We love this resort!

This was our second time at the Grand Sunset Princess staying in the Platinum area. We love the layout of resort. We did a morning and evening walk from one end of resort to the lobby early in the morning or after dinner. The early morning walks were a highlight as that's when we saw the most wildlife (deer, cats, agouti, coati, spider monkey's, birds and of course the iguana's. We even managed to see the turtles under the bridge on route to the Chillout area). I wish people respected the rul [... read more]es and didn't feed the animals. We never had any issues with the animals bothering us but saw a family at the burger grill by the pool who had an issue. The kids were waving their food around at the coati's and calling them over with the parents doing nothing about it. The coati's then went on the table and stole some food. So the mother got upset and threw a sticky drink at the coati's and kept trying to smack them. So it was entirely their fault but the animals get blamed. We loved the Platinum lounge for snacks and a tea before bed, and the Platinum beach area. We didn't do the towel game and still had plenty of shady options. The breakfast buffet close to the Platinum area was also wonderful so we didn't have to trek to the lobby first thing if we didn't want to. The room service was just ok this time. Our last stay in 2018, it was exceptional. The coffee however everywhere on the resort was delicious. The rooms, as I've read with every resort on every review even if a luxury 5 star was a bit tired, but very clean. Housekeeping and the fridge refill person did a wonderful job each day. We had dinner at La Vaqueria was delicious. Sinahi was our waitress and she was very sweet, attentive and professional. Mama Mia was also a hit with waiter Jose. Again he was professional, kind and very attentive. We ate at the buffet and sports bar the rest of evenings as we didn't want to worry about being somewhere for a reservation at a specific time this trip. The buffet's were pretty good overall. We enjoyed everything for the most part. Anything we didn't like was because it was our choice to try something we weren't familiar with. The beauty however is that you could go back and get something else. I never did understand why people in their reviews complain about the food not being hot. The food is hot when you scoop it onto your plate, but how on earth is it supposed to stay piping hot as you are wandering around piling more food on your plate, then getting to your table to finally sit down to eat? Not sure what miracle they are expecting here. We usually started with cold food on plate first & hot food right before going back to our seats & found it stayed relatively warm enough. Enjoyed the Taco cart and burger cart by the pools for daily lunch. The beach was wonderful, we enjoyed wading around with the pelican's diving for fish super close to us. The drink service was good. If you walk towards the lifeguard tower, then into the water, it's quite sandy there with no need for water shoes. The staff all over the entire resort were warm and friendly at all times even if they were very busy. We will definitely stay here again and would like to try the adults Villa section.

Second Time Didn’t Disappoint

Love this place- every type of food/beverage you could want. Beautiful grounds that are well kept and lush. The coati, iguanas, deer and monkeys are all a treat to see- sometimes invasive but not if you remember the rules! The staff were friendly and helpful and took the time to greet you warmly- in the bars, restaurants and the hallways. It was our second time here at the swim up room. These are amazing- best bang for your buck for sure!!!

Big & Busy Resort

Overall decent resort. It’s massive and gets busy on change over days. Lots of pools, bars, and activities for everyone. The food and a la carts get the job done. There were lots of free hand pours for drinks. The downsides are the coatis who are cute for a day and then get annoying. We also encountered alot of cockroaches one day outside our room. The staff must have sprayed and never told us. Never really saw them afterwards though.

Wonderful But Tired

This was our second trip here. First one was March 2020 when Covid was declared and now this one. Friendliness and service in the Buffets was not a memorable as our first visit. Grounds are beautiful. The rooms and interior spaces are tired and need some upgrades and sprucing up.

Amazing Resort!

Service was amazing. If we were missing something in the room, they would bring it inside 15 minutes We really enjoyed our swim up room! It was very convenient. The weather was great for the first 4 days, then it rained but we were still able to go swimming. It was difficult to book the A la carte. It had to be done on our phone & allowed to book only 2 days in advance. The entertainment was good. They had a silent disco on our first night. That was a lot of fun!

