phillylex

Has anyone who did the $249 offer been able to "sneak" another couple into the room (nothwithstanding any limitations on space in the room)? We got the mailing, and have friends who are interested in going but aren't SPGs.

laidback71

Just received a one of those time share letters for this hotel. The offer was $229 for four nights plus a $100 resort certificate or 7000 SPG points. Pay $129 upfront with 1 year to book. It states clearly in the letter that I and my partner must attend a 90 minute presentation or I will be charged full price for the stay.

I thought this was a good deal until reading thaliajen's report. Still, may take a shot at it.

Just wondering if anyone has actually booked one of these.

gores95

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Yoga42

I signed up for the $249 offer on May 21, and they told me it would be "about 6 weeks" until they opened up the first quarter of 2009 for booking. 12 weeks later, I am still waiting. I paid $149 for the priviledge of calling them every day for the last 12 weeks with no results. I am fully expecting that when they FINALLY open, they won't have any availability for the dates I want. I think it's basically an easy way for them to get $149 from you with no risk to them. The literature is so vague that they are covered - no guarantees to get the date you want. Specifically states no holidays, but nothing else. So they probably will give you a room in the high hurricane season, but that's it. I guess the old adage is true - "if it sounds too good to be true, it is!" I wouldn't waste my $149 on the initial payment.

travellingcari

4 nights; Thur - Monday and had a fabulous time.
We had a lagoon view room with balcony, could have had an upgrade to sea view but preferred non-smoking and none was available with sea view. That said, sunsets from our balcony were great and we just went to the beach to watch sunrise.

They're pushing the timeshare presentations pretty hard -- but even with the $100 off bill, "90 minutes" of my limited vacation time is worth more than that. Good beach bag and maps from the concierge, staff were happy to help us find a bar that would have the Giants (NFL) game and getting to the Marriott (Champions had the game) was super easy on the bus.

Loved that it was at the quiet end of the strip. Nice relaxing place, quiet days. We ate at most of the restaurants. I thought Sea & Stones was a little over-priced, but the Sunset Bar and El Palmar were great, as was the poolside dining. We did not have room service. I found the spa to be overpriced compared to other spas, but the treatment was fabulous.

Found staff as a whole to be fabulous and really tried to fix the issue with my stay points. That's still unresolved, but through no lack of trying. Highly recommend the property for someone who wants to do nothing but choose between the beach and pool. I don't need fancy stuff, I just wanted where to rest my head and enjoy the weather.

nologic

Just got back from a great stay here, with our group of 10 people. RBC is great. Rooms are huge. Balconies are huge. RBC longe is terrific...great happy hour. Staff is nice. We were all thrilled. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Scarpa257

Nologic - can you describe the RBC briefly? Or perhaps you have some pictures? I appreciate any additional info you may have.

nologic

Don't have pictures, but the RBC is a separate building at the end of the complex. 7 stories...maybe 100 or so rooms. The lobby small and very simple. The building has its own reception desk (one desk with two chairs, manned by one person) and its own activities desk (sort of alike a concierge for activities, run by a separate company). There is also a small business center off the lobby. I think RBC guests get 30 minutes of free computer access/use per day, although wifi is inexpensive ($13/day) and reaches out to the pool and beach.

The "club lounge" is quite different from any I have seen. It basically comprises what would typically be the lobby restaurant in any other hotel. It is located on the ground floor, right off the lobby, with a side door door to the pool and seating for about 100 people inside and maybe 20 people at poolside tables outside. There is also a large bar which serves drinks all day long.

In the morning, the club lounge functions as your restaurant for breakfast. Breakfast includes fresh fruit, eggs, pancakes or french toast, breads/muffins/pastries, wimpy bagels and cream cheese, coffee, OJ & grapefruit juice (not fresh squeezed) and a few other items. These items are available at a self-serve buffet, except for the coffee which is brought around by waiters. I think breakfast runs a long time, from 7-11AM, or so. Then, the room is basically closed until cocktail time. In fact, if you want lunch, the bartender has to order and fetch it from the main restaurant at the main hotel, which means it will take a long time to get there, and generally won't be "hot" -- but, you will have the convenience of ordering lunch from the RBC beach or pool. As far as I know, they do not have a kitchen or use of a kitchen to cook any food in the RBC building itself (which building is a 5 minute walk or so from the main pool/dining are of the the main hotel). At cocktail time (5-7:30PM, or 5:30-7:30PM), the RBC lounge provides hearty snacks and free drinks. The drinks are the most fun and extensive I have ever seen -- not your typical club lounge selections, with the bartender busy with his blender making margaritas (regular and mango), pina coladas, and most other drinks to order, served at your table inside the lounge, or at outside tables by the pool. The quantity is ample and the service is terrific, albeit you can't get top shelf liquor for free during this period, basically limiting you to well liquor (you can always buy premium drinks); for example, a friend of mine wanted some Grand Marnier in her margarita, and that was an "extra charge". The snacks are substantial and always include fresh chips and terrific guacamole/salsa, plus assorted hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, such as shrimp in a red sauce, spicy chicken wings, stuffed peppers, etc. The waiters ask for your room number when served as both a check that you belong in the RBC and as a way to get tips, as they present you a "bill" with the charges for what you ordered zeroed out, so you know how much free stuff you got in order to establish a basis for your tip. The waiters are very friendly, although if you want to be served drinks or food at the pool or beach, I suggest you notify the waiter to come to you periodically, as beach service is otherwise spotty. However, once they are aware that you want service (such as frequent drinks or lunch), they are relatively responsive.

