Help me choose between 3 Cancun hotels!!
 

Hi. There are 3 couples in our group avg age is 30. We've narrowed our search down to the Cancun palace, Omni Villas, and Fiesta Americana Condesa. We will be doing all inclusive. We will probably venture out 1 of the 3 nights. I have read so many conflicting reviews, I'm going crazy! Here is what we want... We want to be able to party a little, relax a little, and have decent food. I want there to be a little bit of entertainment at night in case we stay at the hotel. Any help is appreciated!
thanks

This is only my opinion - and you will most likely get several - but I would NEVER stay at an all-inclusive in Cancun.

There are so many excellent restaurants in the Hotel Zone and in town, and AI's are famous for poor to mediocre food. (Not to say that any of the places you have listed are like that.)

Cancun is quite safe, and we have been going to Mexico every year for more than 12 years, and out of hundreds of meals, we've never been sick. (Almost all of the posts I've seen by people saying they got sick in Mexico were staying at an AI.)

My lecture over, the only one of the places you've mentioned that I have stayed was the Condesa. It was nice, but the timeshare people who work there were quite annoying. We did not eat at the hotel. The atrium bar in the lobby is very nice, and the pool area was lovely. The rooms were average.

While I am not a fan of all inclusive either, I will give my opinion on one of the hotels...I have stayed at Fiesta Americana Condesa twice on company trips for work. It is a nice hotel on a beautiful stretch of beach and nice pool areas. The rooms were very clean and nice. As with most AIs, the food was best at breakfast (quite good, actually), decent at lunch but not so great for dinner. I would venture to say that the food is mostly the same at most AIs with some good nights and some bad. The offer lunch off a menu at their outdoor restaurant by the beach and the grilled fish was good there, but took forever to arrive. If I wanted to go AI and return to Cancun, I would stay there again. Dinner in Cancun on your one night out would be great at La Habichueala (sp?). Beautiful place, romantic setting especially if you sit on their outdoor patio, with great food and service. Be sure to get a reservation.

We just returned from a 4 day stay at the Omni Hotel & Villas. We liked the hotel - very nice, clean and well maintained. (We, hubby and me, are both 35).

The only thing we can't comment on is the nightly entertainment. We were going simply to relax and do our own thing....so we didn't join in on the evening themed buffets or the activities director's excursions to Carlos & Charlie's, etc.

We heeded the advice of those who said don't go AI. Check the Omni site for different packages. They have one called "Love in Cancun". It includes breakfast every day of your stay, 2 one hour massages, a bottle of champagne on your arrival and dinner (and bottle of wine) at DaVinci's Restaurant(their restuarant that requires researvations and pants or dresses/skirts). With this package you are "semi" AI, but can enjoy a couple of dinners out at other great restuarants.

Another tip - if you aren't leaving for a few weeks, join their Select Guest program (no cost - sign up online) and they will send you a couple of coupons with your select guest card. One of these will probably be for a complimentary room upgrade. Use this coupon to upgrade to a Junior Suite w/ Ocean view free. The other perk of being a select guest is that they will give you a card to select a morning beverage (coffee, juice, soft drink) delievered to your room each morning for free.

We really enjoyed their pools, bars, and beach. They have waiter/waitress service even to the regular pool and a swim up bar, plus a jacuzzi swim up bar that overlooks the beach.

We'd recommend Lorenzillo's Live Lobster house on the strip for dinner one night and we'd recommend the massage early in the trip (if you do this package) before you get sunburned!

For 4 days our cost including the drinks we ordered (at least 4 a day) was around $700. Hope this helps!

Have fun!

I totally agree with the previous posters. All-inclusive in Cancun is not necessary and would probably prohibit you from venturing out and experiencing the many great and varied restaurants in Cancun. Meal costs are not much different than what youd'd find in the US. Not super expensive as what you would find on other islands. Transportation around is extremely easy: take the public bus for 6 pesos (about .60 US) Try to stay in a hotel on the Caribbean side as the beach and the water is much nicer than that on the northern end, the Gulf of Mexico side.

AI for Cancun hotel zone is not essential as stated by the others. The pool area at the FA Condesa is very nice, rooms are spacious (request for the ocean view rooms). Cancun Palace is one of the Palace Resort properties. If you do decide to book Cancun Palace, you may visit their sister properties in the hotel zone as well as the sister hotels further south in the Riviera Maya area, Moon Palace, Spa Palace and Xpu Ha Palace. They are very nice. Xpu Ha Palace is in an eco-park setting, it is very different than the other hotel zone hotels.

THANKS EVERYONE!! I will definately keep all suggestions in mind. I also signed up for the Omni Select Guest program just in case we go there! No matter what, I'm sure we'll have fun!

The FA Condesa is a much better looking hotel than the Omni...