Live Aqua Beach Resort Cancun

My wife and I had our first trip to Cancun last week and we stayed at Live Aqua based on all the excellent reviews. We’ve been to Mexico many times, and have previously stayed at other all-inclusive high-end resorts (i.e Garza Blanca, Cabo). Check-In (Day 0) First impressions, nice lobby, friendly staff, smells clean, easy check in process. Checked in on Sunday about 4pm and had no wait. We were told we don’t need reservations for any of the restaurants. Staff was friendly and we were turned over to the sales pitch person and politely declined and told him that we never attend because we’re on vacation and these conversations cost us valuable vacation time and I’d rather be changing into a swimsuit to get to the beach. Our room was on the third floor, north side. When we got up to the third floor, the room was directly in front of the elevator next to the water fountain, not ideal, but okay, we can try it. The room was clean, great view. Walking around the resort, we spotted the aroma therapy misters in every corner. First impression was smells nice, but second impression is what are they trying to mask? Anyway, our first meal was at the Sea Corner, very meh, fish tacos were plain and too bland. They’ve made it so boring for the Americans. For dinner, we went to Siete, which was decent. Nothing special, but still good. We joked about if we saw any issues with bugs, we’d check out. (There is one review on this site about a large roach). Well, as luck would have it, when we went back to our room, I spotted in the dark hallway a small roach near the door trying to get inside. There is no weather stripping, so they can come right in. I have a big bug issue, especially in a resort of this class. My wife killed it with her sandal and we contemplated our options. We both went downstairs to the reception desk and told them that we’re not happy with the room because it’s next to the water fountain and pests and critters are getting into the room. They said no problem, they had a room in the south side, 4th floor, further from the elevator, but with two beds instead of a king bed. Not a problem for us in this circumstance. Moved our luggage to the new room and it also was clean. However, this room did have some issues of its own. The thermostat was not ready for guests, and it kept going from connected to disconnected. When it was disconnected, you could not adjust anything, temp or fan. Tried to call front desk, but phone did not work in the room. Day 1 Maintenance came to the room on the second day and swapped out the thermostat. This new one worked but kept resetting to 0.0C even after we’d set it at 23c-24c. The other issue is using one sink in the bathroom resulted in loud gurgling from the other sink in the bathroom. Nothing we couldn’t ignore for the week. Went downstairs for breakfast at Siete, the buffet. It was again, just okay. Good selection of pastries, cereals, juice, basic coffee. My wife enjoyed her omelet from the station. Went back to room and changed and got ready for the pool. Found a nice set of chairs, umbrellas and towels. Started to get hungry about 1pm and decided to order some pool bites. Had guacamole (good) and fish / shrimp tacos. When they showed up, it was more like a taco bite, they took two street tacos and cut them in half on the plate. Meh, again, just okay. Ordered a margarita, when it showed up it tasted like lemonade, must have been less than one ounce of tequila, not sure, couldn’t taste it. For dinner on day 2, we went to Azur, and we were told there was a 30-minute wait if we don’t have reservations. Hhhmp, well, that wasn’t communicated to us when we checked in. Went to the Italian place and was told there was a 30-minute wait. Hhhmppp. Went to MB to ask about the wait and it was 40min-1hr, another big Hmmmph, like what are we paying for here? So, we ended up going to Siete and had the same dishes we had day 1. It was again, decent, nothing super great, but still good. We thus far, were really not impressed with the resort. We contemplated checking out early, taking the loss and trying one of the newer resorts, like Atelier if we didn’t have good meals on day 2. We also talked about flying home, the first 24 hours was so bad. Day 2 Day we had breakfast at Azur and it was much better than Siete. They had fresh squeezed juice and great chilaquiles. Good portion size. Spent most of the day by pool after that and got hungry about 2pm. Went back to Azur, ordered the fish and shrimp tacos. Those showed up exactly like we expected by the pool, 3 good sized street tacos, with sauce and cabbage already inside. Much better. For dinner, we went early to Varenna (Italian) about 6pm. Was able to get in without a wait. The Italian food was good, but not very close to real Italian food. The cocktail was pretty good (tequila and limoncello). Day 3 My wife wanted an omelet from the buffet in Siete and I wanted just a bit of oatmeal and a fried egg. My wife ordered her omelet from station 2 and as it was being finished, I ordered a fried egg. Then, what I saw was really gross. One of the other guests took out a $5 dollar US bill and asked the woman working omelet station 1 if she had change, for single bills. The chef took the money, went to the other chef on omelet station 2 and they swapped the 5-dollar bill for five singles, bare handed. Well, imagine my surprise when I looked over at my fried egg almost done at station 2, and can you guess what happened next? Yup, chef 2 took her bare hands and went straight into the salt and pepper bin to put a pinch on my egg. Wow. Walked back to our table and told my wife what happened. I just ate some of my oatmeal, but my wife had doubts about her omelet from station 2, so we got up to walk out. On the way out, I spoke with the manager and explained what happened. I explained how money is extremely dirty and contains trace amounts of feces. She apologized and said she would speak to the staff. We told her we’d go have breakfast at Azur. Did she speak the staff? I don’t know. Did they remove the salt and pepper bins that were contaminated? I don’t know. We went to Azur for the 3rd time now, my wife had a nice breakfast but I didn’t have much of an appetite. While we were at Azur, another manager came over, with the executive chef, and said he had spoken with the Siete manager and they’d take care of it. We went back to Azur for the good breakfast, service was really good (Hector). Then we decided to check out the mall across the street. We were told to take the elevator down to the C floor, which is pretty much the first floor, basement. When we got off the elevator, spotted another small roach running in the hall. The doors to the outside are broken and one door is pretty much 2-3 inches open at all times. Mall was nice, but it was very humid with some rain and overcast skies. Went back to the resort about 1pm and went to Azur for tacos again. Hector was really good. I asked for some spicy salsa and he brought out a green salsa that really spiced those tacos right up. He said they don’t normally bring it out for the guests. To get some good alcohol, I walked to the liquor store across the street and bought two bottles of Moet and Chandon. When I got back to the room, I started looking for the ice maker down the hall. Did I find it? No, but I did find another small friend. A small dead roach just outside the door to our room down the hall. That makes 3. For dinner, I went downstairs at 5:45pm to wait for MB to open. At 6pm, I was second in line and got right in. The service as MB was excellent, as good as the service we’ve had in big metropolitan cities in Mexico, like Guadalajara. The fresh bread and butter were both great. The habanero soup was great and my wife enjoyed her Caprese salad. I had the filet mignon, medium. It was a really good steak, probably the best I’ve had in Mexico. My wife loved her catch of the day and mashed potatoes. I started to feel bad after dinner, not from the food, but from too much sun over these first three days. The broken thermostat meant I was either too hot or too cold, which is very unpleasant when you have sun poisoning and dealing with chills and hot feeling skin. Day 4 I woke up drenched in sweat and not feeling well. I was dizzy and slightly nauseous (from sun) After breakfast, my wife went to the spa and I stayed in the room to rest a bit more. I kept hearing the music from the party downstairs by the pool, so I got up to check it out. They had a big Beetlejuice party that was fun to watch, despite not feeling well. That afternoon, decided to call AA to see if we could move the flight up a day to Friday from Saturday. Thankfully, they were able to get us a Friday flight and refund the difference with credits. Called our shuttle company and also changed our pickup for the next day instead of Saturday. For dinner, my wife wanted the soup she had from Siete and I was still not feeling like eating much. Well, due to the holiday, Siete was closed for a big outdoor show / Buffett dinner party and it was already close to 7pm, so we had waits at all the restaurants. I went to the room and ordered room service while my wife tried to get into a restaurant, but was unable to, so she also ordered room service with me. The tortilla soup was decent, but was lukewarm. Day 5 Went to Siete for breakfast before checking out early. Had good coconut oatmeal again, very good, and fresh pastries, also good. Wife had an omelet again (no salt or pepper) for obvious reasons. We then got ready to check out. Went downstairs to the reception desk and told them we were checking out. They confirmed if everything was okay since they noticed it was early. We said yes, but I wasn’t feeling very well. Summary Pros- -Location /distance to airport. -Beach was clean. -Service from housekeeping and most of the employees was good. -Good breakfast and lunch at Azur. -Decent food at Varenna -Decent food at Siete but see below. -Room was cleaned daily Cons -Resort is very old and showing its age. Several maintenance issues spotted. Stucco is old and swelling and peeling on the outside. -Breakfast at Siete, was decent, but be cautious and watch them make your food. -The scent hits you in the face, some might find that a pro, but I feel it was just to mask musty or moldy smells. -Pest control issues. Should not have seen a single roach, alive or dead, for this price and class. -Weak mixed drinks, no top shelf liquor. No Titos, no Grey Goose, no good Champagne (Unless you pay crazy secret menu prices, which I found after asking around at the bar). -Poor communication about dinner / reservations, which you can’t even make without a butler. -Siete cleanliness issues, not washing hands after handling money by people coming in direct contact with food. -Poor poolside lunch (other than guacamole) food was bland and too small to be considered a meal.

