Just returned on March 14 after a week's stay...had a wonderful time...
encountered no problems at all...food was delicious--quite a variety and
choice of selections...rooms just great -- very clean. Except for the
selling spiel for the Vacation Club (which we subjected ourselves to out
of curiosity) this was a great vacation........visited Tulum on a trip
arranged by the hotel and had a super trip there....can't say anything
bad about the hotel...met some great people.....found the hotel manager
very helpful when we had a problem with our Apple Representative
(who never contacted us, never showed up, never helped us at all).......
Would recommend this hotel to anyone.

We went to Playacar from Feb. 17th - 25th and we had read a number of reviews regarding the beach and problems with the rooms. We went with 3 other couples and one of the reasons we went back to Playa Del Carmen was because of the water and the beaches. To see the majority of the beach gone, we were very sad but not surprised. Our main objective this vacation was to relax and really become beach bums and we pretty much accomplished that. 2 couples had second floor rooms and 2 couples had first floor rooms, the second floor rooms were very noisy with birds and critters and the first floor rooms were very musty and all rooms had hard beds. If you are a light sleeper do not get a second floor room. If you have a first floor room and keep the air conditioning off during the day and run it early evening you can get rid of most of the musty smell.

Thought the food was pretty good at the main buffet, but limited choices at the snack bar by the pool. The chips/cheese/salsa was very good and had that every day and also the pizza was good - It was very nice to have pizza at night at 11:00 pm and to go down to the pool bar in the evening instead of just the disco.

We ate at the Mexican and Italian restaurants, there was a small amount of food at the Mexican restaurant but we had a lot of fun with the waiters and the uno, dos, tres BAM! red tequila shots, we got a group picture with the somberos and our waiters and was very fun.

We also went to the Italian restaurant, food was much better but took way too long - Almost 3 hours for dinner a little too long for our groups taste.

We also suggest to get a day pass and go to the Allegro in Cozumel, the beach is beautiful and only costs $15 for a taxi when you get off the ferry, you can also go snorkeling right there at the resort and plenty of beach chairs, we took the 8:00 am ferry and that was plenty of time. Also walked down to the public beach called Mr. Sanchos which took about 20 min. from the resort and they have a bar, restaurant and shopping right there on the beach it was very nice.

The day we were leaving there wasn't much left of the beach and they only had a limited amount of chairs, and overall the weather was great, we all came back with great tans, it was very relaxing and when your in Mexico with good friends how can you not have a great time!

Hurricane damage? Doesn't make sense to me.

Stayed at the resort 10 days after Ivan (cat5) passed 200 miles from PDC. The beach was in great condition. I enjoyed the resort.

Sometime in mid Dec. An earthquake occurred just off of Grand Cayman, mag. 6.8. I sure ocean levels increased (small tsunami), hence the erosion. I am shocked to see the current pictures of the beach area. I hope the beach front returns.

My husband and I booked a 8 day stay at the Grand Flamenco Xcaret but when we arrived with another couple we met on the plane - we were told that we did not have reservations there but that our reservations were for the Allegro Playacar. Nothing we did or said, including showing our Confirmation #'s helped. (We later found out that they had overbooked by 51 rooms). Their guests (with rooms) were offered 3 different options if they would give up their rooms, including free future stays, we were offered nothing. We even had to pay for the taxi to take us to the Allegro, while it was only $10 it is the principal of the thing that counts.

When we arrived at the Allegro we were greeted by the front desk and our bags were immediately taken to our room. After first seeing the Grand Xcaret - what a disappointment!!! The staff at the Allegro was extremely nice and helpful but we had paid for a 5 star resort, not a 3 star. I would compare the Allegro to a Hotel 6, functional and adequate but definetly not what we paid for.

The gounds are beautiful, beds are short and hard, we never had any problem with bugs but the rooms smelled musty and damp from the thatched roof. They look nice but my allergies absolutely did not like the smell.

As far as the food goes, the buffet offered great variety but nothing was ever hot or even warm. We didn't go hungry but I want my hot food hot and my cold food cold.

We were approached numerous times by the timeshare people until we gave in and listened to them. They really pressure you. Of course, they told us we wouldn't have had the problems we did if we were members. My feelings are that it shouldn't matter. If you paid for it, you should get what you paid for.

We have e-mailed Occidental and am curious to see what they will do about this. The management staff at the Grand Xcaret was RUDE, especially their Manager, Raoul Martin. Even tho' he confirmed to our travel agent that he knew we had valid reservations, he told us we didn't and then ignored us, refusing to even acknowledge that we were there.

Reading some of the reviews, I have the feeling that Occidental has a BIG problem with overbooking. In the good old USA, it is called FRAUD, but in Mexico they get by with it.

If you are only looking for a neat, clean place to stay with no ammenities, then Allegro Playacar will be great. The beach is gone but that is no one's fault but mother nature.

The only thing that Allegro has going for it is that it is only a short distance from Playa del Carmen. The Grand Xcaret is out in the middle of nowhere.