Right before Christmas, we found ourselves in a bit of a first-world-problems pickle.
Part of the reason we’re able to travel so much is because we’re fiercely brand-loyal to two different companies: American Airlines and Marriott. We’ve been able to amass a huge amount of points with every stay, which lets us stay for free later on. Dale traveled so much for work in the last few years that he has the top status with both — Executive Platinum with American and Ambassador Elite with Marriott. It’s important to us to try to keep status where we can; in addition to getting upgraded almost everywhere we go, we also have a dedicated concierge who can help us with anything we need, often without a wait. So imagine our horror when we noticed we’d met the 100 nights requirement (yeah, I know, over 25% of the year in a hotel), but were $2,000 short on annual spend!
Now, to our credit, I think Marriott recently changed its spend requirements from $20K to $23K, but we didn’t catch it until it was almost too late. We needed to act quickly, but we wanted to be able to spend the least amount out of pocket while still keeping status. The problem was that, sure, we could spend the $2,000 on the hotel (which was still a gut punch to throw down all at once without any advance warning), but then there was airfare, food, entertainment, etc. We didn’t think we would be able to just spend the $2,000 we needed to spend.
Au contraire. We were wrong. Happily wrong!
Somehow, in our vast knowledge of the Marriott system, we failed to notice that Marriott operates some all-inclusive resorts. Not many, mind you, but a few. And between the four of us, we have over a half-million American miles (even Scout has gold status with American). We decided we would pick the resort based on which location used the least amount of miles. Marriott has all-inclusive resorts in Barbados, Antigua, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, the Dominican Republic — and they all looked nice! Ultimately, the flight using the least amount of miles (by a landslide) took us to Cancun, and we settled on Planet Hollywood.
To get here, we flew into Cancun International Airport (CUN) from my parents’ home airport in Fort Smith (FSM), with a connection through Dallas (DFW). We ended up using 22K miles + $100 apiece for the tickets. We ran into a wonky problem when we checked in, though. We booked Avett as a lap child (#freeuntilthree), but for international flights, everyone on the manifest needs an actual ticket, and to book that, we had to pay the taxes and fees for him. Then we found out the ticketing agent spelled his name wrong, so it wouldn’t match his passport, so we had to get that fixed. We assumed when we left Fort Smith it was taken care of, but we were mistaken.
|| pink weekender under $50 ||
We got pulled out of the boarding line in Dallas to chat about it a little more — Dale was thrilled 😂 once we got on, everything was fine. It was a full flight, so we were all a little squished (especially with a lap baby!), but we kicked back and relaxed with our Biscoff cookies and made it without any problems.
see: Tips for Flying with Toddlers and Babies
We booked it off the flight to make it through customs quickly, then found our transfer, and off we went!
Planet Hollywood, like many of the resorts in the Cancun area, was about 45 minutes from the airport. It’s an easy enough drive, just not anything spectacular. We hired a private transfer that was surprisingly inexpensive, and the guy was a shockingly safe driver.
Upon arrival, when you enter the lobby, they play one particular party song and everyone applauds you walking in like you’re a fancy cat. We had no idea what was going on, but it was definitely a fun start to the vacation. It ended up being one of Scout’s favorite things to do in the downtime — sit in the lobby with a pina colada (non-alcoholic, of course 🤪) and cheer for all the new people checking in. She’s such a great hype girl, and she wants everyone to feel special. I just love that about her.
After your pap walk 🙃 you’re offered a glass of champagne and taken to the front desk to check in. It definitely took a lot longer than anticipated to get through the check-in process, but we entertained ourselves looking at the movie memorabilia all over the lobby (the champagne also helped!). Everything sparkles and reflects at Planet Hollywood and Avett was mesmerized by it all.
The Rooms
Because of our status, we received a few upgrades (just not for the first night), so we ended up getting to see a few different rooms (you can see all of the available rooms here).
The first was a Swim Out Junior Suite. We loved this room because (obviously) it had a small swim out pool on on the patio. The private area had a sunbed, then two pool loungers sitting inside the pool on a little deck, then some steps down that took you into a little river that connected about ten rooms. I loved that we could get the kids wet and floating without having to pack up ALL THE THINGS to go to one of the larger pools!
The down side was that it was a “smaller” room — not a suite. It had two queen beds, a pull-out couch and coffee table, then a small table and chairs. The bathroom was nice, but only had a stall shower — I wish they had a bathtub (baby moms know the shower struggle lol, they turn into slippery, floppy fishies). For Avett, they provided a rolling crib with the sweetest little quilt.
||Scout’s floaty || Scout’s swimsuit ||
The second was a 1-BR Director’s Suite. This one was THE ONE. It had an entire living room, a small kitchenette (fridge and microwave, with a bar and barstools and a small sink), a half bath off the living area, and then the bedroom with two queens beds, a pullout couch, and full bath. It was on the fourth floor, so it had a double balcony (but no swim up pool). As I’ve said before, I’m always a fan of more divided space so that the grownups don’t have to hit they hay at 8pm!
