We had heard mixed reviews as well but were pleasantly surprised with our first resort experience. We had nothing to compare this resort to but found the overall experience to be very good and although the following review has some negative remarks, we felt the good outweighed the bad but felt the need to state the things we thought could use some improvement.
We were greeted with cool towels and champagne and check in was a breeze. We were upgraded to a beautiful oceanfront room in building 12 and couldn't be happier with the accommodations.
We made it to each restaurant once. We found the food mediocre and same with the service although we got especially good service at the Japanese and Mexican restaurants. We did not find that the wait staff wanted to accommodate meal selections the way we were used to on cruises as far as asking for a dinner selection as an appetizer (such as a salad) or making any changes to the meal itself and the place was a ghost town all week. This of course didn't ruin our experience but didn't add to it either. We did tip the wait staff at all restaurants for just keeping our water glasses filled because there were some instances where the wait staff was completely oblivious to our presence. Service was just not consistent.
The resort was empty when we arrived May 6th so we had no problem with finding a chair at the pool or a seat in any restaurant. We LOVED the pool and the staff was extremely attentive in offering drinks throughout the day and bringing us water. The only thing that was frustrating was that you couldn't get food around the pool except chips and cheese and occasionally popcorn if they hadn't run out , but on two separate occasions, they were out before 3pm. I would have liked to have been able to get something to eat rather than getting dressed and leaving the pool to go get lunch. This kind of surprised us for an all inclusive. There was no lack of clean towels or staff to assist you at the pool.
We participated in a few activities including riflery, casino night, and kayaking. We thought the activity staff was excellent!
The Michael Jackson and Grease shows were good and we enjoyed the music and dancing. The circus was entertaining but nothing to write home about . The Mayan show was excellent and the costumes and makeup were amazing!!
The concierges and administrative staff were excellent and always friendly. We had mixed reviews when it came to the bell boy service. We had some that went out of their way to assist us and others that appeared to be bothered to help us at all and a few that make it obvious that they were looking for a tip for their giving us a ride. We did tip when we didn't feel like it was expected.
Overall, the experience was relaxing and the grounds and accommodations at the VI were beautiful. We enjoyed it very much and recommend it to others although we would like to try a more established resort and hope that we get more consistent service.

We just returned from a week at the Valetin. Overall, we had a good vacation, but would not return here. It's generally a nice place, but wasn't everything we were looking for. Here is a summary of our experience.
What we LIKED:
- The Service was incredible, best service and staff I've ever encountered at a resort. Didn't matter if you tipped or not, or if you were just walking around - very friendly
- The Pool - wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Always plenty of seating, both shaded and sunny, plenty of floats, two bars and lots of room to roam, sit, swim and splash. I had never been in a saltwater pool before - really liked it.
- The Grounds - The landscaping is lovely, nice architecture, wide pathways and good signage. This is a pretty large resort. We were in building 10, which was pretty much on the outer edge, so we did have to walk a bit to get places, and a few more shaded walkway would have been nice.
- Most of the Room - quite nice (although you'll note things we both liked and disliked). Large, plenty of space for your stuff, large bathroom area, good bed.
What we DID NOT LIKE:
- The Food - if you consider yourself a foodie at all, and look forward to good food as a part of your vacation, you will be very disappointed. If you like watered down, bland food, then maybe you'll be okay. While there was a great variety of places (at least for dinner) and the menus looked enticing, the food varied from just okay to inedible. The lunch buffet was hideous. "Best" dinner we had was the Steakhouse, worst was probably the Seafood.
- Elements of the Room - We were "upgraded" to an ocean front golden suite, which had a nice patio, but no real view of the ocean due trees and plants that blocked the view. The air-conditioning took awhile to get cranked up, so the room was not often cool, although it would get comfortable at some point. Also, our ceiling fan did not work, and maintenance was unable to fix it - that would have been nice to have. Tried to use the jacuzzi, but it blew a circuit and we had no power for 30 minutes.
- The Bars - all but one were inside, but the a/c wasn't strong enough so they were hot; there were no casual evening bars, and I would have liked to have had food served at the bars for a casual dining option.

