Because I took so much advice from others before I made my trip, I felt obligated to report back in now that I've stayed at the Grand. (1/15/2005 to 1/22/2005)

Stuff you probably want to know:

1) Yes, the rooms smell beyond musty, even in the Royal Club. It takes some getting used to, but I followed the advice of others and brought Febreez and a Glade airfreshner. I'm not really sure it helped, but by some coincidence, I soon forgot that my room (and everyone else's room) smelled wierd. I'm crazy about this kinda stuff, so I'm confident that past your first day you won't give it a second thought.

2) Something I never got used to was how freaking loud it was in these buildings. They are very pretty, well maintained, and clean, but they are LOUD with a capital L. With full marble/tile floors, stucco walls, and the overall design of the structure, it was impossible, even for polite people, to be "sensitive" to others. The simplest of movements proved to be a major acoustical event. Any movement above you (like the movement of a chair, walking in heels, etc..) was like the sky was falling. Any of your 20 neighbors coming or going was accompanied by a slamming door....intentional or not. The houskeeping service gets started at about 7:30-8am, and they have all of their personal conversations going right outside your door, and of course their insanely loud "walkie talkie" things are beyond annoying. Listen, you will NOT sleep in this place.... but really, you should get your butt out of bed and enjoy the weather anyway.....

3) From reading the hotel literature, it sounded like the Royal Club rooms would have a LAN line.... Nope. They do have a community computer on the first floor of building 21 with a screen the size of a palm pilot. However, I did see one guy on the top / front balcony of building 21 and he was accessing a WAP (wireless access point). He said it was "in and out" but was there. It was not readable from inside however. Probably works best closer to the lobby area.

4) Satellite Cable means: CNN, ESPN, Detroit NBC, Detroit ABC, "The American Network" which featured CBS at some points of the day, 2 spanish cartoon stations, and some other Spanish variety stations. The DVD selection at the Royal Club was limited, but there's probably a flick in there or two that you'd probably want to see. The NBC & ABC stations are kinda in-n-out based on the program. It's not 100% on, but most of it is.

5) The Royal Club just opened its private restaurant on Wednesday (1/20/05). It has a full menu for breakfast & lunch. They have now made that the menu for room service too. I was surprised that they did not have pancakes, french toast, or waffles on the menu. The only time I didn't "feel well" was after I ate at the Royal Club for breakfast on the first day it was open. It might have been a fluke. It's very nice inside, and the service / food presentation is very nice. The La Posada buffet has great French Toast.... don't miss it.

6) The Royal Club is close to opening it's private "huge" hot tub. Looks really nice. I'm sure it will add some more un-needed noise to the place though.... just what it needs. They kept saying it would be open in a couple of days, but when I left it had evaporated to about 1/2 full.... so I dunno.

7) The SPA is small, but the service is good. I had the swedish & deep tissue massages. (as did my parents). The swedish was $75 for 80 mins and the deep tissue was $90 for 80 mins. The deep tissue is DEADLY. Beware, it will hurt. If you like pain, go for it. They only have 2 people working at any given time, so if you want a massage, you should try to book early in your stay so that you can do it when you want to, and not have to take the time slots left.

8) The greatest part about the Royal Club is being able to book the restaurants of your choice each night. I was able to book a restaurant on every night of the trip... and lemme tell you... they are gooood! My favorite was Los Olivos which was Mediterranean. They had the very best spinach ravioli w/ pumpkin sauce & balsamic reduction.... also the spinach fettuccini was just WONDERFUL! Seriously, I love that place. I spoke to some folks that were not in the Royal Club and they found the reservations harder to come by. Actually, I guess even the Royal Club folks can have a tough time if there's a large group in... there was a big group in just when I was leaving... they had fully reserved 2 of the 3 restaurants for them. NO ONE could get a reservation then.

9) Housekeeping is wonderful. Of course you've read that a lot already, but is really true. Those animal towels and flowers every place are very nice touches.

10) The activities staff is AWESOME! They work hard to get everyone involved in the daily activities which range from: Spanish lessons, beach volleyball, pool volleyball, water polo, snorkel lessons, dance lessons, horseshoes, darts, cooking lessons, bartending lessons, friendship bracelets, allll kinds of good stuff. You should really try to join in as much as you can. It's the goofy memories of my dance lessons, volleyball, and water polo that I'll remember most fondly.

11) Like most have written, the nightlife is non-existent, but being up with the rest at 7am each morning.... you'll need to get to bed early. ;-) The only time I ever saw anyone in the "La Mission Disco" was during Karaoke Night.... and that was only for an hour.

12) The pools are cold. Very cold actually. The ocean was about 7-10 degrees warm than the pool. This made it painful to get people into the pool for volleyball & water polo, but all the cool people were "in" even with the shrinkage factor working. (Seinfeld Reference).

13) Beware of the ferry to Playa Del Carmen on windy/rough sea days. My gosh, that was the scariest experience ever. Be sure to sit on top... if you're in the hull you'll swear the boat is going to capsize at any moment. It's an "e" ticket all the way. Be prepared. I was seriously looking for the life vests. Coming back in the afternoon was better, but marginally. I kissed the ground upon disembarking.

14) If you want to go to Tulum I recommend taking the bus from Playa Del Carmen. It's $2.00 in second class and $3.00 in first class. Either class if very fine. So, for like $5 round trip you're set. It's about a 45 min ride each way. (take the bus labeled "merida" from Playa Del Carmen). Bring your bathing suits to Tulum.... beach is unbelievable. I think you'll pay like $50-60 bucks round trip via a taxi.

15) I didn't each much at the buffets are lunch or dinner, but they looked "ok".... there's a ton of choices so you'll find something you like. I don't think I'd like to eat at them for dinner more than a time or two especially with the other 3 places being sooo good.

16) I did not see much in the way of mosquitoes. Of course it was pretty cool at night (about 60-65 or so). I only saw them at the community computer at night which was well lit, outside, and I was sitting stationary.... good combination for mosquitoes.

17) You cannot get a "top floor' room in the royal club unless you book a suite. If you book a standard room in the royal club the highest floor you'll get is 2nd floor. That kinda stinks (literally) and the noise from upstairs is pretty bad, as I mentioned before.

18) The service, all over, is very very good. From the housekeeping, to bartenders, to waiters, to royal club, to activities staff... all very very very good.

Overall, I think this is a really great place.

That's about it I guess. Please let me know this helped at all. I know that these were some of my unanswered questions before I went.