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Reef Club Playacar Hotel & Resort Reviews

Reef Club Playacar
Address: Av. Xaman-Ha Retorno Sayil S/N Playacar, Mexico Tel: +52 (984) 8734120 Fax: 52 (984) 87 320 01 Email: reservations.playacar@reefclubresorts.com URL: Reef Club Playacar	Type of Property: All Inclusive Beach Location: Beach Front (Directly on Beach/Water Front) Island: Mexico No. of Rooms/Units: 200

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Summary of All Property Reviews for: Reef Club Playacar Ratings based on answers from a total of 8 reviews 10 is best 1 is worst
Feature	Ranking	Feature	Ranking
Cleanliness of Property	6.00	Quality of Property	5.25
Privacy & Quietness	4.25	Quality of Service	5.00
Courtesy & Hospitality of Staff	5.50	Accuracy of Website (marketing hype) VS. Actual Experience	5.38
Food and Dining Experience	5.38	Price/Value of Property	4.88
Safety Factor (Did you feel safe at property)	4.75	Quality of Beach (ranked closest beach if property is located off the beach)	7.75
Total Property Score: 5.41 out of 10 | Average Star Rating: 2.62 out of 5

• 50% (4 visitors of 8) said they would go back to Reef Club Playacar again.
• 50% (4 visitors of 8) said they would recommend Reef Club Playacar to friends.

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This hotel is operated by Interclub Resort out of Cancun and on the downward slide. Watch out 4 the snakes! The Concierge Klair, pushed us for a tour of the club - a timeshare scam, upon our arrival, after 13 hours of traveling. When we refused to sign a commitment (with Beata and Paul) the day of the timeshare meeting, Max, a manager for the marketing company, treated us rudely. We booked some tours with a Reef staff member that we met in the lobby of the hotel. Alan scammed us out of several hundred USD, one trip we booked we were promised dinner then told (after we paid Alen, and Jose wrote out the tickets) it would cost $45 US per person for dinner. Another trip I booked with Alen and Jose was cancled and it took me several days to get my money back and I was unable to take my son fishing, one of the reasons we went to Mexico. I found out that even though Alan wore a Reef shirt and nametag, he did not work for the hotel. No one would admit to whom he worked for. The hotel claims no connection to the timeshare and travel agents on the property wearing the Reef logo. The marketing company or travel agents upstairs from the main lobby will try to scam you any way possible. 4 nights out of 8, we had no hot water for bathing, the 1st night our tub plug was broken and it took 2 hours just to get someone to come look at it. The last 3 nights of our stay, 1 of our rooms had sewage water leaking into the tub stall from the bathroom above. The electrical wiring is also scary, I feel the resort is a firetrap. The equipment that is included is subpar at best. The boogie boards were all torn and falling apart. The food at Chula Vista is pretty good the first few times you eat there but with very little change in the menu, it becomes less than favorable. All 4 of us got very sick from the food. My 60-year-old mother is still vomiting after 2 days at home. The Manager Rafael is unprofessional and will promise you the world, all lies, do not expect to be compensated for any inconvenience. I received one free massage certificate, for all of the trouble mentioned above, and it did not even cover the total cost of the massage. The hotel wanted me to sign a waiver promising no legal action against the hotel. Hum? Wonder why? Pick another resort!

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This hotel is on the downward slide. Watch out 4 the snakes! The Concierge pushed us for a tour of the club - a timeshare scam. When we refused to sign a commitment that day, Max, a manager for the marketing company, treated us rudely. We booked some tours with a Reef staff member. Alan scammed us out of several hundred USD, and I was unable to take my son fishing, one of the reasons we went to Mexico. I found out that even though Alan wore a Reef shirt and nametag, he did not work for the hotel. No one would admit to whom he worked for. 4 nights out of 8, we had no hot water for bathing, the 1st night our tub plug was broken. The last 3 nights of our stay, 1 of our rooms had sewage water leaking into the tub stall. The electrical wiring is also scary, I feel the resort is a firetrap. The equipment that is included is subpar at best. The boogie boards were all torn and falling apart. The food at Chula Vista is average with very little change in the menu. All 4 of us got very sick from the food. My 60-year-old mother is still vomiting after 2 days at home. The Manager Rafael is unprofessional and will promise you the world, all lies, do not expect to be compensated for any incontinence. I received a free message certificate that did not cover the total cost of the message. The hotel wanted me to sign a waiver promising no legal action against the hotel. Pick another resort!

