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Crown Paradise Club - Cancun —  
Location: Beachfront - 30 minutes from downtown and 20 minutes from the airport
All-inclusive - 618 rooms and suites
Description from resort website: 8 restaurants - (Mechanical Bull in Wayne's Boots Old West” steak House) - 8 bars - rooms service - 2 snack bars - 3 levels of kids clubs from 3 yrs - 17 yrs - Water park for the kids with a Pirate ship and 8 water slides - Tennis clinic, aerobics, bike tour, Non motorized water sports such as Windsurfing, Paddle boats, Kayaks at Marina Aqua World, games and contests, water basketball, aquaerobics, dive demonstration class, water polo, bingo - mini golf - full service spas
 ~ Reviews posted on this page — 16
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| Crown Paradise Club | Cathy ~ Manitoba |
February 2009
Arrival: Feb 3rd - Feb 17th
We arrived late at night with a bus load and only 1 person on desk so took awhile to get to our room. We had requested a fridge in our room, none available, and really could have cared less that we had requested one. Staff not very sympathetic about pleasing people and kinda errigant most of the time.
Rooms
The rooms were fine clean and we had a walk in shower with a glass door and a huge jacuzzi in the room, took up a lot of space and who needs a jacuzzi in Mexico.
Restaurants and Bars
The buffet was good although could get tiring after 2 weeks. The Ala Cartes were fabulous steak just like you bbq it at home tender and tasty. We tried all the A La Cartes at least once and all were excellent.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
Beach was a real disappointment as red flags out almost all of the two weeks were were there. Pools were okay, but really noisy and lots of kids.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
We didn't go on any tours went to Cancun shopping a couple of days, really easy to get to by the bus give the driver $ 1 and everyone is happy and he will help you get where you want to go
Other Comments
There seemed to be loud music wherever you went and so loud that you couldn't understand half of what they were saying, Trafalgars bar was okay but at music cranked up and people didn't stay long, playing cards or visiting. There were just too many kids and too much noise to relax like we wanted, We would certainly recommend this too families and maybe go back when our grandchildren are older but until then we wouldn't go back and if you have no kids DON'T GO HERE
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| Crown Paradise Club |
Cathy ~ Canada |
February 2009
Arrival: Jan 18- Feb 1
We arrived around 6pm to the hotel everything was fine. Staff was friendly & took our luggage to our room.
Rooms:
Rooms were clean & updated. Our room was for 2 adults & 2 children so we had 2 double beds. We have stayed in cancun before at a different hotel so expected beds that would be larger then the average double in canada. Not at this hotel, the doubles are true doubles. We ended up having to get a cott for 1 of our children. Our bathroom was a handi-cap bathroom so was very roomy & had a nice walk in shower no bath tub. We had a nice covered deck with chairs & table. Other family members that were travelling with us had 1 king bed & their rooms were much bigger and had nicer linens on the beds. Bathrooms in the king bedroom were much smaller & had bath tubs. I would choose the walk in shower.
Restaurants and Bars:
The buffet was awesome, big selection of food everyday & night. Something for everyone. Staff was very friendly. A la carte restaurants were not very good at all. We tried the italian, the mexican & the steakhouse and the food in all 3 was awful and we ended up going to the buffet afterwards.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Beach was good, you have to get down there early to get chairs. The beach is not very wide & by the end of the 2 weeks it had washed away & created almost a cliff at some spots & was barely wide enough for 2 people to walk. Beach was clean though. Waves were pretty rough some days with quite the undertow. I found it very windy at this resort. Because the hotel is so tall you loose sun by about 3pm so that was a downside. All the pools were very nice/clean & entertainment team did a good job. The kids paradise is awesome !! Waterslides & activities for the kids and was very safe to leave kids there.
Activities:
Nightly shows in the theatre were very entertaining and were appropiate for kids as well.mamma mia show was pretty good & the fantasy show for kids was awesome, they had all the disney characters, belle, ariel etc.. & barney, baby bop & bj.
Other Comments:
Overall i would recommend this hotel, especially for families with young children, lots of activities for everyone. Only downside was the beach.
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| Crown Paradise Club |
Candy ~ Chicago |
December 2008
Arrival: June 5th-15th,2008
Was great, the resort was sooo nice !! every one very helpful & friendly.
Rooms:
very nice & clean, great view !!
Restaurants and Bars:
food was excelent!!& the bars were so much fun!!!the entertainers played games& were sooo much fun!I had a great time w/them .drinks were very very good!!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
beach was breath takeing, & the pools were wounderful & the entertainers were sooo much fun & nice, Joey was fantastict!!! & as handsome as a movie star!! grounds very clean & nicely landscaped.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
activities on the resort were great!!w/ all the entertainers, soo much fun!! Joey, realy stands out,what a great guy!& he is an AMAZEING DANCER!!! he could be John Stamos twin brother.
Other Comments:
I loved it!the shows were AMAZEING!GREASE,WAS AMAZEING!JOEY&MARIA AMAZEING DANCERS!JOEY, was a real standout!!I heard he is a model/actor in the U.S.A.& boy does it show!! what a looker!!its worth going just to see him!spectacular!!
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| Crown Paradise Club |
David & Janet ~ NB Canada |
December 2008
We just returned from a great week at Crown Paradise Club (CPC) Cancun from December 2 to 9, 2008. Janet and I are experienced travelers to resorts in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. We were looking for a place to spend my 50th birthday on the beach, and we weren’t disappointed. We got a very good deal on the CPC as that week fell in the low season and the resort was only about half full.
We flew with Air Canada and you had to pay for everything. Headphones for the entertainment system were $3. We paid $6 for a cold sub sandwich. The charter companies like Sunwing, Air Transat , Canjet and Conquest provide superior service.
Since we had a great price, we booked an upgraded Crown Club room. The bellman took us directly to the Crown Club Hospitality Suite on the 8th floor of the Crown Tower and our hostess checked us in. We also booked our dinner reservations at the a la carte restaurants while we were at it.
We were assigned room 2804 which was right around the corner from the hospitality suite. We had an awesome view of the whole resort and the ocean.
Our room was large, with a king sized bed and a Jacuzzi in the room. The bathroom had the toilet in a separate room. There were double sinks and clear glass doors on the shower area with no tub. Everything was extremely clean, was in very good shape, and worked well. However, I did notice some very small ants or whatever crawling around the sinks. I’ve noticed these in most resorts that we have been in. There were plenty of pillows, but we found the bed to be extremely hard.
The mini bar fridge in the room was stocked daily with water, juices, soft drinks and beer, but we were concerned about the small amount of bottled water available for drinking. However, all the literature claims that the tap water in Cancun resorts is safe to drink. You can actually smell the chlorine when you turn on the taps. Just to be on the safe side, we bought bottled water for the coffee maker down at the store in the lobby.
The maid service was excellent as they checked the room about 3 times a day. However there was one day that the room wasn’t made up when we went back for our 4:00 siesta. There were always clean towels and facecloths available when we needed them. On my birthday, the maid had the room decorated with a Happy Birthday banner and lots of balloons which was a nice touch. We usually left a US$1 tip for the maid each day.
The food at the CPC was the best that we have had at an all inclusive resort so far. We usually went for breakfast at the Crown Club Hospitality Suite which was very good. We went to the La Palapa main buffet a few times for breakfast, lunch and supper. The food and service were excellent. We tried a little bit of everything and we never found it boring.
We had lunch a few times at the Tutuch snack bar which is located beside the main pool. They offered hamburgers with all the fixings, hot dogs, fries, chicken wings and taco chips with cheese and salsa. Beside this was the Fujiyama Japanese snack bar which offered deep fried coconut shrimp and beef noodle stir fry to name a few, and had all kinds of sushi rolls. We also stopped at the Midway Grill near the lobby bar one night on the way home after midnight and picked up a steak sandwich.
The Italian restaurant La Piazza had good red wine, and a salad bar. Wayne’s Boots is a steakhouse that features rides on a mechanical bull at 7:00pm & 9:00pm. I rode the bull but didn’t stay on too long. We had a nice chocolate brownie with ice cream for desert which was delicious. We saved San Soucis the French restaurant for my birthday dinner and we were not disappointed. We had red wine with crepes and a perfectly cooked beef tenderloin. Then we had after dinner drinks of Bailey’s and Sambooka.
