Hi everyone! I’ve been dying to write this post since we’ve been home! This trip was actually one of the biggest reasons I’ve decided to launch my blog! It was one of my favorite vacations to date, and I couldn’t wait to tell everyone about our experience at Unico 20’87 in Riviera Maya, Mexico!
We left just as the COVID-19 Pandemic was beginning, and I am SO happy that we decided to go and not cancel our trip. It was the perfect mix of relaxing, romantic and fun!
From the moment we stepped foot onto the resort we were treated like royalty. We were welcomed by our personal staff member whom we could contact via WhatsApp at anytime during our stay. I think one of my favorite things about Unico compared to other resorts I’ve stay at is the ease of requesting anything from food/drinks, to dinner reservations and room requests (like filling up our hot tub!) Everything you need, you can simply pull up the resort app and request!
Room
The rooms at Unico were incredible. Each room has a jacuzzi tub, and range from ocean view to swim up pools! We stayed in an ocean front Junior suite and the view was to die for! Nothing beat waking up to the sunrise rise every morning and taking a romantic bath overlooking the ocean! The fridge was always fully stocked and they asked us our preferences for drinks etc. They also had us select a scent upon arrival to be diffused in our room, which was very relaxing! The robes & slippers were also a lovely addition, and we lived in them all week long!
Food
The food was incredible. It was one of the reasons we decided to stay here, because we wanted good food/drinks. We’ve stayed at too many resorts where the food is put out in bulk or buffets and it’s jut not great. Not only was the food incredible, fresh and healthy, but it was so easy to obtain. As mentioned above, you could simply order food from the app on your phone while sitting at the pool or in your room, you could ask your pool server for anything, or set up reservations for dinner with the click of a button. Cafe Inez was one of my favorites, if we didn’t order room service in the morning this is where we would stop for breakfast (they made the BEST smoked salmon bagel), and we got lattes every morning here! We tried a different restaurant each night and it’s honestly impossible to pick a favorite. We went to Mura House (Japanese) the first night and we both had classic hibachi dinners, both were incredible with of course a fun show to watch while they cooked! Mi Carisa (Italian) was the second restaurant we tried, and this one was simply worth it for the views! You walked over a gorgeous lit walk-way into the restaurant and it was just dreamy! They had the best calamari, fried cheese and I had a bucatini in vodka sauce that was incredible! It was a Friday during lent, and they even added shrimp into the pasta for me, since I couldn’t eat meat! We came back here a second night because we loved it so much! Kyle had the chicken parm and I tried a squid link fettuccine, which was so different but actually amazing! We also had breakfast here one morning and it was one of the best breakfast’s I’ve ever had! Amazing french toast, fresh fruit and of course bottomless mimosas! Cueva Sieta was the Mexican restaurant, and we had the BEST margaritas ever! We joke about just going back to have these margs again! LOL We tried a bunch of small plates and tacos, and it was everything we could’ve imagined from an authentic Mexican restuarant! 20’87 was also worth it simply for the views, it’s pretty much right on the ocean! It’s mostly outside and had the biggest variety of food! I had a NY Strip Steak and Kyle had a burger! Both were so incredible! We also had brunch here one morning and a picture from the swinging chairs is a MUST! Overall, I would simply go back to Unico for the food alone. By FAR the best resort food we’ve ever had!
Drinks
Drinks can be tricky while on vacation! It always takes me a couple of days to find my “go-to” cocktail! I’ll have a couple of sugary drinks, but I definitely cannot sip on those all day/week or I’ll feel terrible! They did make a mean strawberry daiquiri though! Our favorite drink was the Jade! It was their welcome drink (no alcohol) and we requested to add a shot of Rum/Vodka to it (I preferred rum, Kyle loved it with vodka) and it was AMAZING! It was light, refreshing and something you could drink all day long! The service was great by the pool, if you took care of your server, they took care of you! 😉 They also had a cocktail bar in the middle of the resort that could make drinks like whiskey sours, Old Fashions, etc that were a little fancier and not necessarily “pool drinks”. As mentioned above, Cafe Inez was our go to place for lattes/coffee! I NEED a resort with good coffee and they were amazing! They also made incredible smoothies!
Beaches/Pools
I was skeptical of coming back to this part of Mexico, because my last trip to Cancun, I was very unimpressed with the beaches, but man did Unico prove me wrong! The beach was gorgeous! It was clean, the sand was beautiful and the water was so clear and blue! I never thought of beaches when I thought of Mexico prior to this trip! We didn’t go for super long walks along the beach to other resorts etc, but the beach right at Unico was gorgeous and they have really cute palm trees etc for pictures! We LOVED the pool scene here and it’s where we spent most of our time. There were two main pools, one for entertainment and one for more relaxing. The swim up bar was great at the main entertainment bar, and service was always prompt! We didn’t find that drinks tasted “watered down” as they do at many resorts. You could also request just about anything and they would whip it up for you! My ONE complaint is that they didn’t have white claw (or any seltzer)- but we left that in the suggestion box! 😉
Activities
I typically like to just relax and do our own thing on vacation, but it is fun to jump into group activities or have some nightly entertainment! As this was an adults only resort, the activities were on point with exactly what we like to do! During the day at the main pool they had something going on, such as a DJ, beer pong tournaments, foam parties etc. (as I mentioned above, there is plenty of low key space if this isn’t for you. We would typically set up at the more low key pool and then venture over to the entertainment area when we wanted to turn up a little 😉 ) At night they had so many fun activities and entertainment! We participated in a salsa dancing class, live music and cocktail making class all which were so fun! Each night you can find the activity list on their app making it super easy to see if it interests you! As I said above we went just a couple of days before the COVID outbreak got really serious, but we were already aware of it, so we opted to just stay at the resort and not partake in any excursions, but they had a long list of things you could sign up for off the resort as well!
Transportation
Getting to and from the resort was very organized and stress free! We signed up for a shuttle when we booked our entire stay through booking.com and there was an agent waiting for us at the airport to take us to the resort. I highly suggest setting this up prior to getting there because once you land you may not have cell service. We flew into Cancun directly from Montreal and then from the airport it was just over an hour long shuttle ride to the resort. Since it was booked through a third party, we also had some other people in our shuttle going to a nearby resort! Everything was really safe and secure and would definitely book this again. On the way back (also pre-booked), Unico had everything set up on the morning of our departure and let us know what time to meet our shuttle. We had a later flight, so even though we had to check out of our room, they allowed us to leave our bags at the concierge and hang out by the pool all day before our flight which was fabulous!
Favorites
Overall, I would 100% go back to Unico! The staff was amazing, the resort was gorgeous, the pool/beaches were everything you dream of for a tropical vacation and it was the perfect combination of romantic and fun. It was overall a mostly young crowd (a lot of weddings!) and a great vacation vibe. As I mentioned above, it’s tailored to a younger (NOT college kids) population due to the ease of everything being done via your phone/the app. The food definitely sets this resort apart from any other all inclusive I’ve stayed at and we definitely look forward to coming back!
Downsides
If you couldn’t tell, we LOVED Unico! We would 100% come back to this resort. If I HAD to pick SOMETHING that we would change, as mentioned above, I’d love to see some sort of hard seltzer option to drink. I really cannot think of any other thing I would change about this resort. We really loved everything about it!
Until next time!
Xoxo,
Jen
Shop the Post
