My Wife and I just returned from a 10-day vacation at the Grand Bahia Principe Sian Kaan with our travel dates being 17 September 2023 through 27 September 2023 inclusive. We traveled from Calgary, Alberta to Cancun aboard Westjet Vacations and the flight took 4 hours and 51 minutes. Upon arrival at the Cancun Airport, we discovered that many of the arrival procedures have changed since we were there a year ago and I have to say, the arrival process has been significantly streamlined. In the past, arriving passengers were required to complete a series of forms which included a Mexican Tourist Card and a couple of other documents. That is not longer a requirement as we merely presented our passports to the Customs Officer who stamped our documents and we were on our way through to baggage claim. After retrieving our bags, we expected to go through additional steps such as baggage examination and an engagement with a horticultural officer as that has been the practice for the 25 years we have been traveling to Cancun. All of that has now changed and there is a “Voluntary Declaration” line that the majority of the passengers we arrived with merely walked through without declaring anything. To be fair, there were some passengers that were randomly selected for a baggage examination, however the vast majority or people just passed through and were out the door. This process was extremely easy and took no time. The bus ride from the airport to our resort (located a long way south of Cancun and almost at Tulum) took us 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete although the air-conditioned bus was very comfortable. This was out eighth trip to this specific resort and to say it felt like a homecoming would have been an understatement. The check-in process was a breeze as we had previously checked in on line 10 days before our departure and we would highly recommend that people do that. The on-line check in also allows guests to pre-book dinner reservations which again, we would highly recommend. Download the APP before you travel and things will be much simpler. For people that have not visited this resort before, this complex is made up of four separate resorts with the Sian Kaan (Adults only) being located across the highway (non beachfront, rather proximal to the golf course) from the other three sister properties. The Tulum, Coba and Akumal are all beachfront, are “family friendly” and located on the ocean side of the highway. We had requested a room in building 6, 7 or 8 as they are the buildings that are close to the lobby and to our delight, the hotel had placed us in building 7. (Room 40703). Having not been there since the pandemic, we had an expectation that the majority of the staff members that we had come to know over the years would have likely moved on. To our delight, many of the familiar staff members are still there. More about that later. During our stay, the occupancy of the resort was around 50-60% full which resulted in some closures; some restaurants were closed each night and the Sushi Pool and bar were both closed for the majority of our stay. Also of note was the fact there is some significant construction happening near the resort as they are in the process of building the Mayan Train. We heard comments through Trip Advisor that the construction noise was overwhelming and we were very interested to see if that noise impacted our vacation. In short, we were not impacted at all although there were days (and some nights) when we could hear the noise, but not to the extent that some people described in other reviews. In the interests of providing helpful information to people reading this review, we will offer thoughts about what we really liked about this resort and also the areas we felt they could improve upon. What we most liked about the Sian Kaan: The staff are amazing. We acknowledge that so many of the people that review resorts in Mexico say that same thing and having heard it over and over again, we wanted to reinforce that point. The people working at the Sian Kaan are highly committed to making the guest experience amazing and memorable. The staff at the Yal Ku (breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet) are folks that have been working there for many years and have become great friends of ours. Despite the fact we had not been there for 5 years made no difference; they all recognized us and treated us like royalty. Daniel the Day Manager of the Yal Ku sets the tone as being the kindest, most attentive and dedicated person on the property. The wait staff including Eglaydi, Miriam, Adrianna, Nancy the Hostess and a cast of others greeted us each day with a smile and kindness. Besides the buffet at the Sian Kaan, there are also two a la carte restaurants on the property the Alux (a gourmet style restaurant) and the Makado (Japanese cuisine). That being said, guests of the Sian Kaan are allowed to visit any or all of the restaurants at the other three sister properties (Tulum, Akumal and Coba). Our experience with the Alux in the past has been nothing short of delightful. Historically, the food has been top notch and the service the same. On our first night at the resort during this trip, we did not find the food to be of great quality, so we decided to give the restaurant a second chance toward the end of our vacation and to our delight, we found the food perfect and the service above and beyond. They even have lobster on the menu which was prepared perfectly. The server Roque whom we have known for many years provided the service and Captain Gabriel was awesome as well as Neily the Hostess. Overall, a great experience. As mentioned above the other a la carte restaurant at the Sian Kaan was the Makado and once again, we found the food to be wonderful and the server Edgar was a consummate professional and made for a great evening and dining experience. The other place to eat at the Sian Kaan is the Cenote Grill which is a 24 hour restaurant and bar which is a very nice option for anytime dining. This grill is staffed by some amazing people that include servers Constantino, Jesus, Alheizer and bartenders Lucio and Pablo all of whom will take good care of you. While the food is basic, it is of high quality and the fact they are open 24 hours a day is a very nice feature. Room service is also a part of the all-inclusive offering however we did not take advantage of that feature so we are not in a position to comment on the quality of the food. We also dined at a number of other restaurants at the three sister properties and had great gastronomical experiences at all of the places. Specifically, the Kuuk Restaurant offered both great food and great service as did La Gourmet which as well worth the visit. The Frutus Del Mar which offered a great variety of seafood was outstanding as was the service and the Grand Tortuga with Captain Raquel and servers Enrique and Francisco made for a most enjoyable evening. We attended many of the shows that were offered as evening entertainment and for the most part, they were very well done. Specifically, the Jersey Boys Show was well done and performed by a group of professionals. The Circus Show was highly entertaining, as was the 1980’s Show. Also, we would highly recommend the Silent Disco (we attended twice as it was so much fun) which was hosted at the Sian Kaan once per week. The