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Gala Beach Resort
I went to Gala Beach Resort with my family (one boy 7 years old and a 2.5 years old girl) Dec 12 to Dec 19, 2004. In general, everything I have read is true. I will sum it up like this:
1. The beach is great and the hotel is the last on the hotel strip outside of Playa Del Carmen. You get to walk for a couple of miles south without any hotels. If you go north on the beach, you can walk all the way to Playa Del Carmen.
2. The resort is a lot smaller than the ones we typically go to. The good thing about being small is that everything is centrally located and it is a short walk from room to pool or restaurants. The kids club is within a 5 minute walk from our hotel room.
3. The amenities are also great. You can get free boogie boards for use at the beach. Extra pillows are delivered promptly within 10 minutes. There are lots of hammocks on the beach. There is sailing available also. The best is the free bike use where you can ride to Playa Del Carmen. BTW, the bike path is on the other side of the road from the hotel.
4. Internet access is poor. There is an Internet service that opens at 10 AM and closes at 2 PM. It opens again at 3 PM to 8 PM. On weekends, the hours are even shorter as they close at 3 PM. You can get dial up Internet access from the hotel to your room at US$30 per day compared to the US$2.50 for 15 minutes. They have only 4 PCs. But, you can connect your own notebook at the same price.
5. The food is below par. We traveled exclusively all-inclusive. So, we are well qualified to critique the food. Yes, there is a lot of fresh juice. There are omelets, pancakes, and waffles stations. But, that’s about it for breakfast. For lunch, I would go to the Beach restaurant where you can get grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. For dinner, the best bet is the main buffet. We did hear of a family getting sick on Wednesday while the other half that when to town was fine. We did not get sick on the food. The Italian and Mexican restaurants are fine. The seafood is your best bet. In our opinion, the best food for all-inclusive was Beaches Turks & Caicos. But, the cost is twice as much as Gala. So, be happy with what you get and if you do not like it go to Playa Del Carmen for a US$4 taxi ride. The burger at Johnny Rocket is great. Carlos & Charlie are known for their ribs.
6. If you can afford it, up grade to the Royal Club for US$70 a night. You get a beach view room with a part of the beach allocated for Royal Club members only. This area is heavily guarded, which gives us a bit of comfort as we have digital cameras (take pictures of those fleeting but memorable moments), walkie talkies (for parents to keep in contact with each other), money (tipping the hard working waitress getting you cool drinks on the beach) and other valuable stuff (floaties, sand toys and suntan oil) with us when we go to the beach. We never lost anything the time we were there. I have left my fins there all day when we when for lunch and an afternoon nap. There are also a lot of other benefits. We have a 7:30 PM flight back and they gave us a late checkout at 2 PM. The late checkout was absolutely worth the upgrade because it made the day so much easier to manage. We were at the beach till 1 PM. We showered and finished packing by 2 PM. We have lunch and the bus was there at 3 PM to take us to the airport. That was very helpful as gave us a couple more of prime time hours.
7. Yes, there is very little to do in the evening. But, it’s only a 40 pesos taxi ride to town and there is a lot happening there. While we think Barceló Maya is the best hotel in this area (Maya Riviera), it is a 40 minute taxi ride to Playa Del Carmen as it is more south from here. We were at the RIU Palace last year (Just a 10 minute walk north from the Gala) and we do not recommend that resort for families with kids.
8. The kids club has been talked about a lot in the tripadvisors reviews. Yes, the kids club is a magnet for kids because there are a lot kids there. Like many of the parents, there is a sense of guilt leaving your child there all day. For the first two days that was what our son wanted. Luckily, the last two days he wanted to be with us. My view is that kids attract kids. And if there are a lot of kids, than that is where your kids want to be. The program is good. There are parts where they watch movies and play Xbox, which we think are bad for the kids. In general, it is a lot better that what we have experienced. It may be one of the best (better than Beaches, which is the flag ship of family all-inclusive) kids program. The Barceló Maya is also good.
9. Outside activities to consider is a trip to Xel-Ha especially if this is your first time. It is the world biggest aquarium. You get an inner tube and float down the river populated with a lot of fishes. There are cliffs to jump off and ropes to traverse across rivers. But, there are a huge variety of choices such as an ATV outing, speed boating around a river and a ton of ancient Mayan sites to visit.
10. All in all, it is a great resort for families with young kids. The food is the only shortfall but you won’t die from starvation. As we were leaving, the resort was gearing up for the Christmas and we noted the food did pick up a notch. After all, the Christmas guest are paying a lot more 