Traveling to Cancun, Mexico during Covid
Share this article with your friends and family if you are wondering where you can go for a safe and relaxed vacation. We live in NYC and have some very cautious months since March to avoid any occasions that will require us leaving the house. However, I was having some serious wanderlust now that the whole summer is seemingly coming to an end. Having toyed with the idea of going for a domestic vacation or somewhere nearby, I finally decided on Mexico as the destination and looked at the tickets from NYC. It took me another week to convince my busy and risk adverse boyfriend and I was ecstatic knowing that we are now really going!
Since being a travel advisor, I was made aware all the rigorous protocols reopened properties in Mexico had to implement to be able to operate safely for guests and staff. New protocols include a maximum of 30% occupancy, modified buffet or no buffet at all, sealed off common touch items like remotes and so on. I was curious to discover this new way of travel firsthand to advise my clients better. While Los Cabos and Riviera Nayarit were all very attractive, I opted for Cancun given is ease of access from New York.
Our flight out from Newark was 6 in the morning so we overnighted at Marriott Newark International Airport just steps away from the airport for some extra snooze. Masks were observed by everyone at Marriott. Flight out on American Airline was almost full, AA is not one of the airlines that blocks middle seats, so it felt nerve-racking for us given that this is now the first time since March we have ever been so close with any strangers.
Don’t even try to rent a car in Cancun airport unless you are staying for a very long time, the hustle for extra insurance coverage is not worth it. I have multiple credit cards that comes with rental insurance including the Amex platinum and they would not accept it unless I provide a letter written to them by Amex plus a 16,000usd deposit. Yep, you heard that right. 16,000usd deposit for 6-day car rental. Although Amex platinum does not have a limit on the card, I did not want to continue wasting our precious vacation time and taxied to our first resort - Hilton Playa del Carmen.
The two resorts we selected were both adults-only all-inclusive properties given the ease of no kids and the all-inclusive nature would eliminate any need to adventure out of resorts for dining or entertainment. As always, the full resort tour and videos have been uploaded to my YouTube channel and you can watch them here for Hilton Playa del Carmen and here for Le Blanc Spa Resort Cancun to be transported to Cancun with us.
Upon arrival at Hilton Playa del Carmen, we were greeted and directed to have our temperatures taken, sanitize the bottom of our shoes and use the hand sanitizer while the bell staff sanitize our luggage’s. Check in took longer than I had hoped for, and our room was not ready since they have given us 3 categories of upgrades given my Hilton status. Given the new standards of cleaning, I was ok with waiting for our room longer while we enjoyed some much needed mojitos in the La Mejorada bar located in the lobby. We were guided to our room just before 3pm the official check in time. Poolside activities gets some guests in a wild mood to dance in the splash in the main pool. Everyone seem to be having a great time but we were very mindful of staying distant from others, so we spent more time in the smaller pool (only by comparison to the main pool, definitely not small by any means) closest to the ocean. Food here was pretty good in all outlets! Nightly entertainment at Hilton Playa del Carmen was very fun and enjoyable. We took a walk to the famous Quinta Avenida just 1 block away from Hilton and was quickly overwhelmed by how many people that are there, dining, drinking, chatting with vendors. We had our masks on but felt like people were walking too close for comfort, so we retreated back to Hilton. We appreciated the 24-hour room service and the 24-hour lounge which offered billiard. One of our favorite places at the resort is the aroma coffee shop! So cute and a great place to answer some emails while grabbing a coffee and some ice cream.
After 3 amazing nights at Hilton Playa del Carmen, we got our transfer and headed to the reputable Le Blanc Spa Resort, known for its opulent ambience and excellent service. I was greeted with thermal neck pillow at whiling sitting at reception to check in and received a flower as welcome. Our room was not ready again so we ate a delicious lunch at Blanc restaurant with the beautiful view of the infinity pool overlooking the ocean and enjoyed the pool and some drinks while waiting for our room. There was a mix up in bed type so our room was not ready until 4pm, one hour after the standard check-in time but the wait was worth it! We had a stunning ocean view, extremely comfy bed, some welcome macaroons and overall, we were just so happy to be there as this resort is absolutely stunning! The Le Blanc app is great and lets you order your 24-hour room service, butler service such as unpacking, prepare bubble bath and aromatherapy from your phone. The dining at Le Blanc is exquisite, some of the best I have ever experienced in any all-inclusive resorts. The restaurants would stand on their own well! Our favorite was Yama the Japanese restaurant! Le Blanc is the place to see and be seen so prepared to dress up to the nine. It was a welcomed change after so many months of lounging in pajamas. We loved Le Blanc so much and it was very hard for us to leave after 3 nights here.
Overall, we are so grateful that we had the week of relaxation on the stunning beaches in Cancun and Playa del Carmen. We felt safe on resort grounds but a little nervous when walking outside. Our flight back was with Delta, all middle seats were blocked and the little extra space between passengers were very pleasant to see and in some ways instills our brand loyalty more.
Are you ready to travel yet or still waiting?