This was the fourth time for us in Cancun, and all of our trips have been great. This one to the Le Blanc, however, was the best. We traded in on RCI for a week in early November. One very nice feature at the hotel is that they have three different pool areas. If you find that one area is becoming too crowded or shady, just pick up and move to another pool or the beach (which is very nice by the way). The service was fast and conveyed with a smile. On the beach those kids worked their behinds off bringing drink and food at our every whim. The food in the restaurants was good and they would try to comply with any request. When we travel my wife often has a difficult time with food because she is a vegetarian and also suffers from celiac disease (which means she cannot tolerate gluten). All of the restaurants at Le Blanc were very accommodating and went out of their way to prepare special dishes for her. All in all it was a fabulous week. I'll be back (even if I have to pay full price next time).

Introduction: My wife and I and my brother-in-law and his wife stayed at Le Blanc the third week of October 2012. This was our fifth visit, and my brother-in-law’s (BIL from here on) first visit at this resort. Just as a reference point, we are members and we have either stayed at or visited all of the Palace Resorts, and have also stayed at other resorts in the Cancun/Mayan Riviera area. My BIL and his wife are both Doctors, have traveled extensively throughout the Carribean, and stayed at some of the top resorts to be found. Le Blanc is the flagship resort owned by Palace Resorts, and all of us agree that compared to all other resorts in Cancun, the surrounding areas, and the Carribean is, without question what we consider to be a resort that is not only the best, but also “Beyond Spectacular!” In the words of my BIL’s wife, “we will definitely come back to Le Blanc, even if we have to sell one of our cars to do so.” What more can you say!

Guests: There is a nice mix of guests, all the way from honeymooners to more elderly guests. It is a great place for all age groups (minimum age 18).

Ambiance: This resort is more “laid back and very relaxing” than many of the other resorts in Cancun, with a fantastic ambiance if you like it a bit more quiet (my wife loves the more quiet ambiance, and so do I). While there is nightly entertainment in their 3rd floor lounge or by the pool, you will find soloists playing primarily more classical/soft music in the evening in the lobby/main lounge area. During the day, a wide variety of planned activities are available at the activities pool and the beach (i.e. water aerobics, beach volleyball, etc.). At night, clubs are nearby for those guests that would like more of a “party/dance type” atmosphere.

Suites/Rooms: I had posted information on the different room types available at Le Blanc in my review last year, but thought it worthwhile to include a brief overview again. So, here they are. Royal Deluxe Suite (standard suite): the entire room may be on one level or have two steps down to the sitting area (as compared to the honeymoon suite which has two steps down to the Jacuzzi area); french balcony, mostly bay view; king or double beds; the Jacuzzi is in the middle of the room (next to the bathroom). Honeymoon Suite: Oceanfront rooms; there are two steps down to the Jacuzzi which is located by the sliding glass doors leading to the french balcony; king beds. Junior Suites: There are three Junior suites per floor (one oceanfront, one ocean view, and one lagoon view per floor); king size beds; the oceanfront suites have a french balcony, the suites with ocean or lagoon view have one small full balcony with two chairs and one small table and a french balcony. Governor’s Suites: These are the suites that are on the right front corner of the building facing the ocean; king size beds; suite consists of bedroom and living area (two TV’s), bathroom; french balcony and regular balcony with lounge chairs and regular chairs. Presidential Suites: All are on the 9th floor and have one bedroom; balconies. Each suite has the double Jacuzzi and the same amenities. Please see Le Blanc’s website for a description of some of the amenities (also feel free to contact me if you have specific questions regarding amenities or the resort in general).
Note: Once you arrive, and decide that you would like to upgrade your room (based on room availability), the upgrade can be arranged at the time you check in, using resort credit if the current promotion is still available. Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions on this. Before I leave this topic I want to add a very special thanks to Elizabeth, Front Desk and Lobby Manager for her exemplary assistance and diligence in not only helping me understand the room differences, but also her diligence and genuine desire to always provide every guest the best accommodation possible. Thank you Elizabeth...you are fantastic!

Restaurants/Room Service: The menu selections, food, food presentation, and service were all spectacular; including the breakfast and lunch buffets. Our favorite restaurant for dinner was the French Restaurant—simply amazing in every respect (try the special seven course dinner). But that was just our favorite. The Italian, Oriental, International, and the Pizza restaurant (on the third floor) are all excellent! The restaurant menus are extensive (as well as the room service menus). The wine list offers many options. But it is not just the menu choices and quality of food that is outstanding. It would not be fantastic without the professional, friendly and wonderful demeanor of the managers and staff that make all this happen. Employees such as Edgar and Marco in the International Restaurant, wonderful managers who always go above and beyond to insure world class service for their guests. Also, Aquilino the head chef at the International Restaurant (who surprised his guest with different special morning pastries, personally delivered, every morning), and will happily prepare whatever you want (absolutely loved my special authentic Mexican breakfasts he prepared for me in the mornings); and Mario, a very special waiter with such a wonderful attitude and great smile each and every day. I also have to mention Isaak and Guadalupe at the French Restaurant; truly a five star restaurant and staff. I could go on and on, but everyone in all the restaurants was truly amazing.

