Desire Riviera Maya Resort - All-Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

3453 reviews

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  Tranquil oasis with top notch service - Can’t wait to go back

  If you are looking for a place to connect with your spouse away from all responsibilities- this is the place. From our pickup at the airport by Aventour, check in with friendly helpful staff, to our amazing meals on site, and all clothing optional with great nightlife offerings, you can’t go wrong. Our butler LeFranc anticipated all of our needs and spent time to get to know us and what we might want to experience. We look forward to returning and will ask specifically for him! We highly recommend making reservations at Kahlo and ask for Jorge to be your waiter. He suggested a fabulous bottle of wine and table side coffee experience that can’t be beat. In addition, he helped us out with late night room service when we were starving and struggling to pick something to snack on. If you have the time - sign up with Vanessa with Provoke Photography! She was so kind, caring and captured photos that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. Definitely ask for something a little “spicy” you won’t regret it. Lastly - the pool was fantastic. Iktor made suggestions for the best places to sit poolside or cabana depending on the day and Emir took such good care of us while we were at the pool. Our drinks were never empty and he kept us smiling and happy all day! We will definitely be back! Thank you to all the staff that made our stay so memorable!

  Jan 05, 2025
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  Great but could be better

  Booking was easy as well as arranging transportation to and from the airport was a breeze. Got to the hotel and the property was beautiful. They designated a yellow band which indicated that we were first timers or what jokingly called "fresh meat". This band also doubled as your room key which was really nice. The staff were really friendly and helpful as well. We chose the garden room and got assigned one near the "chill pool" which was the original side of the resort. We loved it as we were really close to the beach, most of the restaurants and on the quite side of the resort. The beach unfortunately, was not as ideal as we would like it to be, so we didn't go swimming but rather, stayed lounging between the two pools that the resort had to offer. There were cabanas all over the pool and beach that allowed us to reserve. However, note that the "premier" members have priority, but it didn't bother us much as there plenty of lounge chairs as well. There were approximately 5 restaurants on the property - three had dress codes and required reservations. Of the five we tried, we liked Kahlo (Mexican fusion) the best and the Asian themed one the least. Some of the dishes in the Asian fusion restaurant were off the mark - they had a deconstructed bao which didn't taste all that great, had tom yum soup that had ramen noodles in it etc. The buffet restaurant options could use some more variety and offer condiments (couldn't find salsa etc.) which we found odd. The resort offered couple activities such as yoga, pool volleyball and beach volleyball etc. but we didn't participated in. But a lot of couples seemed to like it. The big jacuzzi on the top floor of the main lounge was a great option as they had swim up bar and we got a chance to mingle with couples as the sun was setting down. They also had some shows as we were there during Christmas which made the evening dancing activities more fun. There's a disco/club upstairs that's near the playroom that was also great. ***Each night had a theme costume party which added some spice to the events so take note of those days on their website and bring some costumes with you :) There are two main complaints we have with this resort: 1. We participated in their membership sales pitch, but we were perturbed because the night before, we had someone remind us of the appointment. Then on the morning of, as we were chilling in the cabana on the beach, we were again interrupted and reminded of our appointment. But when we got there on time, they were nowhere to be found, and we didn't get seen until 30 minutes later. On top of that they wasted two hours of our vacation time with no-ending sales pitch. We kept on wanting to leave but they kept on trying to get us to buy a membership. They gave us $2,000 worth of credit to use for different things, but we felt so pressured that we ended up not using any of it so BE WARNED. 2. The playroom had five king sized bed. But unlike going to the clubs where they change out the sheets every time a couple wants to use the beds, there were no attendants around not even a rule/guide posted. We just followed other couples who laid out beach towels on the bed as they played. Also, we informed two or more staff members of the temperature in the playroom. It was really warm and it got STEAMY and uncomfortable in there. Staff kept on stating that they will "look into it" but didn't really do much. Other than that, our stay there was pleasant. Sure, it could be better but of the three resorts this company offers - we heard this one was the best. We liked that it was strictly for straight couples and the security was tight. We felt safe inside the resort. Another thing we would like to note is that - we booked two outside activities out of the resort and got to visit Isla Mujeres (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) and Cichen Itza through a travel agent (Isaiah) which was a nice break from the being on the resort for 6 days. Just know it's an option. We plan on coming back for sure, but we don't want to buy the membership nor participate again in their sales pitch session.

