After both of my sisters got on the travel hacking train, my parents got on board too (still waiting on my brother). Here is their review of the all inclusive Hyatt Zilara in Cancun – paid for all with miles and points!
We recently stayed at the Hyatt Zilara, an adults only all inclusive property in Cancun Mexico located in the Hotel Zone. We were able to book the resort for two free World of Hyatt nights (from Chase Visa sign-up bonus) and three additional nights at 25,000 points per night. Since we flew round trip from Baltimore on Southwest with points and a companion pass, our only out of pocket cost for the entire trip was $57 for round trip private transfers from the airport to the hotel with Canada Transfers. We arrived on Sunday, March 11th, the week before the traditional spring break. The hotel was not at full occupancy (our guess is 50-60%), so were we were able to enjoy the amenities unfettered.
Upon arrival, we were greeted and shown to the World of Hyatt reception office separate from the hotel’s front desk. We were offered warm towels and sparkling wine. Once seated, our host told us immediately that we had been upgraded to an Ocean View Junior Suite on the fourth floor. Although check in time was 3:00p our room was ready at 1:30p. The host presented my wife with a beach bag as a welcome gift.
We were also presented with a coupon book for discounts on various services in multiple amounts of $10, $40, and $50.
Room & Beach
Our room was spacious at 653 square feet and quite unique in several ways. For starters, the hot tub was not located in the shower/bath area but just off the sliding doors to the balcony with a view of the ocean. The shower also had an ocean view through the glass rectangle on the headboard of the bed! There was plenty of storage space both hanging and in drawers. There were two separate vanities, one in the shower are and one outside. The floors were marble. The bed and TV screen large.
We initially explored the resort grounds, particularly the beach and infinity pool area. There were plenty of lounge chairs and cabanas, most with lounge beds. Some were reserved with room numbers, but there were plenty to go around. We chose one pictured below and had no trouble using it for our stay. We found the hotel and grounds to be extremely clean and well maintained.
Food
But on to the food. Our first dining experience was at the Pelicanos, an outdoor open air restaurant. We ordered lunch which featured American/Mexican fast food and seafood. We later returned for dinner. The food was good, above average, but was typical tourist fare. We had seafood soup, shrimp tacos, fajitas and salmon.
This restaurant turned out to be our least favorite place to dine and we didn’t return for duration of our stay.
Of the seven dining options available on site, three served breakfast: Pelcanos, Spice, and the Casa Del Café. The Casa is a coffee hours open from 6a to 11p and features made to order expresso, cappuccino, and coffee along with sweet treats and ice cream. We found it great as a wake up before breakfast while reserving our cabana for the day and walking the beach.
We settled on Spice for breakfast. Spice is billed as “International Haute Cuisine” buffet featuring show cooking stations, but we found it to primarily Mexican/American/Asian. At first, it seemed to be like many breakfast buffets on cruise ships and other resorts. However, we soon found the selections to be different and quite good with some unique offerings. We found everything to be fresh and tasteful. No thawed, microwaved or reheated items. We returned for lunch, and Spice became our favorite for the stay simply because of the freshness and variety of choices that change from day to day. Prime rib Mexican style for lunch? Duck in mole sauce? Made to order skirt steaks and a pasta cooking stations? Die-for small plate desserts? The choices were many, again with everything we tried fresh and tasteful.
Dinner at the resort included Spice and Pelicanos, and dinner only Marie Marie, Asiana, and Cantina La Adelita. For dinner the second (and third) evening we chose Marie Marie, a Gourmet Mexican restaurant. We enjoyed roasted pork belly, enchiladas, tortilla soup, lamb chops, red snapper. The Vanilla Soufflé was unique and delicious.
Tortilla Soup
Enchiladas
Vanilla Soufflé
The Cantina La Adelita is adjacent to Marie Marie and is primarily a small appetizer-dessert-drink venue in a cantina style setting.
The next evening we tried Asiana, a contemporary Asian restaurant featuring Teppanyaki style cooking for dinner. Although we are not fans of this cuisine, the restaurant was very popular and we found the selections we tried to be very good. These included the seafood hot pot woup, the California and spring rolls, and Japchae Korean beef.
Final Thoughts
We could really recommend this resort solely for the food, but just about everything was top notch. In particular the wait staff was exemplary no matter where we went. For the balance of our stay we spent a lot of time on the beach just relaxing and enjoying the weather and the ocean. There was a posted schedule of activities every day, and there was entertainment on site in the late evening, but you had to like hanging rope acrobatics to enjoy. A disco night was featured Thursday. Starting Wednesday evening, more guests started to arrive including the spring break crowd, and by Friday when we left, the resort was at full occupancy.
We would easily recommend this resort to anyone who wants to enjoy a top notch all inclusive adults only resort. We did see the family oriented version of the resort, the Hyatt Ziva from the beach, and we can only hope the family accommodations would mirror the Hyatt Zilara we stayed at.
-Tom (& Millie) Sterba
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