weaselwatchr

Long time reader, 1st time poster.

Just returned from 7 night (reward) stay. 1st 2 nights in a Deluxe room w/ balcony 2nd floor (232) facing the beach. Nice room, big closet, flat screen TV, and decent sized balcony. 3rd night upgraded to an Ocean Front Villa (2005). <Upon being upgraded I was told that a $40/night fee would be charged, I believe that it was worth the additional charge.>
The Villa was only slightly larger than the Deluxe room, however it was approximately 100 feet from the ocean and the balcony was much larger. We spendt most of our time sitting on the balcony reading and watching the water.

Dined at Spices for breakfast, Kiosko (pool area), and Pizza & Pasta, all quite good (accepting the hotel prices).

Beach is as previously described Red Flag all the time. Best to just watch, although we did see several people get out in the surf.

Would stay again.

europeanflyer

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Weaselwatchr many thks, I am very interested in the Ocean villas , we are booked for 1 on the 2nd part of our stay ,

we are with 2 kids , is the villa 2 bedrooms or just 1 with 2 double beds ?
Also waiting to see if we will be upgraded for the 1st 6ngts , so if they offer the 40USD difference I will take it.

Overall sounds very good & looking forward to our visit.

weaselwatchr

The Villas that we were offered featured either 2 queen beds or 1 king and they were both 1 room units.

shiner

Just got back from 6 nights at the Cancun Hilton. Was upgraded to a 'deluxe' room - which as far as I could tell was a step up because it had a balcony. I was told by the staff two interesting things - first, occupancy is about 50% right now and second, they won't upgrade award stays beyond the deluxe room.

The trip was good. If we were swimming-in-the-ocean types, I would have been disappointed that the beach was rocky and pretty rough, but it was just interesting to look at. The place was completely quiet and the villas lounge was never crowded. The staff was wonderful. I think we'll stay there again.

Drew11m

We just got back yesterday from 3 nights at the Hilton. Nice resort all in all.
We booked a regular king and were upgraded to a king with balcony. As diamonds we were given 2 liter bottles of nestle water per stay, free continental breakfast in the Spices restaurant (breakfast pretty good, upgraded three times to full breakfast for another 89 pesos, and we were only charged for one of the three by the waiter), and access to the Villas lounge where they have free alcoholic drinks, snack and appetizers, and free internet.

Pool area is beautiful, the pool area restaurant had decent food, although the food was only warm not hot one day.) Prices overall seemed really reasonable, especially as the exchange rate is 13 pesos to 1 dollar at the moment.

Beach was rocky, red flagged, and the surf was pretty high our entire time. We stayed in the pool.

Staff was super nice. We got a car for the day from the budget rental desk in the lobby, and drove to Tulum and to Chichen-Itza. Fitness center is free for diamonds, and is pretty nice. Didnt play golf but course looked well kept.

Best deal in Cancun is the bus. 6 pesos to ride up and down the strip. We went into the city and bought beer, snacks, and water at the Mexican supermarket. If you take the R-2 bus, it stops at the Walmart downtown where you can stock up on goodies at much cheaper prices. The bus can also take you to a nearby gas station/7-11 where they beer, soda, and snacks.

We enjoyed the resort quite a bit. Would definitely stay at the Hilton again. Occupancy for Cancun as a whole was about 56%.

Offshor

Going 1-27 for the first time to Cancun.
I am a Diamond VIP sitting on 4 million points. Yes, I just about live at Hilton Family Hotels.
They want to upgrade me.
I have a choice of Villa Room or Main building Suite. Which is better ?
If I take the Suite, do I still have access to the Villa Lounge ?

How is the beach in front of the hotel / Grainy or soft ? Is it a mile or so long ?

What is the best way to get from the airport to the hotel ?
Thanks for any replies

noirpepper

Welcome to FT Offshor! Happy new year!

The best way to get to the hotel from the airport in CUN; in my opinion would be to ask the hotel if they have airport service or not (that'll be the easiest). Otherwise the Cancun tourism (state sponsored) service has taxi and shuttle service available at good rates. Good luck and enjoy FT!

KENNECTED

Here are some threads about the Hilton Cancun that may be of help.

Hilton Cancun Resort - Recent Stays and Questions

Hilton Cancun Golf & Spa Resort Hurricane Wilma Thread: Re-Opened May 1, 2006

Trip Report - Cancun Hilton Resort

Sunday

A couple of answers to recent questions (that aren't available in the threads you've listed Cheap Elite).

