Hotel NYX Cancun All-Inclusive Restaurants & Bars Review

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Hotel NYX Cancun is an all-inclusive resort with some of the best hotel deals in Cancun. When we booked our stay, the price was so good that we wondered what the catch would be despite reading great reviews. We figured maybe the food and drinks wouldn’t be good, or there would be some other catch.

However, having been to all of the restaurants and bars at Hotel NYX Cancun, I can confirm that it’s an excellent resort to stay at and a cheap one at that!

Although there are all-inclusive rates at Hotel NYX Cancun, there are also rates that only include bed and breakfast, so be sure to double-check when booking.

A few restaurants at Hotel NYX Cancun are also open to the public, so you may see pricing on those menus that won’t apply to you if you’re staying at the resort on an all-inclusive rate. Since anyone can visit the restaurants (and thus review them), it gives the hotel an additional incentive to make them high-quality.

There are also premium items on some menus that you can pay for and are not included with the all-inclusive menu. However, I was pleasantly surprised that this never felt like a significant restriction on what was available. These dishes are merely add-ons that can take your meal to the next level if you desire. We didn’t purchase any of these as the all-inclusive menu at Hotel NYX was sufficient.

Note that there is no room service with this all-inclusive rate. However, the hotel rooms do have a minibar that is refreshed daily. The resort grounds are compact, so it’s not a long walk to any of the restaurants.

Should you wish to purchase other snacks, there is a convenience store down the hall past the front desk.

Bellavista Breakfast Buffet

There’s only one breakfast option at the Hotel NYX Cancun, but thankfully, it’s a good one. It’s also the one meal included for all guests, whether you’re on the all-inclusive rate or the bed and breakfast rate.

Breakfast buffets can be hit or miss, but the Hotel NYX has an outstanding selection of foods to suit every diet. Even if you’re staying at the resort for a few days, it’s unlikely that you’ll get tired of what’s available.

There was an omelette station along with another station where chefs made fresh dishes to order, such as breakfast burritos and sandwiches.

An entire island was dedicated to cheeses and meats.

A section was also devoted to hot dishes, including American and Mexican favorites. I enjoyed the French toast every day.

Another section included a wide variety of pastries and breads, including donuts.

Looking for something a bit healthier? There’s a whole yogurt bar, including toppings.

The Hotel NYX Cancun breakfast lasts until 11 am each day. However, even though we didn’t arrive at the buffet until later on the first day, all the food was fresh. Nothing looked like it had been sitting out for hours, so dishes had either been replenished or replaced by the time we were eating.

The one negative about the breakfast at Bellavista is that the seating is a bit limited, leading to occasional waits. The main dining room is packed with tables, while there’s also a small front patio with lagoon views. Thankfully, Hotel NYX is addressing this with a new construction project that should provide more breakfast seating.

With a wide variety of tasty dishes, the Hotel NYX Cancun breakfast buffet is a great way to start your day.

Deck

The restaurant with the best views at Hotel NYX Cancun is Deck. The open-air restaurant has views of the beach and the Caribbean Sea. It’s open for lunch and dinner.

Lunch

The lunch menu at Deck includes Mexican and American dishes, with a strong focus on seafood.

We started with the fried calamari. It was nice and tender, though it could have used a bit more sauce and breading.

I also had the shrimp cocktail, which was decent but needed more shrimp. I can never get enough shrimp.

For our main courses, we had the chicken wrap and beef tacos. Both were very good. Anything grilled at Deck is a good idea, as you can see how everything is being made fresh in the open-air kitchen.

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We couldn’t skip dessert. The cheesecake and chocolate cake were both dense and rich.

We found the service excellent throughout our meals at Deck (and elsewhere at Hotel NYX Cancun). Someone was around whenever we needed something, and the dishes arrived quickly.  

Dinner

Each dinner at Deck has a different theme for the main courses. This helps keep things from getting repetitive while staying for multiple nights.

We went on Caribbean night. Other themed dinner nights include Asian, Italian, Spanish, Mexican, American, and Fajitas.

If you go to Deck on the earlier side of dinner service, you can see the sunset (although the sun is on the other side of the hotel).

After being seated, we selected our main courses. I opted for the seafood jambalaya.

Then, after ordering, we were invited to partake in the highlight of the dinner service: the buffet room.

Now, this was initially billed to us as a salad bar. But it’s so much more. Honestly, you could easily eat your entire meal from this room without even needing the main course.

There were salads and soups.

And meat and cheese.

There was also plenty of fresh seafood, including peel-and-eat shrimp, oysters, and ceviche.

