Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa

Eduardo could not have been better!! He was always around to make sure we were comfortable and enjoying our day by the pool. He put forth an extra effort to make sure our chairs were setup and cleaned each morning and also provided plenty of fresh towels. Excellent!!

I want to take a few minutes and share our wonderful experience at The Haven Resort in Cancun. To start, we have been to numerous resorts like sandals, excellence, majestic, palladium, TRS among many others across the Caribbean and Central America. We have traveled all around the world and have stayed in amazing places. Our ideal getaway is a relax atmosphere with very little loud music, no pool activities, easy access to the bar and a good pool. Oh yes, and great food is a must. Haven resort is a 10/10 on all. This place is the best by quite a bit. Before I get I to detail, I do have to say a few things: 1 - Though this resort is on a beach, the beach isn’t nice. Now, this isn’t the hotels fault since the beaches across Cancun and many carribean islands have been pounded by seaweed for the last two years leaving the beach in most resorts unusable. So please, do not pay attention on all those that leave bad reviews do to the beach. They are just ignorant on the eco system issues surrounded a lot of coastal countries on the Caribbean and gulf. 2 - Every resort is different. There are resorts that target the party people, then there are others that target those that like adventure while other target those that just want to chill. Haven is a chil Resort. If you see bad reviews because they consider Haven to be boring, they just didn’t do their research. It’s poor to leave a bad review just because you where ignorant and lazy and didn’t do your research. Now, to the good stuff: This is a brand new resort. The resort is beautiful. The staff is very professional and willing to serve you. The pools are huge and amazing. Both pools have a swim up bar. There are two pools... both are huge. One is more active with a DJ playing a few times a week. The other pool, my favorite, is more chill and is big enough that you don’t feel it’s busy. Also plenty of chairs. Plenty of clean towels. I also love that you can put your chairs in the water... keeps you cool while sunbathing. The drinks are also excellent. If you want to customize your drinks, they are happy to help. They will even remember what you asked and have it ready when you need a refill. The food is excellent. I was surprised by how good the food was. All you can eat oysters.... what! Don’t get me wrong, we are a few items I wouldn’t order but that is with any restaurant. Over all, the food is super good. Since it’s a small resort, they only have 5 restaurants but don’t worry, all 5 are excellent with plenty of variation. Only one restaurant requires you to wear pants (I was glad about this since I hate wearing pants when I’m in vacation... I mean, why wear pants st the beach!). The rooms are very spacious but not the biggest I’ve stayed. One thing to notice is the amount of detail you have in the bedrooms. They are super quiet. It’s a very modern room and the shower is amazing. A few surprises we encountered the first few nights.... from petals on the bed to a bottle of champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries, to a fully stacked fridge with all kinds of drinks. Since it’s a small hotel, no need to take golf carts to get around. The beach isn’t that good. If you are wanting to splash in the ocean, this place isn’t it. All the rooms have a view of the ocean. The swim up pools are super nice. The resort has a gym but it’s a bit small and doesn’t have a lot of machines... but it seems the right size for the size of the resort. If you like night entertainment, they have a cabaret that has different night time shows. We never got the chance to go since we where in bed early... lol... but everyone we spoke to raved about the show. Pools close a bit early but they do allow you to stay as long as you want. You will meet folks here from all over the world. Some have been here for a few weeks now and they say the enough variation in food and things to do that they never felt board. This resort is super secure. You can tell that security and safety is a number one concern for them. I’ve never been to another resort in Cancun that had so much security. It really made me feel safe. I want to highlight some staffers that went out of their way to make our stay more memorable: Eduardo (Round Pool): he was always there to make sure we had our chair comfortable, the umbrella setup and clean towels. He would go out if his way to get a chair for us to make sure we had what we wanted. Eduardo is an asset to this resort. He always carried a smile that will make your day. Laura: she greeted us every morning with a smile. She knew us by name and even our room number. She also knew our favorite table she always sat us there. She is a beautiful gem. Edgar: this man was popping out drink like there is no tomorrow by the big pool swim up bar. At times, he could be taking up to 15 orders and always took the time to greet us and make us feel welcome. He knew the drinks we liked and how we liked them prepared. He also had an amazing way to know who was in the ordering line and took the orders perfectly. Leo: what an amazing individual with a deep knowledge of the culture and food. When visiting the Agua Bendita restaurant, have him order for you... you won’t be disappointed. Valentina: what a sweetheart. Best front desk person ever. Ismael: a man with very little words but with an amazing story. Take the time to ask him during breakfast or lunch. Alberto: waiter at the breakfast and lunch restaurant. He always went above and beyond. Even when we had a small issues, he rectified it with a smile and made sure the manager and chef stopped by our table. This man always had a smile on. You could see his joy and it was contagious. I can’t recommend enough this resort. I love the laughter and smiles you see and hear within the staff. This people mesh really good. This place is magical. Don’t look elsewhere. A couple of tips: - book the transportation to and from the airport through Expedia... it’s around $60 round trip compared to $130 if you do it here locally. - Try to hit restaurants early (6 - 7pm), if not, there might be a wait. - Sign up to their membership reward program before you come so that you can get points and possibly get upgrades. - Try the drink Mangolele - Make the big round pool your go to. It may not be active but it’s so much better. - If you don’t want your room serviced, press the red button by the bed. - If you are in a swim up room, leave the back door wide open and the creen closed. It’s a good way to gain access to your room without having to go all the way around. - All swim up pools have little secret passages from the main pool (very convinient) - Take the time to hear the staff’s stories. It’s an adventure of laughter and tears. All of them are grateful for working in such a majestic place. - Don’t feel shy, get as many towels as you need ;) - Tip a buck for every drink and 2 - 3 bucks for every meal. It’s all inclusive but be generous. You will drink and eat over $1k worth of stuff, it won’t hurt to spend $100 in tips. - They offer late check out. So if you have a later flight, this gives another day in paradise. - If you have an early flight in, like we always try, bring your lotion and bathing suite so that you can chill at the pool while your room get ready.

Once we arrived to this resort the attention to their guests was impeccable. They welcomed us with drinks and hot towels for our hands. When visiting the long pool, the attendants made sure to open our umbrella and constantly kept checking if we needed a new drink. This resort pays close attention to detail, everything is kept CLEAN. The food was also great, you have a variety of options from steak, Asian fusion to even mediterranean food. I have to say our attendant Antonio by the main pool made our experience a unique one. He made sure our group of 4 was having fun, surprised us with different drinks and even had small talk about places to visit in Mexico. Overall had an AMAZING EXPERIENCE. Forgot to mention they remembered it was my birthday every time, and made sure to bring me a small birthday cake up to my room.