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Editor’s note: Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya provided TPG with a complimentary three-night stay to get an inside look at the hotel and its amenities. The opinions expressed below are entirely those of the author and weren’t subject to review by the hotel or any external entity.
I was raised on Nickelodeon. I often dreamed of being slimed or visiting SpongeBob SquarePants’ pineapple-shaped home under the sea. As a parent, Nickelodeon is still a huge part of my day-to-day life, and I’ve had my eye on Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya since it opened in 2021.
After a recent visit with my family, I can say Mexico’s first Nickelodeon-themed all-inclusive resort nailed the fun, frivolity and nostalgia I love about the brand without sacrificing the upscale all-inclusive experience the resort promises.
And, yes, I did get slimed. More than once.
Here’s everything you need to know about Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya.
What is Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya? Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya. TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY
As the name suggests, Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya is a Nickelodeon-themed all-inclusive resort just outside Cancun, Mexico. The resort is clearly geared toward families, but during our visit, I felt it was reaching out to my particular demographic — elder millennials with young kids.
The shows and characters represented ranged from those that were popular when I was a child, like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” and “Rugrats,” to the shows my own children gravitate toward, such as “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Paw Patrol.”
The resort has three main areas: the main lobby, the beachfront building where the guest suites are located and the Aqua Nick water park. The lobby and water park are close enough to walk between, but you must take a shuttle to reach your suite. Each area has several dining locations and activities.
When we arrived, my husband and I were greeted with agua fresca and my kids received green slime smoothies (that were delicious, by the way). Slime is the name of the game at this resort — it’s in the decor, the drinks and, of course, the actual slime.
Though it is the first in Mexico, this resort is the second Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts location. The first opened in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic in 2016 (you can read TPG’s review from 2019 here). Karisma Hotels, the brand that runs both locations, operates other beach resort brands, too, including several Margaritaville and Azul properties.
How to book Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya. TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY
It’s easiest to book your stay at Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya directly through the hotel’s website. It has a page with special offers to help you save money on your stay. If you have a trusted travel agent, they may also be able to assist you with your booking to ensure you get the best price and any add-ons you may be interested in, like spa services or character meals.
If you have an eligible Capital One card, Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya is bookable through the Capital One travel portal. The pricing is similar to what you would find by booking directly, but you can earn up to 10 miles per dollar spent if you book using cash (based on which card you use) or use Captial One miles to reserve your stay.
The cost of your all-inclusive stay at Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya covers:
Dining
Drinks (alcoholic and nonalcoholic)
Access to the Aqua Nick water park
Access to the Club Nick kids club
Daily character meet-and-greets and activities
Baby care items
Nightly entertainment
Airport transportation
Fitness center access and classes
Taxes and gratuities
The all-inclusive price structure means the cost of your stay can vary greatly based on the number of people in your party. For example, a standard swim-up king suite for two adults and one child in May 2024 would cost roughly $1,200 per night during the resort’s 30% off Summer of SpongeBob promotion. A family such as mine with two adults and three children in the same room type would cost $1,702 per night.
Whether that number seems high to you depends on your typical vacation budget. There is a lot of food and fun built into that cost, and my family didn’t spend a dime during our stay outside of a few souvenirs at the gift shop and an additional housekeeping gratuity. The number may give some travelers sticker shock, but the number you are looking at is essentially your all-in vacation cost for food, activities and accommodations.
If you are in the market for a budget-friendly vacation, Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Punta Cana’s pricing may be more your speed. Similar accommodations for a family of five in May 2024 were under $1,000 per night.
Every suite has an ocean view and a plunge pool
One of the things I was most excited about after planning this trip was that each of the hotel’s 280 suites faces the ocean and has a balcony with a plunge pool. My kids were almost as excited as I was. Each plunge pool extends the length of three guest rooms, and my kids were actually hoping our neighbors would jump in to play at some point, but we never crossed paths. If you were traveling with a large group and had connecting groups, this setup would be ideal.
Walking a few steps to the balcony to see the sunrise or listen to the ocean at night was a highlight for sure, and my kids started every morning and ended every evening in the plunge pool. Don’t expect the water to be too warm because the balcony above yours shades the pools, but the temperature wasn’t cool enough to deter us from spending a lot of time there.
The balcony also had comfortable seating where I could read my book and drink a Diet Coke from the minibar while the kids played. There was a drying rack that folded out from the wall as well, which was convenient for wet towels.
