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Grand Luxxe Riviera Maya pool for owners only

lauramiddl

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We exchanged into Grand Luxxe Jungle and can’t use the pool or eat st the restaurant. I don’t know if we can sit in the beach chairs or not. We walked around that area on Saturday morning and no both mentioned anything.

Is this his new? Security guests said it started this week but pool concierge said it’s always been that way. In all my research for this trip, I never came across that restriction for exchangers. It’d be one thing if the lazy river was done but right now it means no pool/casual restaurant at our “level” which I find disappointing. Also, no direct shuttle to a pool we could use. You can request a drop off at Mayan Palace pool though.

Have also noticed a lot of areas on beach or at “The Beach Club” restricted to Grand Luxxe Platinum members.
 

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Interesting; we exchanged in last month and had no problem using the Beach Club. Didn’t try the Grand Luxxe pool, though. There were a lot of spots set aside for platinum owners, particularly by the pools in the Beach Club, but we used the pools, too. Mostly relaxed in a beach palapa, though. Will be back down in April; is this at the Beach Club area, or where? Any other details on the restrictions?
 

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was that way last year when we exchanged into MP. We were told however never tried to use pool. just used the other HUGE ones. :) get there early and one gets a seat. Arrive after 10 and your SOL.
 

Eric B

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Vidanta does key access to pools to the wristband you get when you check in, so I’m not surprised that you couldn’t use the GL pool during an exchange into MP. I’m surprised about the limitation of one of the GL pools to owners vice people with exchanges into GL. I know they do give different colored doohickeys (pretty sure that’s what the key things are called) on the wristbands for stays that are exchanges vice paid usage fees, but hadn’t heard of any other actually different treatment. (I’m acknowledging the different golf/spa benefits, but that’s more of on accounting item for the charges rather than an access item.). The only one that I knew was different was the platinum wristbands. I’m still not positive what pool or restaurant OP couldn’t use.
 

whitewater

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Vidanta does key access to pools to the wristband you get when you check in, so I’m not surprised that you couldn’t use the GL pool during an exchange into MP. I’m surprised about the limitation of one of the GL pools to owners vice people with exchanges into GL. I know they do give different colored doohickeys (pretty sure that’s what the key things are called) on the wristbands for stays that are exchanges vice paid usage fees, but hadn’t heard of any other actually different treatment. (I’m acknowledging the different golf/spa benefits, but that’s more of on accounting item for the charges rather than an access item.). The only one that I knew was different was the platinum wristbands. I’m still not positive what pool or restaurant OP couldn’t use.
it was via colored bands. they had black (i think) and ours were multi-colored.

Guessing it was enforced by staff as there were no gates I saw. we walked through a couple of times.

all dining was included to my recollection.
 

bizaro86

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Interesting. We exchanged into the GL Riviera Maya last fall and had no issues. There were lots of platinum members only chairs in the beach and at the beach club, never saw anyone using them.

We mostly used the Grand Luxxe pool.
 

Eric B

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When I was in Riviera Maya, I saw that the Grand Luxxe Platinum folks had all black bands, Grand Luxxe owners had black & multicolored bands with brown doohickeys, GL exchanges had the same bands with turquoise doohickeys, and I believe GM had green bands & MP had yellow bands, but I’m not completely sure of the entire spectrum and what it indicates to the staff. GL Platinum folks got into the Beach Club 30 minutes early and had specific areas reserved for their use, and GL & GB were allowed in when it regularly opened at 10. The restaurant Chiringuito was inside and I don’t believe GM & below could get there.

The only other restaurant restriction I noted was that there was a sign at Quinto saying only GL guests could have breakfast there.

The staff did say they were working on another area of the beach past the Beach Club around Salum that was going to be GL only. No one said any of it would be limited to owners using their membership rather than exchangers that I can recall.

That being said, my interpretation of the recent changes to the fees and stay limitations for Vidanta in RCI would be that there may be a shifting in the power balance between the sales and the hotel side of the house. They’ve raised the resort fees charged to RCI exchangers to a level that gets closer to a Vidanta usage fee for an owner and lifted the stat limitations from the once per year high season and twice per year to being limited only by how many exchanges you can do or extra vacations you want to buy. That strikes me as changing the profit center to be more on the hotel than the sales side.

