Mexico - Cancun Hotel Zone Hotels

I am a bit overwhelmed by the many choices in 4* hotels in the Cancun hotel zone for my 2 night stay in Feb and am hoping that those people on the board who have experience with them can give me some advice. What we are looking for:

1. Easy access to touring downtown during the day and nightlife and restaurants in the evening. Should I focus on staying at the top of the 7 or as close to it as possible.

2. We'd like a nice pool and access to a decent beach.

3. We don't want AI since we'll be doing that the last 6 nights of our trip.

4. Rooms should be decent and relatively recently rennovated. There are a ton of bad reviews for many of the hotels around nearby construction, upkeep and service and food and want to avoid those problems.

5. Good exercise facilities is a must.

6. Price point is $150 to $200/night

From what I've seen the following hotels might work:

1. Hyatt Regency - close to downtown, reviews don't look great though. Beach is a bit of a walk, but that is ok. Club room is only $20/night more so that might be worth it for the breakfast and evening cocktails.

2. Hilton - Best priced resort, reviews aren't too horrible. Pretty far down the 7.

3. ME Cancun - a little bit down the 7, a bit pricier than the others. Also has questionable reviews

Any suggestions are appreciated !

The public bus runs the length of the hotel zone to downtown Cancun so location in Hotel Zone for access to Downtown Cancun not really an issue. I am making the assumption that you are talking about downtown Cancun, and not "downtown hotel zone".



For your price range you can probably get a King Villa room at the Hilton that gives you lounge access (breakfast and evening snacks). Search over in the Hilton forum. This places gets good reviews there. Of course, it helps if you have Hilton status.

You may also try this site www.cancunmx.com . This is a pretty good board for Cancun and the Mayan Riviera.

You might also look at the Starwood properties. Have stayed at the Westin, which has one of the nicest gyms/exercise facilities of the Westins I've stayed at. It also has the best beach. The big downside is the distance from the shops and restaruants.

Le Meridien gets decent reviews but have not stayed there but might on our trip this spring. Currently quoting a rate of $169/nt. Still haven't decided on which hotel to go with mysef.

Try the Cancun forum at tripadvisor.com (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g150807-i8-Cancun_Yucatan_Peninsula.html) or its hotel ratings (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g150807-Cancun_Yucatan_Peninsula-Hotels.html).

The Hilton is quiet nice. By bus downtown is less than a dollar away and about a 25 minute ride.

I am not a big Hyatt fan but friends who have stayed have said it was OK. You will not like its location.

The ME Cancun is nicely located. Have never stayed there though.

For what it's worth, the government is currently making its way down the beach, adding new sand to expand the beach substantially. So the old "beach is gone" reviews for the Hyatt on down are probably out of date---until the next storm anyway!

Just back from the Royal Sands and its renewed beach. They did a great job. Should be well past the Hilton by February.

The Royal Resorts are time shares but rent units by the day. Suggest you check them out at www.royalresorts.com. The one bedroom lockout unit may be in your price range and beats any of the hotels listed.

The Royal Sands is our favorite based on its newness and location. However, the any of the tri-royals (Royal Mayan, Royal Caribbean or Royal Islander) are extremely nice as well.

Renting through the resort is often expensive but this year they have lots of available units and are making deals. If your stay falls within a Saturday to Saturday week, renting from an owner may be a steal. I suspect that a full week in a lock-off would be $700 or less and in a one bedroom suite with living room and full kitchen $1000 or less. Check the classifieds at www.tug2.net.

For what it's worth, the government is currently making its way down the beach, adding new sand to expand the beach substantially. So the old "beach is gone" reviews for the Hyatt on down are probably out of date---until the next storm anyway!

Update on beach. We were in Cancun last week and everyone was all excited that the work on the beach is finished. Lots of sand in front of the Hotel zone properties.

Soft like the old days or gritty? Sand seemed grittier to me but was mostly rock free.

Soft like the old days or gritty? Sand seemed grittier to me but was mostly rock free.Just got home (less than 30 mins ago) from 9 nights at the CUN Hilton. The beach is fantastic! It's not powdery white sand, but it is sand and it doesn't get too hot to walk on. It is possible to walk or jog several miles north from the Hilton (and perhaps two miles south).

There were red flags out every day of our stay, but for the last 4-5 days, the supervised sections of the beach were yellow.

To the OP's question, the bus is convenient, running approx every 5-10 mins. But after you've been to Mercado 28 and Walmart, there isn't much else to see in CUN. It's a fairly new city so there is no historical centre. (Take a bus to Merida for culture.) You can find everything you need in the hotel zone.
--
13F

I'm a little late on this - but isn't the Fiesta Americana the best choice? That and the Hyatt seem to be the best options that are closest to the nightlife downtown. Hyatt isn't all that nice, which is why I would recommend the Fiesta Americana.

I stayed at the Hyatt a couple months ago and found that being within walking distance to everything was much nicer than taking the bus or taxi to town. I have also stayed at the JW Marriott and Le Meridien, and although those are much nicer properties, the location doesn't compare, if that's what you're after.