We stayed for 3 nights at Esmeralda. Staff was great, very accomodating (we were with our young daughter). Restarant food was good, a bit on the expensive side.

There was suppose to be power in the mornings and evenings, but it was only on in the evenings.

The accomodation is basic but clean. Very relaxing place to stay. My only complaint is price for a night. Over $100USD, in my opinion way to much considering it's a few steps above camping.

We just returned from a week at Esmeralda K and overall we were very pleased. The accomodations were very simple, aesthetically pleasing but quite basic and primitive. If you go with the right head space you will not be disappointed. This is mexico after all...things are slower, more gentle. The staff responded to our requests, but sometimes things took more time than we anticipated. For example the broken lock on out cabana took 3 days to replace. The electric outlets did not work throughout our stay. that being said, all the staff who worked there always had a smile or a kind word to say every day. The restaurant was convenient when we felt like staying in, but was very quiet and slightly more expensive than the great food available at half the price in town. The rooms were pretty, and the bathrooms were open, but if you are there with someone you are intimate with, as we were, then it should not be a problem. The rooms were cleaned daily and the hot water was always on. The lights int he cabana came on when we needed them to and the candles that lit our room at night added a nice romantic touch. It really is a step above camping but for the most part we slept well and the beach was quiet, wide open and very beautiful as compared to the hotels that were crammed one on top of each other on the other side of the main road. I would come back here again and I would recommend it. For 112.00 it was good value. We booked online through a cancun based travel agent and there were no problems with our reservations.
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We booked over the phone and were told not to use their reservation site nor to send emails. When we called 2 days before, they have lost the reservation. We called 4 times and they could not pass us a manager nor spell our names correctly. On the day of arrival, they found a room. Not only no one helped us with our bags but they could not care less. As they assumed we could not speak Spanish they give us a MX$1,2000 room and tried to charge us 1,800. Now if you want to use you credit card, it's an extra 15% on top!!! So we ended up paying 1,200 as we walk away from there the next day. MX$1,200 to "sleep" (depending on the traffic) close to road with no lock on your door and freeze your (---) when you take your shower is not worth. The most expense hotel we did in Mexico and still the WORSE one by far. Unlike you enjoy being treated like (----), don't go there!!!

My mother booked a reservation with the Esmerelda K through the property's sales staff in Miami. When we arrived at 3:30pm (check-in starts at 3pm) the desk staff told us we did not have a reservation and that they were sold out. We showed the staffer our pre-paid reservation confirmation and pled our case, but to no avail. She said she spoke with Sabrina, their Miami-based sales person, and that Sabrina mistakenly booked us at their sister property the Diamante K. It was very important to my mother to stay at the Esmerelda K because it was her "dream resort," so she was crushed. On top of that we were bitten up by hordes of angry red ants. So we drove up the road to the Diamante K and were told no we didn't have a reservation there, we were booked at the Esmerelda. Sheesh. After two hours of negotiating with the Diamante staff, they offered us one cabana with a king-sized bed and two with single beds. That would not work for our party of six (me, my teenage sisters, my parents, and my mother's boss). Additionally, mom and her boss looked at the single huts and they were horrendous. Then mom happened to glance at the Diamante's reservation paperwork and saw that, in fact, our names were down for a reservation at the Esmerelda!!! The staffer at the Esmerelda flat out LIED to us when she said we had a reservation at the Diamante. It then became apparent that they had overbooked but chose to lie rather than admit that. At that point the only thing the Diamante staff offered was to give us a cash refund and send us on our own to find a new hotel (since they couldn't accommodate us and neither would the Esmerelda). It was getting late and we would not be able to find anything on our own, so we were incredibly frustrated. Thankfully another staffer (not management, just a nice enough guy) listened to our story and offered to call around to other properties. He got us two huts at the Copal, and one at some place that started with a Z, and arranged for a free dinner for all six of us at the Copal that night. The Copal was nice, from what we could see with our flashlights anyway. But the other place, where my mom and stepdad, was horrible and did not have a private bath.

The only time we actually "stayed" at the Esmerelda was when we checked out their beach on our last day in Mexico. Our week was split between the Esmerelda (for one night) and then the Catalonia Riviera Maya (for six nights, and that was a reservation disaster as well). Mom wanted us to see what her dream resort looked like in case we ever came back. The beach was nice and private, except for a topless photo shoot right in front of the guests.

My mother contacted Sabrina back in Miami, via e-mail, to tell her that the Esmerelda staff lied and blamed the reservation problem on Sabrina. Sabrina, of course, was surprised ...... especially because the Esmeralda assured her they had given us a "super suite." Sabrina offered my mother a free two-night stay in their presidential suite anytime except Xmas through New Year's, but my mother doesn't know if she'll take Sabrina up on her offer because of how poorly the on-site staff treated her.