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Advice on Cancun - What area to stay in?
I've been wanting to take a vacation in Cancun for a while now and we're
seriously considering it for a week in May. We went to an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic and it was fantastic. We had a great time! So we're looking at some AI resorts in Cancun. But our first decision is what area to stay in. I've been reading up on the web but I'm still not sure about the areas: - Cancun pennisula itself - I read that this is pretty wild, maybe too wild and crowded for us I'm not sure. I know it's resorts squeezed next to each other and stuff. The city is not far away, as well as Chitzen Iza (I've been there once while on vacation in Cozumel and I really enjoyed it, I'd like my wife to see it as well.) - Playa del Carmen - From what I've read this is a fast growing city south of Cancun. My question here is : Is there enough to do in the city or would be travel to Cancun? We like to eat, shop, and just walk around and take pictures. - Even further south than Playa del Carmen - Some of the nicest AI resorts are here, but it's far from any city. Is it worth going into Cancun several times or is once enough for a 1 week trip? Thanks for any advice you may have. Michael |
#2
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Advice on Cancun - What area to stay in?
Consider the Club Med... It's at the end of the "strip" and not at all
crowded... rather spread out actually. It's within easy reach of the downtown "nightlife", but far enough away to not be influenced by the "party and drink" atmosphere around all the nightclubs. The CM also runs a GREAT excursion to Chitzen Itza. (Check my review and description of the excursion at http://www.hammocktree.org/ms/cancun02/Cancun02.html ). We've been to the Cancun Club Med 3 times and haven't bothered to go into the downtown area yet; just not our cup of tea. Mike Michael wrote: I've been wanting to take a vacation in Cancun for a while now and we're seriously considering it for a week in May. We went to an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic and it was fantastic. We had a great time! So we're looking at some AI resorts in Cancun. But our first decision is what area to stay in. I've been reading up on the web but I'm still not sure about the areas: - Cancun pennisula itself - I read that this is pretty wild, maybe too wild and crowded for us I'm not sure. I know it's resorts squeezed next to each other and stuff. The city is not far away, as well as Chitzen Iza (I've been there once while on vacation in Cozumel and I really enjoyed it, I'd like my wife to see it as well.) - Playa del Carmen - From what I've read this is a fast growing city south of Cancun. My question here is : Is there enough to do in the city or would be travel to Cancun? We like to eat, shop, and just walk around and take pictures. - Even further south than Playa del Carmen - Some of the nicest AI resorts are here, but it's far from any city. Is it worth going into Cancun several times or is once enough for a 1 week trip? Thanks for any advice you may have. Michael |
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Advice on Cancun - What area to stay in?
Micheal, Cancun is like Miami Beach, except that it's in Mexico. That could
be good or bad, depending on your outlook. There are some really nice places Cancun, but I found that it's expensive, crowded, and not very relaxing if you leave your hotel. Playa del Carmen is the anti-Cancun. Lots of great little hotels. Not as many people with their hand out. Smaller, but plenty of nightlife, awesome restaurants, or whatever you're looking for. I think that most of the AI's are just south of town, in an area called Playacar. When looking on the travel sites, check to make sure that the resort is in Playacar. Drew Waco, TX http://www.io.com/~dru/DrewsWebPage01.htm Info on Playa del Carmen |
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Advice on Cancun - What area to stay in?
Michael,
My choice would be Playa del Carmen or Playacar. Cancun is too developed and so Americanized it's like visiting a theme park in Orlando. I've been to Playa del Carmen. There is an A. I. resort on the north end of town, El Gran Porto Real. The best rooms are in the North wing, facing south on one of the upper floors. They are the Deluxe Jr. Suite rooms and each comes with a balcony or terrace, plus a huge bathroom with a shower that is unbelievably large. There are several pools, one is on the rooftop. There is a snack bar/drink bar convenient to both beach and main pool. There is a buffet, plus two specialty restaurants. It's a 5 to 10 minute stroll to 5th Avenue the main tourist zone. You can look at it at: http://www.realresorts.com.mx/ Playacar has many resorts. Everyone has a favorite. Some are rather old and have been through many different owner's hands. Some are relatively new. One I have been to and would not reccomend is Occidental Allegro Playacar. Service is spotty. Food has too much salt in it. It is a time share and if you aren't careful you'll find yourself enticed into a 90 minute hard sell presentation. It should be noted that Playacar is approximately 5 minutes by taxi from 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen. This is about $5.00 usd. Just north of Playa del Carmen is Puerto Morelos. It is in an earlier stage of development than Playa but has plenty of good restaurants, places to shop and terrific beaches. I think there may be only one or two AI resorts there. But there are several villas that come with their own housekeeping, cook, "go for" service, pool, private sun deck. I haven't stayed in any. It's a beautiful little seaside town. Even if you don't stay there, you might want to visit it for a while. -- ________ To email me, Edit "xt" from my email address. Brian M. Kochera "Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!" View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951 |
#5
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Advice on Cancun - What area to stay in?
