Mexico Trip Recap

I recently traveled to Mexico with my sister and it was absolutely great. My sister and I stayed at the all-inclusive Grand Riviera Princess All Suites Resort & Spa for 4 nights and 5 days. We got the Laguna Villa Suite, which is a little bit pricier than the regular rooms, but it was worth the extra cash. Our room was literally a little oasis. The outdoor shower and the view from the balcony definitely enhanced the room. The platinum and villa suite has a lot of perks like a complimentary massage, a private pool and dining area, and a dinner party just to list a few. When we got our massage we also tried the fish spa pedicure, so I was able to tick that off my to-do list.

The hotel offered transportation to and from the airport but at a hefty price. We decided to try our luck at finding our own transportation once we landed in Mexico. Luckily for us, there were various taxis options available at the airport at a cheaper price. If you decide to visit Mexico anytime in the future I would recommend finding transportation once you arrive there vs. getting it through the resort. As indicated before the resort is all-inclusive, so everything from food to drinks was covered under what we paid. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all buffet style, but they do offer an extensive selection of food to choose from. The resort also offers a la carte dinner, which we opted to do 3 nights out of the 4 nights we stayed there. We dined at a steakhouse, seafood, and French restaurant. Naturally, the food was better since they weren’t mass-producing it.

There are live music, show performances and a club on the resort for nighttime entertainment. If you want to venture off the resort for night time entertainment I would recommend checking out Senor Frog.

We had a nice balance of excursions and relaxing at the resort. We booked all of our excursions once we arrived at the hotel since they have representative’s onsite. We did the ATV and speedboat excursion for $69 and that was beyond fun. Speed boating is one of the most thrilling and horrifying experiences I have had to date. Throughout the whole ride I was busy sending a lot of positive energy out into the universe hoping and praying that the boat wouldn’t flip over, but beside me being a scaredy cat it was fun and I would highly recommend trying it.

We also did a 3 part excursion, which consisted of us seeing the Chichen Itza (one of the new Seven Wonders of the World), going to a cenote (absolutely beautiful) and visiting a traditional Mexican city. The excursion was $109 and it was a 12 hours excursion. Before we got to the Chichen Itza our tour guide took us to a shopping center where we could buy souvenirs. The majority of the stuff they sold was overpriced, but we were able to drive down the price for the 2 items we bought. Once we actually got the Chichen Itza there were tons of vendors’ onsite selling the exact same things the shopping center had, but way cheaper. I definitely felt cheated out of my money when I realized that I could have gotten the stuff I bought cheaper if I had only waited to arrive at our destination. I learned my lesson and won't be making that mistake again on any future excursions.

Mexico is a great place to take a vacation, especially if you are on a budget. If you have any questions about anything I covered or didn’t mention feel free to ask.

SN: The whole process of getting into Mexico and getting back to the US went pretty smoothly despite the current turmoil between the 2 countries.