We should note that not all the restaurants were open every night as the resort was not full. The French is adults only, and men must have long pants and shirts and no open toed shoes. I ended up wearing my sneakers. All other restaurants have a very good children’s menu which is definitely a priority at this resort. The Steakhouse was a little disappointing in that only 1 kind of steak was offered, but you could get chicken or ribs if you wished. Nevertheless, the food was absolutely the best, with very little waiting time between courses.
The main focal point of our week was the adults only Club Caribe pool and swim up bar. It is located off the 1st floor of the Paradise Tower. It is a quiet area with no children and is a perfect place to spend the afternoon relaxing. Elf was the bartender and he did a very good job of providing whatever it was we wanted to drink. We met some great people from all over the world herel.
We hung around the Main Pool on most mornings, but we usually moved around lunch time. The Concha pool is beside the main pool and is totally in the shade by about 1:00 pm. Generally, the water temperature in the pools was cool and it took me some time to get in. However, there are some heated pools up at the Adults pool.
The beach near the CPC is very narrow, but it is wider down to the right of the resort. There is an abandoned resort to left side. However, the beach is very clean with nice fine sand. The beach is public property and local venders were roaming around trying to sell you things. However, they weren’t much of a bother, but I ended up buying a bracelet. The CPC beach bar was closed for repairs while we were there, but I did notice a waiter serving drinks down at the beach. The ocean was very rough and the red flags were up on most days. However, we did manage to get in for a swim a couple of days when it was yellow flagged. You need to be careful getting in and out of the water as the waves can knock you down.
The bars at the CPC open at 10:00 am. The lobby bar is very small with only a few tables. On the other side of this is the Collage bar which is quite large and has good table service. The only draw back is the children running around which is allowed in the Collage
We spent most evenings at the adults only Trafalgar bar which opened at 6:00 pm. Carlito was the bartender and he was very friendly and he could make just about any kind of drink. I would suggest you try an apple martini which is a good drink before supper. After supper we would go back for drinks and play pool or cards and hang out with our new friends.
All the resorts in Cancun are now Smoke Free as of about 6 months ago. They do not allow smoking anywhere inside, similar to the smoke free laws in Canada. It would be nice if the CPC provided some kind of outdoor smoking lounge where a person could sit and smoke while enjoying a drink. Ash trays at the entrances to the lobby and other buildings are required so people can butt out before entering.
The resort’s theater is inside and is just down the way from the front desk in the main lobby. The shows start at 8:00 or 9:00 pm each night. We caught a couple of shows and they were better than average. The staff works hard to include the children.
We were approached by a man on the first day who asked if we were interested in going for a 90 minute presentation on the CPC VIP package. He offered us gift certificates and other items if we went to the presentation. We apparently agreed probably because of the many tequilas and margaritas we had consumed that afternoon. We were surprised when he telephoned our room early the next morning to remind us. But we politely declined, and we were not approached again by anyone throughout the week.
We took the local transit bus into down town Cancun one day and did some shopping at the famous Market 28. The bus stops in front of the resort and only costs 6.50 pesos but we gave the driver US$1 each. Market 28 has the best prices in Cancun for tee shirts and other souvenirs. We then went to Wal Mart more for curiosity than anything else. But we ended up buying Tequila and Kahlua to take home as the price was better than anyplace else, including the Duty Free shop at the airport. The buses run every couple of minutes and it is no problem at all. Just be prepared to hang on! However, I would recommend wearing sneakers and socks when going into Cancun as the streets can be very dirty.
Our CPC vacation package also included green fees at the Pok ta Pok golf course. This is not to be confused with the Hilton Golf Course which is right across the street from the CPC. We had to pay for a mandatory power cart rental at US$35 per person and we rented clubs at US$45 per person. The course is rated 70 from the white tees and plays over 6400 yards. We noticed a lot of lizards on the course which we were wary of. There is no deep rough or anything like that where scary things can lurk. The course is a good test but we rated it at about 5 out of 10 when compared to similar priced courses at home. At the end of the round, we were provided with a cool cloth to wipe our faces which was a nice touch. We took at cab from the CPC to the course which cost US$13 each way.
In summary, we had a wonderful week at the Crown Paradise Club in Cancun. The resort is very clean and compact. The service is excellent, and the staff are very friendly and co-operative. The price was a bargain and we’d definitely go back.
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| Crown Paradise Club |
Sue ~ Charlottetown PEI, Canada |
April 2008
Arrival and Flight - Air Canada March 23 -30/08
Rooms - Absolutely horrible. I don't know where to start. I am not a picky person most times - a clean bed and decent bathroom are a must though. When we opened the door to the room I told my husband not to unpack. We went to this resort on the recommendation of a co-worker who had gone last year. He raved about his jacuzzi in the room and glassed in shower and the cleanliness of the room. A cockroach basically met us at the door. A few other bugs decided to crawl up the bathroom sink drain over the course of the week as well. The tub was rusting around the edges, the shower curtain holder was corroded beyond, one of the taps was rusted out. The bathroom floor was filthy and the drain on the floor had slime around it. There was a light in the center of the room so if you were on the toilet or standing at the sink the light was directly overhead - the housing around the light was dripping water - was it a leak from upstairs or condensation built up from our room? There were no problems with having clean towels everyday when the maid came to the room. There was a problem with enough beach towels. The smell was very musty - much like a basement that had water in it.
Restaurants - We ate at the French restaurant, the Mexican Restaurant and Wayne's Boots as well as the Buffet and Snack bars at poolside. The French was by far the best. Cannot say anything bad about the food; neither the kids or adults got sick and their was something for everyone. I have to agree with some of the other comments that if you were at the buffet when it opened it was crowded and up to about the first hour seating was minimal. Also, booking at the restaurants you had to do about 3 days in advance for the a la cartes.
Bars - Excellent service - the bartenders get to know you and tips are appreciated.
Beach and Pools - Did not spend much time on the beach. Pool areas are definitely overcrowded, not enough towels or chairs. Although a sign is posted that there is no reserving of chairs, they pretty much all have towels or personal belongings on them by 7am - and then not used until later in the day and the rule is not enforced so you may end up sitting on cement all day.
Grounds -
The grounds were kept neat and tidy, no garbage around and the workers were visible and diligent.
Activities and Entertainment - There were many activities to purchase at the tour desk - quite expensive. Evening entertainment was great and geared towards the kids most nights - the Circus night (Sunday) and Saturday evenings (Barney, Princesses, Shrek) were the best.
Tours - Expensive but safe and available.
Departure and Check Out - Let's start with the check in. We got there at 10am and were told no room until at least 3pm so our luggage went to the concierge desk. We changed in a public washroom and spent a pleasant few hours touring the facility to get familiar. At the time of booking we asked for a cot and a mini-bar. When we got to the room we had neither. When I enquired at the desk they said 4 people, 2 double beds that's it. Regarding the mini-bar because we were not in the new tower, apparently we were not entitled to it. I asked for a fridge because our daughter was on medication that required it to remain chilled. Could not get one so for the entire week, 2x per day we filled the ice bucket. I asked 3 days in a row at the desk regarding the 2 requests. They certainly did not want to provide them for various reasons it seemed and then I found out that the cost of a cot is $20 per day extra and the fridge $10 per day. We did not book last minute, it was the middle of February. I was also told there were no other rooms available but the man who checked in next to us with his daughter got a king bed in error and was supposed to have 2 doubles like us. He was given a cot and was moved to the new tower the next day. I spoke to the Air Canada representative on site and he basically told me all the rooms were the same and that the hotel was booked. I made it a point to visit the other tower and let me tell you the rooms are not the same. They were like the photos in the magazine and on the website - not the room that we got.
Check out was easy and I told them that I was disappointed with our holiday regarding our room, no reaction at all. The day before we left we were left with a customer satisfaction questionnaire - I filled it out and handed it to the agent on the front desk as I told her we were not happy with the room.