The RBC also has it's own pool, which is warmer, but much smaller and more quiet, than the main pool.

The rooms are large and I think most have an ocean view. The balconies are huge and have nice lounge chairs, although they are all covered, so you can't get any sun on them. The decor is attractive. The bathrooms are also large, and my room included double-sized Bulgari amenities (not sure if this is because I was in a suite or if this is typical all the RBC rooms).

Hope this helps.

Have fun.

spgman

Hello,

I've read so many reviews and am still confused on where to stay in Cancun as a spg plat. member. I'm going with a few guys and want to stay in the center of everything so I'm leaning towards the La Meridien. The challenge is that the hotel rate is very high at the La Meridien. Any suggestions on where to get a good rate. Right now the lowest im seeing is 264.

I would try the new westin out, but it seems like they are not affiliated with spg.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated!

El Boocho

Just spent 2 nights at Old Westin and 5 nights at Le Meridien. The LM is much much better in pretty much every way. Service is much better at LM, rooms are much nicer at LM, location (unless you want to be closer to the airport or away from the "scene") is better at LM. Westin was acceptable, but is more of a downmarket hotel. The lounge at LM is much better than the trashy RBC that Plats get to use. There was some construction next door to the LM, but it really didn't bother us. The spa at the LM is actually less expensive than the Westin. We rented a cabana a the LM for $35/day and it was really nice. The staff at the LM remembered us by name and was very friendly over all. We chatted informally with several of the staff members and got some great recommendations. One nice thing about the LMis they have free parking. We rented a car for a few days and would highly recommend it. We rented from National Car renta (only a few minutes away) at La Isla Mall. We then returned it to the airport which was super easy and saved us the $15/pp to get to the airport. I think the Jetta we rented cost us $30/day all in.

mcgahat

I just returned from a three night stay at this property. The reason I booked it over the LM was because of a rate of $111/night vs. $230/night at the LM. Of course they quote in dollars and then exchange to pesos at a crappy rate and then you get hit on your CC with another conversion charge but we are used to that crappy trick by hotels.

We arrived late due to a delayed flight, about 11PM. The check in was done by a very knowledgeable and friendly front desk person that went into all the details of the RBC upgrade that I received and that it was due to my Plat status. My first impression was a good one.

We were then transported but a larger version of a golf cart by one of the front door men to the RBC and he showed us our room etc. He was also very friendly and nice and I apologized to him that I did not have any cash at all for a tip and was not bothered at all about it and went on to explain details about the hotel etc as he was leaving.

I was actually quite happy with the room we had. I had read reports (various sites) of rooms needing refurbishing etc but our room was very nice I thought. Well decorated with a great full ocean view with a very large balcony. There is wifi which is about 167 pesos/day or 67 pesos/hour and if you dont have wifi or travel with a travel router like I do then you can also use the ethernet port on the wall, you will need your own cable. As a RBC guest you are also entitled to 30 minutes per day of computer use in the business center free of charge.

The RBC pool is not huge but nice enough and although busy it was not ever so full we could not get a seat. The beach is just steps away so you have that option available also and is not a long hike like some other resorts which is nice and also makes for some nice views from the rooms and ocean sounds at night. The waves actually break close to the beach so unless you are used to it they can be dangerous IMO. If you walk a little ways down toward the club med it is much more calm.

I will not go into much detail on the RBC lounge as nologic's description is spot on with my experience. I thought the service in the lounge was excellent but it may be because they give you the receipts to sign and are hopeful of receiving tips. The lounge did get very busy in the evening during my stay but the staff did a great job of keeping my wine glass full at all times. The food was actually pretty good in comparison to a normal club lounge and one evening it was enough for our dinner.

We had room service which was good, not great but food came hot and within about 45 minutes of ordering. We had a bottle of mexican wine, two tortilla soups, fish fillet and rice and a deluxe nachos, cost was 900/pesos including tip. We had lunch one day at the at the RBC pool, chicken wrap and shrimp fajitas and it was about 600 pesos including tip and as has been mentioned the food actually comes from the restaurant in the main building so it may not be very hot by the time it arrives, both entrees tasted great though. We also had lunch at the Sunset Bar one day and elected to try to the buffet they had setup which was 200 pesos each and included a salad area, hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, grilled grouper, chips with salsa/cheese/guacamole/chili. The choices where ok but the quality wasnt so great so I do not recommend it. I would just order off the menu next time. We also had a night cap at the lobby bar one evening and service there was good and they only had Mexican wine which was fine by me as it is relatively cheap and tastes pretty good for the price, three glasses of whine and a bottle water for my wife was 250 pesos before tip. They lobby bar does have a happy hour from like 5-7pm and is buy one get one and was quite crowded when we walked by on our way back from the health club. A side not on dining. If you are into Thai food (my wife who is from Thailand feels a need to try Thai food in every city we go to) there is a decent Thai restaurant called Thai in the La Isla mall. It is actually well decorated in a fairly traditional Thai style and actually had four Thai cooks and several Thai people as servers which was surprising to us. The food is not really what you would get in Thailand but very good but not cheap. I think we payed about 800 pesos before tip for two entrees, one mojito and one wine.

