How I found them
First stop, the Groupon app. I searched “all-inclusive resorts” with no concern about a specific location. That can be key if you are searching for a killer deal. I looked at countless Groupons, while avoiding those with airfare included. I like having control over flight times and I recognize that they are charging you for the convenience factor of not having to purchase your own flights. This is where I found Senses by Artisan. The pictures looked phenomenal and the reviews were decent so I started digging into their website.
Reviews, reviews, reviews
Before making a big purchase online, I dig into the reviews like it’s my job. This is what I did for Senses by Artisan and what stood out to me wasn’t the raving reviews, it was the responses by the owner on the unsatisfactory reviews. One fantastic indicator of a well-run business is professionalism they display when responding to bad reviews. I’m assuming it was the owner of the resort who was not only being polite to those who posted bad reviews, but he also responded with tangible ways he was going to address those concerns (can you believe this?!). A common review from a few years ago was that the menu was too limited. He responded by saying that they created a new, more extensive menu, and that they even started switching menus daily in order to address that feedback. The consistent feedback was that the rooms in the resort were huge, which was a great start. I essentially saw no reviews with concerns about cleanliness, making me feel very comfortable with this resort!
Why I try to book directly through companies instead of through Groupon
Groupon generally charges a significant fee for advertising to any company that uses it. Depending on the nature of the Groupon, I have been told that the fee can be between 50% to 10% of the Groupon price. For small businesses, such as beauty salons or even boutique resorts (such as Senses), that can be a tremendous difference in profit. In order for small companies to keep their prices low, they have to keep costs low. So I like to give them every cent that they deserve while cutting out Groupon as the middle man. For that reason, I will either contact the business directly and ask for specials or I will scour their websites for similar specials. Business owners are not dumb. If they have it posted that they will offer a service for the Groupon price, they will probably match it with an in-house special that doesn’t charge them advertising fees. I’m all about helping these companies out, which is why I encourage this! Note that not all companies, such as big retail companies or prominent hotel chains, will not give you another special. They will only honor the Groupon. That is OK! You tried to help them out. Understand that there are laws on companies officially undermining Groupon’s services by matching their prices in order to avoid paying any fees for advertising. Most bigger companies stay far away from that idea. It’s all about wording and expressing that you want to give them the money they earned!
How I found a rate better than Groupon on the company website
- Click here to go to their official website
- Scroll down to “special offers”
- Click on “early booking”
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- Note: pretty much NEVER choose “honeymoon” or “romance packages”. Prices for packages of this nature of insanely overpriced because businesses know that love makes us overspend!!
- On the next page, click on “unlock private offers” in the top left corner.
- Sign in using Facebook
- Fill in number of people/rooms and continue
- Look at the prices at certain dates and choose your dates
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- notice that the prices are not the all-inclusive rates
- I chose the dates May 24, 2019 through May 31, 2019 for this demo (just in case anyone is looking for a week long trip to this paradise!)
- This will take you to the page to choose your room.
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- IMPORTANT: All of the rooms are exactly the same except on different floors. I will touch on this topic below.
- For the sake of this demo, I chose the second floor “ocean-view” suite.
- This is the part we call care about. The prices!! The final page, for the all-inclusive option on the second floor, comes out to $225 per night (NOT per person!! Per ROOM!!).
Which room should I pick?
- Pool View Suite: I would not recommend getting this suite if you would like privacy on your balcony (which has a private soaking tub on it). If you are penny pinching, I strongly recommend this option. They will serve you food/drinks from your balcony since there is pool-side service that is included in the all-inclusive package. Additionally, you will mainly see the pool from your balcony versus the higher rooms see more of the ocean than the pool simply due to height. The room is exactly the same as the other room options on the inside.
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- Price: $204.00 USD per night per room (all-inclusive rate) including fees/taxes
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- $1,428.98 USD for seven nights (all-inclusive rate) including fees/taxes
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- Ocean View Suite: This offers a second floor room with a significantly larger amount of privacy than the first floor. The views are almost completely unobstructed (you might have a palm tree here and there) view of the ocean. Again, same room except on floor two.
