Travel Diary: Review of The Fives Oceanfront in Puerto Morelos, Mexico
It seems as though there's a broad consensus that January is considered the worst month of the year -- many people are returning to work and packing up their holiday decor, and the weather isn't always pleasant. That's one reason why I always try to plan something for January, to look forward to in the New Year (one of the best parts of having an NYE wedding is first having your honeymoon in January and then booking trips for your anniversaries!). This year, one of my college girlfriends scheduled her wedding for January in Mexico, so my husband and I decided to take the week off and fly down a few days before the wedding to make the most of it.
Like our first trip to Mexico in April 2021, we stayed at an all-inclusive resort at the Riviera Maya. However, unlike the Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya, which had sprawling grounds with multiple buildings, restaurants, and pools and which we only left the resort for an excursion, the Fives Oceanfront is in the fishing village Puerto Morelos, just a short walk from multiple restaurants. My friend purposely picked this hotel for her wedding block so that people had the option to either stay on the property and have all meals and drinks included or to have the ability to explore Mexico. My husband and I decided to pay for the all-inclusive package, since we anticipated spending most of our time at the resort.
The hotel is newer, so it was definitely beautiful, with many nice decor details. I personally never got tired of the food options or felt like there wasn't anything on the menu that I wanted. And because the hotel is in the midst of town, rather than closed off by itself, it definitely felt more authentic to a local experience (which was one of the reasons my friend chose it as her wedding hotel).
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tips and advice:
- If you book airport transportation through the Fives, be sure to confirm your expected landing time as well as pick-up time. We had a miscommunication and so they left before we picked up our checked luggage, so we had to wait for them to come back.
- At the time of our trip (January 2022), you needed a COVID test the day of or before your international flight back to the U.S. We were able to schedule a COVID test through the Fives, which was a seamless process, although we did have to pay $30 for each test (unlike at VIM, where they covered the cost — if we’d stayed one more night at the Fives, then they would have covered the cost). I had checked in advance what would happen if we tested positive and was told that we would stay in accommodations on site for free, though we would have to pay for food (and drink).
- I definitely used bug spray more at this resort in January than I did at VIM in April -- mosquitoes seem to love me, so the night that we walked into town for dinner, I got eaten alive. I learned my lesson and sprayed bug spray liberally after that!
- Bring money for tips, as cash is preferred.
- We felt pretty safe -- we saw federales walking the beach during the day and night, and the beach itself was very crowded with vacationers enjoying themselves. I'm not sure if we would have walked into town at night if it were just the two of us, but I'm glad we took the opportunity to do so when our friends arrived.
- The Fives offers 6 floors, with a rooftop bar and infinity pool; a spa; a gym on the mezzanine level; and a restaurant (Romarley Beach House), bar, and infinity pool on the ground level, with the ocean just steps away. A second restaurant is being built above the ground-level restaurant. As someone who still daydreams about the food at VIM (especially the French food), I was at first apprehensive about what felt like a lack of food options -- but I was so wrong! We ate at Romarley Beach House multiple times per day on multiple days, and everything was delicious. We ordered guacamole and ceviche every day, and the tempered salmon ceviche was one of the most delicious things I can remember eating -- I was so bummed it was only available with the dinner menu. Some of the other dishes I ordered were octopus and pasta, and all of our meals were good.
- I had been bummed we didn't do any ruins or cenotes on our previous trip, so we booked 2 excursions through the resort -- we both wanted to tour Chichén Itzá and a cenote, and my husband also wanted to scuba dive. We also later added on a snorkeling tour, since the reef is right in front of the hotel, and we were able to do so about 30 minutes before the snorkeling tour was set to begin. While there were several options for touring Chichén Itzá and a cenote, including splitting them into two half-day tours, we chose to do them in the same today to knock them out in one day, so we could make the most of our all-inclusive package and time at the resort. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and passionate, and the tour itself was a worthwhile and meaningful experience. We spent the nearly 3 hour bus ride to Chichén Itzá learning about the Mayans and their culture and had plenty of time at the ruins themselves, and the cenote was a unique experience. The tour also took us to a local restaurant for lunch, which was included in the price of our tour, as well as to a Mayan town to wander for a bit. I was very happy we did the full-day tour and think it was just the right amount of time at each stop.
itinerary:
- We arrived on Monday and left Sunday, so we were there a total of 6 nights.
- We spent Monday and Tuesday at the resort, just relaxing; toured Chichén Itzá and the cenote on Wednesday; spent the day Thursday at the resort and then walked into town to eat at Tanino's and get ice cream that night with friends who'd arrived; my husband scuba dived Friday before the rehearsal dinner at La Sirena and welcome party at the hotel's rooftop pool; and snorkeled on Saturday before the wedding, before heading to the Secret Jewel Celebrations Venue for the wedding itself.
photo diary:
where to eat and drink:
- Romarley Beach House
- Punta Corcho (check in advance if they have availability -- we tried to just walk in, but they didn't have seats)
- Tanino's
- La Sirena
- Taco dot com (some other wedding guests went and said it was good)
what to do:
- Tour Mayan ruins -- Chichén Itzá and Coba seem to be the two most highly rated. (At Chichén Itzá, I did see a sign saying that Coba was temporarily closed to visitors, so be sure to check in advance.)
- Swim in a cenote
- Snorkel
- Scuba dive
links I used or recommend:
Because the Fives Oceanfront is relatively new, I didn't find any existing travel diaries. Here's Travel Weekly, though!
Ultimately, we loved our week at the Fives. They were (understandably) still working out some kinks, but it was utterly beautiful, there were many excursion options, and all of the food was delicious. If you're looking to party, the VIM (or Cancun in general) may be more your vibe, but the Fives was the perfect experience for 2 people in their 30s who wanted a relaxing week eating good food and drinking in sunshine by water.
love from
I have been there. Nice to see a thorough truthful and accurate report on this property.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words!!
DeleteHopefully we both make it back to the resort before too long :)
Ken Center, not bashful.
ReplyDeleteThey are a 5 on their best days! Terrible in every possible way
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear you had a poor experience!
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