  Dec 30, 2024
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  Very nice Hotel

  very nice hotel, with excellent food ! Excellent service, Staff are trying their best to make you hapy and welcommed ! There is everywhere a friendly atmosphere . hotel has a nice beach , with clear water and where it is easy to swim . Also it has two warmed swimming pools !

  Dec 30, 2024
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  Nina & Frank's Christmas adventure

  This was our second trip to Pearl and fifth overall to Desire. We were there from December 17 to December 26. We took Jet Blue non-stop from Boston. Customs and baggage retrieval went smooth. We had previously arranged with USA transfers for transportation to Pearl which was about a 30-minute ride from the airport. We got there late in the afternoon so our check-in was expedited. We signed our lives away and were never asked to sit through a sales pitch to upgrade our membership. The butler, Eric, helped us to our junior suite which was on the second floor of the seahorse building. The room was small but well appointed. Our balcony overlooked the ocean and beach. That first night we were quite tired so we ordered room service and we ate it out on our balcony which had a good-sized table and two chairs. Every morning, we ate our breakfasts out there on our balcony which was delivered promptly and with care by waiters Destaphano and Poot. We opted to eat our breakfasts on our balcony because it allowed us to dine in the nude. BTW occasionally when calling the front desk for room service, a wonderful and helpful gentleman named Frank, answered with an ironically New York accent. As far as we were led to believe there is no option to dine nude in any of the three restaurants. There is outdoor seating but we were never able to determine which restaurant (Aphrodite or Pearl) it belonged to and if nude dining was allowed. The king-sized bed was comfortable and there was a night table on each side. There weren’t many outlets and we never found a USB port but we were prepared with our own power strip/charger with USB ports. Traveling with your own make’s life much easier. The sliders to the balcony have a sliding screen and it is nice to leave the glass door open at night and just sleep with the screen closed. The sounds and smells of the beach are hypnotic. The closet is large and you may want to bring a few hangers since there are only three drawers in the room. The safe is in the closet and is easy to use. The bathroom was spacious and in good shape with separate toilet and shower rooms. The was also a full-sized tub with folding accordion doors adjacent to the bedroom which looked like a good place for a boudoir themed photo shoot. The Trane branded AC unit was easy to control with a remote control but seemed a little dusty, so we suspect the filter may need to be replaced. There is cable TV with a good assortment of channels in both English and Spanish. There are also some porn channels on the TV and of course you can never have enough porn in your life. The refrigerator is dorm room sized and the staff was excellent at stocking it with the beverages we chose. We are not heavy drinkers so we opted for beer, bottled water, and diet soda which they were glad to accommodate. The next day there weren’t any available pool beds but the day after and each subsequent day, Miguel and Antonio were able to get us a great bed right by the steps into the pool. They did an excellent job making up our pool bed with towels each day. The pool is spacious but not too large as to keep people to far spread out. Along the edges of the pool there are built in benches to sit on. However, for short folks like Nina using your husband as a booster seat is a must due to the dept of the pool. There is a swim up bar in the pool with many bar stools to sit on. The bar tenders are attentive and very skilled at all varieties of cocktails and mocktails. You can get served at the pool bar from early morning until it closes around 5PM. In the pool about 85 percent of women and about 75 percent of men were completely naked. That brings up the question of where to keep your tip money for the bartenders. Tucking a few dollars into your hat works wonders. Adjacent to the pool there is a public hot tub which is a nice place to relax and socialize. You can get to it right from the pool by the bar or a separate set of steps. Note that this smaller hot tub is not considered a “coochie coochie” area by the staff so you may need to regulate any extra-curricular activities there. We ate our lunches on our pool bed each day so that we