Destination: Puerto Morelos Mexico
When: January 14-17, 2009
Resort: Ceiba del Mar, Puerto Morelos Mexico
We left the Riu Palace Riviera Maya on Wednesday morning, taking a cab up to Puerto Morelos to the Caiba del Mar resort. We were not sure what to expect from the Ceiba del Mar. Our room was courtesy of the Cancun Visitor's Bureau, as a thank you for me selling so many trips to Cancun. The Cancun Visitor's Bureau choose the hotel. We found out we would be staying at the Ceiba del Mar the day before we were scheduled to leave Minneapolis. I have to admit, I hadn't sold this particular resort before and had to do some quick research on the property. It looked nice, so we decided to go with the flow and check it out. Wow, were we in for a huge treat!
Ceiba del Mar is a boutique hotel with only 88 rooms. There is an all-inclusive option that you can add to your room for approximately $90 per person, per night. Steep, but given the meal prices at the restaurants at Ceiba del Mar, the all-inclusive plan is worth it. I was never able to find much internet information about meal prices at Ceiba del Mar before we arrived at the hotel, so I took several photos of their menus to show the costs (see the photo section.) Normally I don't go around taking photos of menus! There are two restaurants and a full menu for the pool bar area. When the resort is busy, they offer a breakfast buffet, otherwise everything is ala cart.
We checked in and were escorted to our room, which was upgraded to a Master Suite. Oh, it was so beautiful! We had a living room with a huge plasma TV on the wall, a balcony, bathroom and bar area, then a bedroom with another TV, another bathroom and another balcony with furniture and a hammock. There was wireless internet throughout the property. We had gorgeous pool and ocean views from both balconies. We were in room 5. We giggled every time we told the waiters our room number. It was so odd to be in such a low numbered room. Every time you order something, you give the waiter your room number to start a ticket. When you're ready to go back to your room, you will be asked to sign your ticket, whether you're on the all-inclusive plan or not. You can add a tip onto the ticket at this time. When we checked out, the AI plan and all of our tips were on our final bill. It was very easy.
We were treated like royalty from the moment we arrived. All of the employees were polite, friendly and so willing to do anything to make our stay memorable. The service at Ceiba del Mar is second to none. Really top notch.
The beach is very nice. The weather didn't cooperate while we were there. It was rainy and windy much of the time. We did get one day of sun and thoroughly enjoyed laying around by the pool. There are plenty of lounges both around the pool and on the beach. There are no other hotels to the sides of Ceiba del Mar. You'd have to walk a good 15 minutes along the beach before running into either the town of Puerto Morelos or another resort property. The waiter did say that the land immediately to the south was being developed into an 800 room hotel. There is no construction happening there yet, though. It was very quiet.
I really can't say enough about Ceiba del Mar. We were unsure of staying there, but are so happy we experienced it. It was so different than what we're used to, and we will definitely seek out other boutique hotels in the future. Ceiba del Mar would be perfect for any couple wanting a casually elegant and comfortable resort to reconnect and relax.
Enjoy the photos!