We recently visited Riviera Maya, Mexico and stayed at the Valentin Imperial. While everyone loves all inclusive resorts, they are not all created equally. So I thought I would give a first hand -no bull shit- review of this one.
Accommodations
We stayed in the swim up rooms in building 7. I cannot speak to the rest of the rooms, but ours was pretty fantastic. The bed was comfortable, the bathroom was huge, there was a small sitting/living room area, and a beautiful back patio that walked right out to the lazy river.
The best part about these rooms is during pool hours, there are servers walking around (right up to your back patio) with drinks and snacks. The chicken panini and nachos were pretty legit! Other rooms don’t have this service because it’s technically for the pool. You do have room service as an option to order at anytime, but I’ll touch on that a little bit later.
All in all, the property at Valentin Imperial was stunning. The beach was beautiful, and the Carribean was crystal clear.
One of the best qualities in my opinion, is that you don’t have to walk a mile through the resort to get where you are going. There are little golf cart taxis riding around 24/7 to get you to and from dinner, to bars, and back to your room.
Entertainment and Nightlife
Valentin hosts shows every night around 8 or 9pm. The first night we were there, (Saturday) there was a 90’s band playing, and that was definitely the most fun. They also had a Michael Jackson Show (it was pretty impressive), a Magic Show and a Carnival night.
There is a sports bar and next door to that a Martini bar with delicious specialty martinis. There is a raspberry drink that I kind of remember drinking one night, and from what I recall it was pretty incredible.
Every morning there was aqua yoga and some type of aqua spinning class in the pool. So there is no need to feel completely guilty about indulging in all the food and drinks. They also had different entertainment acts and games by the pool every afternoon.
Food
We ate at almost all of the restaurants. My favorites were the buffet up front by the beach (I forget the name) for breakfast and lunch. It’s actually the steak/seafood restaurant at night. I don’t remember too much about the Italian restaurant because I had too many pina coladas that day. Habatchi was good, but it was a pain to book reservations.
The French restaurant was by far the best though. Escargot, filet, and some flaming ice cream rum cake dessert. If you visit the Valentin, DO NOT miss the French Restaurant.
The room service food was fantastic especially breakfast, but it always takes at least 45 minutes (which they tell you). I would suggest just ordering from the pool or going to the buffet instead.
Outfit Details
Travel
The drive from the Cancun Airport was approximately 30 minutes, and we booked everything HERE. This place was totally affordable and better priced than some of the other major resorts. I believe the car service we used was BD. If you decide to check it out I would suggest staying 5-7 days, and I hope y’all love it as much as we did.
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