Kids Club -
Usually only 2 employees in there at a time - with upwards of 50 children - not sufficient enough. The eating area is not clean and the bathrooms did not appear to be getting clean on a daily basis. Age 3-12 together in one group; makes it hard for the little ones in the pool. Not lifeguarded at all times.
Timeshare -
Every morning we went to breakfast there was a hotel employee who approached us to go to a breakfast meeting - we did not go but it was for a presentation on a time share. I had made the mistake of enquiring at her desk regarding hotel information and she took my name down 'for her statistics' so she had it and I told her I was not interested in the sales pitch. By the 2nd last day she came across the lobby at us saying 'why you didn't show up for the breakfast - you come now!' - she was pretty aggressive.
Water. At the travel clinics and through our travel agent, we were told NOT to drink the water and to use bottled water to brush our teeth as well. I drink a lot of water. You could not get bottled water unless you bought it at the convenience store on site. We could only buy what we could drink/use in the short term because we had no place to keep it cold. Even if you asked for water at the bars they turned on the tap - no thanks. This resort is rated as a 4 and 4.5 star in many travel brochures - water is a basic necessity and at an all inclusive, expected.
Public areas - most areas were kept clean on the main level; i.e. the lobby with shiny marble floors however there is a difference between the 2 towers - the other being extremely upscale compared to our tower. One of the 3 elevators had a pink sticky drink spilled in it the first day we were there and was still in the corner when we left, complete with ants by the 2nd day. The public restrooms were deplorable. The toilets had a ring of water around the base with the sanitary holders overflowing on some days. The public washroom attached to the buffet restaurant never had any soap in the dispenser the entire week. The public washrooms in the other tower were spotless and did not have any odour.
Overall this vacation was fine as long as we were not in our room. We all made out ok with the food and it is a good place for families. The kids club is not what the brochures lead you to believe, merely a place to leave your kids if you want a few hours to yourselves or to go for dinner.
We would not go back to this resort and I would like to see the rating of it lowered. Had we been in the other tower it could have made a world of difference. We went on a friend's recommendation and the photos from the web and travel brochures but that is not the product that we got.
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January 2008
Wow what a great spot for families ,lots to do and fun for the teens to. not the spot for singles or senoirs .Families will love it 5 ala cart restraunts one buffet two snackbars . the rooms were small but very clean and everything in good working condition.Every room is an ocean view with a balcony, the public transit system is great $2.60 for a family of four the taxi's there are expensive .You can use the public transit all over cancun even to downtown where their is a wal-mart and costco great idea to get souviners thier you will save a tonne of money.The food was fresh and and very flavorful,we did not expierance any stomach issues at all.I can not say enough about the staff they were great and friendly ,helpfuland best of all they were not looking for tips if you tipped you were thanked, and if you did not tip you were also thanked, those guys were very nice.Pools were good the main pool was busy and hard to get a chair people were out early to place thier towels on the chairs .The others pools were not busy and the beach was always availble with chairs .If you are a carver you will be disappointed,the sand is only good for soft pack carving even that is a chore , should brought some clay i guess HAHA,.Kids club was very well run and organized, also the teens have thier own area and activities.I think this a good place for families it has it all and you will be pleased, i know we were .from dec.22 2007 to jan 05 2008
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| Crown Paradise Club |
Annette |
July 2005
On June 25th, my family and I took our annual vacation with Apple. This year we went to Cancun, Mexico. We have been to Rivera Maya, Playa del Carmen and Punta Cana twice each time at 5 Apple or better resorts - we've loved, loved every vacation..
This year we stayed at the Crown Paradise Club in Cancun - supposedly at 5 apple resort. It seems as though the hotel increased it's occupancy by 1/3 by the addition of a new wing, but did not increase it's amenities to ensure there was enough room and electricity for everything and everyone.
Our vacation started with the front desk telling us (in writing) we could not flush the toilet paper in the toilet bowl, but rather to save the soiled waste paper in our room for 24 hours until the maid would pick it up. The vacation only went down hill from there...
1. For breakfast and lunch, there were never enough tables available for everyone to be seated. We regularly would have to stand and wait for a table. The room was not open air, nor was it air conditioned, so the wait staff were regularly sweating while you tried to eat.
2. The rest rooms through out the facilities were not air conditioned and contained excrement in the waste baskets so they always smelled like a septic tank.
3. The restaurants were over crowded for dinner and a typically wait would be 30 minutes if you got on line when the restaurant opened, or an hour if you got there after the restaurant opened. So we spend 10 hours of our vacation waiting on line waiting to eat.
4. There were 3 elevators for 1,000 people; there was always a line for the old not operational elevators so we used the stairs to get to the 3rd floor. The stairs were the service stairs which smelled like excrement and were also not air-conditioned.
5. The good news is we only had to walk to the 3rd floor, 5 flights of stairs, the bad news is that our room was above the hotel lobby so we were listening to the hotel drunkards until 2 a.m. every day.
6. The swimming pool was a 90 degrees everyday and was so soiled that there was a black scum on the tiles that was not cleaned even once in the 7 days we were there. The pool had a film on top of it from sun block and there literally was people's dead sunburned skin floating in the pool. We did not use the pool after a while because we were afraid to contract a disease.
7. There was never any seating by the pool, you were crammed in like sardines. I have been to resorts that have no pool seating, but you could at least sit on the floor, the floor had no room, you had to walk on the chairs to get through the pool area.
8. There were never any lifeguards, the slide area was unsupervised, my child went down the slide and no one told the next child when to go so my daughter had another child land on her.
9. Every day there was tequila water polo or tequila volleyball, but only twice was there volleyball for children.
And now the finale...
10. To top it all off, at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, after using the bathroom in our room to relieve digestive discomfort, and before having used any paper product, our toilet overflowed and excrement was all over the entire floor. We required the plumber and the cleaning people to come to our room in the middle of the night
Overall the Mexican people are very nice and accommodating. The people in the hotel were superb - very helpful. We didn't like the hotel, so we spent $1,000 and went on excursions so we could leave the hotel. The hotel's staff was very kind, the dinner's were very good, but everything else was atrocious. The USA3000 Airline was a pleasure.
We used "Aqua world" for our excursions and though expensive, they were very well done. The buffets had real food and not bologna on white. The staff was also terrific.
I don't understand how this hotel is rated a "5" - at a "5" star resort, you should be able to flush the toilets.
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| Golden Crown Paradise |
Anne ~ New York |
June 2005
My husband, 5 year old son and myself have just returned from our first vacation in Cancun. We stayed at the Crown Paradise Club from June 10th to June 17th.
We travelled from Newark to Atlanta with Delta Airlines and from Atlanta to Cancun with Aeromexico,both of which were good.The roll on the Aeromexico flight was probably the largest and the tastiest I've ever had!!
The staff at the hotel was absolutely wonderful and helped you in anyway that they could. Our room was a good size for us, but could of done with a touch up {broken bedside lights and writing on the wall} but we didn't spend that much time in the room long enough to be really upset about it!
The pools were great and the beach was beautiful. People have said that it is too small, but I liked the fact that you stepped from the hotel, took about thirty steps and your in the ocean.
I don't have enough to say about the kids paradise club, but it is fanatastic for your young ones. My son fell in love with 'Crazy Emily' one of the women who watch out for the children. He played water volley ball, fed the Iguanas, went to a disco, and made some cool things for craft time. When they have there lunch or do there crafts the club is locked up for an hour and the other children that are just there to play in the pool are asked to leave. The children in the club then have there own private and secure time with the child carers. If you sign your child up you have the option of letting them come and go or not. My son had the option as we were never far away!
The restuarants were absolutely wonderful, as was the food. I have had the fortune to have travelled to many countries in the past and taste many foods, and ours was always cooked and presented beautifully. The cleanliness and the decor was great in every one of them, not to mention the service. And the main buffet was great and I miss the breakfasts terribly! Try some of the authentic foods, they are good as are the different types of water they had.
