To start this off we have been traveling to Cancun and the Riveria Maya at least once a year since 1999. We have stayed at this resort's sister resorts in Cancun 5 times and as recent as the last week of October 2012 when we tried to book this resort and our travel agent booked us into the GR Caribe by mistake. This mistake turned into one of our best trips but my wife was still disappointed because she really wanted to try the GR Solaris. Since she is retired she was relentless in convincing me to go back to Mexico quickly and try the this resort. We arrived o find out that our room reservation for a room with a king size bed was was not honored and we were put in a room with 2 doubles with a promise that they would try to move us the next day. When we got into our room we were extremly disapointed. The view from are balcony was the windows of the corridors of the next building about 50 yards away. Sorry this is not what you expect at a 5 golden apple resort in Mexico. We went early in the morning to see about the room switch and all they had was a room with a lagoon view so we got lucky and did not need to stare at the building next door for 7 days. While at the front desk there were 2 couples complaining about machinery noise that was keeping them up all night and they were told that there would be an upcharge to move their rooms. At this point we felt lucky but that changed at 7 PM when the machinery noise started. The noise and vibration was terrble and started every night at the same time and continued all night. Here is a hint don't accept a room on or close to the south side of the building. We read other reviews about the thin walls and being able to hear everything in the adjoining rooms well it is very true so we had machinery and noisy kids all week. THE beds and pillows are hard, hard, hard.
Disappointments: no free WiFi this is provided at the sister resorts, dinner at the Marco Polo-expect to pay extra for steak and other entrees (never had to do this before), when the resort is crowded the restaurants are not big enough especially at breakfast. We had to stand in line and wait for seating 3 mornings until they realized that they needed to open another restuarant
and there are not enough servers to keep up( the servers are very good; there are just not enough), it was not uncommon to run out of dishes glasses and food during breakfast also, we were told that we were not allowed to have any premium types of alcohol. We never ran into this before in a resort of this rating, another funny thing about the alcohol, I do like to drink my share but this was the first time I could not even get a buzz unless I drank beer. There were no areas of the resort where us baby boomers could go in the evening to spend some quiet time sipping a drink and holding a conversation. My wife's one piece of luggage did not make our flight from Houston to Cancun. We could not get anyone from management to help us track or expedite getting her luggage to the resort. They left us on our own and we have never experienced this lack of effort to help a guest.
Good: the evening shows are far above average and enjoyable, the food quality was very good for an all inclusve, the servers were very good just not enough of them. The resort is very clean and the cleaning staff that does the rooms are very good, the pools and hot tub are clean warm and nice, the adult pool area is very quiet yet 50 feet away there is ample entertainmet and activities at the other pools.
Also, if you go to this resort, you DO NOT have priveleges to go to the other sister resorts down the street. (GR Caribe and Royal Solaris)

Have been vacationing at this hotel twice a year for the last 6 years. The food in all restraunts is outstanding. The entire staff from waiters to front desk will go out of their way to make your stay enjoyable. Last but not least the entertainment staff is the best in Cancun, from the pool games to nightly shows in the theatre

The hotel is beautiful with a prime location on the beach, ocean water is crystal blue and perfect! All the staff is absolutely amazing and super friendly! We paid a little extra for an upgraded room with a Jacuzzi on the balcony that overlooked the ocean, it was definitely worth paying the extra $30 a night or so for it. The shows there werent very good, but the performers put their heart and soul into it so it makes it good. The only downfall, and reason that I will not be returning is the food, it was awful!! And I am not a picky eater. We did not eat at Marco Polo during our stay so I cannot speak for that restaurant. We pretty much lived off of turkey sandwiches from the deli because the buffet food was so horrible. The snack bar with hit or miss sometimes it would have chicken skewers or chicken drumsticks and french fries and a couple of other good things they had out, but sometimes the snack bar didn't really have anything appetizing. We were there for four nights, which was the perfect amount because I don't think I could've done another day with that food. Bartender Louise was awesome, he was super friendly and made sure we always had drinks ( if we wanted them) and provided EXCELLENT customer service! If they improve the food here we would return... Also, a tip, if you go down at about 7:30 or 8 AM and put your towels on a chair on the beach or a pool chair you will have one ,if not they will all be full of people already holding the chairs with their towels by 9:30

A friend and I stayed at the GR Solaris from Feb 2-8th. I had an ocean view room, she had a basic room with a balcony.

Rooms- the rooms were basic, beds were hard and the walls were very thin, I heard everything from the next room even snoring in the middle of the night. People walking in the hallway was the same.

Staff- Majority or the staff were nice and pleasant except DAVID at the front reception desk. He needs training on customer service. Our flight was cancelled on 2/8 due to weather in Boston and we went to the reception desk to extend our stay, he was the least bit accommodating. He told us the hotel was booked, and was quick to move on to the next guest. Very inconsiderate and rude.

Phone usage- Phone calls to the airline were $3.50 to connect the call, then $1.50/minute we were told. The wait for a customer service rep with the airline was 30+minutes so we didn't stay on the call. We went to the travel/excursion office and they called the airline for us and let us look up flights on their computer. In the meantime, we went back to the front desk, spoke with Maura and she suggested GR Caribe the companies other resort and made the call for us to reserve a room for us.

Wifi- is $15/day and you pay through the front desk. GR Caribe (sister property) has free wifi in the lobby area.

Tipping- we brought plenty of ones and small bills but when we ran out, no hotel staff had change to break a $5 or $10 bill.

Pools- both were nice, the adult pool was quiet and relaxing, the other pool had the music and activities.

Shows- nightly shows were good

Food- was good, room service was available at no additional charge.