Not bad, not great

Pros: - Huge resort. Some might not like that, we I do as I don't feel as confined when at a smaller resort - Gardens were nice, although not as nice as other 5 star resorts we've been at. - Good drinks. Corona available both in cans and on tap. Modelo was the other beer available on tap. - Attentive staff around the pool to take your order for drinks - Entertainment staff were great in the pool (our son loved playing water polo) - Lots of wildlife. Deer, monkeys, mexican racoons, birds on [... read more] a daily basis. Cons: - We all got tired of having the same breakfast buffet each day. - Food is OK, not anything close to what you'd get at a Karima resort. Food was rarely hot, just luke-warm. - Beach was nice but always smelt like sulphur - Foam party was at the beach. We like it better when at the pool - A la carte reservations are a pain in the ass. You can only book up to 2 days in advance - Our hot water in our room wasn't very hot - Occasionally, you could smell old urine in the room. It was quite nasty at times - Nightly entertainment was average - Wet/slippy signs were everywhere. Instead, it would have been nice if the cleaning staff mopped up the wet areas. Other thoughts: - Tacos and Hamburgers stand were the best option for lunch. You're only other option for lunch is the buffet but as its the same food every day, you get sick of those options and the food there isn't great. However, be prepared to wait in line at the Hamburger and Taco stands. - For us, the biggest disappointment was the urine smell and the quality of the food.

Great As Usual

We were a group of five staying the week of November 26th through December 3rd. All in our 40's and 50's. We had swim out rooms again. The resort was very accommodating placing our rooms together and in the area we prefer, we had room 3006 again. The rooms are great, plenty of hot water for showering, comfy beds, AC that works almost too well. Our tv had some weird blotches on the screen but we weren't in Mexico to watch tv. We went to a few a la carte's over the week, we did the Steak House, wh [... read more]ich was okay, not great, not terrible. Miso, we were in the Thai section, I really enjoyed my meal and the atmosphere. We also went to Mamma Mia twice because our first time was so great. The second time was just average. I guess the server makes all the difference and the first time we ate at Mamma Mia we were served by Mariano, he was fabulous and just made the evening so great for us, he was warm, friendly, fast and efficient, offered to take a photo of our group for us. We only went to one of the evening shows while we were there, it was to see the Horror Show. I really enjoyed it and the lead singer they had, her voice was amazing, when she sang the Phantom of the Opera, it gave me chills. We would have loved to see the Fire and Ice show but missed it because of an a la carte reservation. C'est la vie, there is always a next time. The grounds were lovely and well tended. We loved seeing the animals everywhere, iguanas, coati, deer, monkeys, birds, just fabulous. The beach was also in better shape than it had been the year before. Meaning there was a lot more beach area, I think the year before storms had washed away so much of the sand but it's back to normal now. I did end up catching a cold again on vacation, word of caution, always bring cold medication with you. If you have to buy it at the hotel store, after conversion, my bottle of cough syrup cost me $27 Canadian. We found the price of everything very high, excursions we thought were so high we opted to just stay at the resort. Also, the airport, holy cow, so expensive, makes the food on the Sunwing flight seem like a bargain. At the Cancun airport we bought two ready-made, wrapped sandwiches, just turkey, cheese and lettuce. Just a regular sized sandhich you'd find at any gas station, end up costing us $41.90 CDN. One issue we encountered at the resort, people feed the wildlife and then they mooch and raid your stuff looking for food. When you have a swim up room, you come out of your room via the patio door, there is no way to secure the patio door when you leave your room that way. Which isn't a theft problem because you're usually in the pool right in front of your room so you can keep an eye on things. One day my boyfriend and I had waded over to the swimup bar to get a drink. My sister was still sitting on her patio and heard our patio door open. She assumed it was the maid making up our room, then she saw a coati go running past with a baggie of granola bars. She snapped a few photos and then took the baggie back from him. He ended up getting one granola bar. They are like raccoons and very good at opening the doors. I guess the maid had been making up our room and when she saw the thing in our room she chased it out and then closed and locked the patio door. So we were locked out of our room and had to call the front desk to let us back in. So my word of advice is to not leave any unsecured food items in your room and to always keep your room card on you. Over the week others were also locked out for the same reason. One woman said her husband had been napping during the day, when she entered her room her husband was sleeping and the coati was sleeping at the foot of the bed. So be vigilant to ensure they don't nab anything from you. Overall we had a lovely week off. The resort is fairly large but easy to walk. We were getting about 11,000 steps in per day. Every inch of the place is beautiful. We'll be back for sure. It was our third time there. It's a good value for what you get.

Amazing!!!

Was my second time there and We had another wonderful experience!!! Service from Ady and the bartenders at the Villa pool could not have been any better!💛 Rooms were beautiful and always kept clean and there are lots of food options! Everything was perfect and we can't wait to go back again!

Amazing

The beach was great no problem finding beach chairs at all. The pool area was also good but not enough chairs in the shade so we didn’t really use that area. Really great nighttime entertainment, and lots of things to do. Food was mediocre though the Italian restaurant was good, but the service in the Thai restaurant was terrible Could just have been the people working there the night we went though. Our room was on the third floor and overlooked the gardens which was amazing. Nice big room cl [... read more]ean. If only the food was better at the buffets and it would’ve been perfect

It was a good resort.

