Mexico is one country where luxury can be found on a budget; the downside is that what might look like a fabulous resort via the Internet can turn out to be a dump in real life.  I thought this was going to be the case when I booked a four-day all inclusive package trip for my husband and I to the Riviera Maya in Mexico, for only $700, including the flight. Our destination was the Occidental Grand Xcaret Resort…it looked fabulous, but at this price there was no way it could actually be as nice as the website portrayed.

Arriving in Cancun and seeing the rows of hotels piled on top of each other I was glad I made the decision to journey an hour south along the Mexican coastline…once in the taxi though I started to wonder if I had done the right thing.  The drive down to the Riviera Maya is sprinkled with dilapidated resort entrances that looked as though hurricane Wilma had just flown by a few days earlier; every once in a while there would be one that seemed okay to enter…I figured at the price I paid I would be entering one of the more rickety entrances.  But to my surprise our taxi turned the corner into a plush beautiful entrance that led to a gorgeous open-air lobby filled with singing parrots and overlooking a coastline of jungle and sea.

We did the happy dance assuming we had won the lottery when we were led to our suite. The expansive room had a sitting area and a wrap around balcony right on the pool; we were able to enter the water straight from our room.  To boot, we were surprised by chocolate cover strawberries and champagne in our room and a gift certificate for two for a 30-minute massage.

The rest of the Resort was surprisingly just like the pictures, gorgeously set in an eco-preserve. The walk to the breakfast buffet was scenic, along the coast past Mayan ruins and wild iguanas passing left and right, as was the walk back through the jungle and seeing the monkey exhibit.

Another great feature of the resort is that it is located adjacent to the popular Xcaret ecological theme park…a sort of sea world meets raging water type park. All guests of the resort receive free day passes to the park and their evening “history of Mexico” show.

The astonishment ended when we sat down to our first meal and found that the food was “no bueno” and that the alcohol was watered down to the point that you wondered what was really in that tequila bottle they poured into the margaritas. Although it was midweek we were surprised by the fact that this huge resort (769 rooms to be exact) was inhabited solely by us and a few other couples…hence ending the mystery of why we got such a deal.

Bad food aside, we still feel we got an amazing deal staying at the Occidental Grand. www.occidentalhotels.com/grand/Xcaret.asp