Another section included a variety of breads. Plus pizza. I’d had some disappointing pizza at other all-inclusive resorts, but the slice I tried wasn’t bad.

The all-you-can-eat buffet also had desserts, of course, including fresh fruit.

The highlight was the chocolate fountain, which I resisted the urge to stick my face in.

Should you wish to take your meal to another level, signs mention the availability of lobster from Puerto Juarez Market, including a beachside lobster grill on weekends.

While regular alcoholic drinks are included in the all-inclusive pricing, there is also an additional wine list should you wish to purchase a bottle.

Thanks to the rotating theme nights and vastness of the dinner buffet, Deck is a dependable place to go for dinner, especially if you can’t go to one of Hotel NYX Cancun’s more specialized restaurants on a particular night.

Chianti 

Chianti is the Italian restaurant at Hotel NYX Cancun. Hotel guests on the all-inclusive rate can get one Chianti dinner reservation per three nights booked. Keep that in mind when you’re deciding how long to stay.

The restaurant, also open to the public, has received the TripAdvisor Travellers Choice award.

While reservations are required, there was a bit of leeway in our case. We tried going on the night we arrived, but we checked in after the reservation cutoff time. A hurricane was approaching that night, resulting in a couple of restaurants (Deck and Umami) being closed. Thanks to these factors, the staff had no problem squeezing us in.

Throughout the day of the storm, the hotel provided plenty of information and excellent service despite the unexpected change to everyone’s plans.

Note that Chianti (Instagram) has a formal casual dress code. This shouldn’t be hard for most people, but keep in mind that you won’t just be able to wander in straight from the beach.

At some all-inclusive resorts, not much thought might go into restaurant decor. However, as soon as we stepped into Chianti, it felt like we’d entered a proper Italian restaurant.

With nice rustic decor, Italian music, shelves with Chianti bottles, and screens with images of Italy, we could immediately tell we would have a good dining experience before even having anything to eat or drink. The great food and service would confirm this first impression.

The restaurant has indoor seating plus a breezy front patio. The breezes might have been aided a bit by the hurricane approaching.

House drinks are free with the all-inclusive package at Chianti, but nicer cocktails and wines are available for a charge.

Our meal at Chianti started with a bread basket (with oil, vinegar, and parmesan cheese) along with cheese and olives.

For our starters, we had beef carpaccio and a salad. Both were excellent.

Then, for the main course, we had gnocchi with pesto and seared tuna, along with risotto.

The mains were flavorful. However, the gnocchi were on the dense side rather than being light and pillowy.

We couldn’t go to an Italian restaurant without having dessert, of course. We had the tiramisu, which was generously portioned with good flavor and ratios of layers, as well as a cannolo.

The shell of the cannolo was crunchy, which I wasn’t sure would be the case thanks to the humidity, and it had a good ratio of filling to shell. 

If you plan on staying at the Hotel NYX Cancun, be sure to stay for at least three nights to have dinner at Chianti. It’s an excellent Italian restaurant on par with any beloved neighborhood spot.

Umami

Umami (Instagram) is Hotel NYX Cancun’s Japanese restaurant. As with Chianti, a lot of thought has gone into the decor. It, too, has a formal casual dress code.

The upscale details and light wood throughout reminded me of nice sushi restaurants in Tokyo. The shelves were decorated with sake barrels, bottles, and teapots. Large windows provide sea views.

There are two different dinner menus at Umami. There is hibachi seating with the typical teppanyaki show. These teppanyaki reservations can only be made if you stay at Hotel NYX for five nights or longer, so consider this when booking.

Umami is also a sushi restaurant. The sushi part of the restaurant can be visited without a reservation, and you can visit multiple times during your stay. Keep in mind that tables may fill up.

There are two types of sushi seating at Umami. While there are regular tables, I prefer sitting at the chef’s counter to watch everything being made.

The all-inclusive sushi menu at Umami includes five courses. You can also order a-la-carte if there are dishes you spot that you are okay paying extra for. However, once again, what’s on the all-inclusive menu is perfectly fine.

One note is that the five courses are a little bit complicated to order from since you pick each course across multiple categories. We found it easier to write down what we wanted for each course in a notes app; that way, we could more easily remember.

For my five courses, I chose the akami salad, karaage, sake don, nigiri hamachi, and pastel de yuzu.

I also had a glass of Sapporo. Basic drinks are included for free, though you can also purchase premium options.

Everything we had was delicious.

