Where to stay in Cancun--any suggestions

[LucyLou&BobWho]

Hi Folks,

Thinking of going to Cancun in a couple of years and doing some research now. Has anyone gone through the world passport collection to Cancun? How did it rate? Any suggestions on where to stay? Any info would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[dvcmommy]

If you are exchanging, my vote goes to the Royal Resorts. We stayed at the Royal Caribbean and loved it!!! But, if we were to do it again, we would rent our points and pay cash for a rental at www.mexicondo.com

And, we would stay at the Royal Sands. Hubby works out almost daily and they have a great fitness center.

 

[LucyLou&BobWho]

dvcmommy,

Just saw your reply and just wondered why you'd rent the points out and get the cash to rent. Is it much cheaper that way?

Also, noticed you are from IL as well. Where is O'Fallon? Is that southern IL? Just curious.

Thanks for the info!

 

[princess girls]

We have been to Cancun twice in the past 4 years. We have stayed both times at the Moon Palace Resort. It is PARADISE! All inclusive covering meals and drinks, entertainment, etc. A beautiful and well run resort. Now when we bought into DVC, we noticed that the Beach Palace is on the list for Cancun, Mexico. They are also owned by the Palace Resorts which includes Beach, Moon, Sun and Spa Palaces. We figured if the one is good then the others must be the same. Hope this little info helps.

 

[dvcmommy]

Yes, O'Fallon is about 20 miles east of St. Louis in Southern Illinois, but I have friends in the Chicago area

And, yes, it would be much cheaper to rent the points and pay cash......you'd save the $75 exchange fee (it is still $75, isn't it?) plus you can get a 2 bedroom villa from anywhere from $900 - $1500 for a week.....it was 218 points, so we could have easily rented those points for $2180, paid cash and had plenty of spending money.

Ours were banked points we had due to not traveling the year I was pregnant with our youngest (bad pregnancy), so we really needed to find a way to use them and this suited us at the time.


Also, on the Moon Palace, I believe if you exchange into the Palace resorts, you still have to pay a cash fee for the "all inclusive plan". I'm not sure, although Dean would probably know or the good people at www.tug2.net

Hope this helps!!!

 

[Doug7856]

Originally posted by princess girls
... we noticed that the Beach Palace is on the list for Cancun, Mexico. They are also owned by the Palace Resorts which includes Beach, Moon, Sun and Spa Palaces. We figured if the one is good then the others must be the same. Hope this little info helps.

Just a note about the Palace Resorts. All are very good, but the Moon Palace stands out due to the spread out resort and the amazing pools. The Beach Palace is older and many not be as nice as the Moon Palace. Just a thought for you to consider.

 

[klafollette]

Just be aware that the Moon palace is about a 10-15 minute ride from the main strip of Cancun.

My husband and I had originally booked at the Moon Palace, but when we found out the location, we changed to the Omni Cancun. It was nice to hop on the $.25 bus and get anywhere we needed to go.

I also heard about and saw pictures of the beach at Moon, and it is covered in seaweed.

Omini has probably the best beach on the strip. If you go with the all-inclusive there, "De Vinci's" is absolutely delicious upscale food...we couldn't believe that they considered it in the all-inclusive!!

 

[dvc_john]

I stayed at the Royal Mayan, and really enjoyed it. The Royal Mayan, Royal Caribbean, and Royal Islander are all adjacent, and staying at any one entitles you to use the facilities of the others. The Royal Sands is the newest of the Royals, but is not adjacent to the other three.

I saw the Moon Palace (but didn't stay there). Looked great, but it is somewhat away from the hotel zone.

 

[Dean]

The only resorts on the DVC-II list worth trading DVC for are the Royals excluding VCI. There are others I'd consider staying at for less price or points. It sure would be a shame to go to Cancun and stay at an AI as that's a large part of the appeal of the area IMO, especially if one has never been to Cancun before..

 

[Diznut84]

I have stayed at all of the Royal resorts and highly recommend all of them except VCI. They are very comparable to DVC or Marriott quality, have exceptional beachfront locations, and daily maid service. The quality is undoubtedly top-notch.

I own units at the Royal Caribbean and Royal Islander. It is probably difficult to rent a non-VCI unit for less than $1300. More typically, they probably rent for $1400-$1500. Holiday units typically rent for closer to $2000 for the week. Another great source for rentals is http://www.cancunsupermall.com/OwnManual/listing.asp?week=00&section=All+Listings&request=1.

I would guess that a reasonable exchange with a DVC member might be 150 points for a 2BR unit (that is what I would probably charge).

Good luck!

 

[blockmiller]

My husband and I have stayed at Moon Palace-Sunrise twice. It really is wonderful. The pool is great and you'll never forget the all-inclusive experience. Hot tubs in all the rooms with an ocean view. Putt-putt on site and playground for the kids, bike rental, water sports, volleyball, etc.

