UNICO 20° 87° Riviera Maya: A Honeymoon Review

Last week, my husband Ryan and I took our honeymoon in the Riviera Maya and Cancun. We spent three nights in the Riviera Maya, near Tulum, at UNICO 20° 87° and three nights in Cancun at Le Blanc Spa Resort. First, let’s take a look at UNICO.

We absolutely loved this all-inclusive, adults-only property! We were so exhausted after the wedding (we got married 9/20/19 in Chicago) and this was the perfect place to unwind. This was our first visit to UNICO, and we will definitely be back! Below, I’m highlighting everything we loved about this property. Later, I’ll review Le Blanc Spa Resort, as well as compare the two properties. In addition, I’ll do a separate post on everything we ate at UNICO as well as Le Blanc.

 

What We Loved About UNICO 20° 87°

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1. Overall Design & Atmosphere of Resort

Right when we arrived at UNICO and stepped into the stunning lobby, we were instantly impressed. The overall design of the property is modern, with touches of the region’s culture throughout. While walking through the property, I kept pointing out how photogenic the entire place was. You can tell that every inch was carefully designed and the end result is absolutely gorgeous. Plus, the property offered a unique mix of relaxation and fun.

 

2. Spacious & Beautiful Rooms

We were very impressed with the rooms at UNICO as well. It was very large, with a big balcony that had a jacuzzi tub and couch. We had an ocean view and a view of the entire main grounds area as well. This was especially beautiful at night, with just the right amount of light to make it romantic and tranquil. The bathroom was also large, with a steam shower and a separate room for the toilet, plus two sinks. In addition, each room came with a Smart TV, so you can watch shows from your own Netflix or Amazon Prime accounts. We did take advantage of this at night – like I said, we were exhausted!

 

3. Delicious Food & Great Cocktails

The food here was very good. There were restaurants and dishes that we loved, and some we weren’t crazy about. Overall, I would rank this an 8 out of 10 for food quality. We loved the Italian restaurant, Mi Carisa, as well as the Asian restaurant, Mura House. We did not love the Mexican restaurant, Cueva Siete. The drinks were also great. I stuck to wine and champagne most of the trip, but Ryan especially loved the cocktails at the lobby bar. In addition, Cafe Inez in the lobby has great snacks on-the-go. I did not try it until the last day, but I ordered a ham and cheese panini that was perfect. Ryan also loved it, so we ended up grabbing another before we left for Le Blanc. We also had a lot of great eats at the buffet (20° 87° Restaurant) and especially loved the taco bar.

 

4. Great Overall Service & Friendly Staff

The service was wonderful overall. Everyone from the waiters to the management team in the lobby were excellent. We never had to wait for our drinks to be refilled at the pool or at any of our meals. Everyone was very friendly and helpful throughout our entire stay.

 

5. Amazing Spa Services at Great Prices

We ended up getting two couples massages during our three-night stay at UNICO. The prices were so unbelievable that we couldn’t pass it up, and we knew that prices would be much more expensive at Le Blanc. We had the UNICO couples massage, which is a standard deep-tissue massage, and then we tried the Volcanic Stones couples massage before we left on our last day. Both were amazing and the spa is gorgeous. Each couples massage was $175 USD for two people.

 

6. Beautiful Pools

There are three pools at UNICO 20° 87°: the main pool or “party pool” as we nicknamed it, a more laid-back pool in the same area, and an even more relaxing pool in a corner of the resort. We spent a day at the “party pool”, which has a swim-up bar, basketball hoops, and inflatable water volleyball court. The next day they had a DJ at the party pool, which some might love but we wanted something more low-key so we headed to the relaxing pool in the corner of the resort. This also has a swim-up bar. The only pool without a swim-up bar is the second one I mentioned above, but all three have great service and friendly staff.

The pools were definitely better than the beach at this property. The beach was pretty small so we didn’t use it at all. Plus, we knew that the beach at Le Blanc was amazing, so we saved our beach days for the second half of our trip.

 

Stay tuned for a post on everything we  ate at UNICO 20° 87°, plus a comparison of UNICO and Le Blanc. I’ll also be posting a full review of Le Blanc Spa Resort, plus a separate post on the food there.

 

Want to enjoy your own getaway to UNICO 20° 87°? Call us today at 402-390-9291 or get started here. 

 

 

My husband and I just returned from our honeymoon in Mexico. We stayed at UNICO 20° 87° in Riviera Maya for three nights and Le Blanc Spa Resort in Cancun for three nights. Both properties are 5-star, all-inclusive, and adults-only. While we loved both of these properties, they were quite different in a few aspects. You can read our review of UNICO here and our review of Le Blanc here. Below we’ll highlight some of their differences so you can decide which one might be right for you!

