Anyone who says that the food at this resort is excellent has questionable taste. There are 5 restaurants and prior to departing I didn't anticipate eating at the buffet; however, without the fresh fruit/veg options at the buffet, I would have starved. One reviewer posted that 'Asiana' was their favorite? I cannot imagine how that is possible! The odor of FISH as you walk through the door is so strong, it is nauseating. Anyone who eats shrimp/fish or sushi deserves the ecoli they get as a parting gift. We tried Maria at the sister property across the street (authentic Mexican) since when is authentic anything a pork chop so over cooked it is grey and can't be cut with a knife? Every single dish we attempted to eat was over-sauced, over-cooked and inedible. The tapas/Spanish restaurant, awful, the beach-side (which is right next to the tapas restaurant) had some small pizza's that were about what you could buy and cook in a toaster oven... the pico, guacamole & chips were by far the best thing they serve... SANGRIA is NOT red wine with lemonade - that's what they give you, but that isn't authentic sangria - and that scenario exactly captures what is wrong with this resort - other than physically being located IN Mexico, it's in-authentic and BAD. Just because there are 5 restaurants doesn't make any of what they serve GOOD - more doesn't equal better.

Another annoying issue with this property is their constant 'up-sell' pitches: upgrade to a better room, book a $400.00 lobster dinner on the beach (ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?) and the hotel called us the first morning of our stay at 8:00am to tell us they were giving us a free (I don't know what) as my husband answered the phone. He later went down to tell them NO MORE CALLS & that whatever the free item was, it wasn't worth being woken up at 8am for. It doesn't make for a relaxing vacation or happy guests - but the people who work in the spa will come around to ask you to book. If I want a massage I will book one, LEAVE ME ALONE!

The property itself is decent (if the food was passable it would at best be 3.5 stars) the rooms are well appointed and comfortable, bathrooms are also sizeable and housekeeping did a decent job. The floors in your room and throughout the hotel are VERY slippery - the tile becomes slick with humidity so be careful! One nice feature is you can chose your room and see where it is located within the property through an interactive map. We were on the second floor near the main lobby, we had a fantastic view, it was also conveniently located.

The other thing I liked about this hotel is they have a full service coffee bar (they have lactose free milk & soy) and you can order a latte or other specialty coffee. The cups are smaller than a Starbucks tall; I always ordered 2. The waitstaff were friendly, if you've already booked - roll into town with a stripper-wad of $1.00's, you'll need them.

The pools are nice - hot tub was luke warm - plenty of beach lounge chairs on a beautiful stretch of beach with a view of Cozumel in the distance.

There are a lot of cabanas on the beach but they are very close to each other, 3 rows of 15-20 and it's uncomfortable to be so close to other vacationers, particularly mixing smokers/non-smokers, so we opted for the individual beach chairs (without the cabana) and pulled them off to the side.

As far as shopping in Playa on 5th Avenue don't confuse it with 'shopping on 5th' in Manhattan; it's 95% garbage, overpriced, authentic tourist c-r-a-p. It's the same stuff you can buy for $3.00 or less on Canal Street; the other 5% of stores would be the 2 Duty Free shops & one has a Tiffany & Co store located in the back. The silver shops aren't worth the effort, one salesman offered to sell me a bracelet for $480, silver by the ounce is priced approx $34. per oz. the stones were plastic - at most the item was worth $80-100.00 (it was stamped .925) but negotiating to an acceptable price from $480 wasn't - so we left. With the exception of the duty-free stores, every single store we stopped at and 75% of the people trying to waive you into their establishment offered to sell us drugs - buy a t-shirt and a trip to the moon. No. Thank You.

Mexico has an abundance of offerings (hotels, resorts & things to do) you'll find far better - keep looking.