Valentin Imperial Mayan Apr. 26 - May 3 2008

Previous trips to area: Xpu-Ha (XPH), Iberostar Tucan (IBT). References to "others" refers to these properties.

Booked 1 week at VIM through BookIt.com. Included some airfare rebate. No documents sent, all electronic.

Flight
US Airways. Left on time, staff cheerier than before. Flight left on time, 3.75 hours direct from Boston. Got 2 cookies.

Airport
Cancun airport has new terminal (2). Real gates (bridges to airplane), large air-conditioned waiting area in front of customs. Added check-in area a welcome addition with increased tourist traffic.

Transfer
Best Day transfer to hotel. Driver was falling asleep and weaving somewhat. Arrived safely.

Check-In
10 minutes wait to check in. Given refreshing cold towels. Others got sparkling wine, cocktails, they missed us.

Property
Brand new. Nice landscaping. Not so huge, easy to get anywhere. Lagoon and small pools are stagnant water, rather swampy and ugly. Fountains pretty.

The Room
Driven by cheery bellman to junior suite in building 5, ground level, close to pool and the beach. Good size room, nicely appointed. More elegant than others. King size bed VERY comfortable. Foam mattress not at all typical for the area (usually a rock hard slab). Lots of moody halogen lights, finding the right switch always confusing. Ceiling fan over bed. Couch facing TV. Very few surfaces to lay out suitcases and contents. Safe big enough for laptop, a nice touch. Porch area overlooks trees, with 2 chairs and table. Noise from pool workout annoying. Unpleasant drone from massive fans next to Mar and Tierra restaurants. No breeze (probably better higher up).

Bathroom
Good size, with glassed-in toilet and shower areas. Jacuzzi tub. One sink, very little surface for toiletries. Scale to track weight gain. No exhaust fan, gets very stuffy and steamy.

Other issues
AC did not work on arrival. Called for service, was told it was fine. Kept getting hotter, so called again. Finally 2 engineers looked at unit, determined it had not been connected to master system (all the rooms are connected to a master system, so a failure affects everyone). Connected the unit on the spot, temperature was better but not great - OK at night, barely noticeable difference from the outside during the day.

The Room Change
On the 2nd day, we decided to upgrade to a waterfront room (best rooms at the resort) in building 14, 2nd floor. Beautiful room with Mayan-style peaked ceiling, fantastic view of the sea, great cool breeze on the balcony. Better chairs for enjoying the view and the sound of the waves. Shower and sunken jacuzzi tub have spectacular views of the sea. 2 sinks, separate toilet area. When we arrived, the toilet did not flush. Told concierge, maintenance came, said it was fine. It wasn't. No change. Called again, 2 engineers came. Plunged toilet, made adjustments. Seemed OK. It wasn't, stopped working soon after. AC offline again (system failure, not the room), but not as much of an issue because of nice breezes. Director of maintenance examines toilet, fixes it again. Fails the next morning. Finally an engineer finds a big piece of plastic obstructing the outflow. Problem solved, finally.

The Food
1 buffet, 6 restaurants. Buffet open for breakfast, lunch, generally good, some things great (e.g. smoked salmon, guacamole, bruschetta toppings, tomatoes, chili. Almost everywhere margaritas the best I have had anywhere. Meats generally overcooked. Service mixed - sometimes good, sometimes non-existent. Buffet selection and quality not nearly as good as IBT.

