BlueBay Grand Esmeralda

Joaquin Allen

I was supposed to stay a week here but only lasted 24hrs. It took almost two hours to check in and there were only two people in front of us. When I got to my room it was very dated and unsanitary. I feel it wasn’t turned over just cleaned and not cleaned well. There was open sugar packets on the counter and a used towel hanging from the shower door. The pillows smelt of body odor bad. There was mold behind the bathroom mirror photo added. The other guest were very loud and extremely inebriated. It was like spring break on a Monday night. The staff was not very friendly and accommodating, but I don’t blame them because of obnoxiousness of the clientele, this resort caters too. I’ve stayed in many resorts in the area and this is by far one of the worst. Not only did I immediately check out and move to a different resort. I left that resort with food poisoning. The buffet was extremely unsanitary. They serve hotdog and hamburgers for dinner. The alcohol options seem to be mostly well alcohol. I did not drink. The grounds are nice and the wildlife is abundant. It seems that this resort at one time must’ve been nice in the early 70s. An employee walked into our room without knocking and by the time I made it to the door they said nothing just stared at me. I do have to note that upon checking out the manager did apologize.

Ken Jackson

Stayed at this hotel Jan 5-12 2026. The grounds of the hotel are well kept, lush vegetation and many animals wandering about. Always staff clearing leaves and debris, you can tell they devout a lot of resources to maintain. Room I had was so-so , cleaned everyday and minibar restocked daily. A bit moldy smelling, but it is in a very humid climate so can be expected. This hotel has been well used and needs major refreshing in the rooms/buildings. The buildings are a bit shabby from the outside as the overhanging dry grass material on top floor was missing or falling down in many places. One working elevator in the building I was in, doors for it were all banged up and the flooring is worn and shabby looking- $50.00 worth of peel and stick tiles would take care of the floor issue. It's on it's last legs with the amount of noise generated going up and down. Had zero issues with food and lot's of choices between reserved restaurants and buffets. The best thing I liked about this hotel was the coffee bar, very new equipment and decor. Staff were so good there and amazing coffee- I'd give it five stars. Overall staff throughout were friendly and accommodating. Not a pool person so only went in a few times, many seemed to enjoy them. Watched staff cleaning quite a bit every morning. The major disappointment I had with this hotel is the beach and lack of shade (at pools as well). There are wooden structures that didn't have any fabric to actually do what they were built for. There are around half a dozen palapas on the beach, that's it. The VIP ( Circle One) area has about a dozen, so I guess if you really want to have that Caribbean vibe when you sit ocean front, pay up. The beach itself has nice sand, but the view of the ocean is horrendous with all the unused old piers and large ugly tube like black stained cement " break walls" that are randomly in the water in front of you. There is also a break wall that is to the right of the resort. With these in place there is no way for natural movement of water in front of the resort. Debris gets stuck in front of the hotels beach because isn't moved along by currents. Brown water and silt was present for my entire week there, hardly ever anyone swimming in it. If you're looking for beautiful blue water and great ocean views the area is famous for, you won't find it here. If you're a pool person, the resort just might do ( if shade situation is taken care of) Would never return to this hotel just because of the beach situation and the lack of shade. Suggest management look at looking after these irritants, buy some umbrellas, put up some more palapas and get rid of the structures in the water.

Brendan Laing

I rarely leave reviews, but I’m sharing this in hopes of finally getting a response. Our stay was below expectations due to multiple issues, including mold in the showers, non-functioning shower water in two rooms, missing furniture, long lines for every meal, and limited dining options compared to similar resorts. While some staff members were kind and the food and entertainment were good, the overall experience felt disorganized and unhelpful. The reason for this review is a specific unresolved issue. My sister accidentally left her fanny pack at the resort just before we departed last week. We can track it and see that it is currently located in the hotel lobby. Despite this, we have been unable to retrieve it. We have called daily and are either disconnected, placed on hold and then hung up on, or not answered at all. We were provided an email address, but that has also gone unanswered. Language is not a barrier—we speak Spanish fluently. There has simply been no follow-through or effort to assist us in recovering an item that we know is on the property. We are not asking for anything unreasonable—only for the resort to respond and assist with returning the item. We would appreciate contact from management so this can be resolved promptly.

