dshorterJust what we needed after a LONG quarantine… a beach getaway & a little bit of pampering. 🏖 So off we went to the Occidental at Xcaret Destination All Inclusive in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. For one week we sipped margaritas and explored! This resort had something for everyone. 🌞 Jane here, read more for how mine & Kody’s trip went & I’ll be sharing some tips along the way! ✨
About the resort: Occidental Xcaret is set in lush gardens on the Caribbean coast, this all-inclusive, laid-back beachfront resort is 1 mile from both XPLOR Adventure Park and Xcaret Park, an eco-archaeological theme park. (HIGHLY recommend!) The cozy rooms feature free Wi-Fi, cable TV and minibars, plus private balconies or terraces with daily monkey sightings! 🐵 Suites add separate living rooms. Club rooms and suites include access to a private lounge, beach and pool; upgraded 2-bedroom club suites include coffeemakers, whirlpool tubs and sea views. Room service is offered. There are 9 bars and 11 restaurants. Other amenities include 5 outdoor pools, a fitness center and a spa, as well as a private beach with water sports. 🌊
How The Trip Went: A few words to sum up this trip – a blast. We left Seattle on a nonstop flight to Cancun with Delta Airlines. ✈️ It was a great experience because they are currently still blocking out the middle seat, so it’s extremely comfortable and you can stretch out. The flight was about 4ish hours and just overall pleasant. Masks are required throughout the entirety of your flight and a quick COVID-19 questionnaire before you take-off. Once we arrived in Cancun, the airport wasn’t busy at all. Getting through customs took tops 5 minutes and getting out bags about 10. Then we were off!
When you arrive in Cancun it’s always a little overwhelming. There is a stretch of the airport that is lined with tour, transportation, and hotel vendors trying to get your attention at all costs. Go straight through – DO NOT STOP! We had arranged private transportation before then so our driver was outside waiting for us with a sign. 🚗 If you book with us at The Timely Traveler we will make this happen for you as well. Before we got into the vehicle our bags were sprayed down with disinfectant and we were given hand sanitizer. Once we were in the car it was about an hour drive south to Playa del Carmen (& relaxation)! 🧉
The second you step out of the car your bags are immediately taken and just brought right to your room. 🧳 Check in was very easy and all of the staff was following proper CDC and COVID safe guidelines. There we checked into our room and given wristbands that were secured to our wrists. The wristbands show what “level” you are at the resort which allows you to access to different pools, areas, amenities, and a couple private restaurants & bars. AND they doubled as our room key! So no need to worry about losing it or grabbing it! After all, you are at an all-inclusive and won’t need your wallet (besides tipping) to pay for meals or anything. 🤍
Our room was super nice and I loved the feel of each of the buildings. They are indoor/outdoor hotels so there are no enclosed hallways. 😍 It is a beautiful open-air concept. There was so much wildlife around us and monkeys visited us every morning! We had a mini bar that was restocked daily and snacks. As well as the normal daily housekeeping.
The resort was absolutely stunning. It was like it’s own little city with everything you would need. Restaurants, bars, multiple pools, a private beach, shops, gym, and spa. It even had private access to the Xcaret theme parks. Plus the resort itself was just so beautiful and detailed. ✨ The staff was AMAZING and so friendly and helpful. Our personal concierge, Rosario, was brilliant and the sweetest. There were a bunch of different restaurants on the resort property that were all included. 🍹🍛 They had Italian, Mexican, a steakhouse, seafood, sushi, and a few just basic lunch and dinner buffet options. In the time of COVID the buffets were operational by having staff at each of the stations to hand you food and make what you wanted. The food was also really good!
We chose this resort mainly because of it’s distance from the more popular hotels in Cancun and it even being a little south of the actual Playa del Carmen hotel zone. We really enjoyed the idea of their private beach and away from some of the chaos of the normal public beaches at the other resorts. We felt safe and taken care of. There were multiple pools as well, with cocktail service. Right by the beach was a natural salt water adults only pool that was super cool! 🌊 It let the natural water of the ocean flow in. This resort also had ancient ruins on the property that you could visit and learn about. There was also some small hiking trails through the jungle and many animals. The animals that they had wandering around were 🦎 iguanas, 🦌 deer, 🐵 monkeys, 🦜 parrots, 🦩 flamingos, and many other 🦚 tropical birds. It was such an experience.
As for excursions we chose to do three. The first one we did was one of the Xcaret theme parks called XPLOR. This place was on another level. It was a theme park for adventurers. It was designed in a natural cave system. You could explore the caves, zip line above the trees, zipline INTO caves, and drive ATVs through the jungle. They also served you a lunch buffet which was included in our package. We received a discounted price on the theme park tickets because we were staying at the resort. Super cool and something I have never experienced. Also, I am TERRIFIED of heights and did the zip line course. 😬 It was eight ziplines back to back each getting higher and longer – IT WAS A BLAST! The second excursion we did was Chichén Itzá, a complex of Mayan ruins on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. A massive step pyramid, known as El Castillo or Temple of Kukulcan, dominates the ancient city, which thrived from around 600 A.D. to the 1200s. This was really interesting and very beautiful. On the way we stopped at a Cenote for a much needed swim! A cenote is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater. This was also something we booked through the resort and bundled it with the theme park tickets! We can do the same bundles at The Timely Traveler if you’re interested. They have three other Xcaret parks to choose from. Lastly, one excursion I did not participate in, was fishing! This was Kody’s gig as he’s an avid fly fisherman. He had so much fun – book ahead for these excursions as they fill up fast and months in advance!
they also email you your results. They did this right at our resort and we scheduled it upon check in. And you received your results the same day. After checkout, our driver was ready to pick us up to return to the airport. It was seamless and returning to the US was easier than ever. We needed to show our negative test results, another COVID questionnaire, and our customs form we received upon arrival (make sure you save all of your documents throughout travel!).
