Bravo Club El Mandarin

My family and I ( us 46 & 44 Kids 10 & 6 ) are going to be at the Bravo Club El Mandarin from Dec 27 to Jan 10,If there are any Canadians that are going to be there during our stay please let me know, We would love to get together for a drink. From reading the web boards I understand this is an Italian owned resort and the beach sucks, ( how bad can it be ) I'll bet its warmer than Victoria and a hell of alot more FUN. Cheers, John [/b]

[gabriola3]

Howdy neighbour,

We (Gabriola Island residents) are looking at a last minute package (Dec. 14) to to the El Mandarin. What's wrong with the beach?

Thanks
Brian

we'll (me and john (toronto) and our son sean (field b.c.) and daughter and son inlaw (waterloo) will be there over new year's. john and i have been to the area (playa, and cozumel) 4 times before and enjoyed the area greatly. this is the first time for the "kids". some warm clothes for the evenings for you and the kids are recommended at this time of year.

hola

Hi, please take this as an opinion only. Myself and my wife went to Bravo Club El Mandarin in Feb. '02. I would never go back there ever again. Firstly the good. Very clean, nicely presented, gardens immaculate. Yes it was sunny and warm, but the beach as everyone has gone on about is aweful. We spent no more than 10 minutes at the beach, as the water is murky and the sand close to the water is covered in seaweed. I did not see one person in the water in front of Bravo the week we were there. However there is a great beach just south by taking the shuttle bus out of the compound about 10 minutes south. The staff for the most part was helpful however one bartender was very rude and definitely catered to the Italian guests over us. See you wear a particular coloured bracelet depending on which country you are from, I guess so the staff can treat you accordingly as it was apparent the Italians were treated with much more respect than us being Canadian. The pool area was nice however was always closed by dinner time, leaving most of the night time to sit in the lobby open area, which made no sense to me as this is well away from the beach area. Food was okay, however felt somewhat repetative. The town of Playa del Carmen was great, very friendly locals, lots of fun which is 10 minutes away, unfortunately by going to Bravo and being all inclusive we spent more time and money eating and socializing in Playa. Once again, if asked I would definitely not recommend. I am mid 30's, and married so looking for fun but not a party or anything, and would definitely try somewhere else, anywhere! :-?

[bigtrout]

To Brian from Gabriola.
Re the beach, I don't think there is anything wrong with the beach at the Bravo Club however I did read that some people expected it to be like a pool and free of any life forms, seaweed included. My comment was sarcastic and directed at the anal tourists that seem to frequent these travel boards. I do hope you have a good holiday, I know that we will, this is the first tropical holiday for our kid's which is great, they have no expectations. Cheers, John

on another travel forum i connected with betty who was there last spring and is from calgary. her child is getting married there this coming spring. apparently the water is fine unless you want it to be like a pool. i just checked again with my travel agent (like tonight) and was told that there is no reported problem at this time. if there are storms etc. around the time you go you will have problems anywhere.
anyway a holiday is what you make of it and i guess that i look for the positive rather than the negative so hola every one. if you want a canadian or american holiday stay home!

I hope you all have a good time and are more satisfied than the beach conditions than I was. Please post once you return, and please do not take this information I posted as me going off, I simply am stating my take on what I experienced to help educate others when they are doing their research on destinations. Further, my opinion of the beach I guess comes from comparing to what I am used to when going to hawaii, basically there is no comparision, just my honest opinion.

[jazz]

my husband and i found that the Bravo Club el Madarin was a great resort and we didn't feel as if we were treated any differently than anyone b/c of the color of our wristbands and we also found the beach to be beautiful. i have written a full review if anyone would like to read it. you can find it at tripadvisor.com or at debbiescaribbeanresortreviews.com