I can guess that there may be some desire to have some benefit for owners as compared to exchangers to counterbalance that; otherwise they can pretty much kiss their sales goodbye. I’m just wondering if they did institute an owners access only thing. Last time I stayed there was on an RCI exchange into GM; they recognized me as a GL owner and upgraded me to a Jungle Luxxe, which I quite appreciated. On the other hand, I’ve seen the recent posts from long-time GL owners re: poor room assignment for not doing a sales pitch. Leaves me trying to figure out how best to optimize a stay there.
 

lauramiddl

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I’m staying at the Grand Luxxe. I’m not st Mayan Palacd. We are able to use “The Beach Club” which is open to Grand Bliss and Grand Luxxe only, the Grand Mayan’s three pools, and the main Mayan palace pool.

This is a new policy. I don’t mind their having an “owners” pool but the don’t have another pool at that hotel level for guests. They will open an lazy river in a few months. Construction is ongoing and it will be quite special. I’ll write more upon my return but I must get back to my guacamole and margarita right now. Eating off the compound tonight on Quinta
 

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Am I understanding correctly? If we exchange into Grand Luxxe LXR, we can no longer use the Grand Luxxe pool or eat at Custom Burger? We are going in mid March.
 

Eric B

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It’s not really clear from the original post which pool/restaurant is owners only. Can OP clarify this?
 

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“Grand Luxxe pool=owners only”is what staff says. “Only owners in the Grand Luxxe pool,” staff elaborates. If you are exchanging into Grand Luxxe Jungle (II code LXJ) you get a bracelet that does not let you into the Grand Luxxe pool or the attached Burger restaurant. I was told, again by staff, that GRand Luxxe Jungle exchangers can use the beach chairs between the GL pool and the ocean. I don’t know what happens if you need to use the bathroom, get a towel, or want some food or drink (which would come from the restaurant that you or not allowed at.) Also, don’t be confused by the fact that when you check in you are given a form letter that is signed by The Senora Suarez that welcomes you to use the grand Luxxe pool and the Grand Luxxe burger restaurant because that’s not true. You can’t.

I was told this policy toward exchangers started this week. I was told this policy started this month. I was told this policy started January 1. I was also told that Vidanta constantly changes their policies, and that’s just life.

To add more confusion: I have no idea what kind of bracelet you get if you’re exchanging into the Grand Luxxe Residence (a different II code). Maybe you get to use the pool. Maybe not.

Regarding owners rights. I saw an “owner” staying at the Grand Luxxe Jungle get to switch his bracelet to one that would allow him Grand Luxxe pool access. It was because of the “type” of reservation he had. I have no idea what any of that means, or what type of “owner” he is. In other words, an “owner” didn’t even get to use the pool, but then got to use the pool. Probably this confusion happens a lot, so owners should get clarification when checking in.

FYI, there is also another superior owner level. It’s called Platnuim. These guys get special tables at restaurants, special seats at pools and beaches, early entry into “The Beach Club” and other priorities that I’m sure are very nice and worth every cent paid for them. Sometimes, you enter a restaurant later at night, and a hostess will need to remove the platinum placard from the table, and then let a lower class of person, maybe just a mere exchanger into the Grand Luxxe Jungle, use the table. Just saying.

I hope this clarifies the situation that is in place as of today but may be different tomorrow.
 

Eric B

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Thanks! Clears it up for me.
 

bizaro86

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That's interesting thanks @lauramiddl

When we went in the fall, there was a sign that said Grand Luxxe Residence only at the Grand Luxxe Pool/Burger custom made entrance. We were exchangers into a 4 bedroom GL residence, so I didn't question it.

I wonder if they are making a distinction between Grand Luxxe Jungle and Grand Luxxe Residences, moreso than between owners and exchangers...
 