We took two trips with Best Day tours and they were excellent. Our travel company had booked them as our transfer to and from the hotel so we chose to book our trips with them too and was not dissapointed !! They,as well as other tour companies are located in the main lobby but I recommend Best Day very highly!
I had read that someone went here and said that the drinks were waterd down as you would probably expect in an All- Inclusive resort, well I'm to tell you that I didn't have one 'Watery' drink. They were all made great.
The one thing that was really good about the location of this hotel is that it is one of the first drop offs form the airport. It's not across the street from bars or clubs, but if that's want you want to do, it's only twenty minutes,if that, downtown.
I liked the merchants market that came into the hotel a few times a week. The prices they ask for is not what you pay of course because you haggle with them. We bought some nice things for way less than they were asking for.
Another thing that was really cool was just when your not expecting it a Super Hero or his nemesis will jump out from no-where and do a stint for everyone like ,jumping on the bar or going in the pool ect,ect. It was so funny to see my son chasing the Green Goblin with Spiderman in tow !!
So I am happy to say that we plan to go back next year. The whole experience was wonderful in the hotel as well as in Cancun, with the warmth of the Mexican people
and the beauty of their country . I can't wait !!!!
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| Crown Paradise Club - Cancun |
James and Sarah |
April 2005
Crown Paradise Club
Stay: Saturday August 28th, 2004
Room: 1146
Guests: 1 26yr male, 1 27yr female
We didn't actually plan to stay at the CPC. We booked the Golden Crown Paradise (adults only) and arrived there at 9:30 only to be told they were overbooked and we were bumped to CPC. When we arrived at CPC the staff were very friendly but had no idea about our booking, the rates we were paying, etc. Finally they got us booked in and we took our stuff to our room. It took the bellman a little while to find our room, which was also confused by the elevator taking us to the wrong floor.
Once we were in our room, it was time to eat as we were starving. Luckily, the CPC (and GCP) have all-night snacks available. We went down to the midway snack bar, and I had a great grilled steak sandwich while my GF had a chicken Caesar. We shared some nachos. The great thing about this snack bar is the food is being cooked to order all night, until about 5 or 6 in the morning. Some places have snacks available but it's buffet style and sits all night. However, the water cooler had bad water. (See notes at end)
Having eaten, we decided to hit the bar for our first drinks. We had a map they gave us when we checked in, but it was a little hard to follow. We found our way to "La Rumbera" which is a lounge/bar/pool tables. It's open late, when we went in there were live music, and a couple of people dancing. Most were either sitting, playing pool, or lined up at the bar. The music was good, but we weren't into dancing. The thing I didn't like was children were allowed in this bar, and the dancing was all children with their parents, even at midnight. I was also a little unsettled at lining up at the bar for a drink, with kids sitting at the bar. It was just weird (I didn't get that feeling anywhere else we stayed). For other "nightlife" at the CPC there is the Insomnia Disco down by the beach. This is for teens and doesn't serve alcohol. I also saw "trafalgar's" English pub. Here they have a dance floor and had some pretty loud hip-hop dance music going when I went in, with a good crowd but no dancing.
The room was comfortable, but nothing special. In the bathtub, the plug was held in place by a 25cm long rusty metal spike. The whole thing was gross so I just lifted it out and laid it on the counter. The only downside to the room is the door faces out onto the enclosed "pyramid" area that houses the restaurants, a bar, and the snack bar, as well as the hotel lobby. Even at 3 in the morning, the screams of children were echoing up and into the room.
In the morning, I hit the snack bar at 7:30 for continental breakfast. Which is buns and fruit. They had coffee, milk and juice, as well as Tea bags and a jar of instant decaf, but no hot water for those. I went from there to the gym, which is actually pretty well equipped. Cardio, weights, free weights and an instructor leading aerobics.
Back to the room, and a nap, and then the two of us were off to the buffet for breakfast. We had a lovely table on the patio overlooking the pool and beach. If you sit outside make sure you're upwind of the smokers. Breakfast was good, great selection, not too bad food. The GCP had told us a shuttle would pick us up at 10:00 AM to come back to our original hotel. It didn't, and the scheduled 11:00 shuttle didn't show until almost 12:00. We whiled away some time at the lobby bar. On to the shuttle to our next hotel. This tale is continued under "golden Crown paradise"
any questions or to see pictures, email me sparky4@telus.net
website: http://www.crownparadise.com.mx
Food: we didn't have much but it was acceptable. Loved the late night snack bar
Drinks: seemed fine. not overly strong, but not watered down. Water problem noted below.
Staff: Polite if not overly friendly. We weren't really here long enough.
Beach: looked nice at 2AM but we didn't go during the day.
Pool: Numerous. Looked good, but we didn't use them.
Great things about CPC:
For children, there is actually a lot to do. The kid's club looked quite large, including a pool with 4 waterslides. There's mini-golf, and the teen disco. Also kids were at the Rumbera lounge with their parents, so they had fun there. There seemed to be a lot of restaurant choices, which is a good thing. The late night snacks are available and were pretty good. There are about 5 pools so you shouldn't ever be too crowded. The guidebook/map was handy.
Not-so-great things:
While there are water coolers at the bars, restaurants, and gym with purified water, it seems to be hit and miss whether the water tastes good or not. It was all safe, we didn't get sick, but sometimes it was disgusting and actually difficult to finish a glass. The noise of the screaming children echoing into the room would prompt me to find a room in a different part of the hotel. The map is hard to follow. There was supposed to be a "piano bar" open till 1AM with live jazz music. We couldn't find it, and the area where the map placed it was totally closed, dark and dead. The description in the tour operator's books says 24-hour room service is included in the all-inclusive, but the card in our room had it available for breakfast only, and there were prices attached to the menu.
Restaurant info:
Midway Stop: Express continental breakfast 06:00-09:00 daily; Late night snack grill 21:00-06:00 daily
Food Court (buffet): Breakfast Buffet 07:00-11:30 daily; Breakfast a la Carte 11:30-12:00 daily; lunch/dinner buffet 12:30-21:00 daily
La Concha & Tutuch (beach snack bar): Snacks (hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches) 11:00-17:00 daily.
Arigato (Japanese): 12:00-17:00 daily
Los Gallos (Mexican): Seatings at 18:00, 20:00, and 21:00-22:15. Reservations required for 18:00/20:00. Closed Mondays
La Piazza (Italian): Seatings at 18:00, 18:30, 20:00, and 21:00-22:15. Reservations required for 18:00, 18:30, 20:00. Closed Thursdays
Fifty's (International food with live music): Seatings at 18:30 and 21:00. Daily menu. Reservations required. Closes Tuesdays and Fridays.
Wayne's Boots (Steakhouse/Western): Seatings at 18:00, 18:30, 20:00, and 21:00-22:15. Reservations required for 18:00, 18:30, 20:00. Closed Wednesdays.
Fisherman's (Seafood): Seatings at 18:00, 18:30, 20:00, and 21:00-22:15. Reservations required for 18:00, 18:30, 20:00. Closed Sundays.
reservations can be made by phone, up to 24 hours in advance. At least that's a little better then going out at 07:00 to get a reservation.
Dress Code - Fisherman's, Los Gallos, La Piazza, and Wayne's Boots: semi-formal dress for men (long pants, dress shorts, collar shirt, shoes, no beach wear.) For Fifty's: formal dress code (long pants, collar shirt, closed shoes.)
Room Service (extra charge, even though everything says it's included): breakfast 07:00-11:00, regular menu 12:00-18:00
Tea Time: English style afternoon tea, 17:00-18:00 at Los Gallos Terrace
Bar info:
Lobby bar: 10:00-23:00
Rumbero's Bar: 18:00-02:00. 2 pool tables, live music, dance floor, kids go in here too.
Las Brisas: Main pool bar, 10:00-17:00
La Concha: Between the main pool and the La Concha Pool; 11:00-18:00
Piano Bar: on the ocean, 18:00-01:30, adults only, live music starting at 22:30, closes Tuesdays. (We tried to go here but it seemed closed on a Saturday night.)