Hospitality , entertainment, cleanliness , pools , rooms were great. Beach was okay, but expected . Food was not good , disappointed with the food . Al cartes were not good at all . Stayed for 7 days.

What a week

This resort is underrated. The grounds are beautiful, everything well maintained. Plenty of pools over the whole resort. They could use a few more shaded areas. Food was excellent and the staff were very polite and helpful. The beach was good but like most places in the Caribbean the see weeds was hard to control. All in all a great stay

A nice getaway

It’s been 3 years since our last vacation so we decided it was time to go on a vacation. We booked this hotel last minute. I was happy with the hotel. The food was good, the bartenders were willing to make nearly any type of drink you asked for (though in my opinion there should be more bars down near the pools and beach as several times the line ups were quite long). I was lucky to get my hubby and I booked into A La Carte restaurants for our dinners but that’s because it was only 2 of us,  [... read more]I wasn’t picky about the times we got. I could see that this would have been more difficult to do if it was a larger group. If you aren’t on your phone exactly when booking times open then you’d get nothing. The resort was full and busy and I felt the staff were trying hard to please, making drinks as fast as they could, etc. a few times it felt like a few extra staff would have been helpful in the buffets as they ran out of some items and it took a long time to replenish and not enough waiters/waitresses to serve coffee, etc. Other than that observation, we enjoyed our time there. Nice pools, great food and drinks, nice sandy beach, clean resort. We loved the monkeys and “Mexican Raccoons” running at will, as well as the nice sculptures and walking path throughout.

This resort is a gem!

This was our second time visiting. The grounds are beautiful with so much to discover as you take a leisurely morning walk along the walkways lined with huge palm trees and beautiful shrubs and flowers. The beach took a hit from storms I think but it’s better than I remember it. The slope is more gradual and no rocks at all. Seaweed was a problem every morning but they worked diligently to clear it away by mid morning. We could choose to join the many activities provided at the pools o [... read more]r beach or relax on our swim out deck which lead to a quite pool where we could watch the monkeys swing in the trees. We even saw a deer one morning. The only concern was the Koties were very friendly, and would like to visit all the ground floor decks in our area because one of the guests kept feeding them. Not a good idea! Staff were very friendly. The food was good especially at the restaurants. Hand sanitizers were available at all entrances and exits to the dining areas and lobbies. Some staff wore mask in the dining areas or bars but not all. I felt safe from Covid because of the way the main lobby and entertainment area is open to the air with a roof covering most of it. You are basically outside 95% of the time unless you are shopping in the many shops available or dining in. I have to say I did not hear any coughing on this trip at all! What a pleasant surprise.

Princess Sunset

Fantastic resort, the grounds, room, a la Carte restaurants were top notch. The only negative thing was the stinky seaweed at the ocean beach which the grounds crew did their best to clean-up on a daily basis.

Fabulous place!

Everything was clean and well maintained, from the grounds to the rooms and pools. Super service and despite being March Break not crowded or too busy. Only regret is that we couldn’t possibly do it all!

A much needed reset

I recently took my two oldest and myself to the grand sunset princess. We stayed from March 9th-17th. The resort was beautiful, the grounds were gorgeous and there was a lot to see in regards to wildlife. We saw monkeys, a crocodile, a deer and local animals as well. The food was great, something for everyone although it was very difficult to book the a la carts, and when we were able the earliest time was after 8pm which is a bit late with two young kids who have played in the sun all day. B [... read more]ut we utilized the buffets and the sports bar which had some great snacks, sandwiches and entertainment. The chill out snack buffet was our favorite for breakfast, as we arrived nice and early before it was crowded. The staff at that buffet were lovely and it was considerably smaller than the two at the main resort lobby area. We loved it. The pools were great, although guests saving chairs the night before and well before dawn got a bit frustrating as having small children, shade is necessary in the intense heat. We made it work, and found shaded spots when needed. I was warned about the seaweed and it was exactly what I've read from others. Awful. The water was mucky, the seaweed went out at least 30 feet and it was next to impossible for the staff to keep a section cleared. But we did still enjoy a few trips down to the ocean. A special shout out to Maria Gordillo in the sports bar who works her tail off while always smiling, thank you for everything! Thank you Jennifer, for helping us book this much needed trip. Our family needed this on so many levels and it's filled our hearts with joy and memories.

