Boraxo

A couple of questions for the Cancun experts:

(1) Does this property have a lounge for HH Gold/Plat members, or is it just access to the buffet and hhour at the Villas?

(2) Any special treatment for HH Gold at this property, i.e. Villa upgrades, etc.?

(3) Anybody that can provide comparison betwen Hilton Cancun and JW Marriott Cancun? Both are highly rated on Tripadvisor.

(4) Any more tips or recent info not already provided above in the excellent reviews?

We have booked a 4N stay in mid-November. Thanks.

Skyman65

I can share with you my experience. Stayed there in July '04 on a GNLOP award. I was HH Gold at the time. They put us in the villas. Asked about Jr Suite upgrade--no dice.

There is no Gold/Plat-only lounge. Just the lounge in the villas, available to all villa residents and Gold/Plats. Though, I'll add that they never "carded" us at the lounge, so I suppose anyone could just walk in, unless they use some other system to verify without asking (we all know that HH VIPs all have a special aura around them ). We had free breakfast buffet in the main hotel, or in the lounge. The restaurant had more selection, so we mostly ate there. They also have snacks and drinks in the evening in the lounge.

Can't say anything about the JW Marriott. Didn't go there. But I will say that we had a very nice stay, and were well treated.

kedcr22

JW has better restaurants, but has less acreage. JW feels more like a business hotel while Hilton feels like a resort. I've stayed at both and would pick the Hilton if I were to return.

adgtravel

thank you homestop, anyone else been there at Christmas?

Dugernaut

You didn't mention if this is a paid or award stay. As a Diamond, I would be shocked if you were not upgraded to a Villa. ( We were on our award stay last January). Lounge access was included for all Villa guests. Water rentals were available across the street and down a mile or so. We did our jungle tour trip out of one of the marinas. The hotel was full during our stay, and there were always plenty of lounge chairs available. You could be off by yourselves or sit with a crowd. I think you will have a great trip!

nsane1

[QUOTE/]This doesn't mean it is unsafe, as tourism is the life blood of the area - but it does mean some monopolistic practices, service "peculiarities", etc. (But definitely avoid anything to do with officialdumb there.)[/QUOTE]


I've heard some great stories about the "police". Luckily the mrs. booked us pre-paid transfers.

The write-ups on the hotel have me excited about my trip on Dec 9-12, thanks for all the great info.

jasonvr

I have a trip booked for 6 nights at the Hilton Cancun at the end of November and I am wondering if any Gold VIP's have stayed there recently and what their upgrade/additional amenity (lounge access, continental breakfast, etc) experiences were there.

I am currently booked in a standard ocean view king, but would love to be in an ocean view villa. If the probability of an upgrade is high, I will probably stick with what I have, otherwise I might change room types a little bit (maybe to garden view villa and hope for the upgrade to ocean view). This is my first real stay as a gold (other than 2 nights at a local Hampton right after I jumped levels) and I am looking forward to what the new status might provide at what looks (and sounds) to be a magnificent hotel for my first vacation in far too long a time .

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jason

UpgradeMe

Any reason you couldn't do a search?

And does less than 60 days qualify as "recent"?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ht=cancun+gold

Also from 2005:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ht=cancun+gold
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ht=cancun+gold

bigjim

Thanks for providing this relatively new poster with the information that they were seeking. Members that do this really do help others feel welcome!(perhaps a little less sarcasm next time though?)! ^

kymbakitty

Dear Jason:

Congrats on your booking in Cancun!!! We spent 11 wonderful days there in Feb 05. I did a trip report so you may want to check it out. It was fabulous and we would go again in a heart beat!

What I don't know is whether you will have "lounge" access. When I was there, they were only allowing "Diamonds" into the lounge, but I have heard that some Golds were allowed too...so it probably depends on the demand.

Don't even worry about UpGradeMe's reply. If you want to learn the search function, do a search for his posts and you will see that he treats everyone this way...he is a very angry man. He is probably the only one on this board that I 1) would not meet and have a drink with if we were at the same hotel and 2) hope I never need to ask for directions!

Welcome to this board! You will learn so many fabulous things that you wouldn't find elsewhere! This, by far, is one of the most informative boards on the net, IMHO!!! The posters are so great (99%) and are so willing to advise....the trip reports are awesome. Also, I use tripadvisor.com quite a bit, but it is very light on the Gold/Diamond experiences.

WELCOME!!!! And please post a trip report when YOU return for others!

Dawn

jasonvr

Thank you Dawn. UpgradeMe's response was not quite what I was expecting, especially as compared to the kind of responses I have received over in the United forum.

Just a couple of notes to UpgradeMe though:
1) I DID do a search before I posted and read all the threads that you referenced. None of them were recent enough for me, especially considering the fairly recent bouts of hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. The "less than 60 days" post that you pointed to was posted in August 2005, however the poster was referring to a stay in July of 2004
2) Most, if not all, the posters in the threads you referenced were talking about upgrades as Diamonds. As I am not a Diamond (yet), that really doesn't help me as Diamonds are more likely to get preferential upgrades than Golds.

Once again, thank you Dawn for you advice and soothing tone . I'll keep my eyes on this thread and post a report when I get back in early December.

Kulkulcan 17

Concerning upgrades, Diamonds are upgraded to Villas (including lounge privileges such as breakfast and afternoon happy hour) so long as the Villas aren't already sold out at time of arrival. If the Villas are sold out then Diamonds are upgraded to Deluxe w/ balconey but still given access to Villas Lounge.

Golds are upgraded to Deluxe w/ balcony and are given comp continental breakfast certificates for use in the main restaurant. Full breakfast can be purchased for small surcharge.

The reason Golds aren't granted Villas Lounge access is just due to capacity of the lounge itself. Because the property is a popular destination for HH members of all levels, the only way to avoid overcrowding the lounge (which would impact the satisfaction of paying guests and upgraded guests alike) is to restrict access to Diamonds only. And even with that restriction there are certain holiday time periods (Easter week, Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, etc.) where the operation is stretched to its limits.

So, if you stick with the standard room you've booked you're assured of an upgrade to deluxe w/ balcony because you're a Gold. However, if you were to rebook to a Gardenview villa (and if you were to confirm that was done, say, on this board for example) I wouldn't be surprised if you just didn't find yourself in an Oceanfront Villa (w/ Villas Lounge privileges) at the end of the day.

Just a thought...

jasonvr

Well, I have taken Kulkulcan's advice which seems very reasonable and well informed. I am now booked into a Gardenview Villa for my six night stay. I think the guaranteed lounge access and more secluded room for my escape from reality (i.e. vacation) definitely make the little bit of extra money a night well worth it.

Thanks for the advice Kulkulcan. Today has been an good day in Hilton land for me. Good advice, changed my room type to a villa, which I am looking forward to, and my brand new Gold card just arrived in the mail (I was wondering how long that was going to take)!

I promise a trip report as soon as I get back (as long as I haven't managed to sunburn my fingers making it impossible to type )

Jason

jasonvr

It would seem that Hilton should be posting this kind of information on their website... Both Starwood and Marriott have information up about all hotels affected, current conditions (Starwood), and updated reservation policies. No such info on the Hilton site. I only hope that the Hilton Cancun survives as I have a reservation there at the end of November.

billyrayvalentine

Heck, we're suppose to be their next weekend for our site visit...