August 1, 2010
Good value
We stayed at the Gran Melia Cancun at the end of February 2010, having booked it through cheapcaribbean.com at a fantastic price of $927 per person (7 nights all inclusive, including airfare from Connecticut). Considering what we received for our money, we really are in not much of a position to complain about it.
The hotel is huge and, for the most part, beautifully decorated and arranged. The location, for us, was perfect. The beach in this area is about as good as it gets in Cancun, it is a short bus ride to where the nightlife and shopping is (bus stop right out in front of the hotel), and it is quiet enough at night so that you can get a good night sleep. They also seem to keep the younger party crowd to a small contingent. We met a lot of really nice people as we sat by the pool. I'm sure this isn't unique to this resort, but to get a good spot near the pool, you need to reserve your chairs early ... before 7 am is best. One annoyance was that some people would reserve early, then not show up until after noon ... no class! But, as I said, this isn't the fault of the resort. Overall, they keep the pool area very well maintained. During our stay, the beach area was very windy, so the pool area, which is surrounded by low windows, was much more pleasant.
The food was good overall. We thought Tempo was the best restaurant, with Ku-Nah being a close second-best. The buffet was a little hit-or-miss with good grilled foods, but a rather weak selection. The breakfast buffet was great; we enjoyed it every day. La Perla offered a nice venue for lunch (although that is where I suspect I had my encounter with Mr. Montezuma ... beware the seafood salad!)
As far as things to complain about, I have three things in order of annoyance level: (1) Hotel staffing. At times, the bars were woefully understaffed, with one bar tender trying to do the work of 2 or 3. I can't fault the workers for effort ... they worked their tails off. There just weren't enough of them. And, quite honestly, I probably wouldn't be in the best of moods either if I had to work as hard as they did. So, their demeanor was pleasant, but not overly accommodating. Be prepared for long waits at the bar and sometimes (oddly enough) at the dinner buffet. (2) Night time entertainment. At night, there was only one bar open which was flooded with patrons. Usually there was a singer accompanied by a keyboard player who supplied a sort-of karaoke style performance. It was cheesy, and it was the only "nightlife" available on the resort. Nothing else in the way of activities. I truly expected more of a 4-star resort. I've stayed at 3-star resorts with much more to do for on-site activities. (3) Cleanliness of the rooms. This was more a complaint of my wife's than mine, but we were somewhat annoyed at sand on the floor and water spotting in the bathrooms. We also a few tiny but persistent ants crawling around certain parts of the room. It was relatively minor, but something a 4-star resort should do better at.
One of the persistent complaints in other reviews is the timeshare sales pitch. I have to say that our experience was quite inconsistent with that complaint. On the first day, I got a mild, very non-aggresive, plug from someone who asked me to come back later to talk about their vacation club. I knew what it was about, and of course didn't go back, and I was never approached again. Not even once. So, either I was lucky to be consistently overlooked, or they've toned down the sales pitches. I don't know.
Overall, for the price we paid, we got incredible value for our money. Sure, they could do some things better, but we had a great time and would certainly recommend it.
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