Eric B

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Regarding owners rights. I saw an “owner” staying at the Grand Luxxe Jungle get to switch his bracelet to one that would allow him Grand Luxxe pool access. It was because of the “type” of reservation he had. I have no idea what any of that means, or what type of “owner” he is. In other words, an “owner” didn’t even get to use the pool, but then got to use the pool. Probably this confusion happens a lot, so owners should get clarification when checking in.

Vidanta gives owners a benefit called "privilege weeks" that allow them to book extra weeks back at a Vidanta resort or elsewhere through SFX. Since it's through an exchange company rather than directly booked with Vidanta, it would probably show up as being an exchange, but the "owners" would have been exercising one of the rights to use that Vidanta sold them, so it makes sense to me that they should be able to use a facility otherwise restricted to "owners." ("Members" would probably be a better term, but that's not what they call it.) I'm not sure if they have a method in place to indicate whether an "owner" booking through SFX did so using a privilege week or exchanged a different TS, though.

I'm fairly new to Vidanta and still figuring out how things work, understanding that they do change things, too. It does seem somewhat rational to have some benefits for "owners," though; otherwise there would be no reason they could use to persuade people to buy. The use of that one pool and restaurant seems a bit of a weak incentive to me; I don't go to Mexico to eat burgers after all. I wonder what the restrictions on the Lazy River will be.

When we went in the fall, there was a sign that said Grand Luxxe Residence only at the Grand Luxxe Pool/Burger custom made entrance. We were exchangers into a 4 bedroom GL residence, so I didn't question it.

I wonder if they are making a distinction between Grand Luxxe Jungle and Grand Luxxe Residences, more so than between owners and exchangers...

Actually, "Grand Luxxe Residence Club" is the name for the Grand Luxxe on the Vidanta website and on the contracts for all of the Grand Luxxe levels. The name they use for the lofts (except for the studio ones) and the 4 bedroom suites is "The Residence at Grand Luxxe." They do make some distinctions, or so we were told, for the level of service to people staying in the Residence (e.g., summoning a personal cart for transportation), and the platinum level comes with the 3 BR lofts and 4 BR suites and can be purchased with the 2 BR lofts. I haven't actually verified any of that, though, but did observe the perks the platinum level gets at the Beach Club in Riviera Maya.
 

pittle

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In Nuevo, the bracelets are the multi-colored ribbon ones. The "doohickey" slides with the electronic key opener are various colors. At the GM, the exchange ones were red and the owner ones were yellow. (We had red ones when we checked in but got yellow ones when thy moved us to another unit.) Grand Bliss ones had 2 colors also. There are different color ones for GL exchangers, regular owners and platinum owners. There may be a color for the gold level owners too. I think the black ones were on a lot of the wrist bands in NV this past November.. When we went to NV GL in 2014, the bands were plastic and were bands were silver or black (Punta & Building 1 had these). The exchange ones were burgundy.

The staff can easily tell your "status" by the color of that doohickey or band.
 

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Can somebody please clarify.... I just traded my Marriott via Interval to Grand Luxxe Rivera Maya (Code LXR) for a Grand Luxxe One Bedroom Suite (not a jungle suite). Are you saying that if I am not a Vidanta Grand Luxxe owner yet traded into the Grand Luxxe property (again interval code LXR) which is different than Grand Luxxe Jungle, Grand Bliss, Grand Mayan, The Bliss, Mayan Palace etc. I will **NOT** be able to use the GRAND LUXXE pool and beach and related facilities?
 

PamMo

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This thread is very interesting. I have two Interval exchanges booked into Grand Luxxe 4BR's this year (one in NV, one in RM). We enjoyed sublime service and amenities two years ago in a gorgeous 3BR spa unit in the Nuevo Vallarta Grand Luxxe, so we were excited about bringing our kids and grands together for some family time, and splurging on a sisters' getaway. The "new" $11/pp daily resort fee was disappointing to read about, but I'll be very sad if we won't have full access to the GL amenities we enjoyed before. My sister and her husband could barely tear themselves away from the GL pool last time!
 