Restaurants

* Lobster pot - grilled lobster tail OK. Small portions. Food cold.
* Mexican buffet in courtyard - not impressive. Limited selection.
* French (L'Alsace) - Onion soup boring, bland. Chateaubriand was marbled (!), ordered rare, served blue. Scallops stringy, portion for a hobbit. Vegetables OK. Skip it.
* Japanese (Ginger) - Excellent. Tempura nicely done. Sushi excellent. Sea bass cooked perfectly (unlike most meats and fish which are cooked to death at other restaurants). Soba noodles flavored beautifully. Fried ice cream and fried bananas very tasty.
* Mexican (La Hacienda) - Our favorite. Wonderful chicken mole. Very good grilled beef in a hot stone bowl entree, shrimp appetizer, tortilla soup. Desserts OK. Mayan coffee delicious, and a great show in itself.
* Tierra (beef restaurant by the sea), for lunch - Nachos OK. Kobe beef burger looked like burgers at buffet, nothing special. Little buffet OK, sauerkraut for hot dogs surprisingly good. Food probably brought in by cart from the central kitchen via a hidden loading dock in the back, lukewarm.

Generally - Would have liked to see more Mexican variety. Lots of people eating hamburgers and french fries - perhaps this affects the choices.

The Sea
Nice beach. Swimming area roped off, a few feet north of the path from the hotel. Great sand, no rocks inside ropes. Water in low 80's, very clear.

The Pool
Large. Nice swim-up bar. Plenty of rafts to lie on. Chlorinated salt water, refreshing.

Nice Touches
No towel cards. Concierge at each building helps debug problems. One touch calling for service, food, whatever (dial 0). Internet in rooms (bring a long cable).

Wish List
More selection of Mexican foods (XPH much better at this). Buffet at dinner. AC that works consistently, makes the room really cool (our second room had this). Wireless internet not just in lobby.

Other activities
We stayed mostly on the property. I did scuba. We canceled our snorkeling trip when my wife didn't feel well. Musical acts provided by the hotel rather pathetic.

Scuba
Dove with WetSet in Puerto Morelos. $15 taxi ride from hotel, 10 minutes. Paul runs a great dive shop. Personal service, nice people, no cattle boats. Book from outside Mexico to avoid taxes.

Check Out
We saw a girl dragging her suitcase to the reception area in the hot sun because her bellman did not arrive. Leave plenty of time. Bellman was late for us as well, ask for him to arrive 1 hour prior to van arrival time and call immediately if he's not on time. Did not get check out card from staff at reception when we settled the bill, porters at departure area didn't seem too surprised.

Final Comments
The property was a mixed bag but generally very good. Ocean front room was my personal favorite compared to other hotels. Food average by Mayan Riviera standards. Staff tries very hard. Beach above average. Natural beauty not up to XPH, IBT standards, may improve as trees grow in (hurricane wiped out many of the trees). Lagoon and stagnant pools need work, could breed mosquitoes in the Fall. We would not return, not because it wasn't a pleasant experience, but because there are lots of other places to try.

My husband and I stayed at the valentin from April 28-May 5,we were a little worried reading some of the other reviews about the water and electric,but we had no problems. We got to the Valentin and recieved the warm towel and glass of champagne.we also recieved an upgrade to an ocean front suite,our room was beautiful,bldg 13 and was close to both the beach,2 restaurants and the main swimming pool. The first day we took a couple of the bikes and road around the property getting a feel for everything,nice grounds. The activity center has table tennis,air hockey,foos ball,bikes,roller blades and darts that you can play. The gym is across from the activity center but is pretty small,not a whole lot of equiptment,they do have some classes though,they are listed on your paper you get with turn down service the night before. The food was really good,breakfast buffet,lunch either buffet or one of the 2 restaurants by the beach. We went to the Japanese one night and were talked into the habachi part,which was a blast,met some really nice people and really enjoyed the meal. My favorite was the french,least was the lobster pot. Also they have a small lunch menu at the pool bar,you just have to ask,its small,hot dogs,chicken wings, ect. . We also did an ATV excursion,on the beach,10 min from the resort which was alot of fun. Went to Playa one day,fun little trip lots of places to eat and have a drink and touristy shops. Overall great place to go,but hope that if we go again they will open another beach bar on the swim side of the beach and keep the pool bars open later than 5 pm...oh and just an fyi,bring chapstick...just relax and have a good time...