Our party of 22 people stayed at the Catalonia Playa Maroma from April 14-22. Our daughter was married at the resort on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world!

We enjoyed the resort immensely! The check-in was hassle-free, the food was great with alot of variety each day. The workers kept the grounds impeccably clean as well as the rooms and other amenities of the resort. The rooms are a little dated but were very colorful in true Mexican fashion and very clean. Several of our group went to the nightly shows and enjoyed them.

The meal that our group enjoyed was at the Mediterrean restaurant. The atmosphere was very nice and the food was good also. This restaurant required a day before reservation.
The Mexican night on Sunday night at the main buffet was incredible. The decorations outstanding and the food superbly presented and very tasty. We also enjoyed the vendors although they could be a little pushy at times but they also had a great sense of humor.

AAAAHHHHHH, the beach! You just can't find anything more beautiful! It has the finest and whitest sand that you will find anywhere with quite calm water to enjoy. You can walk for miles going either direction and feel that you are truly by yourselves at times. There just is nothing more relaxing and wonderful than walking along the shoreline until you decide to go back. The pool is a welcome break from the beach on occasion.

This is not a 5 star resort but I would not have one bad thing to say about this resort in any way. We enjoyed the mix of Europeans that were at the resort also which were generally Italian and French.

Our wedding was held on the beach at 5:00 with Karina as the wedding coordinator. She did a fantastic job for us, and our daughter and husband stated that the entire experience was more than they could even have dreamed! They were made to feel very special throughout their stay and especially on their wedding day! I would highly recommend anyone that is more budget minded to consider the Catalonia for a most beautiful wedding experience. Their attention to the details could not have been done any better, even at a 5 star resort! There was even security strategically placed for the wedding.

Our wedding reception was held at the Mexican restaurant, Tio Pedro, and it was another great experience with wonderful cuisine, beautifully presented, and the best wedding cake that any of us had ever tasted. Flaming coffee was made for us as an after dinner drink and it was an event as it was prepared and presented to us.

Do not hesitate to consider this as a destination wedding or just a place to truly enjoy a wonderful vacation!!

Stay: May 9-16
My age 27, my sister 25

The weather was beautiful all week long!
CHECK IN:
Took less then 5 minutes and also received a welcome drink at that time. They accomendated our request made with the travel agent for a room close to the pool/beach are.

ROOM:
The walk to our block 5000 took about 5 minutes. This pathway is also used to get to and from the lobby. Block 5000 is closest to the beach but farthest from the lobby, theatre, main buffet. It's not well lit at night. The room was outdated. Bed was hard and pillows too. The sheets did not get changed until we noticed a smelland asked. The shower made me uncomfortable! I wore my extra flipflops in it. We didn't have warm/hot water the last two days. If you can afford the 30 dollars a day to updgrade, do it. I posted a pic in this review. We did it the last two nights and
wish we done it earlier.

TV
There is only 2 english speaking channels. cnn, and another channel that repeated shows every few hours! Fox news was fuzzy in our room. Upgraded rooms have the same but with a flat screen.

GROUNDS:
This is a big resort. I liked being close to the jungle. It's very clean and green. Although more flowers would have
made it more pretty. There r maps all over to help you out.
Construction is taken place next door, but the noise didnt bother us,

SECURITY:
We heard about a few guests who had trouble getting into their inroom safes (but were fixed within hours). You will see
a lot of security guards around which made us feel very safe. We had a towel bar down and the whole time the maintenance
worker was in our room fixing it, the security guy was right outside our door waiting for him to come out.

LANGUAGE:
you will be able to communicate with this hotel staff and 95% of the guests If you speak spanish, french or Italian. It was hard to ask for things and get it across to them. Asking for an extra towel or toilet paper from the maid was difficult. This bugged us the first day but we did the best we could to speak with all. Bartenders knew a little English.

European guests did not seem to smile and don't give you room walking down the path, We just brushed this off.

AFTERNOON:
Between the hours of 1 and 4 the pool and beach areas will empty. It seems that this time was for napping. You can find some chairs with shade during this time if you didnt in the earlier hours. We loved this time.

FOOD:
Typical for a 3star hotel. Not much variety. The meat made me uneasy since it looked raw for most. So we stuck with the pasta, rice and breads.,,,carbs! Breakfast was the best!! We stuffed ourselves every morning. The snack bar was always the same, burgers, hot dogs, rice, amazing fries, pizza, fruits and some dessert.

BARS:
Lobby bar was 24 hours. But we adored the staff and service much better at the beach/pool bar. Our favorite drink was the banana mamas. If you feel your drink is watered down, they are more then happy to add more liquor for you. Beach bar is where you can request ice cream cones too.

During the afternoon nap hours, a waiter would come around to the pool and beach area to take drink orders.

SHOPS:
there was a few shops to visit by the pool area. Souvenirs, bathing items and convenience shop. You can probably get items cheaper in the city.
Also a spa and hair salon that we didnt visit. We also did not enter the fitness room.
Every thursday a few vendors from the city come and try to sell things in the lobby. Tshirts are very easy to bargin for. I paid 8 dollars instead of the18 he was asking for.

ENTERTAINMENT:
Again, these entertainment staffers cater more towards the Italians, Spanish and French guests. I think I saw one show that was in English. This would have been a lot more fun if they were English. After the third day we stopped watching them altogether.
Water arobics were done in french.

You were never pressured into joining in fthe activities. One staffer would attempt to scare the guests sleeping on the lounge chairs by wearing a monkey mask and tapping them on the shoulder.. My sister jumped so high when he got her! Watching it happen to others was hilarious!

THIS hotel is not a Party Hotel at all. If you are looking to hang out with singles and have a great night life, go somewhere else. It's more families and couples. besides us, we saw 4 others that were just friends. It was a great place to just relax.

