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We had 3 rooms reserved at the aventura spa palace resort in riviera maya over easter week 2012. Our family was there for a vacation as well as my son's wedding. This resort is attached to another palace resort (Aventura cove) and if you stay at one of these resorts, you are able to use the pools, restaurants, exercise facilities, etc at both resorts during your stay.
Upon arrival, we were notified that we would not be able to use the adjoining resort because of a private booking for 800 persons for 2 weeks. This meant that we could not play tennis, basketball (Those courts were only at that resort) and also for variety, we could not use any of their 3-4 restaurants. To really upset us, the 800 people from that resort did have access to our resort (They used our limited 3 computers for internet, stayed at our pools at times, and had huge blocks of preferred times for the spa reserved for them only!)
We did complain to public relations and they did nothing. Even though we are members at palace, and we had very legitimate complaints, they gave us a very lame "sorry"!
Also we attended the lame timeshare "update" presentation and the 2nd salesman (Trying to have us invest more money in palace) tried to make the deal sweeter by giving us an extra free week for our trouble that week. At that point, we had not even complained but there must have obviously been plenty of other people upset and complaining! We, of course, bought nothing!
My advice to anyone considering investing at palace/hardrock resorts — don't do it! The management is very unfair, they really just want your money! Also, fyi, my daughter-in-law had an awful time planning their very small wedding (Wedding planner would not get back to her, many last-minute changes such as the wedding time and dinner place that changed 1 day before their wedding day!)
(We figured that palace resorts probably made millions from the 2 week reservations for 800 persons but they did'nt have the decency to offer us another resort or make us aware even though that reservation must have made at least a year ago!)
We have been members of Palace Resorts for 10 years now and while there are always issues, in the long run we will benefit from the investment. Keep in mind, this is not timeshare but rather a membership proposition. The problems really started a few years ago when Palace Resorts divided up the assets and split into 2 different companies (Palace Elite and Hard Rock) that now do not cooperate with each other for the benefit of legacy Palace Resort members. Entitlements we enjoyed under our membership (before the split) have been reduced because of the split. For example, we would stay at Playacar Palace and use the resort credits they gave us to play golf at the course in Playacar. Now we can't do this as the resort is owned by Elite and the course, by Hard Rock. While both sides have to honour the legacy Palace Resort memberships, they now sell their own memberships and are after old legacy members to upgrade. The issue is if you use a "week" (free or otherwise) under an upgraded membership with one side (say Elite), you cannot use any benefits (spa money, golf rounds, etc) that you have under the legacy membership contract.
Over the years, we have been lied to, given wrong information, found out the rules have changed once we arrive at the resort so frankly, it has be come too much work planning a vacation with these guys and once our perks are used up, we are gone. We are classified as diamond members (less than 5% of all members are at this level) and have access to individuals that deal with us year round. Before each trip I spend hours having to confirm and verify everything just to ensure we know what to expect upon arrival. Contract interpretation has become a real issue since the split, especially because of new offerings and entitlements. I truly feel sorry for members who have to deal with the general reservation department. I have found all reservation departments (general or diamond) to be uniformed so call a few times to clarify what you have been previously told.
The suggestion I have for the person who stayed at Aventura and all other members is to get to know the Manager of the resort and take all issues to that level through Member Relations rather than Public Relations. Also, get the contact information for the legal department and hotel operations. Sometimes better to kick and scream higher up the chain rather than just speak to the person behind the desk in the lobby.
Good luck.
Do not pick the Royal Elite resorts either! which is another company in playa del carmen with hundreds of complaints about committing timeshare fraud against vacationers. Have you tried to file a report with profeco? this is another forum with more complaints made on royal elite timeshare scams, maybe you can get some ideas from other people who were also scammed in playa del carmen on how to proceed legally against the Reef:
http://www.timesharescam.com/timeshare-complaints-resorts-black-list/6-royal-elite-sandos-timeshare-complaints/