We stayed at the Gran Caribe Real in Cancun. We always look for a hotel with a water park for young kids as we have a 5 year old daughter. We have stayed at the Crown Paradise Club in Puerto Vallarta when she was two, which was great b/c it was a
more +small, old fashioned hotel in my view - very quant. We just wanted to relax then. Next year, we stayed the Crown Paradise Club in Cancun. It had a great water park, but they wouldn't let parents go to the bottom of the water slides to catch the kids - she was 3 then - and that wouldn't work for us. Great little park though and it had some water slides for big kids too (in a different area) so the whole family could be accommodated with activities. We liked aspects of the hotel, but it needed remodeling, it was kind of rusty all over, furniture in the rooms was almost depressing. But we liked the lobby bar and pool and restaurants.
So to the GCR in Cancun. The lobby was wonderful - fully open air. Very pretty. The floors were marble and slippery as can be, though. I would worry to take my 75 year old mom there as everyone tends to walk through the lobby dripping wet. Very dangerous. There are people drying it up almost constantly though and it was very pretty.
The pools were small. I was surprised by how small they were, but it really wasn't a problem for us. The larger of the two was close to the beach and that's where all of the party, young (or at least single) people hung out. The pool on the kid side (next to the kid park) was small, but quaint. Not overly crowed. The hotel was about 60% capacity, I think. The kiddie pool with ship, slides, was great. There are also two large slides for older kids that was a lot of fun - too old for my girl though. I did it and it was fun.
I thought the food was great, but I'm adventurous. I eat everything I don't normally have here like chilaquiles and beef and chicken for breakfast. I love that food. The Sunset Grill has the most wonderful steak I've ever had for dinner, not lunch. Once we went there, we went there every night b/c it was so good. The Mexican restaurant was not great, but good - it's the one you have to make reservations for. We only went there once. We were so overly satiated when we went to the Mex restaurant, that it's hard to tell. It may have been incredible, but we were too stuffed to know. Nobody got sick during the trip:).
I kept reading reviews that the service was superior and it was true. The staff from the check in desk to the maids were so friendly. They seemed to have a lot of fun and had no problem engaging you and interacting with you. I saw one cocktail waitress dancing a bit - she was cute and fun. Everyone looks you in the eye and doesn't look down as you walk by like a servant. It was fun everywhere we went in the hotel.
The bands were great. The had a Mexican show one night and that was good. Karoake one night - lot of fun - all in the lobby bar which we loved. They have two beds - the kind they have by the beach - in the bar, so we would grab one of those and hang out for the entertainment (which was usually over by 10:30) so we would get comfy there and my daughter would take her babies and notebook to color in if she wasn't dancing with us. Very family friendly.
We didn't spend a lot of time at the beach. The waves were always too dangerous - we wouldn't have gotten in - but we went down there a few times and it was beautiful. There is a beach bar that is sort of under the hotel. Great spot to get out of the sun and hang out. There are more beach beds there and hammocks. Nice.
We loved the room which was just a regular room, but had a sunken living space with a day bed in it and that was my daughter's room. It was very spacious. Probably could use a little remodeling, but whatever, our price was right.
We took our daughter to the Kid's Club. It was in a salon in the basement so it was a little gloomy. They are remodeling the one up by the kiddie pool - should be done by August '10. It looks as though it will be great when it's done. My daughter doesn't really do the kid's clubs. She's a little shy, but we all went to a puppet show down there one night and it was cute. On the last night, she wanted to go down there and she went all by herself. She had a great time. They made Playdoh. We left her there for about 2 hours while we packed. The staff was great.
We are going to look at the Grand Parnassus for next year although we will probably stay at our little hotel. We really liked it. The Grand Parnassus looks as though it has a great kids area too.
Can't think of anything more for now. Will add if I think of anything.
Date of Stay: 05/15/2010
Children in Party: 1
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