Family Vacation 2021 {Playa Del Carmen}

We just returned from a family vacation at The Fives Beach Hotel & Residence. We stayed July 12 through July 19, 2021. The number one reason I chose this resort, for my family was because of the multi bedroom apartments that they offer. I also loved the wildlife and the authentic Mexico vibe. The dozen of monkeys just running around the resort and in the trees surrounding our building was like nothing we have ever experienced before and I loved that they left an entire Mayan jungle right in the middle of the resort to wander through and to keep all the monkeys happy.

These photos were captured from the balcony in our room. Most days they all came to visit around 5pm and liked to climb and sit on the hand rails and in the trees within arms reach. These were all taken with my 50mm, not a zoom lens at all. So when I say the monkeys were an experience that we loved, I am talking about an up-close experience.

My little girls loved them but were also a bit nervous of how brave the monkeys were about trying to come in our apartment. We had some close calls so just be careful about leaving your door open at all. We were in Building 16 and our room number was 1614. On a side note, it is more effective to hang clothes to dry inside than outside. There was so much shade and of course the humidity.

The outside view of Building 16. Just a few things to be aware of if you are choosing a swim-up suite for your own private pool and to be able to swim whenever you want to. My sister had a swim up room and the stairs for everyone else to enter the pool, where directly in front of her balcony. There wasn’t much separating the rooms balcony in the swim up areas, at one point someone swimming in her area was using her balcony outside outlet to charge their phone. The kids were all excited to night swim in the swim-up but we got kicked out promptly at 8:00 pm, because all the pools, even your own swim up cannot be used after 8:00 pm. They claim it is because they fill the pool with chemicals at 8pm but we did sneak in here and there and were fine.

The view of the resort looking towards it from the ocean. I have been to Mexico several times and this was my first experience with a roped off beach to keep the locals off. This is a beach where a lot of locals do come to swim and bring their own chairs and beach umbrellas, we did not mind this at all other than it was a bit more crowded on the sand and in the water. It was also my first experience with being asked 20 times a day if I wanted a massage, get my daughter’s hair braided, or to buy a hat. We ended up with three hats, a great massage, and getting lots of hair braided so I would say we didn’t mind them trying to sell to us and getting to know the locals too much at all. I would take that any day over the resort it’s self trying to get me to attend a time share and with a group on 10 people, none of us were approached in that way at all.

Summer just isn’t a good time for seaweed and it was an issue here in July. Some resorts have netting but this resort does not. They have placed big sand bags to break the waves so the water is calmer and safe but I think it also blocks the seaweed residue and keeps it from washing back into the ocean so your left with a lot of brown broken up seaweed that leaves the water pretty brown, rocky, and gross. I did pray that there were would be some good water days so my kids could experience the crystal clear water I was accustomed to in Mexico and we did have one good day when the water cleared up a good bit and this is when I took these photos. The beach it’s self is big and the sand is so nice.

We ended up spending the most time swimming in the two beautiful infinity pools that overlook the beach, they definitely helped the fact that the water wasn’t swimmable most days.

One of my favorite things was the boardwalk through the jungle and this cute tree house building located at the adults only pool.

On Fridays the have a huge market where they have a ton of food stands and local vendors in the main area of the resort. It was super crowded ad difficult to maneuver so we didn’t stay long. Masks are required to be served at any food stands around the resort, beside the pool, the two breakfast buffets, and one diner buffet that they offer. They will not serve you if you use your shirt to cover your face or forgot your mask so make sure you keep one on you at all times.

Let’s talk more about food. The day we arrived we had expected that we may have to eat at Flavors, the dinner buffet that they offer. We did still try and get reservations but we were told right away, by the concierge outside our building, that no reservations were available at any time of the night no matter if we split up or not for the next few days and they were only willing to go out three days at a time. So we were stuck trying to eat at the buffet for the first few nights. Flavors, their one buffet was also difficult to get into and a long line to be seated. There were times we had asked to just take a plate and eat outside but they would not let us. Between the long wait to be seated, and then the long wait in the lines to be served one at a time by the server, it was exhausting trying to navigate three children to get them something they were happy with. My feedback to them would be to offer a pasta station and fries every night. We didn’t find French fries there at all. We finally had enough of the buffet kaos and lack of options and made a really big stink and then reservations magically did start opening up. If they would have made it easier to get seated at the restaurants, from the start of our stay it would have made all the difference in our vacation being more enjoyable and less stressful from the begining.

Our favorite part of our vacation ended up being a little bit down the beach, off the resort, where they took you to get your hair braided and those massages I mentioned, they actually have a really nice set up and it wasn’t want I had imagined. There was two different beach bars and a place that served the best chips and guacamole, much better than the resorts. There were so many gorgeous Palm Trees down there and some hammocks right on the beach. Here are some photos.

One of the wedding ceremony options, I would love to photography a wedding here someday! There are so many gorgeous places around the resort for photos. I regret not making my kids do some photoshoots around the property.

Overall, I personal absolutely would go back to the Fives, now that I know the hidden rules and way around things. However, I would not take a bigger group here again or my picky eaters aka my kids.

Goodbye Mexico, see ya next time!