We did our hotel research on TripAdvisor, and decided to book this hotel in Cancun, instead of one of those all inclusive ones.
Upon arrival, the hotel looks impressive and grand.
True to other Tripadvisor's reviewers, we were offered to be upgraded to the Grand Club floor. We negotiated the price down to an additional $90/night.
The A/C in our room was loud and blowing like a categorie 1 hurricane right over our head. The temperature setting never works correctly. And our double room, even though it was on the Grand Club Floor, was on the smaller size. The room was clean though.
It was late in the evening, so my wife decided to stick w/ the room instead of exchanging for another one.
Breakfast at the Grand Club was disappointing, the food was limited in quatities, and the quality wasn't there either. The service and the courtesy was class 1 all the way though.
We had the same problem with other reviewers regarding beach chairs. Other people, non american ( and I'm not being discriminating here), mostly from south of the border and Europeans, just come by, toss our towels away, and claim the chairs. I rushed up from the ocean once, to tell a Latina lady that those were my chairs, and she just told me to buzz off (?????!!??!!?!), I had to give her the international sign to ward her and her companions off (and I'm a very peaceful, law abiding, easy going person here) :-)))
The ocean at the FAGCB is beautiful, with nice, soft, powdery white sand. Unfortunately, the water, even though it was aqua colored and clean, was not as clear as the water in the Bahamas or the USVI. There was five large pools, but no pool activity for either adults or kids.
The food was very expensive, thank you Bush, because our $ is crap in Mexico nowadays.
Lunch ordheuvres at the Grand Club was decent, but again, the quantity was very limited, and when we went back for seconds, the concierge lady was acting funny. She asked for our room number at least 3 times...The next day, we went down and cancelled our Grand Club!
We did a private tour for Chitchen Itza. It was awesome. Even my 8 year old daughter likes it. I did the ugly american act at one to the minor Choup...I climbed the rope and got onto one of the steps (now forbidden to be climbed) and had my niece taken a picture. One of the guide in the park saw some activity, even though he did not really see my climbing the steps, and made a stink about it. He was screaming for security and pointed me out to the security guide who arrived on a bike. The poor security guide looked confused, and did not know what to do with this ugly american, so he kept exchanging looks between me and the guide, and finally said "ok, just erase the pictures senor", we did that and were allowed to leave.
We dined at La Paloma Bonita, it was great. Good food and very friendly service.
We also dined at Mocambo, it was decent.
Mostly, we ate at the Grill on the property, it was good food, with a beautiful surrounding.
Overall, I would not suggest this hotel was being 5 stars, maybe 4 stars at the most.
Next time, I'm staying at the Ritz Carlton down the street.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
most likely
I recommend this hotel for:
Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, Great pool scene, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
People with disabilities, Older travelers, Pet owners
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Beach / Sun, Great food / Wine, Spa