Hey all, thanks to expensive domestic ticket prices, and the 'swine flu-discount plan' my girlfriend and I are flying to CUN for memorial day weekend. We have 4 days, departure is on Monday(25) from CUN. This is my first time in Mexico with a girlfriend, and she wants to go somewhere decent where there is a beach, and exciting nightlife(clubbing, dancing, drinking). Last time I went, I traveled around the Yucatan and Guatemala with a friend seeing ruins and sleeping in hammocks, so I really don't know where we should go. Any suggestions? Budget is reasonable, but not skint, my tax refund was kind to me.

\\I love this board, got valuable advice about EZE from here, and had a great time.

Might as well stay in the Hotel Zone. 4 Days will give you enough time to have fun but not so much to do a lot of traveling. Check out www.cancunmx.com They have a lot of reviews.

I was thinking that we were going to get out of Cancun as the town was super crowded and abound with scammers and people selling tons of stuff. I can handle it, I just want to avoid it as much as possible. Is there somewhere not too far from Cancun that would be a little less intense on that front?

Besides the advice you will receive here, I would recommend that you run a search for "Cancun" at the various FT hotel forums. Tripadvisor will also have a lot of reviews.

I've only stayed at the Hilton. It's a terrific property but it's located in a more quiet area of the hotel zone. You can always take the hotel zone bus to where the action is. The bus costs less than a dollar each way and there seems to be a bus running every 5 to 10 minutes. The bus runs 24/7. The locations along the hotel strip are designated by a kilometer number. The Hilton is located at 17km and the area with most of the nightlife is closer to the 9km or 10km mark.

Thank you, I will have a look, but I am still looking for ideas outside of Cancun.

I agree with previous posters that your best bet to find the things that your lady wants for such a short trip would be the Zona. But if you don't want to do that, why not go down to Playa del Carmen? Smaller, but it has good restaurants and clubs, and Avenida 5ta has become rather chi-chi. For easy access to nightlife you want to stay in town instead of at Playacar.

If you have the bucks, hire a car or get on a collectivo to get there. But it's just as easy to take a comfortable clase premier bus directly from CUN to Playa on ADO, and it's really cheap. Just as convenient to get to Playa from CUN as to get to the Zona, IMHO.

Keep in mind, however, that big indoor clubs, bars, concert venues, theatres etc. are still closed in Mexico by order of the government, in order to limit transmission of H1N1. Outdoor venues, however, are open and no problem. I got back from CUN Saturday, and I wish I could report on Playa for you, but I was vacationing on Isla Mujeres (which is a whole different kind of place).

As everyone else suggested if beaches and clubbing are you thing, the zona hotelera delivers.

Even over a holiday weekend, the heat and concerns about swine flu will depress the crowds. Of course, who wants to go to a half-empty club anyway?

As for the touts, they are easy to brush off. A simple, "No, gracias" and continuing to walk to wherever you are going will do the trick.

One more thing: because of the flu scare some hotels in the Zona are "consolidating" guests into other hotels in their chain there. This move is to save on employee costs while occupancies are down. Caveat emptor!

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I think what we will end up doing is heading to Isla Mujures for the first night, so we can chill and get our bearings and figure out where we want to go from there. I will drop Playa Del Carmen on her and see what she thinks, while keeping in mind that staying in the Zona might be the best call. That sucks that indoor venues are closed, anyone know where to lookup outdoor partying?

A bit late to the party, but I'd agree with other posters that Cancun can be too much but Tulum further down the coast would be too little. I think you picked the right area in the middle.

Better late than never, I guess.

I'd love suggestions for a early/mid october trip to the Cancun/Cozumel whatever area. I like nice hotels (example Royal Sonesta in New Orleans, Le Meridien in Munich) but doesn't have to be the Ritz.

Economy means my fabulous St. Lucia or Europe trip won't be happening. I'd like to use the passport so thinking Mexico or Montreal. I've been reading tripadvisor.com but love advice/thoughts from the FT folks. TIA.