Villas vs. suites are a matter of personal preference. The villas are more private and quieter than most rooms in the main building. Some of the junior suites are a bit sexier than the villas and about the same size, although the balconies that we saw (we looked at three suites) were all smaller. I think the main building is beautiful, yet I prefer to be away from the action in the villas.

The problem with the linens and lack of updating in the villas probably isn't going to be handled anytime soon since RLJ actually owns the resort and it's no longer a Hilton franchisee. Hilton manages it, but perhaps now that's its owned by a privately-held holding company it might not receive the investments in maintenance that the property had previously enjoyed. RLJ got it for a steal (only $31 million in '03!) and now they're building a beachfront conference center (scheduled for August completion) so it looks like they're targeting conventions rather than leisure guests. I hope they get more aggressive about protecting thier brilliant investment (Hilton Cancun has one of the best reputations throughout the brand) and update the villas soon (at least with replacement tile and upgraded linens). Business and leisure don't separate at that property and future brand rep is going to be an integrated endeavor.

europeanflyer

have just returned from a 12 day stay

6 ngts in a ocean villa , 6 ngts in a suite in the main building.

We had access to the Villa lounge for the whole stay.

Personally the kids & I prefered the suite with the big balcony & hot tub & the wife the Ocean villa because of the view & being close to the beach & pool.

Overall service was excellent & nearly everybody addressed me by name , any Diamonds visiting should contact George Stanfield -Resident Manager before arriving , he was great in arranging the upgrades & I believe marked my a/c as VIP due to the service received:
email :[email protected]

This was our first visit to Mexico & taking in the hotel , restaurants , family things to do etc , would recommend it.

On the note of airport transfer , use :
www.entertainment-plus.net
I pick this up from a previous posting , only paid 65$ for return airport pick up family of 4 , knowing another family we meet paid 58$ one way !
They also have good prices on trips & events .

Sorry could not post this in time for OFFSHOR , but hope you enjoyed your stay

swiss_global

I stayed at Hilton Cancun recently for one night only. However I was less than impressed and happy to move on (touring Yucatan) after that.

- I was booked in and paid for a Deluxe Room - they happily told me I've been upgraded to a Deluxe Room ...
- The concierge insisted in parking my car (20 meters from Hotel entrance in an open lot) although I wanted to do it myself as the webpage stated free parking. They charged 8 USD for the unwanted service ...
- They offered me access to the Villas lounge on check-in. Obviously, as a Gold, I'm not entiteled under the new rules. When arriving there, I was rejected - this is not the subtle way to treat your customers, luring them first just to bounce them later, even if it was correct!
- There is a Mariachi band playing for money in the lobby - thus be careful when sitting down and waiting for someone, you might have to pay ...

Bottom line. It was not horrible, but you're tolerance is certainly put on trial!

Sunday

We used Cancun valet twice - the last time was nearly two years ago. They charged $65/RT and were on time and very professional. It was not a shared ride. I highly recommend. ^www.cancunvalet.com.

German Expat

I am looking to go to Cancun end of March. 2 adults (my wife and me) and our 3.5 year old son.

Below is what I can get with the prepaid rates for the period we like (6 nights).

183.00 USD 1 KING BED DELUXE ROOM WITH BALCONY OCEANVIEW
199.00 USD 1 KING VILLA WITH BALCONY/ SOFABED GARDENVIEW
199.00 USD 2 QUEEN BEDS VILLA WITH BALCONY GARDENVIEW
215.00 USD 1 KING VILLA WITH BALCONY/ SOFABED OCEANFRONT
215.00 USD 2 QUEEN BEDS VILLA WITH BALCONY OCEANFRONT
191.00 USD 1 KING BED WITH WHIRLPOOL/ TERRACE OCEANVIEW
159.00 USD ROOM SELECTED AT CHECK-IN OCEANVIEW

I was also thinking using 175k points but looking at pricing it doesn't look that attractive to use points.

I am Diamond and now to my questions.

Would you go into the Villas or rather the main building ? Is there an advantage with our 3 year old being in a Villa ?

What are the chances of an upgrade and what do you think it would be (Deluxe room ?) if I just pick the last option (room selected at check in) ?

I am considering the 2 Queen beds villa with oceanfront but would I even get any Diamond upgrade or should I take the Gardenview and ask for an Oceanview upgrade ? Also the Villas have the lounge included anyway so no real diamond advantage there.

Would the award stay pretty much be the same like last option (room selected at check in) ? Then I consider approx. 1000 US$ being cheaper then 175k points (I have around 200k points left but will find a home for them in Europe this summer if needed).