Eric B

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Can somebody please clarify.... I just traded my Marriott via Interval to Grand Luxxe Rivera Maya (Code LXR) for a Grand Luxxe One Bedroom Suite (not a jungle suite). Are you saying that if I am not a Vidanta Grand Luxxe owner yet traded into the Grand Luxxe property (again interval code LXR) which is different than Grand Luxxe Jungle, Grand Bliss, Grand Mayan, The Bliss, Mayan Palace etc. I will **NOT** be able to use the GRAND LUXXE pool and beach and related facilities?

So far the only facility mentioned has been the Grand Luxxe pool by Custom Burger & the restaurant itself in Riviera Maya. I had heard you have to be staying in GL NV building 5 to use the rooftop pool there, but hadn’t seen any other restrictions. In Riviera Maya, I thought the Beach Club was nicer anyway and didn’t even try to use the pool, but did see the sign.
 

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This sounds like a great company, and a resort I would feel relaxed and welcome at, that I'll visit soon. :wall:
 

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We stayed at Grand Mayan RM in September 2017 but got GL bracelet (presentation bribes). We were allowed to hang out at The Beach Club. Some palapas are reserved for GL Platinum members, but we are allowed to use them - maybe because not many people was using the facility at low season (September).

The area on the lower deck of The Beach Club (near the bar) are reserved for guests who spend at least $250 for food and massage. The signs are clear.

They are building Salum and expanding The Beach Club. Certain area will be exclusive for Platinum members. We're told at the presentation that the company is selling exclusivity and status to members.
 

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Revisiting this, I just read a review on TripAdvisor with the heading “Be Aware if Trading in from Interval International” stating that when these individuals arrived at the Rivera Maya Grand Luxxe they were informed that they could not use the Grand Luxxe private pool, beach club or burger restaurant as they were for “members only” and had to use the pool area of the Grand Mayan.

Can somebody please clarify this? We are about to book plane tickets and if this is in fact the issue, I will likely cancel the trip. We chose Grand Luxxe (LXR) through Interval for the luxury aspect of the facility. If access to these areas is not go8 g to be made available even though we are staying in the Grand Luxxe proper (not even jungle) we could have chosen any other resort.
 

dioxide45

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I think the restriction isn't because you are exchangers, it is because of the section you are stating at. Refer to this thread.

These are the pools that are identified on the property map.
  1. The Grand Luxxe Pool
  2. The Beach Club
  3. Mayan Palace Pool
  4. The Grand Mayan Pool

Access is as follows;
Grand Luxxe Riviera Maya - 1, 2, 3, 4
The Grand Bliss Riviera Maya - 2, 3, 4
The Grand Mayan - 3, 4
The Bliss Riviera Maya - 3
Mayan Palace - 3

I don't really know where Jungle (I thought there was only a Grand Mayan Jungle?) falls in to the above. I think it is just considered Mayan Palace. Thus you only have access to The Grand Mayan Pool. Or are you saying you are staying in Grand Luxxe and can't use that pool or the Beach Club?
 
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I just emailed the Concierge and will advise when I get a response. We are heading there in 2 weeks with an exchange into LXR. I am guessing they are having an overcrowding problem in season now that all four Grand Luxxe buildings are complete and they added the Jungle Luxxe units and Owners who spent many thousands are getting upset. The Grand Luxxe pool probably just isn't big enough for all those people. The Mayan Pool is spectacular. You can reserve a Palapa there and really enjoy a wonderful day. We were there when the Beach Club was under construction and we preferred the Mayan pool over the Grand Luxxe. That said we are really looking forward to using the Beach Club and will be disappointed if we don't have access to that and Custom Burger :(
 

Eric B

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I don't really know where Jungle (I thought there was only a Grand Mayan Jungle?) falls in to the above. I think it is just considered Mayan Palace. Thus you only have access to The Grand Mayan Pool. Or are you saying you are staying in Grand Luxxe and can't use that pool or the Beach Club?

Jungle Luxxe is part of Grand Luxxe and gets access to the Beach Club. We’re GL owners, but had exchanged in there in January, but didn’t try to go to the GL pool, so can’t speak to what the restrictions really are. Thought the Beach Club was nicer anyway.
 
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