This is my story!
If I compare Live Aqua and Riu Pallas las Americas this is like driving a Mercedes versus driving a Ford!
Live Aqua is a real 5 star resort !!!
special thanks to Mr. Manuel Sanchez,Mr. Fracisco Ugalde and Mrs. Maru. Also thanks to
Valeria, Fredy and chef Roberto alias Charlie from the Azur Restaurant.
Food for an all inclusive resort was the best - the Lobster tail was the size of Titanic, wine only premium from Chile served in bottles, drinks top quality liquours.
The room we had was room 5009, which was a fantastic.
Pool was super
Beach Extra super, very clean water, but waves every day.
Service exellent.
We also spent 2 days and one night in Fiesta Americana Condesa, thanks to Mr. John Kirwan (general manager) we had a special stay.

You can see from 99.9% of the reviews, this place is outstanding. I have been everywhere, all inclusive and ala carte but this is by far and away the finest hotel with the finest staff and service, I have ever experienced. I am going to list the attention to detail that I found to be completely unique for a resort in Mexico.

First, we upgraded at time of booking to Aqua Club Oceanfront room. ABSOLUTELY worth the extra money (not that much extra!). We had TWO medical issues on this trip, one potentially life threatening (diabetic traveler, insulin vial BROKE). Healthy 40 somethings who do not normally think about medical needs while traveling in Mexico-you never know. The Aqua Club Lounge not only has food and drinks and hospitality all day long, they take you in like FAMILY. Ms. Nancy Vejar, in particular, hostess of the Club Lounge, went so far out of her way: Got a doctor to our room in 20 minutes, called in our prescriptions to the pharmacy and hand delivered them POOLSIDE to us. Her patience, understanding and true concern for our valuable vacation time was more than apparent. The individuals who work at the Aqua Club Lounge, including Fernanda & Julio, feel like family to us and we will be back to see them all very soon (bringing back-up insulin this time!). Thank you ladies and gentlemen-I know you read these reviews. Your outstanding assistance and friendship will live on in our hearts, forever.

Now, onto the fun stuff. Here are the items we found in our room that told us how thoughtful this resort is in anticipating the guests needs: ipod docking alarm, room safe with OUTLET inside for charging phone/ipad/etc, slippers, robes, flip flops, a beach bag, dvd player (they bring the dvd selection to your room), razor, toothbrush/paste, cotton swabs, aromatherapy heater and oils, 2 pillow firmness choices per person plus the normal stocked fridge with a few snacks in there too.

At each exit, there is an umbrella stand filled with Aqua logo umbrellas for guest use.

The gym has state of the art equipment.

The pools are heated (different temps at each pool daily so if you don’t like one, check all the others-some days one pool was like a hot tub and the next day that same pool was chilly-pop around to all the pools-there are plenty).

Wireless everywhere plus internet café always open.

Cool towels with eucalyptus handed out poolside.

Pool beds and beach beds for anyone’s use (cabanas are pay for or come with suite only)

Coffee shop with all the trimmings (and cookies and cakes)

Top shelf liquor everywhere-specify your brand and it is a done deal

To Go Containers (!!!!) so you can take your breakfast poolside if you like! Poolside food service is lunch type foods (burgers, nachos, ceviche, paninis, etc) and they will deliver it to the pool if that is where you happen to be when the food comes!

NO RESERVATIONS required at the restaurants. This was fantastic.

Healthy, quality food in HUMAN SIZED portions. NO dinner buffet! Much more sophisticated this way!

EXCELLENT fillet of beef at Laakresh (sp?) outdoor dining. This is a first for my visits to Mexico-I was stunned. You could cut it with a butter knife. Juicy and delicious.

The best service, the happiest employees, the cleanest manicured grounds, the most professional and attentive staff I have ever encountered. Everything at the hotel lulls you into a relaxed mood from arrival to departure. We have found our second home.

