arte was ever allowed, mainly because it's an adults-only resort and they don't want kids coming over. But hopping from Arte to Xcaret was fine. Probably for the best about the room service TV.... Anyway, hope you have an incredible trip!
@@DarkSideOfDisney Thanks for the reply!!! Our daughter is 17, so that's why we aren't Artistas, but apparently are in the Musica as we upgraded to a jump off room. That little secret I cannot wait to see the reaction for! I should have noted we are at Arte. Wanted that added peace and quiet. lol I didn't make much sense there in my quesiton; oof. I meant to say you cannot hop from Arte to Mex side unless you are in Artistas. I just re-watched your video since our upgrade since you were in Musica.
is there any hidden fees for like the room deposit fee ? cause i am not bringing alot of money with me
You have to pay extra to eat at Xaak. No idea if it's worth it. Other than that, it's considered polite to tip the bartenders and cleaning people and transportation drivers.
If you get your room in xcaret Mexico and you’re an adult can you still go to the arte resort?
I don't think so. I think they check the wrist bands, which are different between the resorts.
Guests at xcaret arte can go to xcaret mexico but not the other way around.
What room was it that you booked?
We had room 4343.
Did you really need 5 hours to go back to the airport? Do they make you leave 5 hours before your flight? Or is that optional? Loved the video thanks for all the tips!
Honestly, the process of getting back to the airport was a mess. I hadn't experienced it yet when I recorded the summary, or else I would have put that on the "cons" list. They overbooked the bus (not enough luggage space) so we ended up waiting for about an hour for a van to come. And unfortunately the traffic between the resort and the airport is very unpredictable - there was some sort of road blockade, so yeah, the drive ended up taking over 90 minutes. The line to check luggage for Southwest was insane and wasn't moving at all - luckily we didn't have to check anything, but if we did we would have been waiting there for probably another 90min. In the end, I think we only had about an hour at the airport before our flight boarded. So yeah, unfortunately 5 hours is about right. For what a day/night at Xcaret costs, it might be worth it to get a hotel near the airport and fly out the next morning so you can maximize your time at the resort.
You didn’t watch the show at the Xcaret Park. Just the show alone is worth the amount you pay to get into the park. I would watch the show 2 or 3 times or more if I could during my stay.
No, we didn't. We saw the building, but it was soooo hot that we didn't want to stick around any longer. Next time!
Have you found the resort to be pretty empty for being brand new?
It certainly never seemed crowded. But it's such a huge resort, it's hard to tell how many people are there.
I’m trying to get a ocean front room So if you have a real number I would appreciate it thank you so much love your video
They are not great about answering the phone or emails, and when they do, they'll probably confuse you even further. Honestly, I'd join the "Xploring Hotel Xcaret Arte" Facebook group, and ask on there. The people on there will be able to tell you exactly which room to book to get an oceanfront view.
Are masks mandatory?
This was very close to Covid times, so I'm sure masks are not mandatory now.