 

1. Size of Property

UNICO 20° 87° is much larger than Le Blanc, with 448 rooms. Le Blanc, on the other hand, has just 260. In addition to having more rooms, UNICO’s property itself is much larger, with two very large pools and one smaller pool, as well as restaurants and other amenities that are more spread out. It was fun to explore the entire property at UNICO, but we loved the convenience of Le Blanc’s small size. It felt very intimate and unlike the usual all-inclusive experience. Le Blanc definitely had the feel of a honeymoon property, while UNICO was great for a honeymoon but geared more towards groups and singles.

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2. Beaches

If you’ve read our reviews of both properties (linked above in first paragraph), you know that the beach at Le Blanc Spa Resort was much bigger and better than the one at UNICO. We usually opt for the pool over the beach, so we didn’t mind it terribly at UNICO. However, the beach at Le Blanc was so gorgeous and easily accessible that we spent almost every afternoon on it.

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3. Rooms

UNICO’s rooms are extremely spacious and comfortable. When we first arrived at Le Blanc, we were given a first level room with a walkout to the pool area. We loved that it was a walkout but it was very small, especially after coming from a stay at UNICO, where the rooms were huge. We eventually moved to a 5th floor room because our back door was broken and needed to be fixed. The 5th floor room was much bigger, with an amazing view. One thing we really liked about our room at UNICO was the balcony area. It was very large, with a couch and a jacuzzi tub. Although we never used the tub (It was over 90 degrees every day with 100% humidity), we did hang out here a lot in the morning and at night after dinner. The views from our rooms were quite different as well. Both were very private, but the room at Le Blanc felt more private because it faced the side of the resort, with partial ocean view and partial lagoon view. UNICO’s room was more set away from the beach area, so while we had a partial ocean view, we also had a view of the whole property. At some resorts I wouldn’t like this but UNICO was so beautiful that I actually loved it. It was especially gorgeous at night, with perfect lighting for great ambiance and tons of palm trees dotting the property.

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4. Food

While both properties had outstanding food, the food at Le Blanc was next-level delicious. Often when I get to an all-inclusive property it takes a bit of trial and error to find the best food options. This was the case for UNICO. For example, our first two meals were a bit of a let down; we had guacamole and chips, octopus ceviche, boneless wings, and Caesar salad at the pool bar. Everything was a bit bland and not what we were expecting, though we were starving and did end up eating most of the Caesar salad and a few wings. In addition, we did not care for the first restaurant we tried at UNICO, which was the Mexican restaurant. However, after that first day we had tons of great food for the rest of our stay! I will be posting a separate blog post on the food at both properties. Le Blanc had some of the best food I have ever tasted at an all-inclusive property. The restaurants at both properties were stunning, though!

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5. Overall Vibe

The overall vibe at these two properties was different in just a few ways. While we saw couples and groups at both, we felt that UNICO had more groups and Le Blanc had more couples. There was definitely more of a party vibe at UNICO, while Le Blanc is extremely relaxing and luxurious – perfect for a honeymoon. However, Le Blanc is located right in the heart of Cancun’s hotel zone, so there are tons of places to go out around the property. UNICO is located in the Riviera Maya about an hour and 15 minutes from Cancun, so we are not sure if there is much nightlife outside of the property. We mostly saw people partying at the resort, which has a DJ nightly. At Le Blanc, we saw many couples venturing out to the bars and clubs. Both resorts had nightly entertainment in the lobby bar, so we stayed on-property during both stays.

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6. Spa Prices

The spa prices were vastly different between these two properties. At UNICO, the pricing was similar to what you’d see in the US. I have a membership to Massage Envy and it was actually a bit cheaper here! We got two 80-minute couples massages for a total of $350. That comes out to about $87.50 per massage. That’s quite a deal for an 80-minute service. Although we didn’t get a great explanation on this, we found out that UNICO and other Hard Rock properties recently changed their spa pricing and resort credit policies, which is why the prices were so affordable. At Le Blanc, however, the prices were typical for all-inclusive properties in Mexico. An 80-minute massage was almost $200 and specialty treatments were pretty outrageous. We knew that the pricing at UNICO was unique, which is why we got two massages each while we could. We did hear people raving about their Le Blanc spa services, however, so I’m sure they are amazing!

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7. Smoking Policy

If you are a smoker, you should go to UNICO. It is very smoking-friendly with ash trays everywhere and you can even smoke by the pools. I was surprised by this because most all-inclusive resorts that I’ve been to have been non-smoking or had a designated smoking area. Le Blanc, on the other hand, has a no-smoking policy. There is a small smoking area in the front of the property in the parking lot.

 

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our honeymoon at UNICO and Le Blanc resorts! We would go back to either one if we had the chance. If I had to choose one over the other, I would probably choose Le Blanc because it was so unique and the food was so amazing.

 

Interested in booking your honeymoon at UNICO or Le Blanc? Call us today at 402-390-9291 or get started here.