Onsite Review: Hyatt Ziva Cancun

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The Tres CerveZa’s microbrewery.
The Tres CerveZa’s microbrewery.

In the rapidly expanding world of all-inclusive resorts Hyatt Ziva Cancun is finding new ways to up the all-inclusive ante.

Hyatt Ziva Cancun, the newest edition to Playa Hotels & Resorts’ collection of all-inclusive beach resorts, is making waves on Mexico’s Yucatan coast in Cancun with its bevy of mouth-watering food and beverage venues, myriad activities (of the kid-friendly and adults-only variety), and unique experiences your clients won’t find at other Hyatt all-inclusive properties.

All For Fun, and Fun For All
“The evolution of the all-inclusive is the fact that we recognize that everybody vacations slightly different, and we try to create the environment that allows them to experience it the way that they want to experience it,” said Kevin Froemming, executive v.p. & CMO for Playa Resorts Management, during a roundtable discussion at Hyatt Ziva Cancun. For Gen-Zers ages 4 to 12 there’s the KidZ Club with a kids pool and water play area, a kidZ tree house, and an arcade with video games. Couples and groups traveling without children, meanwhile, will delight in the resort’s adults-only tower with its 695-sq.-ft. guestrooms, adults-only French restaurant Bastille, and adults-only glass bottom pool, which guests can catch a peek of from the lobby—so tell clients to pack those swimsuits, and their sense of adventure, because Hyatt Ziva Cancun features a whole lot of must-do’s.

Something for Every Taste Bud
Even the pickiest of eaters could easily find a restaurant or two between Hyatt Ziva Cancun’s 16 food and beverage options, to their liking. I would venture to say that I made more trips to the onsite dessert parlor, Pasteles, than I’d like to divulge during my recent stay for the resort’s Jan. 12 grand opening. The Willy Wonka-esque joy factory with its moist brownies, tasty mini tarts, red velvet cupcakes, and fluffy marshmallows ripe for the dipping in the shop’s three chocolate fountains, was situated between my Ocean Front Master King suite in the adults-only tower and the lobby—I never stood a chance.

Dining at Hyatt Ziva Cancun truly was as much about the food as it was about the experience. I savored fresh octopus ceviche beachside at Habaneros restaurant; pizza made in the Italian ristorante Lorenzo’s wood-fire oven; and a perfectly cooked salmon burger with goat cheese accompanied by a chocolate milkshake inside a bright teal cut-out ’57 Chevy at the classic American diner, Chevy’s.

“People have come to expect the unexpected,” says Froemming. “It’s not what’s in the brochure as much as what you can deliver over and above it.” Delivering on this notion, Hyatt Ziva Cancun is the only property in Cancun to house its own microbrewery, Tres CerveZa’s. Each month, the bar’s brewmaster creates a trio of homemade artisan beers that are distilled in-house and sold exclusively at the sports bar.

Don’t Be Afraid to Try Something New
Perhaps, most importantly, your clients should come ready to experience something new, whether it’s kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding on the ocean, taking a bicycle tour around town, or indulging in an indigenous treatment at the eco-holistic, Mayan-inspired Zen Spa, featuring 13 treatment rooms and six beachside palapas. “This is a brand that is not sold on price, it’s a brand that is sold on quality,” noted Froemming, who, in a past interview with Recommend, hailed travel agents as “the single most important distribution point for all-inclusives.”

To further the company’s relationship with agents, Playa Resorts Management has launched a new Commission Booster program that allows the company’s travel partners to earn an additional $50-$200 depending on the room category and type of booking. The resort features 547 luxury suites in a range of categories—Standard, View, Club, Swim Up and Suites—but speaking from personal experience, I highly recommend the Ocean Front Master King for guests without children, for its spacious bathroom and shower, breathtaking views of the surrounding turquoise water, and most of all the jacuzzi on the balcony. Playa Hotels & Resorts is also planning to re-release its travel agent portal this month to include a private photo gallery with high-resolution images, PDFs that can be customized and sent out to clients, and sections on the latest incentives, as well as information on training seminars and
FAM trips. Standard room rates for April start at $440 per night.

Contact Information
Hyatt Ziva Cancun: cancun.ziva.hyatt.com
Playa Hotels & Resorts: playaresorts.com; agents.playaresorts.com