Club Caribe: pool bar in the adults recreation area, 10:00-17:00
Beach bar: 10:00-17:00 weather permitting
Trafalgar's: Pub, games room, billiards, disco/dance floor: 18:00-02:00 adults only
Amenities info:
Las Brisas: main pool, with music/activities, 07:00-22:00
La Concha/Jacuzzi: adults only, 07:00-22:00
Club Caribe: recreation area for adults. hydro massage, pool (07:00-19:00), Jacuzzis (07:00-22:00). steam baths downstairs (08:00-20:00)
Coco Loco: indoor/outdoor pool, 07:00-22:00
Mini-club/Baby-club: Kids 4-12 or babies 18 months to 4 years. Activities, pool, water slides. Open 09:00-21:45 (mini-club closes 16:5 on Sundays)
Tennis Courts: 2 courts, with night lighting. instructor available for free lessons
Watersports: Daily shuttle at 09:30 and 11:30 to Marina for windsurfing, kayaking, sailboating, and paddleboats.
Gym: 08:00-20:00
Minigolf: 08:00-22:30. equipment available
Arcade: 09:00-12:00
Insomnia Disco: beachfront disco for teenagers only, no alcohol served.
In-room safe is included
Shows info:
Nightly disco shuttle (23:00, 22:30 on Sundays)
In the hotel's theatre:v
Monday: Mexican Fiesta Show 20:00-21:00
Tuesdays: international Show 20:00-21:00
Wednesdays: Star Show 20:00-21:00v
Thursdays: Broadway Show 20:00-21:00
Fridays: Carnival Dinner Show: Unique dinner ball in Grand Salon, doors 19:30 dinner 20:00
Saturdays: karaoke in Trafalgars, win prizes, disco music 23:00-02:00
Sundays: Fantasy Show, geared to children, 20:00-21:00
Other events:
Monday: Kids - Pinata in lobby 21:00-22:00, Adults Singing Contest at Piano bar at 22:00
Tuesday: Bingo at Trafalgar's 21:00-22:00
Wednesday: After show, Children's football, teenage basketball, adults volleyball
Thursday: After show, dance contest for kids 21:00-22:00, adults salsa contest at Rumbero 22:00-23;00
Sunday: Crazy games at insomnia disco 21:00-22:00, 22:00-02:00 "teens night"
Any Questions, or to see pictures, please email me sparky4@telus.net
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| Crown Paradise Club - Cancun |
Celina ~ Canada |
February 2005
What a fabulous resort! If you are looking for a resort that has entertainment for all ages, then this is the resort for you!
The rooms were good. The first room we stayed in was nice. We requested two beds as we were a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids under 6). This room, with the 4 of us was a bit small. However, the beds were great and the TV there had the kids cartoon network for the kids. There was only a handfull of channels that were engligh speaking. They should invest in satallite TV but then again, who stays in the hotel room when on vacation!
We were upgraded to a one bedroom suite, after buying a time share. The suite was fabulous! Had two hotel rooms together with a full kitchen. Next time we go, we are looking at not going all-inclusive., as there is so much out there to experience with respects to food....It will be an experience to dine out every night or just sit at the hotel and have a quiet supper.....
The pools were hopping with entertainment. There was one pool shaped like a shell and along side it was a small hot pool. Most of the families with young kids stayed at this one.
Then there was the main pool where the staff entertained us patrons.
Then there was the kids centre....I cannot say enough good things about this area. They were structured, just like a day care, with craft time, movie time, lunch time, sport time and yes! POOL TIME. with many slides to zip down on. It was a fantastic place. Best of all, your kids can go there early morning until 9pm at night and you dont have to stay on the resort (if you choose that option). I left for a couple of hours once, and got my hair braided downtown....
DOWNTOWN the best shopping of all. Got my hair done for $500 pecos, which I had them put in extensions (to my bottom) and beads and the fancy flowers. They did such a great job it took me nearly 6 hours to get it all out when I came home. BEST JOB! just take the bus R1, and tell them to take you to the supermarket downtown....as soon as you get off the market it located on the corner across the street but at the bus stop the ladies are there to do your hair....took two people and 1.5 hours to do my hair.
The restaraunts are great and you can only book 2 DAYS IN ADVANCE. Make sure you call first thing when you wake to book your two days in. I completely loved Wayne's Boots and recommend the shrimp and chicken kabob, and request a corn cob and extra rice then have the banana split after......they have the best ice cream in Mexico! Shhhh dont tell my husband but I was eating a cone everyday I was there!
ANyhow, I definately recommend the hotel to all. We are going back again....as matter of fact we met many others who have been to this hotel more than once...one couple has returned there 9 years in a row!
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| Crown Paradise Club - Cancun |
Elizabeth ~ Canada |
January 2005
We have just returned from a vacation in Cancun. We stayed at the Crown Paradise from January 17 to 24. We were travelling with 4 adults and 2 children (3 and 4 years old). As we spent a lot of time looking at reviews on this site, I thought I would give my thoughts.
Flight – We flew with Sky Service on a Sunquest package. I would not recommend either of those. The flight out of Ottawa was delayed by 5 hours due to mechanical problems. I can understand such delays, especially on a charter, but they knew well in advance that there was a problem. When we arrived to check in they asked if we were aware of the delay. I believe Sky Service could have done something to inform us prior to arriving at the airport. As for Sunquest, our only dealing with the rep in Cancun was on our first day there. He offered very little information and only seemed interested in selling us tours.
Check-in – Due to the delay in our flight, we arrived at the hotel around 2 in the morning, instead of 9 in the evening. I thought the hotel did a pretty quick and efficient job of getting us to our rooms. We had adjacent rooms on the first floor of the farthest tower. At booking we had asked for rooms on an upper floor, but to me that really wasn’t an issue. Of concern at the time was the howling wind we could hear outside. Were we in a wind tunnel?? Turned out it was just a windy couple of days.
Rooms – We had a few minor complaints about the room. Mostly, the bathroom. The tap in the bathtub didn’t quite reach all the way so a lot of water tended to end up on the floor. In addition there was a fist sized dent in the wall near one of the beds. Finally, the air filter was in obvious need of cleaning as it was so lined with dust. Otherwise, the room was quite comfortable. It was a good size for a family of 4. The balcony overlooked the pool with an ocean view and was also a good size. The kids kept wanting to play there and have snacks. Some have said the beds are not comfortable, but we seemed to have no problems with them.
Beach – The beach in front of the hotel was a little small, especially at high tide. If your chair wasn’t right up against the wall, you might get washed away! But that was really only a problem on two of the days. We generally had no problems finding chairs, though it was a bit frustrating to see so many of the chairs missing their “backs”. Perhaps it’s time to replace a few of these. The beach was clean and the kids had a great time digging holes and jumping the surf.
Pools – Finding space around the pools was more of a problem. People were putting their towels out around 7 in the morning, probably earlier, despite signs posted by the hotel that this practice is forbidden. I’ve always had a problem with people doing that. Everybody wants a place in the sun, but obviously some think it’s more their right. Anyway… the pools were nice. The two main pools were always hopping. One seemed more kid friendly, which presented a bit of a problem. Quite often, families would gather on the steps to let the little ones play there. That’s fine, except that it made it difficult to get slightly older kids in. Mine like to hold onto the railing, but that was hard to do with so many people there. Otherwise, the water was nice. I believe that pool was heated. The other pool, looking out onto the beach, was not heated. That was the activity pool and the one that had the best afternoon sun. I believe there was also a Jacuzzi in this area. However, if I’m not mistaken, it was turned into another kids pool and was never used as a Jacuzzi. Then there was the Kids’ Paradise where the slides were. Our kids never spent time at the kids club, but we did go do some sliding. The water was way too cold! If they can heat one pool, surely they can heat this one too. Otherwise, the slides were great. My kids can’t swim, but that didn’t seem to be a problem. I was in there with them but probably didn’t need to be. The sliding typically stops before truly hitting the water, so they don’t go completely under. Last is the adults’ only pool, which we used only on our last day. An interesting area. Nice to get away from the kids, but I found it noisy in other ways. There were a few groups that insisted on loud conversations and the bartenders were constantly blowing a whistle. Also a good place to catch afternoon sun. But I’m not sure I’d want to spend too much time there.