Consider the Club Med... It's at the end of the "strip" and not at all
crowded... rather spread out actually. It's within easy reach of the downtown "nightlife", but far enough away to not be influenced by the "party and drink" atmosphere around all the nightclubs. The CM also runs a GREAT excursion to Chitzen Itza. (Check my review and description of the excursion at http://www.hammocktree.org/ms/cancun02/Cancun02.html ). We've been to the Cancun Club Med 3 times and haven't bothered to go into the downtown area yet; just not our cup of tea. Unfortunately Club Med is much more expensive than the other AI resorts. So we haven't considered it. Once we checked and it was about twice as much as the other 4 & 5 star resorts.. Michael |
#6
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Advice on Cancun - What area to stay in?
Since this is your first time in Cancun, I would recommend that you make it
real simple and just stay in what you refer to as the "peninsula". It's more commonly known as "Zona Hotelera" or hotel zone and as the name implies, this area is several miles long and has rows and rows of hotels. You'll have many choices in terms of AIs. You will have to choose whether you want to be in the Mediteranenan side, where the waters are clear and turquoise but can be rough, or the Gulf of Mexico side, where the waters a bit calmer but not as pretty. Keep in ming that no locals live in this area and the only locals you will see are probably those working in the hotels. South of this hotel zone is the airport and north of the zone in the town proper or downtown Cancun. In downtown, you will see the locals and how they live if you want to get a flavor of the town. Mind you, some people never leave the hotel zone and they are happy with that because most people speak English, the signs are in English, you have the usual complement of KFC, BurgerKing MickeyD's and the like. The almighty dollar is accepted everywhere and there are public buses that go up and down the hotel zone for about a quarter or maybe more nowadays. As for the crowds, if you go there during Spring Break, then it will be packed. You will see a lot teens below drinking age getting totally wasted and even heaving in the public buses. Doesn't really bother me but I'm not quite sure what you would think. These shenanigans usually happen at night since they usually have one or 2 discos with so-called "ladies night" on a rotatting basis where women get in for free with unlimited free drinks and the men get fleeced at least $20 to be where the girls are. At the same time you can also check out Playa del Carmen and other areas to possibly see if you would want to stay there on your return, if ever. I caution that PlayaCar is not what it used to be 10 years ago when I first started coming to Cancun. It's about as commercialized as the Hotel Zone, the only difference being that in PlayaCar, some locals actually live in the town and it's the launch area for the ferry to Cozumel. Plus, you definitely need to see Chichen-Itza and perhaps visit a "cenote" or two. Hope this helps. "Michael" wrote in message ... I've been wanting to take a vacation in Cancun for a while now and we're seriously considering it for a week in May. We went to an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic and it was fantastic. We had a great time! So we're looking at some AI resorts in Cancun. But our first decision is what area to stay in. I've been reading up on the web but I'm still not sure about the areas: - Cancun pennisula itself - I read that this is pretty wild, maybe too wild and crowded for us I'm not sure. I know it's resorts squeezed next to each other and stuff. The city is not far away, as well as Chitzen Iza (I've been there once while on vacation in Cozumel and I really enjoyed it, I'd like my wife to see it as well.) - Playa del Carmen - From what I've read this is a fast growing city south of Cancun. My question here is : Is there enough to do in the city or would be travel to Cancun? We like to eat, shop, and just walk around and take pictures. - Even further south than Playa del Carmen - Some of the nicest AI resorts are here, but it's far from any city. Is it worth going into Cancun several times or is once enough for a 1 week trip? Thanks for any advice you may have. Michael |
#7
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Advice on Cancun - What area to stay in?
Hmmm, not to argue with you, but that would be unusual... We've generally
found the Club Meds to be the same or less than the better AIs.. Seeing that Club Med is currently advertising some specials (7 days/nights at Cancun for $630 (land only)), I'd think it would be difficult to beat that. Oh, one other thing; if you do go during "Spring Break" times, the Club is far enough from the main part of the strip that there is very little impact to the club itself. Mike Michael wrote: Consider the Club Med... It's at the end of the "strip" and not at all crowded... rather spread out actually. It's within easy reach of the downtown "nightlife", but far enough away to not be influenced by the "party and drink" atmosphere around all the nightclubs. The CM also runs a GREAT excursion to Chitzen Itza. (Check my review and description of the excursion at http://www.hammocktree.org/ms/cancun02/Cancun02.html ). We've been to the Cancun Club Med 3 times and haven't bothered to go into the downtown area yet; just not our cup of tea. Unfortunately Club Med is much more expensive than the other AI resorts. So we haven't considered it. Once we checked and it was about twice as much as the other 4 & 5 star resorts.. Michael |
#8
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Advice on Cancun - What area to stay in?
On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 23:06:04 +0100, "Michael"
wrote: I've been wanting to take a vacation in Cancun for a while now and we're seriously considering it for a week in May. There's a few new or renovated AIs described in our Cancun Forum http://mycaribbean.info/forums/index.php?act=SF&f=34 Maybe something there will be useful information. CaribeJoe - Moderator Non-commercial My Caribbean.Info Forums Free Caribbean Destination Directories Free advice from Travel Writers Post your own trip reports and photos Hotel and Air Deals and Rough Guide Reports http://www.mycaribbean.info |
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