I have never written a review before but I stayed at the great parnassus jan 22nd thru 26th and it was the worst experience ive ever had so I felt it was my duty to warn people. I booked through apple vacations who told me the resort was just as nice as the sold out golden parnassus. The resort was absolutely awful. The staff were rude and unhelpful as well as the apple reps. There was a cockroach on the wall and a hair in my food the first day. We also had to argue for 3 hours to get a key for the safe. It was completely ridiculous. We were finally moved on the 4 th day when we found a maggot in a grapefruit. Do not stay here, it has no comparisons with the golden which is an amazing resort.

This resort provides a great vacation experience for families. But those seeking an "Adults Only" experience (or who just want to get away from the kids for the afternoon) can find age appropriate company at the adults only pool & bar, and several other "adults only" venues within the resort.

This is a fairly new resort (opened in 2007-2008) and everything is still fresh and clean. The building, pools and childrens water-park cover the entire plot of land, so there are very few green spaces. But it more than makes up for it with lots of open space in the towering central courtyard/promenade that runs the length of the interior, and houses the many restaurants, bars, and shops.

The beach at Great Parnassus is wonderful white sand, that slopes gently to the sea. There is no embankment like you see further north on the strip. Access is by way of a short staircase from the pool-side. During our visit there was a Lifeguard at the GP beach from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

Our family (party of 6 in total) had three rooms; a Club Suite, and two Club Rooms. All were large and functional, spotlessly clean & fresh, and very functional. Noise from the streets or between rooms was not a problem on the Lagoon side or Ocean side, but there seems to be a time each day after mid-night when one or two groups return from the nightclubs and try to test the acoustics by calling out loudly. The Security Staff appear to be watching for this, and shut it down very quickly.

The Staff are very friendly and eager to please, and there are lots of them to serve you. If you need something you have only to ask.

Food & beverage service was excellent at all the restaurants and bars, with many Servers trying to establish a rapport and provide the personal touch. Be sure to look for Matelide at the Poolside Bar .... he went out of his way to get to know us, and made us feel like we were part of his family.

The variety of food was incredible ... no one will go hungry at this resort. Food quality was very good, to excellent. Beef and pork tastes a bit different in Mexico, but was always well prepared and presented. The soups, seafood, fruits and vegetables were wonderful.

GP has many excellent restaurants where you can spend a couple of hours over 4 or 5 course meals. We enjoyed the Big Ben steakhouse, Michele's french restaurant, and the Porto Fino seafood restaurant. The Magnus food-court has something for everyone, cooked and served before your eyes, and most of the kiosks offer North American breakfasts (bacon, eggs, pancakes, omellettes, french toast, etc) as well as some traditional Mexican dishes.

This resort offers activities for toddlers, children, and teens (including child-care/babysitting by the hour or the day). Because there are three large pools on the Ocean side, and a large water-park & play area on the Lagoon side, these games and activities do not disrupt the enjoyment of others.

Every evening during our visit there was a 60 minute stage-show in the theatre. The program seemed to alternate day-to-day between something strickly for kids (eg: Super-Heros) and something with broader family appeal (Michael Jackson tribute/impersonator). These shows were a lot of fun, and offered a surprisingly high calibre of local talent.

If you tire of life at the Resort after three or four days, there are lots of excursions offered by AquaWorld (you can book when you pick-up your towels at the pool-side) and others. Our family enjoyed The Isla Majeures trip; a 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM exclursion that included, snorkeling, exploring the island by golf cart, and, shopping in the city centre. Zip lines and golf are also readily available.

We have recommended this resort to our family and friends, and will return again!

I recently returned from a trip to Cancun and stayed at the Great Parnassus. I read several of these reviews prior to leaving and had some last minute panic about some of the awful experiences people have had at this hotel. I'm glad to say I didn't experience many of them. So, when we got there our room wasn't ready, but they're not usually ready at 11am. We were greeted promptly, given our armband and shown to the buffet so we could get something to eat and drink. Our room was ready earlier than they initially said, by about an hour and a half. We booked a king bed, but got two doubles. Was it what we wanted, no. Could we live with it, yes. They said we could come back the next morning to get a king bed but we liked our view so much (room 635) we decided to stay and it worked out fine. I will say the beds or very hard, which is not my preference, but they were fine enough to sleep in.

The staff at the hotel could not have been nicer. Everyone greeted you with a smile and they were quick to serve and help out in any way they could. We ordered bottled water and sodas to the room a few times, so we always had water available. There was alot of variety of food. None of it was anything great, but I don't go to an all inclusive expecting great food. There was enough fresh fruit and basic foods that i survived just fine. We tried the Italian restuarant, yuck. I've learned that you don't go to Mexico for Italian food. At the steak place we learned that there's probably different quality of steak in Mexico than what we're used to. The Mexican restuarant wasn't worth eating at, go figure. But we stuck to the buffet usually and the deli type restuarant.

I asked about a birthday cake, since we were celebrating a birthday and they brought a cake and bottle of champange to the room for us, no extra charge.

The drinks on the other hand were fabulous. There was a wide variety of fun drinks. If you made nice with the bartenders you could get better quality alcohol. Go see Matilde at the swim up bar. And Bianca who circulated around the pool was always there when you needed a drink. The staff was so nice and fun. We are planning a trip with family and would certainly come back here.

One concern...there really wasn't much ice in the ice makers. They always seemed to be empty. And then we saw staff emptying the contents into bags to take to the various bars. It was fine for February, but I'd be concerned if I went in the summer and needed ice. The elevators were slow as molasses, but not so much that they affected us getting to our room.

Another comment I remember was about water leaking and the state of the hotel in general. It rained really hard one day and yes, there were towels all through the halls mopping up water. We didn't have any in our room, so it didn't bother us.

This was a very laid back resort. No dress code or reservations required for dinner, which was nice (except for the French restuarant, which required dinner attire, but we didn't eat there). We didn't feel like we were fighting for pool or beach chairs or food lines. I had a much better experience here than I did at an H10 hotel in the Riveria Maya. Everything is conveniently located at this hotel as well.

This was our first trip to Mexico, and we found that the Great Parnassus more than met our needs. One area where the hotel needs improvement though is at the check-in phase. Check-in was very slow and poorly organized. We waited 2 hours for our room, and were asked to come back 4 times during this period (needing to get back in line each time). In the end we were upgraded to a great suite on the 10th floor, but not until 4:00 pm (check-in is at 3:00). We had also paid for an ocean-view deluxe room and ended up with a lagoon-view, which is nicer than it sounds.

A second problem was that there was no hot water in our suite. However, we were told by the front desk staff that we need to run the hot water for about 15 minutes to give it time to reach the 10th floor. Strange, but this seemed to work.

Now for the positives. The room was great. Polished stone floor, wall-to-wall windows with a large balcony and a hot tub. Unlike some places, every room has a balcony and a hot tub. The staff throughout were friendly and helpful. Nobody passed us without smiling and saying holla. Great room, great staff, and great food. The hotel has 5 a la carte restaurants and a buffet which is set up like a food court. No reservations were required for the a la carte restaurants, or any limitations on the number of times you could go to any of these. In addition, this hotel is affiliated with the Golden Parnassus Hotel. Free shuttles between the two hotels are provided hourly, and all amenities are available in both locations - including restaurants, bars, and the beaches. Speaking of the beaches, there were more than enough loungers available at the two main pool areas and at the beaches at our hotel. As long as we were down by 9:30 am we had no problem finding two loungers.

We highly recommend this hotel, based on our experiences there. Gerry K.