Restaurants – The a la carte restaurants were great, though hard to get into. Reservations generally had to be made a day ahead and if you wanted a 6:00 seating, this was sometimes hard to come by. But we did get to try them all. My husband and I quite enjoyed the kid free restaurant “50s”. Travelling with two young kids, it was nice to get a break. Wayne’s Boots was a little too loud, but the meals were great. I think my favourite was probably La Piazza, the Italian restaurant. Service at all these restaurants was good, but not great. Things tended to be forgotten, but I attribute that to a language problem. The buffet restaurant was OK. As others have said, the menu tended not to change, especially between lunch and dinner. It did change day to day. I think this was a plan to encourage dining at the restaurants. Anyway, breakfast was generally pretty good (waffles with chocolate sauce – yum!). However, I found the staff there not to be very friendly or helpful, for the most part. Is this because we didn’t always leave a tip? It particularly bothered me the day I was in there alone with the two kids. Trying to get food from a buffet with a 3 and 4 year old can be a bit of a challenge. Nobody offered to get us drinks and no plates were cleared. Meanwhile, a larger table across from us were getting lots of attention and help when they didn’t really need it. A little thing maybe, but that tended to affect my judgement of the staff as a whole. I found, generally, that the hotel staff was not very friendly. There were exceptions of course.
Bars – As we didn’t spend a lot of times at the bars, I can’t say much about them. The Pina coladas I had were great! Of my two experiences at the beach bar, I found the bartender to be very rude. On one occasion, I was advised very rudely that they weren’t open yet, which I was not aware. All that for a glass of water.
Entertainment – The hotel put on nightly shows at 8 pm. These lasted from 30 minutes to an hour. The shows were good, but not great. And I think a later start would have been better to avoid rushing from dinner. From our perspective, the best of the shows had to be what they called a “Fantasy” show, geared towards the kids. It had a variety of Disney and other kids characters – Shrek, Tarzan, Mickey Mouse, Barney, etc. Both of our kids loved it and certainly looked like the others in the audience did too.
Check-out – Check out was not quite as smooth as check-in. First off, we weren’t leaving the hotel until 6:00 that evening. We asked for a late check out (mostly so the kids could nap) and were told to come back the day we were leaving. So at 9:00 that morning we asked and were told to come back at 11:00. At 11:00 we were finally told no. We made our way to the front desk for our noon check out where we were asked for the TV remote (which we had never even used). My husband raced back to the room to get it, only to find we’d already been locked out. A further inquiry about a room for the afternoon yielded nothing until the manager was finally called. Lo and behold, there was a room we could use. For $50 US. We took it as this seemed like the best thing for the kids. Two things with this. First, $50 US seems like quite a lot just for the cost of cleaning a room. Second, I didn’t understand the run around over the issue. Just let us know one way or the other. I tried to get an explanation from the manager, but that yielded little. While I liked the hotel, this episode left me with a bitter taste. It was a shabby way to treat their guests.
Bottom line – Although the Crown Paradise did nothing that really made me say “Wow”, I would probably go back. It’s a great place for the kids and it did have a nice choice of restaurants. I may not have liked it as much as other places I’ve stayed at, but I can’t really point at one thing that would give me enough reason not to go back there.
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| Crown Paradise Club - Cancun |
|
June 2004
Stayed at the Crown Paradise Resort from June 5th-12th, 2004 and was our
first trip to Mexico. My major complaints are below by section.
Food--Resort featured six restaurants. All restaurants were very hot
with very poor air conditioning. The main restaurant serving B/L/D was
the buffet. Breakfast was pretty good with a good variety. Lunch and
dinner were terrible. Absolutely no change in the menu from day to day
with very limited selection. (Cheese burgers, pizza, stir fry, pastas
and a limited desert and salad station.) If you're looking for carved
roast beef and ham with mashed potatoes, gravy and all the fixings, you
are in the wrong place. Food quality reminded me of my dorm food in
college. Iced Tea was terrible and soda had no carbonation. The other
five specialty restaurants were for dinner only, reservarions only. Food
presentation and atmosphere was nice, but portions were small and again
all restaurants were very warm with poor air conditioning.
Rooms--Clean, but nothing special. The only real positive thing was the
ocean view. Matresses were old, leaving all of us with back aches.
Again, the air conditioning needs improvement. Did not seem to take the
humidity of of the air and really did not get cool until very early in
the morning. Ordered room service one morning and it took over two hours
for delivery for juice and pastries. Our room was right above the bar
area in the lobby. Bar was very noisy until 1-2am. Not the greatest
setup for kids trying to sleep. Found out on the last day that TV
remotes needed to be checked out at the front dask. Why? I have no idea,
Beverages-- If you're an alcohol drinker, the bars are always serving.
If you aren't, like us, the only choice through the day was flat soda.
Believe me, these folks do not believe in bubbles in their drinks. No
iced tea could be found anywhere. Bottled water had to be purchased at
the gift shops for $2.50 a bottle. Our family of four spent well over
$150 just in water alone, which is rediculous. No soda machines to be
found anywhere.
Pools/Activities--The resort offered many activities for the kids. Adult
pool was especially nice with a swim up bar. No kids were allowed and
this was stricly enforced, since a hand full of women went topless.
Nightly entertaiment was also very good.
Summary--Calling this a five star resort is a joke. The Crown Paradise
needs to go back to the basics starting with their cooling system. They
need to have beverage stands that will cater to non drinkers, and they
need to offer much more variety in their food selections. Rooms were in
need of a face lift, as I've seen nicer rooms at an economy hotel chain.
Will return to Cancun some day, but it will not be at the Crown Paradise
Resort for sure.
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| Crown Paradise Club - Cancun |
Christopher |
December 2003
Synopsis:
Definitely would recommend. With the exception of the lobby bar, I found the service to be exceptional. Many activities and areas (e.g. bars, pool with swim-up bar and hot tub, the formal restaurant, etc.) reserved for adults only but resort is especially well suited for families with kids 12 and under (kids club with own water park – four water slides). The food overall met or exceeded my expectations.
Food:
The buffet has something for everyone – a central buffet island has the specials for the day, this is surrounded by made to order stations. One station is Italian, one is oriental, and one is Mexican. In addition to these there is a fruit bar and salad bar. The fruit and lettuce always looked like it had been picked that day, I’m not kidding. To drink you can have a smoothy made during breakfast hours at the Italian station. Otherwise, they have assorted soft drinks, coffee, tea, beer, red/white wine, and fruit drinks. The servers here are, in my opinion, some of the best at the resort. They were always alert made sure we had something to drink and would go get us one if we didn’t. If my hands were full (and sometimes when they weren’t) they would ask if they could help carry the food to the table, etc. Mind you, this wasn’t a freak thing, this was day after day for the week I was down there.
In addition to the buffet there are six restaurants – I only tried four of them and they all were good. I believe the Japanese one is only open from noon to 5:00pm (according to my wife). If you do not make reservations in advance you can always walk-in and check if there is an open seat after 9:00 PM at any of the restaurants.
My favorite meal was the filet mignon at Wayne’s Boots – one of the best tasting I’ve ever had. This also was my favorite restaurant as it had some entertainment, a mechanical bull. Staff was pretty good at getting people to try it. My most disappointing meal was the blue crab at the seafood restaurant – the crab was good but I look forward to the claw meat and the blue crab is served whole with the claws removed.
Beach:
The beach is kept very clean. To get to the beach you have to go down a series of stairs (typical for this area) or the service ramp. There is a big sand bar in front of the hotel which is kind of neat and safer if you have kids. There is no coral reef in front of the hotel or within reasonable walking distance, for those of you who like to snorkel right off the hotel grounds.
Bars:
The cups are small so you might want to bring your own cup or order more than one drink at a time. The service at the lobby bar was consistently poor. Over the course of the first two days I had the bartender ask me what I wanted to drink (beer) and then forget to serve me. This happened no less than three times. Once it happened two times in a row. Mind you, I am not much of a drinker. Service was so bad here I started avoiding the lobby bar. People I talked to at the resort also felt they got poor service at this bar. In reading other reviews it may be because I did not tip (my personal rule for tipping at an all-inclusive is to tip if service is above my expectations – not tip to get serviced). On the plus side, this is the only area I experienced poor service.