Scout loved looking out over her kingdom. She was having a very “everything the light touches is yours” moment.
The Pools
First and foremost, the pools were FAH-FAH-FAH-FAAAHREEZING. It’s our fault for expecting warmth in December, even in Mexico! But it was still shocking to the heart and spine. The resort had a lazy river (with an option to stop at a grotto-style bar) and an incredible kids’ pool with a pirate ship and lots of slides and the dump bucket. We spent most of our time at kids’ pool (the resort was wise enough to station a small bar to the side). The cabanas were first come, first served and we managed to snag one around 9am.
I will say, the hours on the kids pool were really erratic. The posted sign said everything turned on at 9am, but one morning we waited and waited, and after asking three. different employees, it was turned on around 10:30. It sucked because all of the slides need water to be functional in that kind of sunlight (unless you wanna leave your leg skin on the slide!), and I had a little girl who just wanted to stand under the dump bucket and run wild.
The lazy river was also a huge hit. Scout loved going under the waterfalls, Avett did not. They both loved just floating along, though, in spite of how cold it was! I was actually shocked that Avett liked the water as much as he did, but he was a little trooper.
The Food
Overall, I’d give the food a 6/10. Compared to other all-inclusive resorts at the same price point, it was a little average. But there were definitely some bright spots! And I’ll tell y’all about all of them.
La Cocina. This was probably our favorite meal. It served incredible Mexican food in a more upscale environment. The ceviche tostadas were my favorite, but the guacamole and margaritas were also top notch. Scout also really enjoyed a piece of tres leches cake!
It also had a great mariachi band and singer that began to perform toward the end of our meal. Scout danced and Avett clapped and bounced. I think we ended up staying an extra twenty or so monutes because the kids were so content.
|| my dress ||
Guy’s Burger Joint. I mean, obviously. Guy’s is positioned directly between the lazy river and the kids’ pool, so it was a great location for us. Burgers were DELICIOUS, but don’t wait until you’re starving to order. It took 35-40 minutes for us to get our burgers after ordering!
The Shores Beach Club. We ate here every morning for breakfast. It’s buffet style (which I love because I am so bad at making food decisions), and it had so, so many options. From traditional American breakfast items, like an omelette station, bacon, pancakes, and hashbrown, to lighter options like a fruit/yogurt/granola station, to local selections like chilaquiles, they had it covered. For me, chilaquiles will always be a yes. Forever a yes.
Gusto Italian Trattoria. We loved the caprese salad, the pizzas, and the bruschetta were so, so good. It has both an indoor seating area and an outdoor seating area that overlooks the pool area. I ordered this caprese salad two times!
All that to say, we were unimpressed with the steakhouse. What they advertised as a “filet” is a cut I wouldn’t even use for stew. We ordered room service that night 😁
The Entertainment
Planet Hollywood Cancun had some great nighttime entertainment! From a Mexico show to 80s night to karaoke, they had the fun stuff covered. Once the sun goes down, tons of vendors roll out carts to sell all sorts of things: ceramics, jewelry, clothing, everything.
It’s so much fun to just walk along the paths, looking at all of the beautiful things, music in the background, cool ocean breeze hitting you … it’s the best. It was one of the more relaxing parts of my day, walking around during dusk. Mommas, you know — when you travel with kids, it’s not always a vacation, it’s a trip. And moms know that distinction 😉 so it was nice to have a wind-down moment where we could all take a deep breath and chill.
Scout was very interested in the singing during karaoke night. So interested, in fact, that she summoned up all of her courage and decided she wanted to sing Let It Go in front of God and 500 people. And when I say “sing,” I actually mean “perform like she’s been on stage her entire life” because girlfriend has the moves and the confidence.
We also took Scout to the Kids Club twice, and she loved it. Both days, they had about 20 kids (ages of 4-12), and from what I could tell, had 5-6 workers with them. They played on a shaded playground, they went to the pool and the beach, they ate ice cream, they did crafts … she’d go for a few hours and then come running back telling us all the fun stuff she did.
I’ll be honest, I was hesitant to drop her off (completely new grownups + foreign country + possible language barrier + different kids of all ages), but she absolutely thrived.
The Beach
The beach was beautiful. It was clean, with soft white sand and virtually no seaweed. It was also fairly empty, which was just bananas for how busy the resort was. I think the big pool was the main event, so lots of people were gravitating to that. The older I get, the more I appreciate quiet spaces with lots of room to stretch out, so it worked perfectly for us.
The kids had a great time splashing around and running from waves. Well, Scout did, anyway. Avett spent most of his time trying to eat sand. Babies, ya know?
Avett’s swim shirt || Avett’s swim trunks
Overall Thoughts
Overall, we had a nice time. If you asked the kids, they would say they loved it. From the grownups’ perspective though, we wanted a little more. We had a great time together, I’m just not sure we’d make a return trip.
If you have any questions, please ask!
Resort: Planet Hollywood Cancun
Flights: American Airlines
Transfer: Nexus Tours (wouldn’t recommend)
