Recommend me a good Mexican resort.
My wife, myself and 3 of our friends are all looking to spend a week on the beaches of Mexico (or possibly another Carribean country, if the price is right) during March/April of 2008. None of us have ever been to Mexico before.
We're kind of thinking one of the all-inclusive resorts would be the best bang for our buck, but are open to suggestions. Ideally we'd prefer something a little bit more adult-themed (a no kids allowed resort would be great) with plenty of the typical touristy activites available, including bars, nightclubs, scub-diving, hiking, kayaking, etc.
I'd love it if people who've been before could share their experiences and tips/advice/recommendations.
Right now, based on very little research, I've got my eye on the Golden Parnassus resort in Cancun. I don't really expect anyone to have personal experience with this resort, but how does Cancun rank among the potential Mexican destinations?
-- My Biking Team --
This isnt necessarily what you are asking, but dont go on a cruise. I did that and it was like being trapped in a big floating hotel. We went to Cabo, Matzatlan and Puerta Vallarta but the stops were for a day and then back to the floating hotel to spend way too much money.
Cabo is good for a few days, beaches are nice, but not a lot to do.
If I were to do it again, I would go all inclusive, like you linked.
Ive worked with a few people that said Sandals was good, but I cant vouch for that personally.
ps - much envy that you're going
edit - I guess Sandals is not in Mexico, Carribean only
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My wife and I stayed at Dreams Tulum last year, it's one of those all-inclusive places. It was our first trip to Mexico and we're itching to go back. Really enjoyed the place. It's pretty far out so there's not much for nightlife right around it but I know the resort offered a bar hopping trip in Cancun if you wanted to go. The food at our resort was fantastic overall though and as it was so remote the resort itself had something going on at all times to keep people entertained.
I think the only possible downside to going in Cancun itself in March/April would be dealing with all the spring break kids. That's something I wouldn't want to deal with but if that's your idea of a good time then it'd probably work out just fine
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Have you considered going to cozumel and staying in a condo? 7 of us went to Cozumel for New Years 2 years ago and we stayed in a 3200sq foot condo that overlooked the ocean, had a huge terrace with a hot tub, was 1/2 a block from the main grocery store and 6 blocks from the center of town. Cost us a total of 4000 for a week so it ended up costing just under 600 a person. Beer was dirt cheap at the grocery store.. 1.90 US for a 6 pack of corona!! Diving was handled by BlueXT Sea diving (Christi is a real sweetheart) and was dirt cheap as well for what you get. They pick you up right at the dock of the condo each morning and drop you off there as well. Local Restaurant's are fantastic (El Moro stands out) and all of them are dirt cheap. It's when you hit tourist town at the cruise ship docks that things become more expensive.
Condo: http://www.elcantil.net/
Dive shop: http://www.bluextseadiving.com/
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I may be slightly biased as I got engaged there and the dive shop helped me propose under water as well as making reservations and taking care of a florist and all sorts of other things. If you do end up in Cozumel and want to dive BlueXT is one of the best ones there.
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Cancun is built for US tourists, it's great, if you go there you won't have any problems with language or whatever, besides the high prices of stuff. I've had good luck with girls there. Most all-inclusive resorts there are pretty cool, I've mostly heard good things about them. If you tell us how much you can or want to spend, I could probably recommend something...
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For someplace different, you could look at the resorts in and around Huatulco- was supposed to be built up like Cancun (only on the Pacific Coast of the state of Oaxaca); it never quite got the funding and government commitment.
The coast down there is beautiful- we used to go to a VERY small town further up the coast called Puerto Angel- worth the effort if you don't like lots of development.
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Sandals is awesome, but expensive. You should be able to find something similar for a much better price.
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Costa Rica or Belize. Forget Mexico -- Costa Rica or Belize -- Ambergris Cayes area, which you can fly to from the airport you'll land in in Belize (or take a water taxi, but its certainly not as much fun as you'd think). Really nice island resort and if you don't eat at the resort, you can get by cheap with good island food (modeled after the English who held dominion here since forever and only recently returned complete sovereignty to Belize), good deals on rooms, beautiful snorkeling and scuba areas, and a solid nightlife.
Only good things to say about Costa Rica too -- reasonable room rates, good cheap food (breakfast is by far the best) and you can more readily explore the rain forest and the beaches are a little nicer than Belize, in my opinion.
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The 3 folks that we're going with have a budget of roughly $2k each, so we're a little limited. They want to go to Mexico for the partying over spring break, which is fine by us. I'd personally love to check out Costa Rica or Belize, but it's just not an option for this particular trip.
I should also mention, the wife and I are going to stay an extra week after they go home, so we're probably going to move from a hotel into a condo for the 2nd week, and have a more relaxing time. Should work out pretty well. I think for the purposes of this trip, the touristy atmosphere of Cancun is probably exactly what we're looking for.