Karen Mariano

The resort is not a 5 star, let’s get that addressed right away. Having said that, the food exceeded our expectations when it came to the à la carte restaurants. The main buffet however is your standard all inclusive. Pros: The Good Kids Club is awesome, Pamela and Elizabeth made the everyday activities fun, educational and creative. Our daughter felt safe and comfortable that she went almost everyday to see Pamela and Elizabeth and spent the entire day with them. She didn’t want to leave Kids club, we had to beg her to spend the day with us because thats how much she loved Kids Club. I also want to thank Pablo at reception who was consistently very helpful and provided us with excellent information as well as service. He answered all our questions with a smile. This guy needs to be promoted because he is very competent. Service is amazing, ignore the reviews that if you don’t tip, you get no service because that is not true. I tested that theory the first day, we purposely did not tip and we got amazing service from Victor, Aurelio and Adriana from the buffet. Benjamin our server in the Steakhouse was outstanding too, we really enjoyed our meal and the 2018 French wine (extra charge). Our room (7329) was super clean, the maids work really hard. I give 5 stars the maids and the cleanliness. I reviewed the room below separately as it is not fair to review the condition of the room in the same bucket as the room service or cleanliness. The drinks and water was always refilled each day. The guys work really hard making sure there’s drinks everyday although our mini fridge is broken. LOL Cons: The Bad We stayed in building 7 room 7329. The room is in rough condition. The toilet seat is barely attached, the glass patio door’s rubber seal is coming off, the mini fridge is broken and doesn’t work at all, the shower glass door doesn’t close as it rubs on the floor. This is not a reflection on the maid service, our maid was great. There is no security guard in the beach area, our chair was stolen with our beach towel when we went to get a drink. Came back and saw the trail in the sand and we followed it. The couple who stole our chair said there was no towel on it. We called the lifeguard Alejandro who was super nice and he called Concierge (Alex) to come to the beach. Alex spoke to the Spanish couple and said that there is no evidence that they took our towel but I disagree, the fact that our towel was on the chair and they stole our chair plus there is the fresh trail on the sand that clearly stopped where they placed the chair makes them guilty. Alex from concierge said I needed to make a formal complaint to the lobby so we went. I filled out the paper which was a waste of time because they did nothing. He told me I have to pay for the towel. I can understand if I lost the towel due to neglect or but we went to get a drink for 5 minutes and when we came back our chair was gone with the towel and with a fresh trail. There should be a security guard in the beach area and if a guest’s towel is stolen and reported immediately, the guest should not be penalized because we didn’t lose it, it was stolen from us and Alex believed those thieves that they didn’t take our towel because they all spoke Spanish and he said there is no evidence. The fresh trail on the sand was not enough evidence to make them guilty? The least the hotel could have done is waived the fee for the towel but no, they told me we have to pay for it. The hotel is responsible for the guests safety and if we cannot even leave our towels unattended to get drinks then what do they expect us to do? The point is, there’s no security guard and NOT enough chairs to go around hence people are stealing chairs and removing towels. I hope those two Spanish couples who stole from us get what they deserve!!!! Take your own beach towel from home so you don’t need to use the hotel’s towel because towels get stolen not just from us but we’ve spoken to other guests and they had their towels stolen too.

Dino Genovesi

Just arrived jan 13,2026. Read terrible reviews about the hotel and almost canceled our trip before leaving, but decided trying it out just the same. The hotel needs slight renovations but our room was nice and clean. The service is 5 star at this hotel and the food in the buffet and restaurants were excellent! I couldn't believe how clean this hotel is! The beach is so so but if you walk around 10 minutes on the left side of the beach you will find a beautiful place to swim. There are also alot of activities at the main pool. I would not give this hotel a 5 star rating but its more like a 3.5 or 4. The vegetation (jungle) around the hotel is beautiful and well taken care of and there are plenty of animals especially coaties lol. All in all I would go back to this hotel.