wouldn’t have to get dressed. The food was good but not exceptional. They recently got a new executive chef, Ruben, so we suspect the food shall improve. At the pool in the afternoon, the play makers did a great job of keeping the activities lively. Candice, Bella, Sam, and Raiders; were excellent and we miss them all. The games they play started out with water sports such as polo and volleyball and then later in the day fun party style games. They even came up with a few special ones for Christmas. Specifically, instead of the usual lap dance class around the pool they had a Christmas version which turned out to be a naked version of the Radio-City Rockettes. After 4PM the crowd moves to the large hot tub which is only 5 or so steps up from the ground level. Once there are cubby holes to leave your clothes, bathing suits, and bags in. The hot tub is large with many beds around it, a center island for socializing and a swim up bar in it. Although, not mandatory, just about every guest was naked in the hot tub. We need to give special acknowledgement to Pedro the bartender at the hot tub. In addition to being a great bartender he is warm, personable and really cares for the safety and enjoyment of each and every guest. After the afternoon hot tub socialization, there is time for dinner. There are three choices, the buffet called Afrodite, the fancier Pearl, and the Asian themed Suki. The first two change there menus daily so that there is a good variety. On Christmas the buffet was a special holiday theme and we sat outside and dined with the waves crashing on the beach. Some folks don’t wear their nightly theme outfits to dinner but get changed into them later on. We opted to wear our theme night costumes to dinner each night. Each night has a theme and most folks dress the theme. If you are thinking of spending time at Desire wearing theme night attire is a must for a great conversation starter. If you don’t know what each night’s theme is, they are all listed at the Desire web site under nightly entertainment > theme nights. We filled up a full-sized suitcase with just our costumes and they got good reports. After dinner there is a band and show in the lobby bar area. There are some comfy couches to sit on there and we had many folks come up to us to compliment our outfits. We never stayed for the entire show; electing instead to go to the hot tub where LS activity lasted throughout the night. We met many couples who we were quite compatible with. I would like to give a warm shout-out to the hard-working security staff, especially Omar who helped us back to our room each night after frolicking at the hot tub. One interesting thing is that Christmas time the staff put up a tree in the lobby. As with many other guests we brought wrapped presents and left them under the tree for other couples to take. This leave a gift – get a gift was fun but many couples didn’t know about it. This should be better publicized to couples that will be there over Christmas. We would like to thank all of the staff and especially our butler Amir for making it a great trip. There was one negative item though. For several years Desire was offering a day trip on a catamaran for 5 to 8 couples at a time. This was a wonderful, sexy, naked day trip with lots of couples playing. We tried to book it again this year. To our dismay we found out that side excursions are now being handled by a third-party company. Although we tried on several occasions to explain what the “no rules” Desire “naked catamaran” trip was like; the rep, Eunice, insisted in trying to sell us on boring, third-party vanilla catamaran trips with couples from other resorts. Please Desire, bring back the Desire “naked catamaran” trip. Thanks for reading, Nina & Frank

  Dec 29, 2024
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  The staff is excellent all over the resort. Ivan from Suki Restaurant, Jorge from Mexican Restaurant are outstanding.

  The pillows are very fluffy. Lots of Great English Channels. Fridge was always topped up with beer, water and soft drinks. Food is very good at all restaurants. Beach could have been cleaner. But there is much of a beach because of high tide. The big party pool and lazy quiet pool is really nice. The music volume is perfect at pool but at the nightly entertainment, music is too loud. Music should be turned down a bit at nightly entertainment. Mexican food restaurant is very classy and great food. All pool staff is amazing. My hats off to Iker pool conerage. We are definitely going back to Desire RM many more times. Keep up the good work Desire RM.

  Dec 29, 2024