ARRIVAL
The arrival into Mazatlan was smooth and uneventful, our tour company had a bus waiting to take us to the resort as well as other people to other resorts. Our resort was one of the first stops, but being dark we couldn't see much anyway. We were greeted in the lobby and within 10 min. we were in our room. The service seemed very quick. The lobby is nothing spectacular but kept very clean and well staffed.

ROOMS
We were given a Garden View room that was very spacious. We had a bathroom, 2 large beds,and a huge balcony/patio. The rooms were all recently renovated completley so they were immaculate!! 10 out of 10

GROUNDS
The grounds of the resort were well taken care of and were visually pleasing. This is the first hotel in the golden zone and beside it is currently an empty lot, so anything well taken care of looked good beside the vacant lot.

POOL
The pool was large and very clean. Plus since there was a "kids pool", the larger pool was never too busy to enjoy. The pool area was elevated from the beach and very, very close to the beach which not all resorts can boast. Plus you could always find a chair. The only thing is that there are not a lot of trees providing shade right by the pool. Another plus was that there is a good size hot tub that is in ground but built up quite a bit so soaking in the tub before going out in the evenings was excellent. We had the staff brining us drinks and the tub is a decent distance from the pool and pool bar.

BEACH
The beach is very large and they do groom the beaches early in the mornings. The water is clean for swimming but not the clearest water in Mexico. However for the amount of swimming we did, it was fine.

BARS
2 of them. There is a lobby bar which boasted a big screen TV and was very well stocked. The other bar was at the pool under a huge thached roof. This location jutted out on a corner and was excellent for catching nice breezes. Every drink is tequila based so get used to it.

RESTAURANTS
We only ate at the restaraunt in the mornings for the "American" breakfast. While the cook would make you a custom omlette the rest of the food was average. What stood out was the abundance of fresh fruits and good fresh coffees.

ENTERTAINMENT
Our complex did not have any evening show etc. We could have attended an evening show at the Playa but opted not to.

SERVICE
The service at our hotel was pretty good. The staff changed quite a bit so it was good to know that they were not overworked and when they did work, they worked fast and hard. Since it is not an All Inclusive resort the waiters usually worked harder for bigger tips. Which is the case anywhere.

MAZATLAN
If you are seeking a Mexican destination that is affordable and full of different dining and entertainment options and you don't mind having a city feeling to your trip then Mazatlan is a very good choice. Apparently the population of Mazatlan is around 800,000 which can be intimidating however all of the hotels are along the beach along one long road and opposite the road is bars/discos, restaraunts and shops so if you do not venture out of the Golden Zone, you really wouldn't know that you were in a huge city.

LAST WORDS
One thing that all Mexican destinations are not short of is peddlers. Mazatlan is no different. We found that we were constantly being harassed to buy something and it can get a bit annoying. Most of the time simply saying no was enough and other times the only way to avoid the peddlers is to play deaf, dumb and or blind and ignore them. For a group of 4 young men, we found Mazatlan to be a great place to go and party!!!!!. It may not be the most beautiful location in the Caribean but the many options for going out is appealing and the non stop abundance of fresh seafood especially shrimp. The Riveria doesn't look like much in the brochures but is a very clean hotel and you can't beat the location.