Kids Club:
Staff did a superb job. On the second day I took my son, who’s six years old, down to the kids club and the staff had already memorized my sons name and greeted him by name as we approached (out of maybe 25 from the day before). The kids club opens at 9:00am and finishes up at 9:45pm on most days. The water park is enclosed and kids can only leave if parents provide in/out privileges to the kids. Activities included shows, movies, kids disco, contests, and of course the water park. Kids wear orange vests when going from the water park to other parts of the resort (kids disco, shows, etc.).
Aqua World:
This is the place you have to go if you want to go kayaking, paddle boating, or sailing (I think the sailboats are included), as part of all-inclusive. It is located on the lagoon side, which has calmer water. I took one of the kayaks out and traveled around the island out in the lagoon. On the west side of the island I saw what appeared to be a Scorpion fish and thousands of tiny fish. Along the shoreline I could have stopped at an outside bar to have a snack and a beer. If you miss one of the free Aqua World buses you can always grab a public bus for 6 pesos (about 60 cents). I don’t think the buses take US currency. Aqua World also provides a variety of excursions for a fee.
Rooms:
We started out in the old building. Room was clean and no mold in bathroom (a big pet peeve of my wife). However, sliding glass door to outside is old style that could be opened while locked by lifting door. This was not acceptable to us and we wound up in the new building. Here our room was a little nicer and little bigger and no sliding glass door problem. We did find that we needed to check if the sliding glass door was locked after our room was cleaned – our sliding glass door had to be pushed shut all the way before locking mechanism worked properly. On most days the maid did not properly lock our sliding glass door and I could open our door. Our maid did do an excellent job with our room, flowers on our bed every day, towels made up in the shape of a swan, etc. If I spoke Spanish I am sure I could have explained to her that our sliding glass door does not lock unless completely shut all the way.
Misc.:
You may miss the adult pool with swim-up bar and hot tub (also at bar
level) if you do not know where it is. If you take the lobby elevator to first floor, make a right out of the elevator and keep walking. If you like to sun bathe topless, this is the place to go to do that. Piano bar is also kind of hidden and could be missed if you never walk down the stairs to the beach (across from the formal restaurant). When traveling to town I always opted to take a bus (6 pesos or about 60 cents). From the hotel walk down to the street, make a right and walk a little ways – you’ll see a sign that says bus stop.
I shopped around and found a good deal using www.restlinc.com for my hotel stay. From the airport it is easy to get transportation (I believe it is $9 p/p for a bus each way). When I inquired about a taxi it was $40 (without negotiating) and a couple at the resort we talked to said they paid $13 for a taxi. You may want to use this information as a guideline on deciding if you want to purchase round trip transfers from your travel agent.
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| Crown Paradise Club - Cancun |
Anna --- USA |
October 2003
My husband, 2 1/2 year old daughter and I just returned from Cancun, where we stayed at the Crowne Paradise from 9/26 - 10/6. It was marvelous. Our daughter loved the trampoline in the baby club and the tubes and slides that led to pool in the kids club. The restaurants were very good, we especially liked La Piazza (Italian food) and our being Italian and running a restaurant, we are huge critics. Wayne's Boots is very good if you are in the mood for steak - and very entertaining for the little ones. The buffet was the best for breakfast and the service at every restaurant was wonderful. The entire staff at the hotel is so nice and especially to children. The activities are very well coordinated and the grounds are impeccable. The room service is very quick. The only problem we had was the air conditioning was being worked on and our room was a little warmer than we would have liked, but a bucket of ice in the room actually cooled it down.
We loved this hotel so much, we are making arrangements to go back in February with two other couples who have small children as well. If you are interested in having a relaxing, casual and safe vacation and have small children who may want the same, this is the place for you.
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| Crown Paradise Club - Cancun |
Kenneth --- USA |
July 2003
My wife, three children ages 9,12 and 14 and I spent the week of July 11 -July 18 at the Crown Paradise Club in Cancun.
We left on time, flying American Airlines out of JFK Friday morning. The earlier flight was delayed two hours because of the tropical strom Claudette. The flight was fine and the pilot informed us that the flight would be approximately a half hour longer because they were going to come in from the south, rather than the north to aviod Claudette.
We were meet at the airport by representatives of the tour company, Olympic Tours. On the 20 minute bus ride to the hotel the tour company representive told us about the storm, what to expect in Cancun etc.etc.
Check in was no problem and our bags were taken to our room. We were supposed to have a cot in the room for our 3rd child. After 3 calls to the front desk, it arrived.
The food was great and plenty of it. The resort has five restaurants and what I would call a food court for causal dining. The food court served a variet of foods at all meals. We went to three of the five restaurants. The Mexican was by far the most decorated, all had great service but the Seafood restaurant had the best service. You did need to make reservations very early in the day or a day ahead to get into any of the restaurants.
The room, beds. bathrooms were nice. No problems with the accomodations, air conditioning etc. and all their rooms face the ocean.
The hotel staff was very good. From those in housekeeping, to the wait staff, to the entertainment staff, all were nice and tried to make ones stay a pleasant one. The entertainment staff at the pool did a good job with a variety of activities for the guests and were not pushy. They also had activities such as water polo, water basketball for teenagers. Aadditionally they organized soccer games, basketball games for the children. If only one child wanted to do the event they would do it with the one child or 15 children.
There were nightly shows put on by either then entertainment staff or other professionals. The shows were entertaining, started pretty much on time and lasted no more than 75 minutes.
My 9 year old daughter went to the Kids Club and enjoyed it so much she continued to return. They do arts and crafts, board games and have an in door water park for the kids.
I can't say enough about the resort...well managed, great staff, great food, great drinks, great pools, warm ocean and family oriented. We all had a good time and would return again next year if the price is right.
If you wish to contact me kcrowley@somers.k12.ny.us
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| Crown Paradise Club - Cancun |
USA |
May 2003
My wife, 6 1/2 year old daughter and I spent 6 days at the Crowne Paradise Club in Cancun, Mexico from 5/24/03-5/30/03. This is our second trip in as many years to an All-inclusive resort in the Caribbean. Here is our review:
The Good: Great staff!!! Everyone was helpful and very friendly. My daughter fell in love with her two Kids Camps counselors (Nicole and Emily) and she also loved the Kids only water Park. It was very nice (so nice, I wish I was a kid again!). The food at the Buffet was OK to good. Wayne's Boots was great as was the food at Snack Shack by the main pool. My daughter loved the main pool and the kiddy pool. The Activities Staff were tireless and very funny (though I did overhear some women comment about their sometimes raunchy language while kids were around). Our maid was great and so were the front desk people. Our room was OK (see below), but the beds were very firm. The bars were not cheap with the beverages (like other places I have been to).
We booked trough Liberty Travel, and their reps, Olympus Travel, were very friendly and informative about attractions and options. We did go on the underwater trip. It was OK. I had two massage sessions and they were great. The beach was OK considering the entire beach front of 7-10 miles is public and anyone can venture on the property. They resort did not clean the beach very often and waves were quite strong. The red flag was up everyday we were there.
The Bad: The rooms need to be redone in the old building. I've been in better rooms in Comfort Inns in some places in the US. The TV stand doors would not open so we had to prop it open with our ice tongs. No carpeting in any rooms makes for very cold feet in the middle of the night run to the bathroom. We had a connecting door to the next room and our neighbors were not to considerate to others when they staggered in (very loudly) at 3 am from Senior Frogs though that's not fault of the resort.
The Ugly: We got tricked into going to a "welcoming breakfast and tour" that we thought was sponsored by the hotel. Wrong, it was a timeshare sales pitch. We sat through it, but wasted an hour of our time. I'm a native New Yorker so I don't fall so these things too easily, but the information desk people gave us the information when we were booking our RSV's for dinner, so we thought it was legit. Beware of this trick! We went into some of the malls and flea markets...beware of the hawkers and sales people...they are VERY aggressive. Do not buy anything from the store in the main lobby next to the deli and bell stand. We bought a necklace for our daughter and it broke apart within an hour.