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After seeing some of the more negative reviews posted, i had to write a review of my own. My girlfriend and I had the best holiday ever at the Reef Club, I honestly can’t remember any problems at all, the food was great, with plenty of options to choose from, the staff where extremely friendly. The whole resort and experience was perfect.

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Many of us who stayed the week of march 17th became very ill, has anyone found out what this illness was and do we need to be treated by our docotr at home
even tho the staff tried they really did not help out anyone, must say Nicholas was very kind to the ill people

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After reading such a negative review from someone who left just a few days into their stay, I just had to comment on MY stay at the Reef Club.
First of all to correct that nasty review...there are NOT even rooms ABOVE the pool!! That was just a complete lie!
I had the most wonderful experience at the Reef Club. The staff could not do enough for us! They were very pleasant, and attentive to our every need.
The resort was clean, and the grounds were very well maintained. The pools were awesome. My only disappointment was that the "hot tub" was quite cold!
The staff at the Marina were wonderfull!!! We had the best vacation ever!!!
We will be returning to the Reef Club next year!
I can't wait!
K&J Heehler

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Unfortunately, we had some serious problems at the Reef Club resort that I would like to outline at this time.

Upon our check in, we arrived at what we thought was our room and opened the door. Amazingly, our key for room 1123 actually opened the door to room 1023, which we had gone to by mistake. (As our key easily opened room 1023, one can reasonably assume that the key to room 1023 will also open the door to our room, 1123.)

Upon discovering our mistake we immediately departed for room 1123 where discovered a nicely decorated and clean room. However, unfortunately this room is located directly over the main swimming pool and its accompanying pool bar. I immediately went back to reception and informed management of the security issue with the keys and also asked that we be permitted to switch rooms as we had feared that the music and noise from the people gathered around the pool and its bars would keep us awake at night.

With respect to the security issue, I was told that maintenance would be visiting our room to check the locks and was also told politely that we would not be able to switch our room, but that we would be able to have the music turned down at the pool bar if it was too loud at night.

Sadly, no action was taken on the lock on our door and events proved our fears of loud music from the pool bar. Despite us both having used ear plugs and using the air conditioning fan to create “background noise” the music from the pool bar was very disturbing to us both. As a result, during the late evenings and nights of 15-16 December, I made multiple requests via the telephone, in person and in writing to have the music turned down at the pool bar. After first being told that no one had the remote control to turn the volume down, I was assured that the volume would be turned down. In short, it never happened. (However, there was a strong rainstorm on the night of 16 December that halted the music at approximately 11:40.)

As all of our attempts to resolve this matter with hotel management had been fruitless we had left a message for our travel company representative on 17 December to discuss our concerns. Unfortunately, the representative did not contact us.

During the mostly sleepless night of 17 December, we decided to salvage the remainder of the week by departing on the morning of 18 December. (I quickly made arrangements to stay at a hotel in Cancun.)

During our checkout of the Reef Club on the morning of 18 December, I was asked to complete a written questionnaire of why we were departing early. I did so and asked for a copy of the questionnaire for my records. However, I was told that it would not be possible to obtain a copy.

While I understand that a resort is a complex operation, requiring a great deal of time and effort, I believe that the focus of a quality resort should be it’s guests, and that the management should have budgeted a small amount of effort to resolve the severe noise issues with our room by permitting us to move, or keeping the promise of reducing the volume of the music from the pool bar. Additionally, in our eyes, the security issue remained unsolved as to our knowledge no one did anything with the locks. I firmly believe that the key to room 1123 will still open the door to room 1023.

These events, combined with how poorly they were handled, have tarnished the Reef Club image.

