Desire Pearl Riviera Maya Resort

Lillian Hagmann

We ended up in a penthouse suite due to another guest canceling. The room was spacious, clean, and had a fantastic view of the pool and ocean. Bad luck for us the weather was bad most of the week. The staff went above and beyond, going so far to leave a happy birthday message on our bed. The food is good but not great. They have a lot of drink options. Be aware they will use well liquor if you don't specify a spirit. The beach wasn't great as there was a lot of seaweed but the pool and hot tub was large and clean. The clothing optional was a nice feature. The demographic skews older than I expected and people are mostly here to show off with their own partner.

Randall

Desire Riviera Maya Pearl is a true gem. It is small by most Cancun resort standards, but the quality cannot be surpassed. Upon arrival, Alex the bellman took our luggage and stored it while we checked in. We were offered a drink during the check in process which we enjoyed. They fulfilled our request to be on the quieter side of the resort (only about 100 rooms) and our penthouse, Room 75, was beautiful. We had a lovely deck with a hot tub. Our butler Erick was great, as weres his partners Carlos and Hector. Miguel, Antonio, Vincent, and Horacio, the pool concierges, quickly got our loungers set up near our friends and made sure we had an umbrella. My wife likes to sit and read in the shade when she isn't in the pool. Pool bartenders Jairo and Luis Lopez stayed busy pouring drinks for those who swam up to the pool bar. Yolanda, Servando, Gabriella, and Monica were the pool waiters who stayed busy keeping drinks full. There are choices of where to eat at Pearl. Breakfast is offered daily at Aphrodite with a delicious buffet as well as menu items. It is also where you can have lunch or dinner. Two other options for dinner are Pearl which is fine dining and Suki which is an Asian fusion restaurant. Menus vary from night to night at Pearl and Aphrodite. In addition the Mansion also has a restaurant that provides breakfast and evening meal service. We stayed 6 nights, but on day 3 there was. a peninsula wide power outage and one of the a/c units in our room couldn't be repaired. The day manager, Danny Sanchez, offered to move us to another room, and the new room was amazing. It was an ocean front Mansion style room with a private pool overlooking the water. Amir became our butler and he was so attentive to every detail. Thankfully the sargasso seaweed was being cleaned up so the smell wasn't bad. Room service was awesome, bringing coffee every morning along with fruit and pastries. We ate in the Mansion dining room several times where Maria, Santiago, Eduardo, and Balen prepared the food and waited on us. Having fresh guacamole prepared at the table was a real treat! Desirea, Claudea, Emma, and Jesus were the massage therapists we had at the Allure spa and they are beyond compare. There are a variety of services you can choose from, and highly recommend the couples massage. Throughout the day and evening, playmakers Candace, Kia, Abby, Jessica, Largo, Matt, and Jade lead activites in and by the pool. Pool volleyball and beach volleyball are played regularly. DJ Alex and company provided music at the pool and in the evenings at Melange. Melange is the new entertainment area there at Pearl. The fans kept the mosquitos at bay and bartender Cobb gave our drinks and refills quickly. The resort is lovely, but the best aspect of it is the people who work there. They are what set it apart and why we keep going back.

Brad Spencer

The place is amazing. Food is good. Rooms are a little dated. New bar and stage area is great. Now the best part the service and attention to detail to make your stay special is extraordinary. Shout out to the greats. Pool , victor, Miguel, Antonio Pearl , Isaac, Orlando Butlers Carlos and Irving All go out of their way to help your stay be the best it can be.

Stephen Coomer

We just returned from 6 nights in Pearl and as usual had a great trip. The best part about the resort was the service and we met some great staff. Large shout out to Luis Lopez who was the “Profesional Bartender” making great special drinks and the best margaritas for the wife. Claudia was also outstanding and created such a personal experience also with conversations while we sat at the bar drinking some great drinks. They made our experience so much better because the cared enough to provide personal service to us. We also have to say Horacio and Miguel ALWAYS took care of as the pool making sure we were comfortable and well taken care of. The food was really exceptional, and we were so glad. We never had a bad meal and the service in the restaurants was fantastic. We would still love to see some repairs made to paint, rooms needing minor repairs, and especially the main pool that needs much repair to the tile, as well as some pool service for algae growing in grout. This is where people really spend a bulk of their time and having it made better would be a huge improvement. The worst part was sea grass and the smell. We know this is not in control of resort, but it does affect the stay. Resort staff worked very hard to try cleaning up daily but due to the time of year it was overwhelming.

Brian Shafer

Overpriced, inconsistent service, typical Mexico where employees are trying to upsell you all the time. Our door didn't work right and instead of fixing it they had to teach us how to work around it ( definitely not worth paying top dollar for this kind of service). Restaurants only enforce dress code some of the time. Seaweed everywhere and it is foul smelling because of it throughout the entire resort. Tips are supposed to be included but bartenders have tip jars on the bar. Bartenders will ignore you if you are not regularly filling that jar. Upon check-in you will be hounded to make an appointment for a "talk" where they are going to try to sell you a membership (everyone we spoke to said it wasn't worth it) and they won't take NO for an answer. Very uncomfortable. If you do agree to this, make sure you get them to give you perks ( they will give free upgrades to rooms, massages, free nights, free upgraded dinners) so make them give you things before you agree. Don't waste your money on the $80 USD Lobster dinner, it is a petite tail ($6 at the market) and not well cooked. Rate is supposed to include taxes, fees and tips but they will surprise you when you arrive with an environmental tax that you have to pay upon leaving (really, $700 USD a night and you are going to milk me for an extra $5 when I leave). For an expensive resort I expected more than 3 beer choices, Yep it's Corona, Corona light, and Negra Modelo (all the expensive stuff). Do not waste money on the "Desirable experience" unless you are only staying 2 days, the perks aren't worth it as your room price is about $200 USD higher per night but the perks don't add up on longer stays. And they might fill your mini bar sometimes or you might have to call. Their wristbands are not removable so if you go to town, the locals know where you are staying (and that it is expensive) so they chase you around and try to sell you stuff. One scam is that they ask if you recognize them since they work at the resort, if you fall for it they will try to take you to whatever shop they are working for or wherever else they might try to take you.