Trip Reports - Wilma Recovery: Photos from the southern part of Cancun's Hotel Zone

Not a trip report per se, but thought you might be interested in seeing the progress in hotel/condo repair from Cancun's Hotel Zone.

My family spent Christmas Day to New Year's Eve at the "Royal Caribbean" Resort in Cancun. On Dec 27th, I took a walk from the Hilton (near southern end of the Hotel Zone) to the Ritz Carlton (about the middle). Between those two properties, only the Royal Resorts (Royal Mayan/Royal Caribbean/Royal Islander/Royal Sands) and Le Meridien Hotel are open. Some properties (Fiesta American Condesa/Omni) are busy with repairs, some (Marriott's/Ritz Carlton) don't seem to be. Others (Cancun Palace, Aqua) are in the process of being completely gutted/remodeled.

Lots of damage remains on the lagoon side of Kukuclan Blvd, with only a few restaurants open.

Still a lot of work left to do, but by summer, things should be back to normal.

Here are the pictures: http://public.fotki.com/skofarrell/vacations/200512_-_cancun/southern_hotel_zone/

For those interested, the Royal Resorts are terrific. The only damage left to repair is cosmetic/landscaping on the beach side of the resort, near their beach retaining walls (repairs are in progress; should be completed in a week or two). Here are some pictures of the Royal Caribbean property: http://public.fotki.com/skofarrell/vacations/200512_-_cancun/royal_caribbean_resort/

Thanks for the pics Sean....great work.

I've been to several of those hotels pictured (Oasis, JW, Marriott CasaMagna) so I am very interested to see the extent of their damage.

Beach in front of the Royal Caribbean sure seems smaller than I had remembered, and the landscape damage looks as if a little more would have done severe structural damage to some buildings. :(

Thanks for posting these.

All four of the Royal resorts were closed for only for a week or two of cleanup after Wilma. There was no damage of any major consequence. The fact that of these resorts came through a major storm without significant damage (while their neighbors in some cases were decimated) is a real testament to the care put into construction and upkeep of these properties.

We were impressed with the excellent condition of our condo given that it was built in the late 80's. No mold, no peeling paint, it looks as if they were built 5 years ago, not 15-20. They're great.