Pools/pool service: One of the nice things about Le Blanc is that they have large pools with swim-up bars on both sides of the building. This way, when the shade begins to cover the oceanside pools late in the afternoon, guests can move to the pool at the bayside of the building and continue to get afternoon/early evening sun (this pool is also the “activity pool.)” Laura, the Pool Manager, and her staff are wonderful in providing every guest very personal attention, from moving umbrellas so that guest have shade, if so desired, to making sure that the ice buckets by the lounges have enough ice in them to chill the water bottles, to providing towels, and books and magazines. Laura and her staff are constantly checking to make sure that every guest receives very special treatment (first class all the way....many kudos to Laura!). At the swim-up bars, it doesn’t take long for the bartenders to remember your preferred drinks, and many times start working on them while you are still making your way towards the bar. Again, a first class service and performance!

Beach: The beach in front of Le Blanc is wide and great for lounging on the beach and/or swimming in the ocean. You can also walk quite a long way out into the ocean as the depth increases gradually. Perfect for just “bobbing around in the waves,” surf conditions permitting. New additions to the beach area since our visit last year are the beach cabanas (more about this shortly), palm trees on the beach, a new beach bar, and comfortable “lounge type” seating areas between the beach bar and the cabanas. Great new additions!
Now more about the cabanas: The cabanas have wooden floors and some type of porous canvas material for side curtains on three sides (shields from the wind, but allows air to flow through; perfect), and wooden slats for the roof (helps shield from the sun). At night they are used for the romantic dinners on the beach. The padded cushions found during the day are replaced by tables with white tablecloths, candles, dishes and silverware, in an absolutely, private and perfect setting for a romantic dinner with an amazing view of the ocean, and a strolling trombone player providing music. The romantic dinner is simply not to be missed!
General: I can’t possibly finish this review without mentioning that the entire group of managers and staff throughout the resort are in constant communication with each other and work together as a flawless team. Everyone of the employees are professional in every sense and do their utmost to give you an unforgettably fantastic vacation experience. While I can’t write about all of the employees, here are a couple more that we interacted with on a daily basis and I just have to mention: Lisa, at Public Relations, ever so helpful and ready to address any needs or desires you may have; Fernando, the Concierge Manager, a fantastic attitude, always with a smile, amazing knowledge, attention to detail, extremely quick in response to any questions and emails, and always so proactive in helping the guests and working with the butlers and Laura at the pool. Truly a first class manager, person, and a fantastic representative for Le Blanc.
Value/Recommendation: We are often asked if this resort is worth the extra money. In our opinion it definitely is, if spending the extra money is not a significant financial problem. While we find the other Palace Resorts excellent, everything about Le Blanc is just in a separate class, significantly above the other Palace Resorts. The only thing that is close between the Palace Resorts and Le Blanc is the level of service that you receive. In the words of one couple “you can’t possibly explain this resort …..you just have to come and experience it yourself!”
I hope that you do forgive me for this long review, but I felt that it is necessary to describe why Le Blanc is simply “Beyond Spectacular”! Looking forward to our 6th visit!
Sincerely, Garry and Martha Monjo

We have taken numerous all inclusive trips to top rated resorts in the Caribbean and would not consider taking a trip without consulting TripAdvisor. So when we read the reviews for Le Blanc we had no doubt that we were going to have a fabulous vacation. It would seem to be all about an immaculate lobby, room, and restaurants, a white sandy beach, gorgeous views, aromatherapy all through the property, and an amazing spa offering some free services.

However it is really all about the unbelievable customer service with almost every member of the staff doing cartwheels to please without the expectation of tips but so deserving of them. It is about delicious gourmet food at the best all-inclusive we have ever visited.

My husband and I have have very few demands. We certainly do not require butler service. However, our butlers on the 5th floor Ephrain and Enrique were so accommodating and always had a smile on their faces. Even in the lobby they remembered our name and said hello. When we travel we are pretty self-sufficient regarding maid service in our room. Usually as long as we exchange our towels each day and get the room freshened up every few days we are content. I don't like the idea of not having access to our room at any time of the day. However, when i asked if the room could be cleaned at a specific time, they did so, doing a spectacular job, and got out just as quickly.

