The minute I set foot in this hotel, I fell in love with it. The athmosphere, the traditional Mexican looks, with colorful walls and roofs made of palmleafs, the pool, the shell with the gecko in it... The people are friendly, the beach is nice, the rooms are spacious and clean. We had a lot of fun with the staff and other tourists. So me and my sister had a great week.

BUT there were some problems. The food was not that good and often cold or gone by the time you wanted to have dinner. The bar closed at 22h and there was nothing to do in the nearby neighbourhood. We had to get a taxi or a bus to get into town for some action.

If you plan to go: don't set your standards too high and you will have a good time. Don't forget to take the ferry to Isla Mujeres! A wonderful place to go scubadiving, snorkeling or cross over with a golfcart.

Despite of some shortcomings, I'd rather choose this hotel, than one of the depressing big blingbling 5* concrete blocks in the zona hotelera. But that is personal.

Edith and Danielle,
rotzooi@kabelfoon.net

Why stay here??? ...when you can drive or take the bus 2 hours south to Tulum and get a great beach and a beautiful location. We stayed at HPS for one night because we needed a hotel close to Cancun to take an early flight.....The place is depressing, the beach was horrible!, (dirty, coverd in seaweed and stank) the place was made entirely of concrete blocks like a russian bombshelter (apparently someone had the wisdom to paint the blocks crazy colors, or it would look like a prison) , we went to the bar and ordered a margharita and got something that tasted like an orange-vanilla icecream float, and we had to ask them to change our sheets because when we arrived, it looked like an iguana had been using our bed as a toilet.

Here is the scoop. The Hacienda Punta Sam was worth the $80/night per couple for everything that you got. The rooms were definitely nothing to brag about, but they did the job. The key for the air conditioning is attached to the key for the rooom, therefore, don't expect to walk into a cool room if you've been out and about. The bar had some local liquors that I had never heard of the brands before, so I drank the beer. I must admit that the beer didn't taste bad (whatever brand it was). As for the food, don't set your expectations very high! At the very best, it was OK! I would also recommend getting to the cafeteria early during meal times, they were constantly running out of food! We ordered from Dominoes Pizza to compensate for dinner. There is a little stretch of beach there to lay out on. The water there is more like a bay, by that I mean that it is shallow and you probably will not want to go out any further than waist deep. The clientelle seemed to be mostly Europeans staying from two to three weeks. Eveyone that we met seemed extremely nice. One of the up sides to staying there was that it was very close to the ferries that take you to Isla Mujeres. Isla Mujeres is a great little island that offers plenty to do in terms of shopping, snorkeling trips, and beaches. I enjoyed Isla Mujeres much more than the time that I spent in the middle of the Hotel Zone in Cancun. Any how, this was just my 2 cents. I would recommend this place for college students or families traveling on a limited budget.

What a great place to stay! Small quiet beachside resort with all the opportunities of Cancun just pennies away! It cost nine cents to take the bus to downtown, another 6 cents to go to the hotel zone. The resort was kept clean and the staff were very friendly and helpful, like eveyone we met, locals and tourists. The resort felt more family run rather than some big corporate hotel, they really took good care of us. We met people from all over the world. The beach wasnt as good as cancuns, and the meals were not elaborate but they were always their and on time. I plan to go back! Darin Patrick, Anchorage Alaska - imsohungry247@hotmail.com