Beard & Broad Abroad: Mexico

A month ago we traveled to Riveria Maya, Mexico for our friends’ Amanda & Matt’s wedding. This was a trip of firsts for us: first destination wedding, first time traveling out of the country together, first huge friend trip and first time at an all-inclusive resort. So we were a little overwhelmed but very excited!

We booked everything through the wedding couple’s (Amanda and Matt) travel agent, Eva. Utilizing her made everything SO EASY! We started booking the trip in July of last year. Our flights were surprisingly very cheap (much cheaper than any flight we had to California or our flight last year to New Orleans). We had to give her a deposit in July and we paid the full amount around January. At first it seemed like a large amount of money for the resort, flights, and excursion (snorkeling) since we paid it all up front; but it was awesome to be at the resort and not have to pay for any meal or drink.

The Resort: We stayed at the Hard Rock in Riveria Maya. The resort was HUGE. There was an adults only side (Heaven) and a family-friendly side (Hell, just kidding…Hacienda). Most of the wedding group stayed on the Heaven side. It was fantastic to be in an adults only resort and hear no screaming kids or children running around. Heaven has 3 pools, a swim up bar, a private beach and natural sea cove. There are 12 places to eat (between both sides), 24 hour room service, multiple bars, and a night club. You really have no reason to leave the resort! Depending on how many days you stayed at the resort, you received a certain amount of resort credit. You can use the resort credit for the spa, upgrades to food/drinks, certain excursion etc.  The only catch is that you need to pay 20% tax/service fee. So essentially $30 for a massage? Yes please!

Drinks: We were excited for the beverages in Mexico. We love Mexican beer especially Pacifico, our personal favorite. We also love margaritas. Overall, we were a little disappointed in the beverage situation. Now, we can’t complain too much since there was a lot to choose from. The only beer we could get at the restaurants and bars was Dos Equis (Amber and Lager). We didn’t know how much we disliked it until that became our only option for beer.  It’s very watery, almost no flavor. Our room fridge was fully stocked with in-room liquor dispensers that were filled with tequila, vodka, scotch and rum, and the fridge was stocked with beer: Dos Equis or Tecate.  Needless to say, we room serviced a bunch of Tecate.

We did however suck it up and enjoy plenty of Dos Equis in the most consumed drinks on our trip, Micheladas.  If you have never had a Michelada you must try one. There’s a few recipes out there, depending on what area of Mexico you’re in apparently, but the common one where we were consisted of: beer, lime juice, salt, worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and maggi sauce. It is a salty, spicy delicious drink, and it’s great for hangovers! You can also make it with tomato or clamato juice.  The bloody mary’s at the resort were less than stellar and nothing special, but the Micheladas made up for it.

At the pools and beach we drank a lot of Miami Vices, Chi Chis, and Pina Coladas due to the heat and the sun. We only had one option for margaritas and they were pretty strong, but good.

Champy! Since room service was free Broad felt the need to order a bottle of bubbles every night for mimosas in the morning (bright and early at 7 am).  It was Broad’s dream! We even used some of the resort credit to get bottle service champs at the beach.

The best drinks were on the Catamaran excursion. We had unlimited drinks which included rum punch (delicious but will knock you on your butt), margaritas, and beer. The best part? They had Pacifico! We drank our moneys worth and it was especially refreshing to drink on the boat in the sun.

Food: The resort food was great. A few resturants had breakfast buffets and so did the hotel lobbies. Breakfast was Broad’s favorite meal, she ate her weight in chilaquiles. There was a mix of Mexican and American foods. For lunch time, some of the restaurants had buffets and the pool had a nice BBQ set up with a nacho station.

Dinner had the best options. The first night the resort set up a welcome dinner for the guests of the wedding. It was a delicious buffet by the ocean. The second night was almost the same but with different foods. We then alternated between the italian, asian, brazilian, and mexican restaurants for the rest of the week’s dinners, we ended up liking the chinese restaurant the most out of all the ones we tried.

Room service! The room service food was not the best with the exception of the guacamole.  Broad ate it for every meal. It was cheap drunk food but we still ordered it every night. Probably another reason we were never hungover.

Excursions: We spent the majority of the week on the resort. The best excursion was the Catamaran trip. As stated above it came with delicious food and drinks. We spent 4 hours on the water snorkerling, swimming and enjoying the beautiful sites. The boat even had a water slide. Once Broad got over her panic attacks that came with snorkerling for the first time, it was the perfect day! We also went swimming with dolphins at a sanctuary which was adorable, terrifying and super fun. The catch here is that you can’t take pictures because they have a photographer there…but the price of the pictures are astronomical.  Finally, we left the resort to spend the day in Playa del Carmen. We went shopping, tequila tasting, drank delicious drinks, ate Mexican food and went swimming in the ocean.

Pro Tips:

• Pack light! Broad always overpacks. She’s been getting better but she still brings way too much stuff. Once you get to your destination, you will regret having brought your entire wardrobe.
• Leave room in your bag for souvenirs. Luckily Beard always packs light and always has room for goodies to bring home.
• If you can, do all inclusive. The overall price we had to pay ahead of time for the trip was worth it. We spent minimal money at the resort.