Great time

Over all was a very good experience. Was our 3rd vacation in the area and by far the largest resort we've ever stayed at. The staff were all wonderful, though often it felt they were understaffed, especially the poor bartenders stuck with never ending lines or the servers during meals with full or near full capacity. No ridiculous issues regarding covid restrictions. Unrelated to the hotel, Sunwing did not provide onboard entertainment unless you brought a phone or tablet. We have 2 sma [... read more]ll children and do not travel with any phones or electronic entertainment, so that was unexpected and a bit of work, but our boys handled it and we survived. They also did not provide a meal, which also was unexpected. Then our first flight was delayed by 6 hours due to operational issues - they messed up. We received $20 vouchers for that.... Everyone I talked to will never fly Sunwing again.

Fantastic Resort

This resort is very clean, has friendly staff and so many activities for the whole family. This is our 3rd time and we would go again in a heartbeat. Beautiful grounds, so many pools and a large beach to enjoy.

Beautiful Grounds

I stayed at this resort from January 21 2023 till January 28th 2023. I have to say the grounds are just beautiful. The resort is giant and it takes about 10-15 minutes to walk from the lobby of the resort to the beach depending on your pace. If you like to walk a lot then this resort is for you. The rooms are out dated and there is no usb ports to charge your electronics. The furniture is old and worn out. The couch has seen better days. Two of my pillows smelled like puke and when I told the ma [... read more]id she said she would bring me new pillow that never showed up. As for the cleanliness of room it was excellent for the first two days but then the third day my room was not made. I had to leave the sign out on the door handle for them to make my room. The resort is showing signs of ageing and could use some work. You can tell it’s quite worn out. The food at the buffet was just ok. Nothing fancy. They keep it very simple. The distance to playa del Carmen will cost you 20usd and the taxi will try to rip you off for 25. Next time I’m renting a car as it’s just much cheaper to get around. The beach was very small at the resort and every morning there would be a bunch of seaweed washing a shore. They do clean it up but it’s a very tight beach. Personally I will not be coming back to this resort as I’ve stayed at a much nicer resort for same price. The staff is very nice and welcoming but they expect to be tipped for everything. The entertainment was awesome! The dancing the shows the lights. Very nice! Don’t try to pet the wildlife as one of the guests got bit and someone’s beach bag got dragged into their den. I know this is not the resorts fault but I had some loud and rowdy neighbours couple doors down that would not shut up! They were so loud singing their tunes and being obnoxious. Then new neighbours came and all they did was fight and argue (couple problems) it was all in French and it was just sad that people can’t just enjoy each others company and have to ruin the peaceful aspect of a vacation for others. Suspect lack of class in some of the guests.