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- Price: $225.00 USD per night per room (all-inclusive rate) including fees/taxes
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- $1,575.02 USD for seven nights (all-inclusive rate) including fees/taxes
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- Ocean Front Suite: This is the option I chose when I booked our stay. The name of the suite was deceiving. The view of the ocean was absolutely beautiful but I was not any closer to the ocean than any other room. There was a lot of privacy on our balcony, which was very large, by the way. We slept with the sliding glass doors open on many nights to hear the ocean because it felt so safe and private (yes, there was AC!! We just chose to do this!).
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- Price: $246.00 USD per night per room (all-inclusive rate) including fees/taxes
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- $1,722.01 USD for seven nights (all-inclusive rate) including fees/taxes
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Why am I only giving you the all-inclusive rates?
Because I love you. No, seriously, not doing all-inclusive does not make sense here. The food is absolutely phenomenal, the service is unparalleled, and not doing it only saves you about $50/day (which is $25/day per person). This includes all drinks and beautifully made dishes. Every dish is elegant and served to you. There are no buffet lines, rude sweaty families bumping into you, or powdered eggs. The food is fresh and absolutely delicious (I’m getting emotional thinking about how good their fish tacos were!!!). You can order as much food and as many drinks as you would like. In fact, one of the days we were there, we counted that we had ten drinks a piece by noon. They have fresh juice, a great selection of alcoholic drinks (they will try to make anything you ask for), an amazing cappuccino maker, and more. Additionally, they have a formal restaurant that is oceanfront that is included. We ate here almost every single night for no extra cost. All you have to do is reserve a table. The restaurant was so good that we contemplated how much Americans would pay for the same oceanfront dinner in the United States. We decided that this would be worth about $500 anywhere in the US. That just shows how amazing our experience was!!
Wait, this is 40 minutes from the airport. What do we do?
The prices for the hotel to transport you are extremely high so don’t feel like it’s your only option. While the ride provided by Senses is a nice experience, at $70 per way, it may not be in your budget. Simply compare prices for companies online and you can find a ride from $20 one-way. We had no issues with feeling unsafe to or from the airport using three different companies for transportation!
Did we have any regrets about this trip?
Yes! Our only regret was not booking the romantic dinner for two. The price is steep at $220 but it is a six course meal literally in the sand on the beach. They set up candles and serve steak, lobster, and more. They even put rose petals from the stairs to the beach to the table. They work extremely hard to make it perfect. That is perfect to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and even proposals. The environment is one of a kind.
Additional activities you can pay for at the resort
- I strongly recommend getting a cabana by the pool for at least one day. It is $30 per day but it is totally worth it. My favorite day was our pool day in the cabana!!
- Don’t pay extra for the “premium spirits”. Even if you like top shelf liquor, you can pay as you go. The difference wouldn’t be an additional $90/day.
- We would definitely recommend the romantic dinner (discussed below) at $220 for the reservation.
- Unless you specifically want a nice trip to/from the airport, we wouldn’t book through the resort for transportation. $70 one-way and $140 round-trip are very overpriced for the service.
- Room service is not included but it didn’t bother us. The prices aren’t bad if you wanted to do it a few times throughout the trip!
- The honeymoon package is $120 and I actually would recommend that for honeymooners. I personally saw their hand-dipped strawberries being delivered to a room and it had me sold!! If it was our honeymoon, I definitely would have wanted that! For a normal trip, it’s not necessary if you’re on a budget.
If you have been looking at vacations, you can see how much a steal this is! You will probably come in under budget so don’t be afraid to splurge on these things. This resort makes everything so personal and beautiful. It will definitely be worth it!!
Our message to the owners and staff of Senses Riviera Maya by Artisan
Juan and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the best seven days of our lives so far. The service was absolutely amazing and we will hold this trip close to our hearts forever. Your employees worked extremely hard to make each day perfect for us, so I hope that their hard work is rewarded. We pray for success and prosperity to come your way!!
Check out the video of our trip in order to see countless areas of the hotel!! (Various activities in the video were not included in the hotel price and were not through Senses by Artisan).
Go travel. I promise this is worth saving up for.
XOXO,
Kay
PS: Check out our authenticity guarantee if you have concerns about us being sponsored by the hotel! We were not sponsored by Senses by Artisan. This is our authentic review!
