I stayed at the Westin Cancun Resort and Spa for 3 nights last week with my fiancé as part of a 6-night stay in combination with the Hyatt Zilara. We got a lagoon-facing RBC room on the 4th floor, which was booked with points (8,500/night).
Check-in: We arrived at ~2:00pm and hoped to check-in early (on a Saturday). It was kind of funny because they (almost slyly) went through the whole check-in process before telling us that our room would not be ready until standard check-in time at 4:00pm. No big deal... we were hungry so we went down to the sports bar and grabbed a seat outside, in the shade to have lunch and a drink. By the time we ate and finished our drinks it was about 3:00, so we stopped by the front desk, and at this time our room was ready. Since we were in the main lobby, they brought us to the RBC with a golf cart. You can also ask them to call a golf cart, but the walk from main lobby to RBC lobby is less than 5 minutes through the buildings, so we mostly walked.
RBC Lagoon Room: The room was spacious and the bed was comfortable. Everything was relatively updated. Nothing to write home about but nice enough for us. The bathroom was nice and clean. The balcony is a must (all RBC rooms have a balcony), and the lagoon side made for some nice sunset views.
Food: We went to the resort sports bar for lunch twice, due to convenience. The food was decent, albeit a bit pricey (~$55 for two chicken Caesar wraps with fries and a drink each), but about what you would expect at a beach resort.
We went to Navios (a 5 minute walk down the road) and I highly recommend it. The food was good, the prices were reasonable ($65 for two dinners, an appetizer, and drinks), and the setting was romantic – on a dock over the water at sunset.
We ate one dinner at Sea and Stones on the resort. We thought it was just ok. Not bad, but not anything special. Probably would’ve tried somewhere new off-resort if given the chance.
The third day we spent on an excursion that was at Xel-Ha, which was all-inclusive, so we didn’t eat any more meals at/around the Westin.
RBC Breakfast: They called it a “continental breakfast” when we checked in and I got nervous. I was pleasantly surprised and I thought they had a fantastic spread with lots of variety – both hot and cold options. Pretty much everything you could want for breakfast aside from an omelet station.
RBC Cocktail Hour: They served hors d'oeuvres on a pre-prepared plate and it changed daily. A few were decent but most were pretty “meh”. It seemed like they were trying to rush you out after you got your plate and a drink… but once we made it clear that we were going to hang out, they brought more drinks. They didn’t really have a bar… orders went through the wait staff and they went to the back and came back with a drink. Kind-of a weird setup but we got a little food and some free drinks nonetheless. This ran from 4-6pm.
Beach: It may depend on what you’re into but I think we did this right. We brought a bottle of vodka from duty-free and got mixers (and water bottles) for cheap from the Circle K down the street from the resort. After breakfast, we would make drinks up in the room in big thermal tumblers and bring them down to the beach for the day. Grabbed a cabana, did some reading through the morning while sipping on a drink, hopped in and out of the ocean every once in a while to cool off. After grabbing lunch at the sports bar, went up to the room and made another drink for the afternoon.
The beach itself is big, nice, clean, and not overcrowded. We didn’t have any issues finding a cabana. Also, not a lot of kids, which was surprising considering a lot of schools were on spring break. They provided towel cards when we checked in, but we never had to use them… they just had a pile of them by the RBC pool with nobody taking cards.
Pool: The main pool seemed nicer than the RBC pool, although a few more kids in there than on the beach it seemed. We considered spending some time by the pool but ultimately decided that our setup on the beach was pretty nice so we stuck with that. Overall we thought the pools were pretty “meh” and the beach was pretty nice.
Summary: I think we had the right mindset going into our stay. This place is perfect if you’re looking to relax on the beach for a few days and maybe do some mild exploration. The RBC upgrade (6000 points > 8500 points) was 100% worth it for the breakfast and balcony, plus some afternoon drinks. It obviously doesn’t compare to the Zilara, and it isn’t the best place I’ve ever been, but if I find myself with 34k SPG and wanting to go somewhere warm for 5 nights, I’d go back. The value is great and personally I’ll never be in a bad mood sitting on a beach with a book in one hand and a drink in the other. While I wouldn’t consider it luxury, overall it was a very good stay.