We arrived at the Cancun airport and on the way out to the curb to find our hotel transport, some people in a booth at the airport hustled us over and convinced us to go see a different hotel than ours the next day. They were very persistent. At first, we thought they were our transport. don`t talk to anyone not bearing the logo of your chosen transport! The ride to the resort was pleasant and once there, we were greeted and handed cold towels and flutes of champagne. The heat was brutal.We were taken by car to our building. The room, a JR. Deluxe suite, was awesome! Two double beds, livngroom, TV, dvr. Amazin bathroom with whirlpool jets, enclosed toilet with telephone next to it, enclosed shower with glass doors and frosted glass, small fridge stocked to the gills with sodas, water & beer, bucket with ice. Safe in room, awesome veranda. Cool AC plus fan overhead. The huge long winding pool was lovely, though some small tiles were missing. It was very clean and the swim up bar is a great idea but nobody in the whole place knows how to make a Pina Colada the right way. It always tasted pasty and icky sweet. The food and drinks are all included except for premium liquor and wine. You have to ask for the house wine or pay extra. the house wine tastes like rot gut but the good stuff is incredibly expensive. They also don`t know how to make good cheesecake. At the restaurants, what passes for cheesecake is a small frozen lump of stale tasting cheese the size of a muffin. all the restaurants served it the same. I was dissapointed in the Italian restaurant. The food was nothing special and very bland and there was no tiramisu. At the French rest. again, dissapointed; no creme brulee! I asked for the risotto and the rice was crunchy! ugh! The only thing on the menu worth eating was the bacon wrapped filet Mignon. Awesome! At the Japanese rest. we sat at the Tepanyaki table. We don`t eat sushi but we had beef, chicken and shrimp. again, very bland, nothing special. We did not go back to try their regular menu.
The Mexican rest. was very romantic on the outside as it overlooks a fountain and it is lit up at night. We dined inside because of the mosquitos.
Arrival: We arrived at the Cancun airport and on the way ou to the curb to find our hotel transport, some people in a booth at the airport hustled us over and convinced us to go see a different hotel than ours the next day. They were very persisteent. At first, we thought they were our transport. don`t talk to anyone not bearing the logo of your chosen transport!
The ride to the resort was pleasant and once there, we were greeted and handed cold towels and flutes of champagne. The heat was brutal.
Rooms: We were taken by car to our building. The room, a JR. Deluxe suite, was awesome! Two double beds, livngroom, TV, dvr. Amazin bathroom with whirlpool jets, enclosed toilet with telephone next toit, enclosed shower with glass doors and frosted glass, small fridge stocked to the gills with sods water & beer, bucket with ice. Safe in room, awesome veranda. Cool AC plus fan overhead. The ride on the elevator (each building has 3 floors) was liker iding a bumper car. Everytime it came to a stop, it did so violently. No fear of anything happening, just very jarring.
Restaurants and Bars: The food and drinks are all included except for premium liquor and wine. You have to ask for the house wine or pay extra. the house wine tastes like rot gut but the good stuff is incredibly expensive. They also don`t know how to make good cheesecake. At the restaurants, what passes for cheesecake is a small frozen lump of stale tasting cheese the size of a muffin. all the restaurants served it the same. I was dissapointed in the Italian restaurant. The food was nothing special and very bland and there was no tiramisu. At the French rest. again, dissapointed; no creme brulee! I asked for the risotto and the rice was crunchy! ugh! The only thing on the menu worth eating was the bacon wrapped filet Mignon. Awesome! At the Japanese rest. we sat at the Tepanyaki table. We don`t eat sushi but we had beef, chicken and shrimp. again, very bland, nothing special. We did not go back to try their regular menu. The Mexican rest. was very romantic on the outside as it overlooks a fountain and it is lit up at night. We dined inside because of the mosquitos at the urging of the hostess, but I only got bitten once on our last day and my husband did not get bitten at all. The best dish on the menu at the Mexican rest is the fajitas they serve in a huge flaming bowl looks like a sacrificial urn. The big finish to the meal was the Mayan coffee. It has liqueur and yes, they set fire to it too. It tastes awesome and it is a big production for which we had to wait an hour because the waiters were too busy. Le Marche is were you have breakfast and lunch every day. They have a great array of pastries, fresh juices, fruits, breads, omellete station and many casserole dishes etc. The place is very hot, no ac inside. The tables by the pond are the best.
The resort has its own water filtration system. We drank both bottled water and the one they poured and did not get sick at all. You just have to use the bottle water for brushing your teeth and avoid drinking from the tap or getting water in your mouth from the shower.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: The beach is not good. It is a stretch of deep angry sea with rip tides, gusts of gale force winds and the sand is littered with garbage. Apparently, they dont rake the sand or pick up the litter there. No fun at all. The pool is awesome in that it is long and winding, has lounge chairs on a ledge inside the pool,and covered and uncovered cabanas all around. There is also a swim-up bar and the pool is only about less than 5 feet deep throughout. The grounds, unlike the beach, are kept very clean but we were puzzled by the many piles of scattered rocks and small boulders about the property on grassy areas. There are many paths running off from the main street inside the resort which lead to guest buildings, restaurants and so on. They were lined with shrubs and small trees, adn whenever you aproached a certain faux rock, it
regaled us with beautiful romantic Mexican music. It was fantastic at night under the full moon.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: They have a show on stage every night. We only went to the Circus show and it was very good. The Mama Mia show was very bad. We didnt bother. after the show comes dancing under the stars at the main plaza. There is a DJ some nights and others there is a house band which is very good. You dance, you sweat, you sweat, you dance. I couldnt stop mopping the rivers of sweat pouring down my face. My feet and ankles were swollen from dancing on the hard
cobble floor but the music was good and the other guests were having a good time too. We dint go on any excursions. We wanted to be safe and save our energy for dancing. The main hotel lobby has lots of brochures of excursions, day trips, etc.
Other Comments: I gave this resort a rating of 3 points because all in all, the food was mostly average and sometimes below average. The mixed drinks like the Pina colada which is my favorite, was terrible and the house wine even worse, but check in and check out was easy, the rooms were clean, the hotel grounds were clean and the employees friendly. The many ponds and fountains, trees, bridges, etc., around the property, made us feel like we were in Paradise.
For our anniversary, they made a swan out of towels and spead rose petals on the beds; too bad they had the wrong date for our anniversary even though we told Cheap Caribbean the right date.