-- My Biking Team --
My wife and I went on a Belize trip for under $2k total during a 7 day stay there. $50 / night hotel rooms on the island (which included a king bed, a shower, and a balcony -- no tv) and $7-10/per meal per person. Airfare to Belize itself was about $300 round trip from D/FW airport. Costa Rica also has good deals and you can find inclusive places that are 'off the beaten tourist-y path' for prices well under $2k per person that easily rival or roundly beat anything Mexico resorts stuffed with American tourists can offer.
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I asked a friend who works in the tourist section of Cancun and she says pretty much any of the all inclusive hotels in the "Zona hotelera" is great for a vacation.
Apparently you chose a good one, and also mentioned the "LeBlanc" if you could afford it. 2k is a bit thin for 2 weeks apparently, but not unmanageable unless you want to live like rockstars.
I think you'll have a good time =)
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When I went to Cancun I made the mistake of trying to speak Spanish with people. They informed me that they didn't speak Spanish, but just their English and their local tribal language. I thought that was kind of depressing.
Cancun can be a great place to party, be keep on your guard about passports and valuables. Not all the hotels have such great locks, for example. (My sister lost her wallet and passport this way.)
A general rule for trips to that area is that you're paying for a few things mostly:
- Ease of booking and name recognition
- Service
- Safety
- Location relative to the main tourist strip
Those last two can be pretty related.
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Update: Booked the trip last week. 14 all-inclusive days at the Golden Parnassus in Cancun for the wife and I with an ocean view room, airfare and all came out to about $6500. No idea if we got a good deal or not, but either way I can't wait to get out there.
-- My Biking Team --
My Spanish to English dictionary says that Parnassus means "suckers".
Kidding aside, 65 hundred doesn't sound like a bad deal for airfare and 2 weeks all inclusive. Even if drinks aren't included. Are they?
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My wife and I went to Paradisus Riviera Cancun about a year and a half ago. It was a beautiful resort, and we rocked their Royal Service to get access to the private concierge and pool/bar areas. This resort is all inclusive, but there ARE children allowed (except the private pool). It's south of Cancun, but I believe there are shuttles to get up there.. but it's like 20-30 minutes.
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Certis wrote:
I was going to suggest some kind of "Be Mex for a Week" package. The problem is, what would Mex do during that week?
I stayed here and absolutely loved it. The Resort is part of a nature reserve.http://www.occidentalhotels.com/grand/Xcaret.asp The resort is also attached to some mayan ruins. We got to go on a canoe ride through some ruins that reminded me of Indiana Jones.
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Well, we're back!
I've gotta say that was about the best damned two weeks of my life. The golden Parnassus resort was just great. everyone there went out of their way to make sure we had a good time, and plenty of tequila. This was my first time to an all-inclusive, and it definitely won't be the last. I think a big part of the fun of the vacation was because we chose an adults-only resort. Now, I like kids just fine and all, but after walking down the beach past some of the other resorts that seemed to have 12:1 kid to adult ratio... well... I was thanking the lord for our resort.
Anyway, while we were there we went to a couple of the tourist attractions, including Xcaret, which was great, though a very long day. We also went to Selvatica, which is a jungle zip-line tour, followed by mountain-biking to a natural sinkhole fed by an underground river. We had a blast there.
The highlight of the trip for me was the scuba diving. I went twice on difference parts of the reef just off of Cancun, and then twice more in Cozumel. I've got some (hopefully) great underwater shots that are waiting to be developed. I'll be sure to post some here when they are.
So, all in all a wonderful vacation. I can't wait to go back, maybe to vacation again, or maybe on a permenant basis once that last kid is off to college.
Thanks everyone again for all the advice, it worked out great!
-- My Biking Team --
As someone who has been to Mexico at an age younger than 18, when drinking and night life fun can be had, it sucks for kids. Don't do that to the poor little ones.
A bit late but, oh well;
just came back from Tulum, my GF lives in Playa del Carmen (right between Cancún and Playa), trust me when I say, get the f___k out of Cancún and never look back.
there's this place called Ana y Jose were we stayed for 4 days, 3 nights for about US$1,500 total and it's awsome.
It really depends on your age-range, but if you're looking for the exact opposite of (what I can only imagine to be) Fort Lauderdale, this is the place.
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Since when can't under-18s drink in Mexico? :beer:
Playa del Carmen is awesome too, laid back.
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
A little bit late, but here are the vacation photos:
Cancun Photos. Photos 37 to 147 were all taken at Xcaret, a kind of park about an hour from Cancun.
Scuba Photos. Taken with some cheap disposible cameras. Next time I'll be buying the underwater case for my good camera.
-- My Biking Team --