The Charlottesville 29

When planning a vacation, choosing an all-inclusive resort can come with trade-offs. On the one hand are conveniences like never worrying about paying a bill or how much each item costs. On the other hand, quality can suffer, especially food, drinks, and service. Opened in 2015, Hyatt Ziva Cancun is a rare resort that offers the benefits without the trade-offs.

Empathy-Based Service

Service can suffer at all-inclusive resorts. Part of the problem is the absence of the transactions in which employees’ service is rewarded through gratuities. While many guests still tip for good service, there are no formal transactions for it to happen consistently. Without the immediate financial award, and without management’s visibility into employee interactions with guests, how can a resort ensure each employee provides outstanding service?

Hyatt Ziva Cancun’s solution, said Director of Guest Relations Viridiana Chavez, is its empathy-based culture of service. “The key to excellent customer service is genuine human connection, the kind that recognizes not only what a guest needs but also what they value most,” said Chavez. “Hospitality at its best is deeply personal and often invisible.”

General Manager Pablo Cogolludo echoes Chavez’s focus on culture. “It starts with consistency and clarity,” said Cogolludo. “We onboard every team member with a clear purpose: delivering authentic hospitality.” From there, the culture is reinforced daily through leadership behavior. “We believe culture is what happens when no one is watching, and that’s why we focus on creating an environment where people feel proud to do the right thing for the guest, even when no one is around to notice.”

“My pleasure” is a common response to someone expressing thanks. For some, it comes from manners – a polite way to respond. For others, it comes from something deeper: empathy. They derive genuine pleasure from the pleasure of others. At Hyatt Ziva Cancun, “It’s a pleasure,” is how staff respond when guests thank them. It is also what they say when they encounter each guest, with a hand over their heart. It’s one thing to train staff to perform this task without fail. It’s another thing altogether for staff to mean it. The delight that Hyatt Ziva’s staff take in serving guests is infectious, causing an infinite cycle of pleasure: the pleasure staff provide to guests gives the staff pleasure, which in turn delights guests to witness, enhancing their pleasure further.

Empathy also means staff recognize that no two guests are the same, so the method to provide pleasure can vary from one guest to the next. “I don’t know you, but I care about you,” a staff member told a guest at check-in. Placing themselves in the shoes of each guest, the staff remember what drink you like, whether you like salt on the rim, how spicy, where you like to sit, whether you prefer sun or shade, and so on. And, if you’re one of those guests who is determined to have a miserable vacation, the staff are so committed to the opposite result that you just might fail.

At Hyatt Ziva Cancun, Cogolludo, Chavez, and their team have done what few other all-inclusive resorts can: built and sustained an empathy-based culture of service.

Food For Discerning Tastes

As for food, feeding hundreds of guests unlimited amounts twenty-four hours a day is not easy. To serve such quantities, it would not be possible for it all to meet the level of a great restaurant. And yet, Hyatt Ziva Cancun does find a way to offer some food worthy of a great restaurant. Its solution is cunning. Recognizing that tastes will vary across its hundreds of guests, the resort offers several styles of restaurant, the most crowd-pleasing of which — Italian, Steakhouse, Japanese, and an International Buffet —  all do a solid job. But, the resort saves its highest quality food for a restaurant serving cuisine with narrower appeal: ceviche. This allows outstanding food, without being oveerun by crowds.

At Habaneros, Puebla native chef Mariana López Juárez and her team serve food worthy of an excellent restaurant, or The Charlottesville 29. If you’re a food-lover fortunate enough to appreciate ceviche, you’d be thrilled to discover a restaurant like it in a Mexican fishing village. With toes in the sand, guests enjoy world-class ceviche and other Mexican specialties. The way the flavors complement one another in each dish reflects the work of a kitchen that knows what it’s doing.

Caribeño – fish tiradito with pepper sauce, avocado, and green oil

Rey Marino Tostada – fish ceviche, fried octopus, avocado, and macha sauce

Cenizas del Mar – shrimp ceviche, cucumber, red onion, black aguachile sauce, smoked oil

Baja Tacos – battered fish strips, mixed cabbage, chipotle dressing

Pastel Imposible – sometimes called “chocoflan,” flan cooked into chocolate cake

Chef Mariana López Juárez

Margaritas are freshly made with tequilas from producers like Cazadores and Don Julio. And service, under the leadership of Captain Carlos Palma, is also exemplary. It’s like what Cogolludo says about leaders setting the example. Palma’s enthusiasm and energy set the tone, which his staff emulates, unfailingly cheerful in their mission to ensure every guest enjoys their visit as much as possible.

Drinks For Discerning Tastes

As with its food, Hyatt Ziva Cancun’s approach to drinks avoids the need for trade-offs. There’s something for everyone. There are pool bars for guzzling margaritas, daiquiris, and tropical mocktails. There are fresh juices and smoothies everywhere. And, for those with more discerning tastes, there’s a quiet cocktail haven tucked into a corner of the resort. Nightly from 6 pm, Saasil’s mixologists draw from an array of bitters, quality spirits, and housemade ingredients, to craft concoctions worthy of your favorite cocktail bar. The interior is a sleek hookah lounge, while on the patio, the view does justice to the quality of the drinks.

Raul, at work

Mezcal Negroni

Pico Piña – tequila blanco, pineapple, habanero pepper syrup, Tajin

Festivity and Tranquility – Something for Everyone

There is one final way in which Hyatt Ziva Cancun enables guests to avoid trade-offs: geography. How do you like your beach vacation? A party scene? Or, tranquility? The resort’s location on a thin peninsula surrounded by the ocean allows it to offer both beachfront experiences at once. On one side, the main pool is family-friendly and festive — music, DJs, games, and a swim-up bar. On the other, the Sahara Pool offers a slower pace. While some guests pick a side and stick with it for their stay, the alternatives also benefit those who enjoy both. Party a little on one side of the resort, and then make the short walk to the other to slow down with a book or nap.

Hyatt Ziva Cancun Main Pool and Beachfront

Hyatt Ziva Cancun Sahara Pool and Beachfront

Hyatt Ziva Cancun

Excellent food, drink, and service, in a stunning beachfront setting. An all-inclusive resort without having to compromise? Hyatt Ziva Cancun proves it’s possible. More info here.

Questions about my experience are welcome at charlottesville29@gmail.com.