only show that we attended that we would characterize as terrible was a musical performance called the Latin Show. The music was extremely loud and annoying and the lights from the stage drove the majority of the audience out of the show and into the lobby bar. The Sian Kaan (as mentioned before) is not located on the beach, rather across the highway near the golf course and the resort offers a fleet of very efficient trolleys that run with amazing frequency from one side of the resort to the other. There was not a time at which we waited for more than a few minutes for a trolley to arrive as they are regular and efficient. The Sian Kaan also offers its own beach was located beside the Akumal beach. Guests of the Sian Kaan and adult guests of the Akumal are the only people that are permitted to use the Sian Kaan beach. There was a bar there which was staffed with some amazing people including Carlos, Alexandro, Hugo, Gabrielle and Zeity all of whom will you both entertained and ensured that we were constantly “hydrated”. As noted, the occupancy of the resort was at between 50-60% while we were there and the upside of that low occupancy rate meant a person could get a pool chair or beach chair at almost any time. The Entertainment Team was comprised of about 10 people all of whom were high energy, fun, interactive and overall great people. On one particular day we decided to take the Bike Tour which was guided by one of the Entertainment Team, a gent named Alexander. The tour was scheduled for 2 hours which at first, we found a little intimidating, however it soon became evident that it would just be 2 hours of guided fun. We strongly recommend the Bike Tour as it took the guests around the golf course with many sightseeing stops along the way, then around the other three sister resorts with stops at many points of interest. One of the other features of this resort was the mini-bar located in every guest room. Each day, someone would come around and refresh the mini bar which carried two small bags of potato chips, two beers (Dos Equis), water and three kinds of soda. A very nice touch. And finally, one of the things we most appreciated about staying at the Sian Kaan was the way in which smoking is so very carefully moderated. There are signs up all around the property asking people not so smoke and there are also designated places in which people are permitted to smoke. Being strident non-smokers ourselves, we truly appreciate the policy. That said, there were still some people at the resort who felt the rules did not apply to them and they smoked whenever and wherever they wanted but it is difficult to educate people like that. We would the following for areas of improvement: There seemed to be a lot of confusion over the dress code at the a la carte restaurants on this property. When booking a restaurant, guests are given a confirmation slip which outlines the location and the time of the reservation. The slip also includes the dress code for the restaurant and for the majority of the restaurants it clearly states “Gentlemen must wear long pants and a collared shirt.” That said, when we arrived at the Alux on our first night, we encountered people wearing athletic shorts and t-shirts which came as a bit of a surprise as we had dressed in accordance with what we had been told. This is both confusing and inconsistent with their messaging and should be addressed. It is our understanding that the resort offers a butler service however we were never told of this option, nor did we ever encounter anyone that resembled a butler (not sure what a butler looks like?) during our 10-day stay. If that was an option, it should have been offered as such and not kept a secret. Each Saturday night the buffet offers what they call the Gala night and the big draw was the fact they had lobster on the buffet. We attended expectantly in hopes that the food would be great, however very sadly, the lobster was so completely overcooked to the point it was not edible. That was the only criticism that we had about the Yal Ku buffet as every other meal we had there was awesome. On one night, we dined at the Mexican Restaurant called Tequila and the food and service were both top notch. The only challenge associated with this restaurant was the fact there was no air conditioning inside the restaurant, which made for a bit of a sweaty dining experience. That said, we would still strongly recommend a dinner there as the food was incredible. We encountered the same issue at the Los Corralos Steak House as the food was incredible yet there was no air conditioning. Captain Aldred and server Sebastian were definitely highlights of the night during that dinner. We would just ask that they explore the possibility of air conditioning. One of the other things we would encourage the resort to look at would be the quality of the drinks they serve. While the alcohol at all the bars was of great quality, we discovered that the quality of the mix (soda, cola etc) that are served from the bar soda dispenser were either flat or completely watered down. Consequently, there were many times we were served a drink that we ended up pouring out, which was not our favorite thing to do. We would recommend they examine the quality of their mix to see if that could be improved. This and that… Since our last visit, there have been two additional taxes/levies charged to people travelling to the state of Quintana Roo, one called the VisiTax which is payable on line prior to departure (in the amount of $40.00 USD per person) as well as a Eco Tax which were charged at the resort which amounted to $35.00 USD per room per visit. Be forewarned that the Eco Tax is payable in cash only and either at the time of check in or at time of check out. Also be forewarned of the presence of insects at some places within the resort so bringing bug spray is highly recommended. On a different note, given the proximity to both Akumal (The town of Tulum, not the sister property resort) and Tulum (again, the town of Tulum and not the sister property) we would strongly recommend that people staying at the Grand Bahia Principe take advantage of these two small towns for a visit. There is no shortage of things to do in both places and on this trip, we took the collectivo public transit van from the hotel to Tulum which was a great experience. We recommend using the public transit as it is a fraction of the cost of a taxi and also represents a true Mexican experience. By way of contrast, a taxi ride from the hotel to Central Tulum was $650 pesos which equates to about $50.00 USD. A collectivo ride for the same distance was 35 pesos per person which worked out to be less than $3.00 each. In conclusion, we would absolutely return to this resort and in fact have been at this place many more times than we have stayed at any other place on vacation. Please don’t let the location of the resort (non beach front) discourage you from staying there. The location is right in the jungle and the grounds are impeccable. Also, staying there provides access to all of the facilities at all of the other three sister resorts and they are all accessible after a short (less than 5 minute) trolley ride. The staff and grounds are what incents us to keep coming back. Thanks Sian Kaan for an incredibly memorable vacation, again.…
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.