Unico 20 87 Riviera Maya // January 2018

I am vacationing with friends in a private villa in Akumal, Mexico. Because I had just booked clients into the new Unico 20 87 adults only all-inclusive resort just a few minutes north of Akumal, I though it would be nice if I could do a sight inspection and the inside sales manager was gracious enough to arrange this for me.

The name Unico 20 87 come from the fact that they consider themselves to be unique and also refers to the GPS coordinates. They are part of the AIC hotel group. It opened March 2017 and gets excellent reviews.

This boutique resort is lovely and small with 448 room, a combination of suites and one and two bedroom suites, all arranged in a half circle facing the ocean. I am not going to describe each room category as that is all available on the website, but it is import to note that the swim-up suites are actually the lead in category and are on the ground floor, so no ocean view as the pools and natural barrier landscape are in the way. The highest rooms all have full ocean view or ocean front locations. That said, we were told that guests who have booked the upper floors often come to the reception and request the swim ups if available.

Mayan artifacts and traditions are used in the décor for both the public and private areas and are incorporated into the spa treatments. The resort is very stylish with clean lines and neutral colors.

An interesting concept at this resort is that some of the spa services are included for the cost of 20% of the list price which is essentially the tip. Room and spa amenities are created onsite and can be customized toward the tastes of the guests.

The beach is gorgeous white soft sand and accessible by a short walk across a bridge of which there are three serving the property so you are never far from the ocean. Guests were snorkeling but I could not get a good idea as to what they were actually seeing…reefs or seagrass. To the north are the El Dorado Seaside Suites and to the south, the Grand Palladium. The usual non-motorized watersports are available and motorized watersports can be booked through a private vendor on the beach which also serves the Grand Palladium. There are good buffer areas between these resorts.

Each of the three pools has a swim up bar and snack bar with a full menu. There is also the lobby bar and bars in each of the restaurants. The buffet restaurant becomes ala carte in the evening. Each specialty restaurants, Mexican, Asian and Italian, has its own executive chef. The Mexican restaurant was preparing for a complimentary cooking class when we walked through. The Asian restaurant has four teppanyaki stations along with traditional seating. The Italian restaurant occupies an island setting.

I booked my clients through Funjet and I see that Classic Vacations has added it to their portfolio. It has a Leading Hotel of the World designation. Because it is new, there are some great discounts to be had.

I would not hesitate to book any of my clients into this property. I did not see anything that I did not like. I would also like to add that the response time to inquiries that I made directly to the property were almost immediate.

-Rollie