Lovely Resort

Travelled to Grand Sunset Princess the week of December 4 – 11, 2022. Our party had six people, two couples and two singles. Age ranges from 28 to 53. There was my boyfriend and I, we’ve stayed at this resort before, my sister and her boyfriend, our friend Mike and my sister’s son in the third room. Overall, I would highly recommend this resort to anyone, the grounds are lovely, there is a lot to see and do, lots of pools, lots of restaurants, ample wildlife to see. I will return again as  [... read more]soon as I can find a carrier that is NOT Sunwing. Our Sunwing flight to Mexico was delayed 3 hours. The plane was available, they just had no staff to fly the plane. It’s frustrating to see your plane sitting there for hours when you know you should be in the swimming pool already. Unfortunately, Air Canada has a monopoly on Pearson and won’t allow Sunwing to use Terminal 3. So, if you ever see on your boarding pass gate B26, that means you go to B26, cram into a tight shuttle bus, it ambles across the tarmac, down a tunnel under the runways, comes up in no man’s land and you end up at the Sunwing terminal. There really isn’t anything to do in that terminal, one sandwich shop but that’s about it. I’m fairly certain it was on that cramped shuttle bus, that I contracted a cold which developed on day two of the trip after which point, I spent the remainder of the week in bed sleeping. Since our flight was delayed, we ended up landing at the Cancun airport later than expected which worked out in our favour as there was no line up to check in when we arrived at the hotel. We got there in the evening and check in for our three rooms was very quick. We ended up in rooms 3006, 3005 and 3003. I guess someone had checked into 3004 before we got there. All the rooms were lovely, we had upgraded to have swim out rooms. We booked about six months in advance as we really wanted a swim out room. They give you direct access to the pool, a nice quiet area that runs past all the swim out rooms and is also connected to the main pool so you can swim over to the swim up bar if you wish. My sister was in 3005, there was some damage on the floor where previous guests had dragged the furniture around. So, I guess cosmetic updates to some rooms would be in order. The rooms were comfortable, I enjoyed the bed and the pillows. I thought the TV was a little small. I know, it’s paradise and who cares about tv (except I was sick almost the whole week so the tv was my only entertainment). Our shower set up, also in my sister’s room, was a little problematic, the seal around the shower door doesn’t really keep the water in so the entire bathroom floor would end up wet. I can see some room for improvement there, it would mean we’d use less towels to mop up the mess. The mini fridge in the room was stocked well, lots of water, soft drinks, and beers. And once a day someone would stop by and knock to see if we wanted anything extra for the fridge. My sister’s boyfriend locked himself out of the safe and had to have maintenance come open it for him, they were fast and friendly. I also had room service one night in the room, prices were reasonable. Another area for improvement might be the wifi. It seemed to work only sometimes in our rooms. My friend seemed to think there was a limit to how much internet you could use. Again, it’s paradise who needs to surf the net, but my point is, the resort wants you to book all the a la carts on their app, you need wifi for that. The Layout: Is great. Everything is relatively flat so it’s good for people with bad knees like me. Yes, there are three storeys to the resort but there are elevators, one behind each lobby and at the opposite end closest to the beach end of the property. The resort is really like two resorts side by side. You’ve got the Grand Riviera Princess and the Grand Sunset Princess. They run parallel to each other. So if ever you think the lobby looks a little off from what you remember, you might be in the lobby of the other resort. They look like mirror images of each other. The great part about this resort is that you’ve got options on how you want to get around. If you like the scenery, walk in the centre of the two resorts, the paths are lovely and landscaped, lots of critters to see and beautiful plants. If it’s raining and you don’t want to get wet, you can walk through the ground floor of the resort, and it’s completely covered as it winds its way past all the hotel rooms. And if you are lazy like me or under the weather, you can catch the trolly. It runs 24 hours a day. You can catch it behind the lobby, ground floor behind the shops. That’s the main trolly stop, it runs back and forth from the lobby down to the beach area. You can also walk on this path as well and flag down the trolly whenever it goes past, they ask which room you’re in and they stop close to your part of the building. If you are checking in or checking out, you can also request a smaller cart to bring you and your luggage to your room or back to the lobby, just arrange it with the lobby. Restaurants: There are two main buffets, they are right beside each other, one is orange, one is green. They serve the same thing as each other so it doesn’t matter which one you go to. They are on the Riviera side. Most of the a la carts are all above the two buffets, so it’s convenient having all everything together. Also in this same area is the spa, gym and disco. And a sports bar with pool tables and great burgers. For breakfasts if you don’t want to trek all the way to the front of the resort for the main buffet, each of the two resorts also has another buffet that is open for breakfast, it is close to the pools and beach. These little buffets also are a la carts in the evenings. Booking a la carts, they want you to use the Princess app too book. Here is my beef with that, it will only let you book for the room you are in. IE, I was room 3006 and I wanted to book for all 6 of us that were in our party, the app would only let me book for 2 because that was how many people were registered to my room. If you want to book for a bigger group or for multiple rooms, you’ll still have to go up to the lobby to the concierge table and book with them in person. There is room for improvement for the resort to upgrade the app so you can book for larger parties. I can’t speak for the actual food at the a la carts because I never visited any because I was sick. I just made it to the buffets a few times, it was okay. I’ve had better but I’ve had a lot worse too. The resort offers a shuttle that goes into playa del carmen a few times a day. It’s cheaper than taking a taxi. I recommend taking the shuttle to Playa and then taking a taxi back to the resort when you’ve had enough shopping. Our friend Mike ended up with lots of bug bites. Not sure what kind or where from. I think he was the only person in our group that went to the beach so that might be the issue. Don’t forget to pack your bug spray in case. The other five of us never got bitten by anything all week. Perhaps Mike is just the tastiest. Of course, he was also the one that ended up pooped on as well, not sure if it was a monkey in a tree or a bird. Do keep in mind that there is a lot of wildlife around so keep your food locked up tight. I saw the coati’s grab people’s bags and run, I’m sure the monkeys are the same. The cats and iguanas aren’t quite as bold. The trip from the resort back to the Cancun airport was painful, there is construction going on and it’s very slow going. Our return flight home was also delayed by 3 hours and even after we landed at Pearson and went through the crowded shuttle thing all over again, the baggage carousel wasn’t working so that was another hour. I was sick and tired and vowed to never again travel with Sunwing. As for the resort, I definitely need a do over on my vacation and am already dreaming and planning on when I’ll return. It’s a lovely resort.