In December of 2021, my husband and I stayed at the newly built Hotel Xcaret Arte. It’s an adults only, all-inclusive resort, part of the Xcaret properties. While they do still have some beginning kinks to get out, we recommend this resort to others.
Upon booking, the Xcaret resorts were referred to us as “Disney for Adults,” and I must say, this is the perfect description for it. If you’re looking to relax and recharge, sure, you can do it here, but you wouldn’t be grasping the full benefits of such a fun place. Take advantage of visiting all the properties offered and engage in the included excursions. No need to pay for extras as it’s all here!
The Property Pay attention and enjoy the sites. The resort is HUGE and beautiful to put it simply. We got lost a few times, but by our 3rd day, we were finally getting adjusted to finding our way around. It has lush gardens, scenic views and an all-around spa-like feel. The lighted pyramid was beautiful at night, and our room had the perfect view of it.
The pools and pool bars are GREAT! They serve top shelf liquor and local beer, which is a nice change from some tropical resorts. All the bartenders were friendly and made some of the tastiest margaritas we’ve had in a while. We spent plenty of our time in the pools when not exploring and doing activities.
If you’re a food lover, you’ll love this place. With cuisines from all over the world, it is definitely a foodie paradise. I’m a little more on the pickier eating side, but there was always something for me to eat at each place. Outside the pool and bar areas, they’d even have little food stands serving fresh food like hot dogs, authentic tacos, and Mexican Bloody Marys. Can’t beat that! One thing to note though is make reservations at all the nice restaurants before even arriving. We didn’t know this since it was such a new resort and missed dining at a couple of the higher ranked spots.
At night, the place to be is definitely the Speak Easy. You can enjoy mellow Jazz music with amazing cocktails until about 11pm, and after 11pm, it turns into a fun nightclub atmosphere with a DJ. There is a Cantina on property too that plays live music at night where couples can enjoy socializing and dancing.
For adventurous activities on the property, engage in kayaking and paddle boarding through the rivers and caves. No experience was needed, and they supplied life jackets for safety. We enjoyed this a lot. These activities are all included at no additional cost!
We also swam in the rivers to wild flamingos that live on the property. Be ready though....the water is a bit chilly at first. Well worth the swim though!
One of the things that’s unique and great about the property is the appreciation of the environment. Everything is very natural as far as the rivers, beach and other scenery, so you truly feel like you’re in the tropics and not a man-made resort. Kudo points to that!
We were ready for more things to do mid-way through our trip, so we visited neighboring resort xPlor, and WOW! So so glad we did! Included in your stay at any Xcaret properties is entrance and activities at each of the 8 resorts. xPlor seemed like it offered the most to do and was an easy shuttle ride over. (Side note: Bring water shoes with you and wear clothes that can get wet. We didn’t know this, and we had to purchase some on site.) All of the activities involve water in some kind of way.
At xPlor, the fun is endless! We rode buggies through the forest with a little mud riding included. There are two trails for that “ride” so we took it twice. Well worth going twice! We also swam through a freezing cave for about 45 minutes to get to some great water slides. Other activities included the best ziplines either of us have been on, paddling through caves and a yummy buffet food service.
Highly recommend visiting xPlor during your stay. We did prefer staying at Arte though because it was adults only, and that’s the kind of vacation we were looking for.
For us, this trip was well worth it, and we do plan to return either to Xcaret Arte or another Xcaret property. The options are pretty endless, so we’re excited to see what other activities we could do. If only we had more days to check out the other resorts, we would have.
Here, we were able to enjoy paradise, relax with one another and engage of some of the most adventurous fun we’ve had in a long time! Guest Blog Writer: Channing Candies (Channing & Seth Candies pictured)