I know this place gets bad reviews, but I just came back from my honeymoon and I thought I would clear the air! It really is not as bad as people make it out to be. We were there for 12 days over Christmas and New Years and we had a wonderful time.
Room: Very spacious. We were in a room that looks like the furthest building away on the map on their website, but it really isn't (The building on the furthest bottom left). We were on the 4th floor and had a good view of the ocean, pool, and the jungle to the right. We liked that it was far away from the main pool, bar, and theater because it can get loud at night with all the activities. The bed was a king and I dont think we snuggled at all the whole time because we were just in large bed heaven. The remote on the TV wasn't the best, but it was fine. There is also a DVD player in the room & DVD's available at the concierge desk. You also get 15 minutes of free internet/day in the business center.
Service: Ok, not spectacular. At check-in they knew we were on our honeymoon, but I had to remind them that we got the honeymoon package. It took 3 days to get our amenities, which was annoying, but we got them eventually. The cleaning lady came every day at 9am to clean our room and every day we told her to come back later. She would always leave us a little creature made out of towels. The staff is ALWAYS working and cleaning...even at midnight on New Years someone was mopping the hallway. Bar service at the pools was also good...they always came around at just the right time.
Upsells: This was one thing I didn't like...they were frequently trying to get you to buy something, be it a bottle of wine at dinner, something at the spa. or special dinners for Christmas and New Years. The house wine they have it just fine & I would not spend the money on something that is already included. We did not take part in the holiday dinners either because they were crazy expensive and what they were serving you could find in a restaurant somewhere.
Food: We went to every restaurant at least once, except the mediterranian one (Ratatouille). There was nothing on that menu that interested us. We went to the Italian place 3 times and the Japanese one 4 times. All of the food was good, but pretty much every place serves a variation of the same thing. Do not get the garlic soup...it is essentially alfredo sauce. The World Cafe had buffet breakfast and lunch. It has everything that you could imagine to eat. We ate there every day.
Beach: It's not as bad as people make it out to be. Tons of people were in the water & It wasn't rocky at all. There was a section that had a TON of seaweed, but there was someone out there raking it up constantly.
Activities: Everyday we got a newletter with the next day's activities. They had a show of some sort every night and during the day there was always a game or activity. Since we were there almost two weeks we experienced some of the same activities twice, but then we did not go to those. There are also excursions and day trips you can take. There is a rep near the concierge desk.
Spa: It was nice. We got a couples massage & it was fine. I've had better ones. The facilities were really nice and you get a day pass to their hydrotherapy circuit which is just a punch of different pools, saunaus, etc. The prices are fairly expensive though (Much more than downtown Chicago).
Advice: Do not pick up the phone in your room! We called our credit card collect (they cover the charges) and we were still billed for the call because it was from our room. Bring all the supplies you can think of or anticipate you might need. They have a shop there but it is very expensive ($20 for sunblock). They take peso's and dollars.
Overall it was a nice place and if it were the only resort in cancun, I would go back. There are a ton of other resorts that I would like to expereince though.