The beach at Moon Palace does have seaweed and it is not as nice as the other Palace Resorts as far as swimming. The nice thing about Palace Resorts is that you stay at one and can use all the other hotels for entertainment, meals, and swimming. They have a free bus shuttle that runs to the other hotels.

 

[Joeblack]

With all due respect to Moon Palace fans, I have to say I stayed there and found it waaaay below say Fiesta Americana Princesa, the Marriott or the Hilton. Main problem is that Moon Palace is very far away from the Strip, the beach is not so clean and the water is not turquoise (dark water). Besides, the food was very mediocre. Granted, it does have nice pools, but by staying at the Moon Palace, you might not even be in Cancun at all.

Sorry to say this, but if you want to enjoy the best of Cancun you have to stay in one of the strip hotels (Quintana Roo). This may be debated by those who seek peace and tranquility, but the Moon Palace is way too removed and does not offer the charm of the location of the other resorts. Its sister resort, the Sun Palace, which is on the strip unfortunately has about the standard of a Howard Johnson.

My recommendation? Any of the 3 Fiesta Americana resorts or you can go All Inclusive with Omni or Crown Paradise Resort which is pretty good value and very similar to WDW's Contemporary resort.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Joeblack
My recommendation? Any of the 3 Fiesta Americana resorts or you can go All Inclusive with Omni or Crown Paradise Resort which is pretty good value and very similar to WDW's Contemporary resort.

None of these are on the DVc exchange list but may be available through private exchanges or smaller exchange companies.

 

[crusoemom]

Per Dean's suggestion, we rented 75 DVC points for $750, then rented a 1br at the Royal Mayan through the TUG for $750. Since it is only DH and myself, we figured that was all we needed, and it covered the user fee for the people we were renting from and still allowed them to rent the studio to someone else.

However, we haven't been yet (we're going in June), so I can't comment on the resorts. THe rest has worked out very well - we got a renter for our DVCpoints almost immediately, and we found a unit for the week we needed in Cancun within a month.

Hope this helps.

 

[Diznut84]

If you do rent from the Royals, be aware that not all of the units at the Royal Mayan have ocean views (all H units are lagoon view -- NOT ocean view -- and some F units are obstructed by the building immediately in front of them). All of the villas at the Royal Sands, Royal Islander, and Royal Caribbean have ocean views. Of course, oceanfront units are even more desirable.

If you want to verify the unit location, you can do so at Ken Hodl's site at:

www.mexicondo.com

There are maps of each resort. If you have questions, feel free to email or post them!

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by crusoemom
Per Dean's suggestion, we rented 75 DVC points for $750, then rented a 1br at the Royal Mayan through the TUG for $750. Since it is only DH and myself, we figured that was all we needed, and it covered the user fee for the people we were renting from and still allowed them to rent the studio to someone else.

However, we haven't been yet (we're going in June), so I can't comment on the resorts. THe rest has worked out very well - we got a renter for our DVCpoints almost immediately, and we found a unit for the week we needed in Cancun within a month.

Hope this helps.

I hope I've helped out. What unit is it? And while it's true all units are not great views, all are great units and the chances of getting a great view are far higher as a rental than exchanging. And since that exchange would have likely cost you either 144 or 160 pts, you did well. I wonder if you will get the owners perks as a guest of the owner. Enjoy.

 

[canda]

The reason we like the Moon Palace is that it is far away from the strip and the whole imaturity of the whole place. If you go on the right times, the whole strip is full of drunk high school and college kids. You can not walk up the strip without mexicans trying to get you to come tour their hotel or timeshare. it is pretty pushy. The moon palace resort has shuttle bus that run to their other properties. One afternoon on the strip is enough for folks who enjoy relaxation. If you are a big party animal, then you may need more time. It is really cool to keep your drinking armbands on all week. This shows how many clubs you have been to. You will have one to identify you for your hotel, but if you had on 6, then its like, dude, you rock.

 

[crusoemom]

Dean,

It's an oceanfront, Room D1-something or other. First floor - I'd have to look up the details on the other computer, which is not available right now, since I'm in HHI instead of NH.

Anyway, the person renting it sounds "normal", at least through email, and I don't think we get owner's privileges. I plan to call the resort directly as we get closer to the time, and also ask the person to reconfirm, but I'm comfortable with the arrangement thus far.

In any case, I won't blame you if it doesn't work out

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by crusoemom
Dean,

It's an oceanfront, Room D1-something or other. First floor - I'd have to look up the details on the other computer, which is not available right now, since I'm in HHI instead of NH.

Anyway, the person renting it sounds "normal", at least through email, and I don't think we get owner's privileges. I plan to call the resort directly as we get closer to the time, and also ask the person to reconfirm, but I'm comfortable with the arrangement thus far.

In any case, I won't blame you if it doesn't work out

Once you get the unit number, I'll try to find out how good a unit it is for you. If it's oceanfront, that's a good start.

 

[Diznut84]

It's likely either D110 or D111. That would be an oceanfront unit on the ground floor: a fantastic view! Congratulations!