We did not use the spa but did rent some tennis rackets for about 150 pesos per hour (they say one our but it is really as long as you want as long as they are not busy) for a workout instead using the fitness area, the fitness area looked like a fairly well equipped fitness area.

The location is at the very end of the hotel zone closer to the airport but that really did not bother us and if you use the bus like we do to get back and forth to downtown etc it is only like 2 minutes further down than the LM so the location did not bother us. It actually was nice since we use the Best Day shuttle service back and forth as we are the first to be dropped off and the last to be picked up so quick trip to/from the airport.

Timeshare stuff, well there was signage all over the place about being able to get 100usd credit towards tours/activities for listening to the presentation and there is a huge area off the lobby for Lagunamar presentation but we did not participate. We did of course receive that customary 10am call from concierge to welcome us and for us to stop by to get a free gift blah blah blah, AKA a chance to get give a timeshare pitch. That is pretty much the case at any resort I have found in Cancun but did not say they where doing a heavy pitch of timeshares at all.

All in all we enjoyed our stay here and would definitely stay again. I saw a rate of 99usd/night for my nights a few days before we arrived but was locked into my rate already and at 99/night I dont think you could go wrong here and affords good value to plats.

BreezwayFlyer

Just got back from a wonderful 7 night stay at this resort. We paid $104 for the first night and used SPG points for the remaining 6 nights - reserved a regular lagoon view room. As an SPG Gold, was upgraded to a RBC Lagoon view room for the entire stay, but did not receive any of the other RBC benefits. Was told that the upgrade was for the room only and that since I didn't reserve a RBC room or pay anything extra for the upgrade, that nothing else was included. I was offered $40/day to purchase the RBC benefits including breakfast, cocktails, and free internet, which I declined.

The concierge was very helpful telling us all about the buses and taxis and giving a number of good restaurant recommendations. He briefly mentioned the $100 discount for a 90 minute presentation of their Lagunamar resort, but was not pushy and said he would annotate in our record to never bring it up again if we declined. They also arranged for round trip transportation from the airport for $60. Having relatives that live full time in Cancun, they assured me that that price was a good deal.

We enjoyed the quiet location at the end of the hotel zone. But in exchange for the quiet location, you have to take a bus or taxi anywhere - the hotel and surrounding area is dead after sunset. A few days it seemed like a burden to come back from our activities, and then go out again for dinner or nightlife.

Even though we declined the timeshare tour, we did poke our heads into the Lagunamar resort on our own, and were quite impressed. The pool looks fantastic, and you can't beat the location, right across from La Isla mall. But I think the actual beach at the old Westin resort is better.

The room and overall stay was everything we wanted, and we were quite pleased. We ate lunch twice at the Sunset bar, but all our other meals were outside the hotel.

We arrived last Sat right before the start of the Swine Flu crisis. While there have not been any confirmed cases anywhere in the state of Quintana Roo, the hotels are suffering. Many people checked out throughout our stay, and very few were checking in. The hotel which was quiet when we checked in, was a virtual ghost town when we checked out a week later. I think we were one of two guests staying on our entire floor.

On a side note, we spent one day at Xel-Ha, which was an overpriced, but otherwise fantastic day trip.

sapguy

Will be coming to the "old" Westin Cancun at the end of this month. Does anyone knows if this property has suites for a possible upgrade for Platinum?

Also, what is the RBC?

Thanks.

Sam P. Goodman

Just spent one night at the Westin. We booked it for two reasons: 1) we were basically using it as an airport hotel the night before our flight out; and 2) it was $95. Platinum treatment is awesome and the beach is great. Got an upgrade from a standard lagoon view to a ocean view junior suite, access to cocktail hour which includes a nice food spread and free drinks, buffet breakfast, and free wi-fi. The value of those benefits offsets the majority of the room rate so not bad. The place is just a bit tired and dated. The concrete stucco interior walls and teal painted tile floor give the rooms a 1980s feel, which I'm not a fan of. I like Miami Vice, I just don't want to live it.

The location is, of course, a bit out of the way, but the bus system makes anything in the hotel zone easily reachable. Service was friendly and professional, but every agent we dealt with at the front desk was designated as a "trainee," which left me wondering who was training them. There was a bit of a snafu with the wifi as it was offered as a Plat benefit at check-in, but I later had to go down to the front desk to get a log-in and password to access it. Ideally that would have been given at check-in, but not a big deal. In the future, we'll try the Le Meridien or stay at the Westin Lagunamar which we thoroughly enjoyed earlier in the week.

sapguy

Did you have to ask or say anything to get the free Wi-fi? Their website mentioned "Internet for a fee".