This has to have been the worst holiday. My sister and i went to celebrate her 30th birthday after what's been a difficult year and continues to be so.

We were first in line to check-in therefore quick in that respect but long procedure otherwise. Smell, like others, everywhere, mainly due to "water features" in my opinion, stale water, not nice! Our room on 1st floor ph2 was ant infested, dark and dingy bathroom.

Our main problem/nightmare was our phones being stolen from our locked by padlock suitcase. Zip had been broken. We searched our case inside out thoroughly 6 times to be sure they were't misplaced. Had to report on the 3rd day of our holiday (of 7) security came and checked our room and luggage (in case we missed them!!) made a report, we were advised by Yessica, concierge, whom was the ONLY person of help and understanding, to go to police. Went to make a report and in doing so another guest from the hotel came to report his wifes missing wedding rings from the room. The policed informed us that 5 reports had been made against the hotel in one week.

Management didn't want to see us to speak to and said we should have made an appointment to see him. First time ever, i've known a manager demand an appointment to speak to a guest!

The hotel security concluded that there hadn't been a break in to our room!! couldn't explain the broken luggage though! very unhelpful, not apologetic, not open to suggestion of checking with staff. One staff member said guest frequently report missing/stolen items but have misplaced them themselves therefore it's not a problem with the hotel.

We had to check everyday with unhelpful staff for updates, at various times, and fobbed off each time. The front desk manager felt our plight a little in his defense and offered us an upgrade to black bands but we refused them, that is not what we wanted, my sister even said that if he spoke to staff and they just placed the phones, or just sims back then we'd be satisfied but no, we lost pictures that were important more than anything.

I could go on with a further but don't want to bore, this is an important read. Also beware of currency exchange, the cashier gave us the wrong exchange rate, (wasn't on desk for the day and had to take her word for it) gave a sterling travellers cheque and she gave us euro rate, 4peso's lower than GBP and there was no discrepency in cashing up, therefore she pocketed the difference and our word against hers.

When i read the reviews on this hotel, i was really nervous for my vacation. i even thought about paying more and switching hotels, but i figured i'd take the risk. I'm glad i did! There were three of us girls between 20-22. I am now writing a review with lots of tips and things i believe you should know.
When we got to the airport we picked up 2 bottles of liqour and some ciggerettes at the duty free store. A carton of Marlbro (sp?) was $27, a liter or crown was $24 and a liter of absolute vanilla was $17. It is nice to have these things in your room if you wish to have a few drinks before you go out or something. This is much cheaper then anywhere else in mexico!
When we got to the hotel (in transportation provided by our travel agency) the bell boy (juan) got our luggage and we gave him a 5 dollar tip to bring our luggage up to our room. Our check in was a breeze, maybe 5 min. when we reached our room it wasn't clean. But the bell boy called the front desk and had us a new clean room faster than i could smoke. He brought our bags to the new room, we gave him 3 more dollars. He then corked our bottle of wine, brought us plastic cups and extra towels! A few dollars goes a really long way here!
Make sure you bring down maybe 50- 75 one's. We always left a tip, even just a dollar for a few drinks and always tasted the liqour!
Our room was really nice. A/C worked great, no problems with the t.v and the shower worked perfectly. There is a slight smell but that smell is everywhere you go in mexico! We bought the safe for valuable things. We however; decided to keep the do not disturb sign on the door the entire time and the maid never entered our room. we just asked her for new towels. i have stayed at 5-star resorts in cancun and had my bathing suits taken by maids. Another idea is to buy small locks at walmart before you leave and just but them on your luggage. Just be cautious, there are different types resorts in mexico but always the same type of staff!
The few small problems i did have was the beach is a little rocky except in a few spots. However you can't blame the oasis only mother nature. Also, make sure you figure out where everything is (bars, resturants, ect.) things can be a little confusing. Bring your own ketchup! The ketchup is very watered down and i'm from pittsburgh so heinz is kinda something i need to survive! Other than that the food is pretty good. Not the best ever but i believe anyone could find something they would enjoy.
The grounds are absolutly beautiful!! The sushi is amazing! Also if you need pop or anything like that walk right across the street. There is a liqour store, pizza hut, and odds and end store. wayyyyy cheaper than the resort! If you want to go downtown, go for it! they offer plenty of promotions at the resort and they are a blast!!!
If you are planning on going here, bring some money to tip and relax! It was a blast!!

We got an awesome deal for $400pp for 3 nights 4 days: included air, all inclusive hotel, airport transfer, all taxes and fees. We got exactly what we wanted for that price: a huge pool with minimal kids, swim up bars, away from the crowded city but close to water activities, variety of food and alcohol and lots lots of beach exposure. Some of the rooms were better then others, but let's be honest, your in beautiful Cancun, why are you spending any time, besides passing out and getting ready, in the room? We had a view of the lagoon which was perfect! People say it's unclean but we saw staff constantly cleaning & rarely saw trash or dirty towels. REMEMBER bugs are impossible to keep out, it's an open-to-the-outdoors 3-star retreat and an older hotel, of course it's not going to look updated!!

DO'S: go across the way and try the jungle boat tour (you can talk them down to $50 a person & wear lot's of sun lotion on your knees/thighs/shoulders-seriously LOTS); when hanging at the pool swim up to the bar and order a Superman (double fist it!); follow the crowd at the beach (they usually are where the rocks aren't); take notes on the different times for food (there's usually a 2 hour break between meals of no food so BRING a watch); order multiple items to try during meals (it's FREE-why not); if you run into house-keeping WITH towels get a bunch (they are hard to come by); eat the buffalo, bbq & coconut battered shrimp at El Shrimp Bucket (it's a giant red bucket across from hotel preferably during a sunset); AND LAST spend at least 2 hours at the Thai restaurant in the hotel also during a sunset (incredibly relaxing).

DON'T: Order too many meat items (don't really know were some of the meat came from); DO NOT bring large bills or exchange them at the hotel (they kinda rip you off as far as the exchange rate goes); AVOID the flea market downtown (they're really really aggressive ); don't take taxis (they are ripoffs) take the bus; don't rent a car (there are so so many transportation options) LASTLY DON'T COMPLAIN - DRINK MORE!!

Stayed here the 4th of july week. I got on here and read the reviews, and should have known, but did it anyway. never again. It took 4 hours to get a room, there is no aconditioning in the building, the elevators didnt work. What a crap hole!!!!!