Valentin Imperial Maya in Riviera Maya

mariya2003

Has anyone been here before???  My fiance and I are will be traveling to the VIM next May for our honeymoon. We are thinking of creating a honeyfund registry which would include some "extras" available at the resort and excursions. Does anyone have any suggestions of what we could list on this registry? I know that we will be listing a couples massage, maybe a beachfront dinner... and as for excursions, it seems that a lot of them are all day trips, which is not what we would like.. we are more interested in 2-4 hour excursions. All suggestions are greatly appreciated!

jelenybeany

H and I spent seven nights in an emerald suite the second week of May. We loved it, especially our room.

I wouldn't bother with a HM registry. They're a waste of money for you and your guests. People will give cash at your wedding (that's all we got), and we didn't have a single person ask where we were registered. Obviously it varies social group to social group. You can then take that cash to book the things you want.

H and I did the Tulum/Playa del Carmen excursion offered by the resort. I wouldn't reccommend it. We were gone for 8 hours. We were miserable, and felt that Tulum was boring and not as nice as the pictures. Playa was just a bunch of people hawking their wares and offering us drugs.

We also did a 14 hour excursion that hit Chichen Itza, a cenote, Ek Balam, Valladolid, and an authentic Mayan lunch. I would reccommend that if you change your mind about excursion length.

What kind of excursion do you want?

If you have specific questions about the resort, feel free to PM me.

mariya2003

Thanks for the response! (I am from Maine too!). & thanks for your input on the HM registry. It sounds like a good idea at first, but then, obviously, I didnt really know what to put on it!  I have been to this part of Mexico before and seen Chichen Itza and I remember it being a long hot day. I also dont think the FI would want a 14 hour day trip. Do you know if they offered shorter trips? I was also thinking of zip lining and/or snorkeling.  I saw that the resort offers some free water activities, did you guys partake in any of those? (kayak, catamaran)

imimahoney

My dh and I stayed there during our hm and had a great time. Avoid the italian restaurant though- that place was terrible. 

We went snorkeling through an excursion and it was fun. We booked it with our travel rep at the restaurant. 

MoonlightSilver

We stayed at VIM in June for our honeymoon. We did the sea kayaking tour with the resort one morning. It was pretty fun to kayak out and see the beach from the ocean, but we didn't see any animals and didn't really go that far left or right. 

My favorite day was Xplor. You leave VIM around 7:30am but you leave Xplor at 5pm so you still have your evening free. They had ziplining, ATV driving, and underground river swimming and rafting. It was tons of fun. 

We also went to Xel-Ha, which has snorkling, tube riding, some small ziplines into the water, 13' cliff jumping, and a place to swim in a cenote. If you want to relax and don't mind doing it away from the resort, this might be a good idea- you could snorkle for a few hours, then sit in a hammock or beach chair and relax some (all inclusive food and drinks too). 

We only talked to one of 4-5 travel agents, so I'm not sure what the other companies offered, but all the trips we took were "all day" (7:30-5pm or later) trips. 

We emailed Jessica (reservas.vim@valentinmaya.com)  a few weeks before our trip and told her it was our honeymoon. I'm  not sure if they do it for everyone, but we got some credits towards the extra things you mentioned (massages, beachfront dinner, etc). For this reason, I'd say not to have a honeymoon registry because you might be able to get things at a cheaper price! 

Good luck!

jelenybeany

Yeah Chichen Itza was a super long hot day. I'm glad we did it, but I'd never go again. There are actually a ton of people in the front lobby that sell excursions. If you felt the urge to go on one, you can book them right there.


See, take other people's advice with a grain of salt concerning the food. Everyone raved about the french and H and I hated it. It was a nice set up, but we thought the food was awful. We weren't crazy about the apps at the Italian, but loved our entrees. If you have the time, try all the restaurants.

We took the hobie cats out one day, and that was a lot of fun. The guys who take you out expect a tip though. We gave our guide $5 and he was happy with that.

The grounds were great. I would really recommend if you're into relaxing going and hanging by the Golden pool. It was much nicer than the big pool. So quiet and empty. And if you're looking to just lay on the beach, there are palapas behind the emerald rooms that hardly anyone sits at. It was usually just H and I and what felt like a private bartender. The main beach was super crowded all the time. We just walked down there when we wanted a quick swim as the water is rocky in front of the emeralds. Anything else?

ashley2516

My bf and I vacationed there several years ago and overall, really liked it. The building we stayed in was close to the beach. I'd definitely recommend trying to request a building near the beach if you're planning on spending a lot of time there bc they have these big umbrella cabana things with 2 chairs under them that are super nice to have. They get taken up pretty early in the day though, but since our building was so close, I'd wake up early, reserve a couple chairs under one with our towels, then go have breakfast and get ready for the beach. We went to Xel Ha and absolutely loved it. We swam with dolphins there, and my bf did snuba (I had problems breathing through the regulator and couldn't do it). The snorkeling was awesome too. It's one of the few places where a body of salt water meets a body of fresh water, so there is marine life that you find in each water all in one place. Oh, just thought of this too. If you're looking for transportation to the resort from the airport, I'd recommend cancun shuttle. I think it was about $90 for the 2 of s, but it was a private taxi that takes you directly to your resort. I doesn't stop at 10 other resorts first like a lot of the other shuttles down there, and I think it was only about $10 more.

mariya2003

Thank you everyone for the suggestions!!

kaityb123

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_valentin-imperial-maya-in-riviera-maya?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:b3b06697-f0ec-4090-9fc5-2b76f165b101Post:c6248ebd-1e35-40d1-b322-e1fc12c852e2">Valentin Imperial Maya in Riviera Maya</a>:
[QUOTE]Has anyone been here before???  My fiance and I are will be traveling to the VIM next May for our honeymoon. We are thinking of creating a honeyfund registry which would include some "extras" available at the resort and excursions. Does anyone have any suggestions of what we could list on this registry? I know that we will be listing a couples massage, maybe a beachfront dinner... and as for excursions, it seems that a lot of them are all day trips, which is not what we would like.. we are more interested in 2-4 hour excursions. All suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Posted by mariya2003[/QUOTE]

FI and I went there this past May for a regular vacation and it was super fun! In fact, that's where he proposed :) We had one of the swim up rooms and it was really nice to be so close to a pool. There are a ton of things to do during the day if you're into that kind of stuff - we were more of the lay on the beach with cocktails kind of people :) The service is fantastic and the food is great also...plan to gain like 5lbs. Bring lots of sunblock and a big floppy hat and have fun!

Overally the only detractions it had were that there were people everywhere all the time - if you're looking for a really secluded resort I would look elsewhere. Also their nighttime activities are a little cheesy and a couple we were with got sick eating at the lobster pot, but other than that i have no complaints!