The approx. 350 US$ difference between the lowest and highest cost option in price is not a deal breaker but I obviously spend those rather on drinks and food

I saw some reports here about some people getting upgrades and others not being upgraded.

US1@ORF

We stayed last August and paid for the stay (Jr. Suite in main building) so can't speak for the treatment if staying on points. I've heard that they don't upgrade award stays but I find that hard to believe for Diamonds, perhaps true for Gold and Silver level.

Concerning the Lounge, yes, Diamonds are offered use of the lounge during the complimentary evening cocktail/snack reception, from 5p-7p I believe. The hotel provides comp continental breakfast coupons good for the breakfast buffet in the main building for Diamons (perhaps Gold and Silver too, don't know). I think the Villa lounge is very crowded in the morning during breakfast time so they direct those staying the main building to have breakfast in the restaurant. I think you have much more choice of items if you have breakfast in the restaurant than if you tried to use the Villa lounge for the comp continental breakfast.

If you stay in the Villas then I think they expect you to eat Breakfast in the Villa Lounge and may not give coupons for the restaurant but not certain.

I know lots of folks like the idea of the Oceanview Villas but I just cannot see the logic as they are not right on the water (as I recall from memory) so still a bit of a walk. Plus, they are a hike from the main building if you want to dine in any of the restaurants.

My wife and I are planning a return visit sometime this year and don't even think about the Villas when booking. We like the Jr. Suite (has a nice private jacquzzi (spelling?) tub and private balacony that we find irresistable. Those rooms are the end of the hallway on each floor of the main buildding and if you get one on the wing that is in the direction of the ocean it offers an awesome view of the sunrise (be sure to close your curtains as the sun is quite brite in the morning). That particular room is perfect if you have children as the sofa in the adjoining parlor has a pull out bed. Plus, offers a second TV so no fighting over the remote.

The evening cocktail reception in the Villa Lounge is quite popular and very nice treat. Nothing fancy, average bevs and snacks (think fried, salty variety) but nice treat nonetheless. Wife and I are discussing the ways to economize on food and bev next time we go. May take the local bus to Wal-Mart to pick up some wine and bottled water. We typically alternate each of our days at the resort between the beach and the pool. They have excellent wait staff who keep you in your chair and bring food/drinks all day long if you like - we certainly did!

Can't say enough good things about this property. Only one complaint and that is the price of services in the Day Spa. Wife usually likes to have a massage and facial while on vacation but not at the prices they charge. It looks like a nice place but once we found the price list we turned around and decided not worth it. Mind you, we are not cheap, but we don't just throw away our money because we are on vacation.

Hope this has answered some of your questions and feel free to PM me if you have more.

Good luck and enjoy the resort in Cancun.

OB one

Agreed.

I have been in the deluxe rooms and the first floor garden villas. The view is better from the hotel than the first floor garden villa but there is more room for your son in the graden villas with a nice balcony or patio. Also your son could play on the grass just off the balcony/patio in a garden villa while you, sitting on the patio, kept your eye on him so he could not get too far. Obviously this would not work on second story garden villas or beachfront where the red flag will likely be flying. Just watch out for iguanas. But I have not stayed in a junior suite and many reviewers give these rooms the best marks. It is personal preference.

A diamond has a very good, but not 100%, chance at an upgrade. There are a lot of rooms in the hotel and in the villas.

If the oceanfront is VERY important, book it. If your vacation would be miserable if you were not upgraded to oceanfront, book the best room. There is no guarantee of an upgrade. Diamonds get lounge access staying in a villa or staying in the main hotel, so there is no sense of paying for it.

Yes, awards stays get a deluxe room and the balconys are about a foot wide but the view over the pool and ocean and villas is very nice. It would not be terrible to be there and you might (as a diamond) get a junior suite end unit with huge balcony and a jacuzzi.

Again, if you can live without an upgrade, save the money and you can go down and nicely talk to the front desk and talk to people there until you find someone who will push through the upgrade. Took two trips for me, upon check-in nothing was available (but I am gold so wasn't expecting anything), in the early evening again I was told nothing is there, but the following afternoon AFTER checkout ended (maybe 1 pm) and it was rather slow, I sauntered in from the pool and said "So and so told me to come by around now because you might be able to move me to the villas." Bingo we were packed and over there in half an hour. The key is being able to live without the oceanfront villa upgrade. If that is a dealbreaker, it will be $350 well spent.

And have a good time.

one more thing, I was on a four night AXON award as a gold.