I like Palace Resorts. Just tell the time share people "No" and if they
offer you "Free" stuff forget it you've technically paid for your "Free"
stuff already.

My parents are doing a NCL "Freestyle" cruise in 2 weeks. I'll tell you how
they liked it.

C
"Sam" wrote in message
...
Slacker,

Indeed, we have been to Cancun many times and it seems that the more often
we go, the less quality we receive . We started out small, staying at
2.5-3
star hotels then moving up to a 5 star Riu over the years. Honestly, we
enjoyed ourselves the most at the less expensive resorts but even as
repeat
customers the hotel quality is declining....more problems with the A/C and
not being able to be repaired properly. A common or frequent issue is the
A/C not pumping out enough cool air. Other times, it's intermittent
hot/cold water. Lately, I have been reading that more and more resorts
are
not using padded liners on their beds. Without these liners, the beds are
often, literally rock hard. This has been proven not to be good for you
and
for me. When traveling, that's a major concern as is noise from our
neighbors in the nearby rooms. That's why I prefer Cancun hotels to
others
such as those in Playa Del Carmen where the hotels are not made of
concrete
due to the building codes in the area. The concrete hotels are much more
"forgiving" of noise. Also, more hotels are no longer heating their pools
or Jacuzzi's to save money. The hotels are skimping out any which way they
can and if you have any issue, they don't really care.

So, in a nutshell. Our basic needs when looking at a resort a

1. Strong/solid working air conditioning
2. Reasonably comfortable (non-firm) beds
3. Peace and quiet inside without the worry of being woken up by neighbors
in the early hours of the morning (referring to early risers)
4. Flexibility in dining
5. Heated pools/Jacuzzi

Honestly, I don't my wish list is unrealistic, but it seems to be very
difficult to attain these days in Mexico. That's why "freestyle" cruising
may be a better way to go for us.



"Slacker" wrote in message
...
Sam,

I think, that as in most things in life, there are a certain number of
people that are never satisfied and never pleased. From what I have
seen, in general the comments for most of the nicer resorts in Cancun
appear to have a great majority of positive reviews, even though there
are negative ones that do appear. I also think that people have to
realize that if you are going to a foreign country, you are a guest in
that country and some things will not be the same as you would expect
them to be in your native land. That can be a draw-back for some
people, and a great positive for others. So I think that the answer to
your question has much more to do about you and your expectations than
it has to do with the quality of any resort in Cancun or any other
foreign land. If you treasure greatly sanitized conditions and
experiences, then maybe you should stick with cruising and other forms
of highly packaged vacations. If on the other hand you find value in
truly experiencing other cultures and treasure memories of experiences
(good and bad) that you couldn't get in your native land, then you
should consider more adventurous tourism. All-inclusive resorts are
not what I would consider adventurous tourism experiences, but relative
to cruises I would say that they have the potential of being much more
adventurous if a person wants them to be.

With all that said, we just booked our first vacation to Cancun at
Dreams resort and spa due to the feedback we got from this site and the
feedback we got from many of the review sites. So I don't have
relevant experience to answer your question, but I would still say that
the answer is yes with the asterick being my points and comments listed
above.

Regards and good luck,

Slacker