Inside, our 581-square-foot room was equally impressive. The entire room was immaculately themed to various Nickelodeon shows without feeling childish. The room was bright and playful with a mix of obvious character integrations like SpongeBob artwork hanging above the bed and more subtle nods like a decorative pillow covered in pineapples.
Guest suites sleep up to five people, with either one king bed, a Murphy bed and a sofa bed or two queen beds and a sofa bed. Across from the sofa bed is a separate seating area with a small dining table. Each room also has two TVs, but because of their proximity, it was too distracting to watch two different shows. We just turned them both to the same channel so everyone could get in their own bed and still watch TV.
Each room has a fully stocked minibar with soda, water, milk, beer, chips and chocolate bars. Housekeeping didn’t refill the minibar or Nespresso coffee pods for the espresso machine that lived above the minibar automatically, but we could call and request any items we needed to be replaced. Housekeeping did come twice a day — once for a full cleaning and again in the evening for a turndown service.
In the hallway leading from the front door to the main living and sleeping area, there were multiple closets with space for storing your belongings. We also found an iron, an umbrella, robes and extra bedding.
Each guest suite also has two full bathrooms, which is a huge perk when you have two adults and three kids trying to get ready simultaneously. There was an en suite bathroom with a toilet, a tub, a shower and a double vanity, plus a secondary bathroom with a toilet, a shower and a single vanity. Refillable bath products were included in both showers, along with refillable hand soap and lotion at the sinks. My favorite touch was the green slime sticker on the new toilet paper rolls.
Delicious food at the hotel and the water park TARAH CHIEFFI/THE POINTS GUY
Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya has several dining options spread across the resort. Here’s a bit more about the ones we tried during our stay. We were pleased with all the dining options, so I would recommend trying as many as you can.
Piazza
Piazza is a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”-themed restaurant in the main lobby building. It’s also the only restaurant that requires a reservation (other than specialty dining experiences like a character breakfast or private meal on the beach).
The menu had salads, flatbreads and pasta, but it mostly featured the Turtles’ favorite food: pizza. Our server brought bread with olive oil and balsamic for dipping when we were seated, and I ordered the Casey Jones pizza with serrano ham, pears, mozzarella, baby spinach and tomatoes. The pizza was delicious and the right size to share if you weren’t too hungry.
Le Spatula
Le Spatula is the primary breakfast spot, also located in the main lobby building. The name and theming come from SpongeBob’s iconic spatula. This was one of the largest breakfast buffets I’ve ever encountered at an all-inclusive resort, with what felt like endless options. My kids could have waffles and bacon while I had a Spanish omelet, chia pudding and chicken broth. When my kids ordered chocolate milk, it was presented with whipped cream and sprinkles on top, and the espresso my husband and I each had perked us up for a day at the water park.
The restaurant was huge, but because it was the only breakfast buffet, we usually had to wait 10 or 15 minutes for a table. We didn’t mind, though, because the hotel’s two resident cats posted up outside the restaurant each morning, and my kids were happy to spend a few minutes petting the cats while we waited (the cats seemed happy about it, too).
Nick Bistro
Nick Bistro is a buffet located at the Aqua Nick water park. It is open daily for lunch, though this is also where they hold the character breakfast (for an additional cost) on select mornings. The food here was plentiful and varied. My kids used the provided bread, sliced meats and cheeses to make sandwiches, while my husband and I gravitated more to the seafood, plantains, guacamole and fresh fruits and vegetables.
There is also a large display with candy, desserts and a soft serve machine. During our time at the water park, we could pop in here for the kids to grab a treat as well.
Good Burger
Good Burger is open for dinner, but the retro Volkswagen van that serves ice cream and milkshakes opens at 3:30 p.m. so you can grab an afternoon treat before dinnertime. This restaurant is in the beachfront building where the guest suites are located, so it was easy to pop downstairs for our dinner here.
To start, they brought each of us a plate with a hamburger drawn in ketchup. Shortly after, a basket of fries and onion rings appeared at our table. I wanted to sample as many burgers as I could, so I went with the chef’s choice slider sampler. The burgers were good, but they also didn’t taste that different from one another, so I would recommend just choosing your favorite burger and ordering that.
If you grew up watching Nickelodeon, the Good Burger theming from “All That” will have you feeling nostalgic. Memorable quotes from the show were used as artwork throughout the restaurant, making for a lot of fun..