Just returned from a week's stay at Live Aqua and had a great time. Stayed on the 5th floor (Aqua Club room), #5027 which was 3 doors from the lounge so we had a fantastic view of the grounds and ocean (Aqua Club rooms are 5001 to 5041 with rooms 5024 and 5025 on each side of the lounge which is dead center of the resort). Thanks to the concierge who responded to my requests about room confirmation and request! Even though the room was close to the elevators, we were not bothered by any noise. Room was very nice with 2 dbl beds--the beds were extremely comfortable and the dbl beds are more like fulls in terms of size, so plenty of room. Aqua Club lounge has some great food--both appetizers and desserts before dinner (I didn't try other food offerings at other times of the day) and the Champagne is very good. Full bar only out from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. (approximately), otherwise you can get a beer pretty much any time.

Food: Try breakfast buffet at Siete, grouper at Azul for dinner, and yes, the short ribs at MB are as good as people say. In terms of the new restaurants (In Laakeche and Cevicheria), Cevicheria is located on the level below the swim-up bar and above the beach to the left of the resort--fantastic lunch. In Laakeche is in a very romantic, secluded garden area between the resort and the hot tub, and if you go expect the cuts of meat to be different than the U.S., probably best to stick with the filet mignon. No buffets for dinner, only a la cartes. No reservations necessary, but if you have a large party it may be best to check with personnel a day beforehand and be prepared to tip. Definitely try the shrimp tacos poolside for lunch--best I've ever had. Oh yes, try the paella (for a nominal fee) for lunch; it's offered several times a week and set up across from In Laakeche (between the resort and the hot tub).

Service--Never ran across a rude or disgruntled employee, everyone was very pleasant and helpful. Some employees did seem harried as the resort was pretty much at capacity, but they tried their best with a smile on their face. Only complaint was poolside service--it wasn't that employees were just standing around, I don't think there were enough of them. Didn't seem to matter whether I tipped or not... I did notice that guests who made special requests or who were in groups of more than 2 did seem to get better service....

Activities--yes, this is a quiet resort so pretty much the only planned activities are beach volleyball, pool "relaxation" exercises, and table tennis tournaments. I did notice that parasailing signs were posted on the beach in front of the resort, and that wave riders were for rent to the left of the resort. No non-motorized watersports available here, probably because the waves are pretty significant in front of the resort. If you want to get away from the resort for more activity you can always catch a bus to the main bar/restaurant area of the hotel zone...walk to the right of the resort down to the Westin and there's a bus stop right there. Bus ride down to Coco Bongo for example is less than 20 pesos for 2 people.

I met many people who did not want to leave this resort because they had such a relaxing, great time (and I'm one of them). I would definitely recommend this resort to those looking for a more quiet stay with plenty of good dining options.

This was our first time at an adults-only; the crowd was a little different-- it seemed like everyone was either really into making the most of the all-inclusive (drinking), or just all-around ostentatious.
First of all, if you cannot tolerate aromatherapy, don't go here. Every corner of the hotel is infused with some sort of mint, lemon, or combination of the two. It takes a little getting used to, but after a bit, it's fine.
We arrived late, but they were fully booked and there was one room where they had been repairing the a/c for the last 3 hours. They asked us to go eat dinner while they cleaned it up for us. The a/c still didn't work, so the next morning we asked for a new room- they had a few people checkout, and told us they just needed to clean the room, and to come back around noon. We came back at 1, were asked to wait while they checked if the room was ready (for what seemed like quite a long time), and were finally given a key- when we arrived at the room, the maintenance guy was still staining the wood! The smell was enough to kill some brain cells. But after that, everything was fine. The hotel is incredibly clean.
The pool area is great-- there's plenty of pool area to hang out in; but get there early to reserve your seats! people there are extremely conscientious about staking their beach chairs!! there's beautiful sand on the beach, and areas maintained for lounging, as well. The water conditions were rather hazardous while we were there, but they did have lifeguards watching a small section.
The service was good, not perfect; they switched to all-inclusive recently (in the last year?) and they haven't ironed out all the logistical kinks, like having only 1 hostess at the restaurants, who can only seat people so fast. The restaurants don't take reservations, which is what you want to make of it- when it's fully booked, you can wait up to an hour. Otherwise, it's not too bad. The people are really friendly, and don't only wait on you if you tip them first- there was never that expectation of a tip, like there are at some other resorts, which is refreshing.
We really enjoyed the yoga classes in the morning. The gym is packed in the mornings!
Oh, if you like shopping, there's two malls within a 5 minute walk of the hotel, ranging from luxury stores to Zara.