Fortunately we did receive a full refund from our travel company, which went a long way to compensating us for the sleepless nights and frustrations we encountered during our abbreviated stay at the Reef Club.

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just returned from a 10 day, 11 nights trip to the Reef Club . This was our third year in a row and certainly one of the most relazing.

Before going I did some research on the web and found a site that sells reef Club points, weeks, and discount vouchers. Basicly - if you have a voucher you can book a room at the members rates...typicaly around $10.00 or $20.00 per night. I bought my voucher - made my reservation - and saved over $600.00


Room: Our room was a Jr Suite located in the newer - private section of the resort. We were on the Top floor - On the beach - with a hot tub on the porch. The maids cleaned it everyday and the staff stocked the mini fridge with free beer and cokes all week. We had two separate rooms with a fold out couch for the kids. At night I could lay in the hot tub - stare at the stars - and listen to the waves...Again - great room! Note: I have seen several complaints about the rooms on this board - the common theme with almost every complaint revolves around people who stayed in the 'standard' rooms. These rooms are the 'travel agency' package deal rooms and are located in the old part of the resort – they are for the most part small and plain. Stop whining – you get what you pay for – even in Mexico :( Take my advice - pay a few extra dollars per day request a Jr Suite or Studio room. These rooms are located in the exclusive side of the resort – reserved for their members( time share owners). If you want to save some dough try to find someone who has a 'time share' week or a member who will sell you a voucher. Last year we did not know that vouchers even existed - so we paid full price. This year I purchased a voucher from the web site www.reefclubresort.com and saved a bunch.

Staff: We found the staff to be very friendly and responsive to our requests. The kids' club girls were great – they kept our 5 & 7 year olds busy all day.

Food: Mostly snack foods at the bars…. The buffet restaurant had different selections every day, which was nice. The private 'Italian' restaurant was really nice - and right on the ocean. Overall I was real please with the food...

Bar: What can you say - free drinks! Some people on this message board have complained about weak drinks - the only thing I have to say is who cares - relax - you are on vacation - just drink twice as much.

Pools: Real nice - they have one adults only pool with a swim up bar... one large tropical pools for all guests...And they have one private pool just for the 'Jr Suite, and Studio Room' guests.
Summary
1) Stay in a Suite or Studio room - not the standard rooms.
2) Find a member or a voucher - and save some bucks. ( www.reefclubresort.com )
3) Drink twice as much :) You are on vacation. '

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We have stayed at the Reef Club five times now, our first visit was in 2000. We are already booked for our sixth visit in February of 2005. After reading the negative reviews of this resort, I really wonder if people were actually staying at the same resort we did. The Reef Club is beautiful, clean and staffed by friendly and efficient people. The food is good and there is a wide variety. If you can't find something you like, then you are extremely picky. My husband is the world's pickiest eater and he managed to gain 10 pounds in 10 days last year! It seems to me that some people will complain about stuff no matter what and they should remember when they go to Mexico, they are not on their home turf. Things are different. If you like a U.S. feel to a resort, then stay in the U.S. If you want a true sense of the people in Mexico, a clean, laid back resort, a decent price for a vacation, and a great time, you can't go wrong with the Reef Club. We have never had anything stolen...even left the safe open one day by accident with several hundreds of dollars in it and a brand new video camara and nothing was disturbed. The maid came and went, never touching the safe or our suitcases either. You may read horror stories about the Reef Club, but those are isolated incidents that could happen anywhere to anybody. Don't blame it all on the Reef Club....it is truly a wonderful place. We LOVE the Reef Club!!

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Had a great time. Lovely grounds, pool, great beach, food was great in all restaurants and top shelf liquor was at all bars. Clean room. Staff was great and very helpful.

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As basic as you can get. This place made Motel 6 look like the Hilton!

We had several hundred dollars wirth of items taken from, not only inside our locked hotel room, but from the bottom of our suitcases! It was very obvious that the thief was a Reef Club Employee.

Zero water one morning.

A very leaky drain on our faucet.

No alarm clock.

Would not give us our requested wake up calls.

Food was very poor.

Spend a little more and stay somewhere else. You will be much happier.

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