In the midst of the 5-mile Cancun beach is the Ritz Carlton. We booked three rooms, one on club level, for our family of 7. We were not disappointed. Highlights: club lounge (unusually good and works for breakfast, lunch and cocktails...even dinner if you are penny-pinching); service, particularly housekeeping and restaurants; beach access (direct, adjacent). Very few negatives: 1) insufficient hot tub space; the single hot tub was sometimes disgusting, with guests often ignoring signs not to eat while bathing, and full of children too young to be potty trained....undoubtedly contributing to the "heat".2) not enough outdoor eating opportunity for breakfast.

The service is above & beyond, as you would expect at a Ritz-Carlton. The rooms were impeccably clean and very comfortable but certain parts of the hotel need to be updated. Mainly the foyers around the rooms were quite dated (older carpet, paint colors), the tv was old (80s, maybe 90s) and the rooms actually used keys, which I haven't seen in years. That being said, it's still a beautiful hotel, the restaurants are great, beautiful beaches & pools, but it's not quite like the Ritz Carltons in the US.

Four of us went to celebrate a big birthday last year. It was beyond amazing. We loved the staff, the club floor ( so, so worth it!) the pools and the beach. The casita for dinner was the highlight! My husband celebrated a little too much the first night so I called the spa for a massage hangover rejuvenation. They had him good to go in 90 minutes ha ha! We are booking a next trip for this year and Im calling the ritz first! We looked everywhere, and I mean everywhere else and just kept coing back to the ritz cancun...

Hotel wasn't terrible, but it wasn't what we expected from the Ritz. While the property itself is beautiful, it is more like a 4 star resort instead of 5. But I give it 3 stars because it was FAR below my expectations

Pros of the hotel:
1. Beautiful property (classy look)
2. Pool area is very nice
3. Rooms are spacious (though a little dated) and bathrooms very nice

Cons:
1. Staff - quite rude. And unhelpful. More below
2. Cleanliness - one of the towels in the room upon checkin that was folded up was FILTHY. I let it slide as a one-off, except then we went down to the pool and one of the staff laid a towel out on my chair with a huge yellow stain on it - clearly visible to anyone, except they thought I wouldn't notice and left it as-is. Gross
3. Hot tub was not even very hot when it was working. And then it didnt work at all the last 3 days we were there. Staff told me every day they were "fixing it today", but nothing was ever done about it. It was colder than the pool.
4. Food - I am happy to pay the expected Ritz prices as long as the food is good. It wasn't. There are also a lot of pre-made items on their menus, and I'm sorry but I don't want to pay $25 for a pre-mixed chicken quesadilla.

More on the Staff -
Aside from the housekeeping staff who were always friendly and polite, the rest of the staff were pretty rude. The concierge (except Yoko) acted as though we were bothering them every time we asked a question... like it was such a hassle for them to do their jobs. Then, when we asked them to make reservations at a restaurant, we showed up to... no reservation. Furthermore, at the airport we booked a round trip shuttle, and when we asked the concierge to call and reserve for us, they said they "couldnt get through" and "why don't you just take a taxi?"

On this note, they were far from helpful when asked for recommendations on restaurants. They clearly only want to steer you toward places that give them kickbacks. I expected more.

The doormen - not sure where to start here because they made us feel as though we should be tipping them EVERY TIME they opened the door for us, which is their job. No extra service, no smile, nothing from them. One of them even barked "veinte pesos" at me after he opened the door. I am all for tipping, but I'm sorry... I am not tipping you 1. every time i walk through a door, 2. for doing your job, especially 3. with an attitude.

Anyway, to sum it, I wouldn't stay here again. I've stayed at the JW Marriott Cancun, and I enjoyed it much more. It's not that the resort is terrible, but it is not your typical Ritz Carlton. You don't get the above and beyond service, and the attention to detail is very poor- it's not consistent with the brand. Comparing this place to the Ritz Carlton Kapalua is like comparing night and day.