Reef Club Playacar?

mikeinma · 01-01-2004

Looking to book an all-inclusive hotel end of March right on the beach that is affordable (under $200 per night).
I saw Reef Club Playacar online for a good rate, wondering if anyone has recent trip reports? Or recommendations for travel sites that have good Playacar room rates.
Our only other visit was at the Iberostar Tucan, which we loved.

Thanks! 8)

TNTIII · 01-01-2004

Below is a post I made back in September regarding our stay at the Reef Club. Hope you find it helpful. I have booked thru USAirwaysvacations the past several years, and have gotten really good deals out of Providence. Have also used Expedia with good results. Good luck!

Since this site has been so helpfull to us, thought I'd let others know how we found the Reef Club. We returned from a week at the Reef Club on Sept. 3. It is a nice "budget" resort. The rooms are a decent size and we found then to be very clean and in good repair. Same with the bathrooms. Some rooms have lovely balconies while others face one of the roads in Playacar. The first room we were assigned to had one of the these balconies, but when we politely asked if we could have a room facing in to look at the beautiful grounds, the manager immediately switched us to another room on a third floor. We were glad we asked because we had three full days of rain, and it was nice to sit on the balcony and read our books and not see cars going by! I would definitely ask for a room on either the second or third floor and close to the pool/beach area as it does smell musty around the cenote. As I said, the grounds are beautiful, epecially at night when the balconies are lit by half moon lights, and the walkways around the cenote are also lit up. There are charming "kissing chairs" scattered throughout the property. All of the staff are extremely hard-working, very polite and friendly. The beach is spectacular, and is the best feature of the hotel. It is spacious and less crowded than other resorts. There were only two things about this resort that disappointed us. The first was the food. We have stayed at other AIs in Playacar where the food was far superior. We are not picky eaters so we never went hungry, but the quality and quantity was just not there, even in Boticelli's. The second thing that may disappoint some people is the pools. We prefer the ocean, so never really use the pools, but if you do like a nice pool to swim in, you will not find it here. They are much smaller than what you see on their website. We love Playacar and plan to return again next year. However, we will not stay at the Reef Club again. Last year we stayed at the Allegro (now Occidental Allegro) and enjoyed that much better mostly because of the outstanding quality of the food, drink, and service. The only reason we did not stay there this year was because they were remodeling and we wanted to avoid the noise and confusion that goes along with that sort of thing. From what we could see from the beach walking by, it doesn't appear there is any kind of construction going on now.
I will add a post script to this as of today, Jan. 1, 2004. After having a few months to reflect on our vacation last Aug.-Sept. we definitely feel the Reef Club was well below par. We were just so happy to be on vacation and free from every day worries that we just didn't mind the mediocrity of this resort. We were also off the property a lot sightseeing, and just having a wonderful time, that we weren't there long enough to dwell on all that was lacking there. However, it would be worth it to spend a few dollars more and stay at a nicer resort, especially if it mean better food. It wasn't worth staying at the Reef Club for the very little bit of money it saved us. You get what you pay for! If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me.

**Shammy** · 01-01-2004

mikeinma,

As I was saying, the Reef Club is a 3-4 star hotel. And like TNT said, it really wasn't worth staying there. You'd be better off spending a few extra $ and upgrading yourself just a bit. I found rates for 5 other hotels that are of a higher quality (3 of the Riu properties in Playacar included) that are $250/night or under.

01-01-2004	#1 (permalink)
mikeinma lost on fifth Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 12	Reef Club Playacar? Looking to book an all-inclusive hotel end of March right on the beach that is affordable (under $200 per night). I saw Reef Club Playacar online for a good rate, wondering if anyone has recent trip reports? Or recommendations for travel sites that have good Playacar room rates. Our only other visit was at the Iberostar Tucan, which we loved. Thanks! 8)

01-01-2004	#2 (permalink)
TNTIII very sparkly Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: No. Providence, RI Posts: 31	Reef Club Playacar Below is a post I made back in September regarding our stay at the Reef Club. Hope you find it helpful. I have booked thru USAirwaysvacations the past several years, and have gotten really good deals out of Providence. Have also used Expedia with good results. Good luck! Since this site has been so helpfull to us, thought I'd let others know how we found the Reef Club. We returned from a week at the Reef Club on Sept. 3. It is a nice "budget" resort. The rooms are a decent size and we found then to be very clean and in good repair. Same with the bathrooms. Some rooms have lovely balconies while others face one of the roads in Playacar. The first room we were assigned to had one of the these balconies, but when we politely asked if we could have a room facing in to look at the beautiful grounds, the manager immediately switched us to another room on a third floor. We were glad we asked because we had three full days of rain, and it was nice to sit on the balcony and read our books and not see cars going by! I would definitely ask for a room on either the second or third floor and close to the pool/beach area as it does smell musty around the cenote. As I said, the grounds are beautiful, epecially at night when the balconies are lit by half moon lights, and the walkways around the cenote are also lit up. There are charming "kissing chairs" scattered throughout the property. All of the staff are extremely hard-working, very polite and friendly. The beach is spectacular, and is the best feature of the hotel. It is spacious and less crowded than other resorts. There were only two things about this resort that disappointed us. The first was the food. We have stayed at other AIs in Playacar where the food was far superior. We are not picky eaters so we never went hungry, but the quality and quantity was just not there, even in Boticelli's. The second thing that may disappoint some people is the pools. We prefer the ocean, so never really use the pools, but if you do like a nice pool to swim in, you will not find it here. They are much smaller than what you see on their website. We love Playacar and plan to return again next year. However, we will not stay at the Reef Club again. Last year we stayed at the Allegro (now Occidental Allegro) and enjoyed that much better mostly because of the outstanding quality of the food, drink, and service. The only reason we did not stay there this year was because they were remodeling and we wanted to avoid the noise and confusion that goes along with that sort of thing. From what we could see from the beach walking by, it doesn't appear there is any kind of construction going on now. I will add a post script to this as of today, Jan. 1, 2004. After having a few months to reflect on our vacation last Aug.-Sept. we definitely feel the Reef Club was well below par. We were just so happy to be on vacation and free from every day worries that we just didn't mind the mediocrity of this resort. We were also off the property a lot sightseeing, and just having a wonderful time, that we weren't there long enough to dwell on all that was lacking there. However, it would be worth it to spend a few dollars more and stay at a nicer resort, especially if it mean better food. It wasn't worth staying at the Reef Club for the very little bit of money it saved us. You get what you pay for! If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me.

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01-01-2004	#3 (permalink)
Shammy Moderator Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: The Joisey Shore Posts: 10,262	mikeinma, As I was saying, the Reef Club is a 3-4 star hotel. And like TNT said, it really wasn't worth staying there. You'd be better off spending a few extra $ and upgrading yourself just a bit. I found rates for 5 other hotels that are of a higher quality (3 of the Riu properties in Playacar included) that are $250/night or under.

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