Occidental
Allegro Playacar
OUR TRIP REPORT
Our flight was a Funjet charter and arrived at 9:30 AM in Cancun. There already was a huge line at immigration. After getting out of the airport, renting our car and driving the 50 kilometers to Playacar, it still was only 11:30 when we arrived at the Allegro. They checked us in and gave us our all-inclusive wrist bands in no time at all, but of course the room was not ready, so would you please come back at 3:00 PM? We had to kill some time and took the opportunity to have lunch at the buffet restaurant called the Topaz. We really weren't expecting gourmet dining based on our last encounters with all-inclusive. But I have to admit being very pleasantly surprised by the overall quality and number and variety of the selections available at the Allegro.
Going back to our first lunch, we walked into the dining room and were among the first diners of the day. I surveyed the selections and off in the corner, something really caught my eye. There was a carving chef standing next to the most beautiful golden brown roast turkey I had ever seen. I mean it was huge, and so beautiful that a picture of that bird could grace the cover of a cookbook. And it was also delicious. We found that every day the buffet would feature several different quality entrees that were really quite good. We dined on prime rib, spit roasted chickens, broiled pork chops, fish and shrimp kabobs, tacos al pastor, whole red snapper, beef and pork roasts, as well as a great selection of fresh salads, vegetables, fruit and a very impressive desert table. Another excellent feature of the Allegro is that you could order your favorite drink, margarita or whatever from the bar during dinner and not be limited to the beer or wine only policy of most other all-inclusives. My only real criticism of the dining room was that it was not air conditioned and did I mention it was really HOT in there? Service by the waiters was, of course, very good.
Other restaurants available were Caruso's for Italian food and La Troje for Mexican dining. These were reservation only restaurants and for dinner only. More food was available pool side at La Huerta snack bar from mid morning until late afternoon. Selections here included hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos, pasta and fresh cooked pizza. My grandson loved it all.
The regular accommodations are all pretty much the same. There are some 2 bedroom and one bedroom villas located in the first row of buildings from the beach. The 2 bedroom takes up the entire top floor of the 2 story thatched roof building. These are the timeshare owner's rooms. The regular rooms are just large hotel rooms. Each thatched roof hut is divided into 4 rooms with 2 floors, so 8 rooms to a building. They are either supplied with one king size bed or 2 full size beds. The room itself was clean. The bed was a mattress on top of a block of concrete, not unusual for Mexico. The furnishings were okay but not luxurious. No kitchen, microwave or refrigerator was provided. The bathroom and dressing area was kind of small. The water was not purified, and no bottled water was provided. There was one dresser to store clothes and additional shelves and a hanger bar in the closet. A small old style lock box was in the room but make sure you don't lose the key. A hair drier, soap and shampoo was also provided. You can sit out on your terrace using a $1.99 plastic chair but a neat hammock is also provided for swinging in the breeze.
We were a little disappointed in the beach this year. In previous trips the beach was full and sandy. For some reason, erosion has destroyed the majority of usable sand in front of the Allegro. They have even placed hundreds of sandbags along the shore in an attempt to halt the erosion. Hopefully this is a temporary condition as it was not like this last year. We swam in the sea each and every day. The water is warm, crystal clear and the waves are calm due to the reef located a few hundred feet from the shore. There is a safe gentle slope to the powder white sand and then the water actually gets more shallow again as you approach the reef. All sorts of beach toys are provided free including sailboats, kayaks and sail boards. We did encounter quite a few topless women enjoying the sun, as is typical of Playa del Carmen. I was surprised that my grandson really made no big deal of it and seemed not to pay any attention. The Playa del Carmen area is popular with European and South American tourists. In fact, all the entertainment people spoke several languages including English, Spanish, Italian, German and French. We saw no signs of mala agua, sometimes called sea lice, which are actually jellyfish larvae. Even in February, the sea water is warm and about 80 degrees and a joy to swim in.
A kids club provides activities for the youngsters all day long, which included volleyball, water polo, games and activities. There also was a daily schedule of grownup activities going on pool side all day long, which included aerobics, water polo, volleyball, soccer, and "crazy games". The only disappointing thing was the quality of the nightly entertainment, which we found very amateur and much less professional than the shows we saw at the Club Viva Maya last year. The kids tried hard but didn't have much to work with.
All in all we enjoyed our time at the Allegro very much and will definitely go there again. The gardens and landscaping are very beautiful and meticulously maintained, It was very relaxing vacation, and with everything provided we actually never had to leave the resort for anything.
Here are some photos we took while visiting
Click on the thumbnail photo to see the full size version.
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