POOL:
You will find more people at the beach than the pool. It had a nice lay out. Clean and great temperature. We spend the afternoons here most times. Both of us brought water floats with us and enjoyed the pool to ourselves tanning on them. It's not hard to grab a chair along the pool.

BEACH:
Saved the best for last. It was beautiful. Apparently it's also the best in the area. Soft white sand with blue water. Small waves to cool you off. No garbage or seaweed at site. Ashtrays are available under the shaded areas. Staff collected water cups every hour.
No need to wake up early to save your seat in the sun or in the shade! There's plenty of chairs to go around. It's a big area. The shaded areas could have had more shade though. I found being under the huts
werent always a great way to get out of the sun. Sun peers in threw the spaced out wood above. And boy can it get VERY hot by the jungle.
Walking to the left will bring you next door to a spa hotel that had very comfy bedlike tanning mattresses on the beach. We laid on them every morning until their guests came out.
You will not find local beach vendors selling items

AIRPORT:
The bus ride to and from the airport is about half hour. watch your bags when your entering their airport to come back home. One person on our bus had their luggage stolen. As soon as our bus stopped, the outside staff opened the baggage compartment before any of us got off the bus.

~*~
Overall, a great week. I would have liked a better shower so I could have felt more clean afterwards. Words can't explain the beauty of the beach! But if I had an extra 200-400 dollars, i would stay at a diff hotel and not this 3 star hotel.

Having stayed in different resorts in the Mayan Riviera in the past, we chose Catalonia Playa Maroma for its location (one of the best beaches of the world) and its incredible price.

Formerly known as VentaClub this resort attracts mainly Italian and French tourists in their 30's, but everybody is welcomed. All the signs are in Spanish, Italian, French and English, so language should be not a problem.

Food is very good, with 3 specialty restaurants, a snack area and the main buffet restaurant with lots of pasta dishes, and always a small Mexican food corner.

Rooms are large and comfortable, a little bit dated and basic, but having a fabulous beach and so many options to visit, the room was ok for us. Rooms are located in villas and are very quite.

The hotel is nested within a mangrove jungle, so occasionally you can see coatis, chipmunks, iguanas, lizards and birds. An "environmental translator" has two daily trips around the hotel and she explains facts about plants and animals living in the area.

I don't know why many people disliked the pool, we found it fun, it's great for kids, and it has a section where you can practice your swimming skills.

There's a free shuttle bus to Playa del Carmen that departs from the hotel twice a day. Go there, Playa del Carmen is busy, with lots of restaurants and stores, but don't expect the typical colonial Mexican Town.

The animation team is the heart and soul of the hotel, they invite guest to participate in different sport activities, and fun games, if you don't want to join them a simple "no thanks" is enough. These guys and girls really move crowds and you'll notice the response they get from the guests, from aqua gym, to Latin dance lessons to beach volleyball. Don't miss the lobby bar at night, they might ask you to dance with them.

The nightly shows are pure fun, because the boys and girls from the animation team are the main performers, so go and watch your new friends performing extracts from musicals like “Grease” or “Chicago”.

You'll notice how the staff at this resort is truly authentic and friendly; they make every effort to make sure you're having a nice stay.

Just some final words, this beach and the resort environment is beautiful, so please respect it, try to get in touch with locals and other guests, you'll get a smile back.

My wife and two kids, ages 9 and 11, went to the Catalonia Playa Maroma 4-14 April. We had an enjoyable stay. This is our 4th visit to the Riviera Maya area. I feel this was our best hotel pick yet. We have stayed at the Catalonia Royal Tulum before. It has a great beach also, nicer rooms, but the food selection was a little less. The Windham Maya had great shows, where as both Catalonia’s had more adult shows with less talent. The Windham more of a Broadway show with actually singing (not lip synching). The Windham beach was destroyed in the last hurricane so it is now very short. I scan photographs to find the best beaches. My criteria is that the hotel has to have a superior white sand beach, with good food and few complaints about the food. I was happy with my choice. They had a wide selection of food and I thought the food was very good. And I like to eat.
The Beach is the best in the area and one of the best in the world. Other than perfect white sand and blue water the water was not rough. Cancun proper had huge waves and the Moon Palace had a red flag all week, where our friends said they could not go in the water all week. They have two nice catamarans that were great to use. You can take them out for 25 minutes. The guy told me if he had to come out and rescue me he would charge me $20. I had to laugh.
Let me address a popular posting question: the Italians and French. It turns out that the Lookea French tour agency (red bands) and Ventaglio Italian tour agencies (blue bands) are sort of partners with the hotel. I was told that Ventaglio had 125 rooms reserved for their guests (and I thought he said those rooms had bidets in them because they like to feel like they are at home). Both tour agencies supply about 6 people for the animation group. So the reason why so many shows are in French and Italian is that the animation team is French and Italian! That didn’t bother me but my wife felt that if we were all paying for a stay there that they should not get special activities, special shows, and people to make their experience enjoyable. If you did not make a reservation from those two agencies you get a green band and are essentially unrepresented. They do get special treatment from their tour agencies. Depending on how much this fact bothers you or how much this impacts you this may or may not affect your stay. I did not feel that they were load or boisterous any more than any other group. Everyone essentially stayed in family groups.
The pool is not very interesting and we rarely saw too many people in it. We got a few mosquito bites, so I began wearing long pants to dinner. The new Secrets hotel is set in concrete just South of the hotel. It will be a much nicer hotel than Catalonia with views for all, but it will be more expensive. There was no noise while we were there. It appears that the major construction is over. The rooms are a little dated. There were always plenty of chairs with no need to save chairs. The hotel is a good value for the food and beach, it that what matters most.