Hints: Be prepared to spend quality time sweating while standing in many lines clearing customs and immigrations because it is in an unair-conditions new part of the airport.
Tip for exceptional service ahead of time. I tipped my two most frequent bar tenders ahead of time and I never had to wait to get my drink orders or repeat my order the second time up.
The cigar lady in the main lobby is great and so is the chocolate flavored cigars for $5 a pop is worth the money.
Every few days there is a market in the main lobby with vendors selling genuine Mexican staff. You' get the same stuff cheaper in town.
Avoid the cost of taxis by using the R-1 buses that run every 3-4 minutes for 6 pesos. They are unair-conditioned, but well worth the value.
Try to exchange your money in the money exchanges located in many of the mall. The hotel exchange is $9-$9.50 pesos vs $10 pesos to one US dollar at the mall.
No one had matches so I had to buy a lighter for $3 US. Bring matches if you smoke.
Overall: My wife will not want to go back because she likes going to different places each vacation, but I might go back again if they redo the rooms. We enjoyed our vacation at Radisson Cable Beach last year a lot more. I just wish we could take the staff at Crowne Paradise Club with us everywhere we vacation.
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| Crown Paradise Club - Cancun |
Pauline & Mark --- Buffalo |
March 2003
My husband and I traveled to Cancun Feb 22-28, 2003 and stayed at the Crown Paradise Resort. We are Seasoned Caribbean travelers, but we took our 20 month daughter with us on this trip. We have to say this was a very family oriented resort that accommodates the needs of kids/adults of all ages. If you’re a couple traveling without kids, you can still have a great time, but we have stayed at better places but paid for that 5 star treatment as well. For our needs, it was fantastic!
We flew out of Buffalo via Fun Jet, and got a seat for our daughter b/c the charter was not fully booked (Thank God!). After a 3 ½ hour direct flight, arrived to find a HUGE line for customs. Got through in about an hour and arrived at the hotel for a quick (and early) check in. They allowed early check in b/c we had a little one and requested it before our trip with our Travel Agent. Do this if traveling with any kids!! Otherwise check in is 3pm.
Rooms:
Pros: All rooms have an ocean view which was great. We tipped our maid and she decorated our room and bed with beautiful fresh flowers daily. Always left us tons of clean towels!!
Cons: The room was nice, but no ceiling fan as the brochure had promised. We really missed the mini-bar too –those only come with the VIP rooms. Had to request a crib 4 times before my husband went down and got some response. The crib was terrible! A 3 inch mattress at best that sunk in the middle. They tried to “build it up” a bit by adding layers of blankets but to no satisfaction. Our daughter unfortunately slept every night with us :o( Also, we had the room temperature as cold as it would go and still would have liked it a degree or two cooler.
Food:
Overall the food was pretty good and offered a wide variety of selection: I would say they had foods that would easily please a kids palate.
The main Dining Buffet - The buffet was great. Breakfast: included fresh fruit smoothie bar, omelettes, pancakes and waffles made in front of you and an authentic Mexican buffet.
Lunch and dinner were the same things but included a pizza bar, sushi bar, oriental stir fry, pasta and Mexican fajita bar all made in front of you -and their specials of the day on the buffet.
During the day, noon -5pm I believe, we dined at the Japanese poolside restaurant. Very, very good. Even if you don’t’ eat Japanese, you can have filet mignon or chicken kabobs, grilled veggies, fried shrimp, etc. Great Sushi!
The poolside grill was very good too. My daughter especially liked the endless supply of nachos and cheese, fries cheeseburgers.
Ala Carte restaurant reviews...
The seafood restaurant was very good. Great selection including a tasty steak dish that my non-seafood eating husband enjoyed.
The 50’s fine dining restaurant (adults only) had a french flair and although it was good, not totally satisfying to our tastes.
The Mexican was by far our favorite!! The food was incredible, the margarita’s flowed frequently and the mariachi band duo topped off this authentic experience.
The Italian restaurant was exceptional as well.
We didn’t have the pleasure of dining at the Steak house but we heard it was good and had a mechanical bull you can ride.
Cons:
It is very difficult so get dinner reservations at the Ala Carte restaurants but we finally succeeded the 3rd night.
The wine at all restaurants was Portuguese and well.. not that great. We drank it anyways!!
Facilities:
Pools - The pools were all great but there was no jacuzzi as promised (Its now a kiddie pool) other than the one connected to the Adult pool in the adult section of the resort, so we didn't get in there much with our 20 month old. We were waking up early every day with our little one and went down and put our towels in the primo lounge chair locations on the pool or beach. Recommended!
Beach - The sand was perfect. The waves were great for body surfing. The beach is not very deep though, so get your towel on a chair and umbrella early (Before 8:00 am).
Gym- The gym was shockingly nice. Much better than ones we’ve seen in the past. Six new treadmills, a big universal gym, Lots of Dumbbells and Straight bars, some other stomach exercise machines. The aerobics classes are here at 8am.
Baby Club - (18 Months to 3 years) This was the only resort we saw that offered a club for the little ones. There were lots of things for them to play with and a good two children to one (Or one on one) staff member ratio that made us think your child is getting alot of attention. It seemed very safe as no adults were allowed in the baby area with their children to keep people from swiping your little ones. You can have them in there from 9am to 9pm as much as you wanted. Our daughter doesn't like sand and was not crazy about the pool unless enticed into the water with toys and took some exception to staff members plopping her in the sand or the kiddie pool and did quite a bit of crying (Just as she would have done with us).
Kids Club - (3 and up) Looked like tons of fun. Water slides, pools, play gym, Movies, kids basketball, Arts & Crafts all in a secure environment.
Tennis Courts - Very nice and lit during the night.
Basketball Courts - Very nice and lit during the night.
Putt-Putt Course - It was playable but in a sad state of affairs. I think they are in the process of re-doing it. It needs it.
Human Chess Boards - Neat, but we didn't play.
Activities:
There were plenty of daily activities and a ton of people participated. My husband played water basketball, water polo, and tequila volleyball in the main pool on a daily basis. There was water aerobics, beach volleyball, a belly flop contest, yoga, aerobics, and much more... The staff did a great job getting people involved.
Shows:
There is a theatre that we went to the one night that was awesome. Way better than anything we'd seen in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Other Mexican cities or the Caymans. We didn't see any of the other shows.
Bars
- Didn't do alot of drinking, but there were plenty. (In the hotel, beach, swim up etc.) The Trafalgar bar often had a show in it and then was a disco the rest of the evening.
Customer Service:
Everyone was very helpful. At the main buffet we always sat in the same area and Andres our waiter was fantastic. A little tipping goes a long way and he was very appreciative. The activities staff were energetic and very nice. They had characters dressed up in costumes (Winnie the Pooh, and others) during parts of the day that our daughter liked. Tour desk was super helpful also. Booked a trip to Wet n Wild water park with them and swam with the dolphins! A must do!
Shops:
A bit expensive. Buy on the beach! We got great deals there! Don’t buy a thing at the market they bring to the resort lobby. Total ripoff!
External Activities - Golf
The Hilton Golf course Pro shop is 1/2 mile down the road and part of the course is right across the street from the hotel. It's $120 per round with cart and $25 to rent clubs. The course is very well manicured. It's about 6,600 yards from blue tees, 6,000 from the whites with water somewhere on almost every hole. Be prepared to need to hit it straight... I am a 10-handicapper and still lost 3-4 balls a round, so bring a few. If you hit it into the water don't bother retrieving them because we saw two big crocodiles lurking in the water. Tip: I walked down the beach to the Pro shop and met another single player from the Hilton and played with this guy all week and saved $25/round because it's only $95/round if you are staying at the Hilton.
Wet&Wild - Great water park for kids and had some nice rides for adults. My wife loved swimming with the dolphins. $30 park admission / $70 more to swim with Dolphins.
In summary, a fantastic resort for a family trip, and a very good resort for couples.
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Last updated: February 23, 2009
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