The food at every restaurant was amazing and a few individuals were outstanding. At the International Restaurant Renada, Juan, Reyna, Fernando, Armando and Alexander were memorable. However, Hector, the manager was extraordinarily friendly and went out of his way for us every time we saw him. We had our picture taken several times with Hector who even made us a special dinner our last night and the next morning searched the kitchen for 10 minutes to find the banana I mentioned before I left for the airport. Isaac and Ernesto at the French Restaurant, Manuel and David at the Asian restaurant, and Javier and Mario from the third floor terrace pizza restaurant made our vacation perfect.

The entertainment every evening was very good. We saw excellent Fire, Michael Jackson, and Grease Shows. The dancers were extremely talented. There were activities offered throughout the day listed on a daily sheet and on a scrolling screen by the elevators. Unfortunately, I discovered exercise bicycles in one of the pools as we were checking out so I wasn't able to use them.

We spent most of our time on the beach which was raked perfectly every morning. We were always the first ones out there, not because it is hard to get lounge chairs as we have found everywhere else we have visited, but because we are early risers. Every morning Laura would set up umbrellas for us and bring us unlimited beach towels, a silver bucket with iced bottles of water and absolutely anything else we could possibly want. Sara was also great.

We felt so comfortable in Cancun. One afternoon we crossed the street and took the city bus to a nearby mall. We asked people on the bus to let us know when we needed to get off. On the way back Lucinda, from the pool area, got on the bus, was excited when she recognized us, and helped us find the flea market in the other direction. We walked back to the hotel that afternoon. Joe at the entry to the resort was such a nice man offering us cool scented washcloths and cold bottles of water both before we left and upon our return.

The Spa is beyond. Galicea was so nice giving me a tour of the spa and helping me with the free sauna and steam room. I used our resort credits to get a great deep tissue massage with Marta.

They have a very nice gym. I had heard there were dance lessons offered but when I asked in the gym they said none were scheduled for that week. However, this place is so accommodating that Marisol gave me my own private Zumba lesson. She offered to give me more individual lessons later in the week. Can you imagine a vacation so personally tailored? I couldn't have either and doubt there is another resort around that would provide this level of service.

I would be remiss not to mention one or two areas with room for improvement. Although the woman that cheked us in was efficient and friendly enough, in general we did not find the front desk employees to be particularly accommodating. We tried to get an upgrade upon arrival and they said it wasn't possible at the time but would let us know if that changed. We had the feeling they were going to make no effort to do so for the week and we were correct. As previously mentioned by another reviewer, they would not exchange our larger bills so we could continue to tip when we ran out of the many small bills we had brought with us for tipping. Several days before we were checking out we asked if we could check out an hour later because of our late flight. They told us to check back the last day. The last day they said it wasn't possible. I was shocked and asked a manager. She said no and was rather disinterested. All we wanted was one hour. In addition, I had sent emails with questions before and after our trip and while several were answered, several were not addressed at all. I am still waiting for an answer to an inquiry. One other small negative is that while they do offer free Wifi, the connection is very spotty. However, we were grateful to be able to check email and internet for free at all and really should not be complaining about something over which the resort has no control.

Thank you, Le Blanc for an incredible, relaxing week. We plan to return.

This is mine and my husband's fourth trip to LeBlanc and it is once again wonderful. The service is excellent, the food is very good, and the property is beautiful and clean. Some upgrades since our last visit include Chi hairdryers and straight irons in the rooms with Chi bubble bath products, the fish pedicure in the spa, which I did not do because of scheduling (but I would have), WiFi, Apple computers in the business area, and the cabanas on the beach. You cannot use your spa credits towards the cabanas, and it's quite expensive to rent them for the day, and I don't think it's worth it anyway, as you have similar amenities without the cabana.

I write "The word is out" because we have noticed a dramatic shift in the clientele/atmosphere. This is not in a bad way, but a different way. For instance, around 5 each day, there is a wine tasting/appetizer-type happy hour in the lobby - before, there were couples, mostly, and people were dressed smart casual, at the very least, there was a violin playing and it was very relaxed. Now, there are a lot of folks in the lobby who just came from the beach - men shirtless, women in their swimsuits, and it is much louder. We were at the Italian restaurant and one guest dressed in torn jeans and a tank top. While I am happy for the resort's popularity and recognition, it is not as serene as it was previously.

Additionally, there is now a place next door called Kakao Beach Club, and it is definitely a party type of place, and they play loud music on the beach during the day. Again, there is nothing wrong with that, however, it is different than it used to be.

Will we return? Definitely. I would recommend it to others as well.