The fish was fresh and well-prepared. I especially loved the bowl of sake don, which included a ton of salmon. I dreamt about it for weeks afterward.

If we had one minor quibble, it was that the service was very fast. While this isn’t necessarily bad, it meant we had multiple courses in front of us simultaneously.

We were also the first people to be seated at the sushi counter that evening, and nobody else arrived for a little while, so that was a contributing factor to the timeliness of the service. Had there been a queue to get in, I would have appreciated how quickly they serve!

Even though it’s at an all-inclusive resort, Umami is on par with other sushi restaurants I’ve visited. Had we stayed for more nights, Umami would have been at the top of our list for return dinner visits.

Magic Bar

Magic Bar is the poolside bar at Hotel NYX Cancun. It’s right next to the infinity pool, which has views of the sea.

The bar has a special all-inclusive menu, but they can also make other cocktails that aren’t on the menu (which are also included).

If you want to go all-in on your tropical experience, you can pay to drink from a coconut or pineapple.

For us, the highlight of the Magic Bar (and one of the highlights of our entire stay at Hotel NYX) was their Rum Runners. We had many of these tasty cocktails.

We found the service to be consistently friendly and the drinks consistently good.

Lobby Bar

As soon as you walk into the Hotel NYX Cancun, you’ll see the Lobby Bar right in front of you.

The bar serves as an evening social hub, with live music, a pool table, and plenty of seating.

I figured it would likely have the same drinks as the Magic Bar, but I was pleasantly surprised that the Lobby Bar has different cocktail lists with drinks that are more suited to the nighttime rather than the poolside.

Half the signature cocktails are available to all-inclusive guests, while the other half are nicer mixology drinks you can pay extra for.

We found the all-inclusive drinks to be good, so we didn’t see a need to upgrade.

Beach Service

While getting drinks at the poolside requires getting up and going to the nearby Magic Bar, there is beach service on the chairs and palapas on the sand.

The servers on the beach provide frequent and great service. Our server for the day, Nacho, was excellent. Tipping a bit didn’t hurt, but also, not everyone was, and they seemed to be getting served just the same.

In addition to ordering cocktails, you can order food from the Deck lunch menu. We enjoyed a burger and fries along with our drinks.

While I’m not sure how full the hotel was (it did seem pretty busy at the restaurants and pool), we had no problems finding seating under a nice shaded palapa. There were also plenty of empty chairs available.

Hot Dog Cart 

Want a quick snack at the Hotel NYX Cancun? From 11 am to 3 pm daily, there is a hot dog cart near the pool, Deck, and the Magic Bar.

The hot dogs are made to order, with bacon and onions available to put on top. Tasty!

It’s the perfect option if you don’t want to leave the pool area and you’re feeling a bit peckish.

Tacos Villanos

There’s one more restaurant that is part of the Hotel NYX Cancun property. Tacos Villanos (Instagram) is an open-air taco bar located down along the street, so it’s easy for anyone to visit, guest or not.

Tacos Villanos is not usually included with the Hotel NYX Cancun all-inclusive rate. However, thanks to having booked a junior suite, we received a voucher to visit the restaurant, so we went to check it out.

A mural on the wall read, “You cannot make everybody happy, you are not a taco,” so we knew we were in good hands.

Tacos Villanos has an extensive luchador-decorated menu of tacos with flavors from all over Mexico.

A few of the tacos were not included in the all-inclusive special, but otherwise, we were each able to get up to six tacos. Now I love tacos, and I can eat a ton of them, but six tacos is a lot of tacos! We settled on ten rather than the 12 we could have gotten. Go hungry!

In addition to the tacos, our voucher also included Corona, soda, or aguas. We had the pineapple agua and horchata.

I ordered the Huracan Castaca, El Santo Pastor, Villano Carnitas, Pescado, and Loganiza de Valladolid tacos, while she had Pescado, Carnitas, Pubil, and Suadero.

The tacos are legit. Everything was excellent. Whether you’re staying at the Hotel NYX Cancun or somewhere else, I recommend stopping in for some delicious tacos.

Hotel NYX Cancun Food & Drink Review Summary

Hotel NYX Cancun has excellent food and drink. The resort has done a fantastic job creating high-quality restaurants while keeping room rates low. We didn’t eat anything we disliked during the four days and nights we were there. Whether at a full-service restaurant or a buffet, everything was fresh and prepared well. The service was also excellent, with staff who were prompt and friendly.

If you want a great value all-inclusive resort in Cancun, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better place to stay than the Hotel NYX Cancun.

Book your stay at the Hotel NYX Cancun