The food at Live Aqua is the best of any Cancun resort we’ve been to! The staff is friendly and helpful. Special shout-out to Miguel, who we met by the pool for drink service, he was amazing!! All of the activities and night time entertainment was great as well! By far our favorite resort!

This is our 8th time at Live Aqua and won't be our last. The hotel is kept in prestige conditions. But the main reason we keep going back is the amazing staff, as soon as we arrive we're treated like family truly feels like we're arriving home. This trip was extra spacial, I was part of planning my sister's engagement. However, I couldn't have done anything with out the assistance of some members. Specially Jonathan ABY assistant who was in touch with me even before i arrived !!! But also the following members were very very helpful, from the setup, to the room decoration and the actual proposal, Crescencio, Eli and Tonatiu. All kept in touch trough the stay making sure everything went as planned. I also want to mention Monica, Damian, Chava, Manuel, Ashley, the team at Azur and the entire team at the towels stand. Overall the treatment was the same as it was from our first trip to our last. Thanks to all we've become Aqua Lovers, can't wait to go back !!!

What a GREAT trip!!! Spent a week at this resort, accommodations were amazing. We are big fans of the convenience of a buffet and were disappointed they didn’t have one for lunch or dinner; that being said, there are plenty of food selections. The service is OUTSTANDING!!! I have seen other reviews stating that Russell is the best, I totally agree with that!!! We met Russell our first day there at Azur and although, we did dine at Azur again, Russell made it a point to speak to us whenever he saw us. Genuine guy! Also, Gerardo at Siete. Gerardo made you feel like you were the only people in the restaurant and gave his undivided attention. Thanks to all the servers, maids, and bartenders I know y’all don’t get the recognition you deserve, but you truly MAKE resort!!!

Great resort, clean, great food, beautiful beach. We got great service from everyone & loved the vibe of the resort. I would highly recommend this place. Pros - View from the roof was amazing - Nice huge balcony - Clean rooms Cons - Food in the restaurant by the beach could be a bit better for breakfast & lunch - The jacuzzi was not warm enough & was not cleaned well either