Elainee

We had never been to Cancun. Told it was just Florida/Miami. But this year the airfare from NYC to Florida was so high (and I did look at many options) that we decided to go to Cancun. Stayed at JW Marriott. Delighted at how nice it was. Excellent rates, lovely room, wonderful service and best of all... fabulous beach. I don't know how much it cost to redo that beach but it was worth it. Crystal clear water, soft (but not too soft) sand, no steep dropoff, nice gentle but fun waves. Who could want more?? Well, the buffet breakfast at the hotel was beyond excellent and we have had hotel buffet breakfasts in many, many countries and at Four Seasons, Hyatts, Tajs, etc. I think this was best. Wow! Maybe it is also because we like Mexican food.
While people we met at the hotel liked/loved the other hotel restaurants, we thought they were just ok.
Cancun is fun. We are not party people but we did like that there are lots of restaurants, malls, and other stuff. Easy to get to places beyond the hotel.
We did a private trip to Chichen Itza and while it was very costly to go privately with car, driver and guide we were happy we did . It was so hot, hot, hot at Chichen we had the option of leaving as soon as we wanted. Also went to cenote where it would have been fun to swim but did not want to do the 90+ steps down and up. Remember, it is 2 hour plus drive to Chichen from Cancun and that long back. The toll road is unbelievably expensive. We will go to more of the Mayan sites when the weather is cooler. But Chichen is amazing and a must see!
After enjoying the Marriott we stayed for three days at Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita , an upscale all inclusive. It is a beautiful, beautiful property. The rooms are enormous and lovely. Huge living room, big bedroom (with the hardest beds this side of Bhutan), bathroom with sunken tub for two, two patios, a small private pool. Great for those who want to spend lots of private time in their room. The food was ok except for the whole grilled fish at lunch which was excellent. Very generous with alcohol, but we do not drink much. The surf has fields of seaweed growing under it which does not make pleasant swimming. They charge $55 to go to reef (5 minutes from shore) for 1.5 hours with a group of 4 to snorkel. I think that is expensive. And a real feeling of isolation. Could not walk to anything. We liked the Marriott better.
In short, we have already booked our hotel in Cancun for Christmas.
Only downer...getting thru the Cancun airport on arrival. They re-x-ray your luggage which creates long lines and then the novice is "attacked" by streams of timeshare salespeople on the way out. Walk fast, do not talk to anybody.

RAC

A lot of people like to disparage Cancun, but it's a very enjoyable destination. We spent our honeymoon there.

Is it a secluded, intimate place? No. But, it does have some of the best beach and restaurant and hotel options in the country, plus access to Yucatan peninsula.

emd3

Elainee, so happy you had a great time! And you found a good private car and guide for Chichen Itza, wonderful, I am sure worth the splurge. Yes, April is hot (but May - August are even hotter). You will love it in Dec.

Next time try to venture out a bit, further south. Taje a cab 20 min. south of Cancun, and you can snorkel at the reef offshore at Puerto Morelos (the reef there is a protected natl. marine park, and is part of the 2nd largest reef system in the world), nice little fishing town. Lots of boats there to take you out to snorkel, and great little places on the beach for lunch afterwards (I love La Panza es Primero, it is a fun place, right on beach, and is sort of a shrine to Lucha Libre and has great inexpensive food). Price to snorkel is not anywhere near what you found on this trip. And other options for very different experiences a bit further south, in the posting you did before this trip.

Welcome to the Riviera Maya!

sassy_cat

Thanks for posting your report as so many people diss Cancun, even those that have never been there!

We have visited the Yucatan 5 or 6 times and we always spend at least a night or two in Cancun before and/or after driving further south.

We stayed at the JWMarriott last Christmas and really enjoyed it especially the pool. The hotel was very festive with lots of decorations including a huge Christmas tree in the lobby plus a real gingerbread house.
You will love the weather in December and do explore the area as emd3 suggested.

Little_Man

Thanks for your post. I love Cancun, too, and one of my favorite family trips when my kids were younger was to the JW Marriott. We all loved it and had so much fun! And the beach and ocean are magnificent.

I'd go there every year if I could, even though travel "snobs" love to denigrate it.

KVR

Thank you so much for such a great review of Cancun. I have to agree that many people disparge Cancun for no good reason. We have been twice, the Riviera Maya 3 times and Cozumel 4 times. We would not hesitate to go back. It's a great, inexpensive place to go for a vacation or getaway. People shouldn't listen to all the nay-sayers as they are really missing out on a great destination.

So glad you had a good time and will return.

daisee

Thank you! We are deciding where to 'spend' our miles next spring-Costa Rica or Cancun area. Still undecided-maybe we'll post something. But this is definetely swaying us!