I have been dying to write a review on here for the Valentin considering it has been the best vacation I have ever had. I have been to Mexico several times, but this resort left my husband and I feeling like royalty. From the moment we arrived we were treated with the most care and pampered daily. We paid for a regular deluxe room and were upgraded to a private swim-up suite. Now is the time to go, for the hotel is not crowded at all. I am a finicky eater, and usually do not enjoy the food in resorts in Mexico, but this was different. Each dinner we enjoyed throughly. My favorite was the Japanese restaurants curry chicken and the Italian restaurants spinach pasta. The steak at Mar was delicious as well. The afternoon nachos by the pool were addicting along with the appetizers they would bring by. Our room was cleaned a couple times a day and we were never bothered by the cleaning staff due to the fact that they have sensors telling the staff when you are in the room, so they only come by when they know your not. The evening shows were enjoyable. The Michael Jackson show was my favorite. This resort is definitly for couples only. The pools were salt water but didnt taste like the water from the ocean. Very diluted and I enjoyed them better than pools with chlorine. The service was the same whether you tipped or not. Also, the staff spoke very good english. If you are traveling to this area, don't pass up the opportunity to go to this resort while it is still afordable!

My wife and I recently returned from our Honeymoon at the Valentin (June 30th-July 5th). After extensive research we chose this hotel. The resort was absolutely beautiful and the staff were incredibly friendly. The one thing that is preventing me from writing much more about our trip is the fact that we both got sick 36 hours after arriving. We think it was the milk in the frozen drinks that we had. We spoke to a staff member who said sometimes tourists react badly to the dairy. I may have also been coconut milk in the drink or a combo of both. I personally am not entirely convinced it wasn’t the water. I did stop drinking anything but bottled water after day two. This is where a complete review of the resort falls short. Since we were sick and had no appetite I cannot go into detail on the restaurants and food etc. Being all inclusive we could not take advantage of endless drinks and food as we felt so crappy. The food on the first day was good. We ate at the French restaurant on the night we got sick. It was okay but I wouldn’t say it was world class. The Marche was pretty good buffet from lunch and breakfast but again we were very careful of what we ate after the first day. The resort was beautiful. However, the activities that were at the main pool were a little annoying unless your are into water aerobics with music such as Vengaboys and Aqua being blasted over a single crap loudspeaker for an hour everyday. To be fair I guess you could go to the beach to avoid this. But I found the activities a little bit like something one would expect at a Butlins camp in the UK or a children’s summer camp here in the US. All in all the stay was okay even though were not well. However, if we were offered a free weeks holiday back there I wouldn’t take it. Many of the guests we spoke to loved it and I can see it’s appeal for some but even if we hadn’t been sick I think our money could have been spent better on a honeymoon somewhere else.
Oh yeah and the AC went out twice for several hours and when you are sick in your room that isn’t a good thing.

Pros: Gorgeous setting, very friendly staff, nice rooms, awesome pools
Cons: Noisy activities, whatever made us sick, dodgy AC system.

We had a great time at the beautiful hotel. The grounds are enormous & the food was excellent. I'd gladly go back. A few pro's & con's we encountered.

Cons we experienced.
We booked our trip through bookit.com & that might have been a mistake. Be sure to ask your bookit rep if you have any flights that are not mentioned on your ticket! We had only 1 connecting flight so we thought (according to our tickets) but when we arrived at the airport we had to make another stop at 4am!! Bookit.com wouldn't answer or get back to us.

The Japanese Restaurant requires you have EIGHT people to sit down at the grill/hibachi (sp?). There were 4 of us but still nope, you need Eight. You'll probably notice as they didn't that this hotel is a couples resort.

Even if your luggage gets lost don't plan on eating in the French, Italian, Japanese, Indo, or Mexican restaurant. This is pretty ridiculous. Is it really our fault the airline lost our luggage?! I hope they change this rule. Pack pants just in case fellas.

That's it! A few minor things.

Pro's
Where to start. The grounds are so big and yet you feel so secluded from everyone else. No kids is also a huge plus. We are just 25/26 yrs old but still it was nice to not hear crying & whinning! We got enough of that on Mexicana Airlines. Did I mention Mexicana is a nightmare? Make sure when you check in that you tell them you want to sit next to the person you are with!! Hope you speak Spanish too. :)

The food as you'll see is top notch. Couldn't have asked for better. The pool is the largest I've seen. It has 2 swim up bars within the large & winding pool.

The beach was nice but it could have been a little better. It's a bit rocky eventhough the photo's may not do justice. Go to the far left of the roped off area to not hit many rocks in the water. The ocean water is beautiful but last year we stayed in Cancun & the water there was literally breath taking. Then again, in Cancun it was one big nice hotel whereas this spot is so much nicer & spread out.

I'm so glad that we met a terrific couple from the midwest! It was fun to eat, drink, and hang out with others since the resort can be pretty quiet. Mark & Kelly, you guys rock!! Let's do it again.

Photo's are much more valuable than my measly words. Enjoy your visit. I really think that you'll love it. We would gladly return in a heart beat.

P.S. We did the trip EdAdventure one day down in Tulum and had a great time. You have to do the "Swim with Turtles." Wow. For this search tripadvisor "activities in Playa del Carmen."

There are not enough word to explain how great this hotel is!! Front desk service is quick, nice and relaxing. Champagne and fresh towels. The food is something that you hardly find in an all inclusive, even at the buffet everything is perfect. The grounds are beautiful and the rooms fantastic! If they have suites they will upgrade you! The pool is beautiful and they have two swim up bars!! The service is great! great!!!
The entertainment is great!! They are all so much of fun. We miss a night club, but who cares!!!

Just one thing to say: just go and see how nice this is. After that we went to Riu Palace Riviera Maya and Occidental Xcaret, we miss Valentin the whole time...