So, I'll start off by saying that my husband and I first visited the Grand Sunset Princess a few years back alone. We have always stayed in the villas and have now managed to widen our travel group to 14 more of our friends and family (all of us flying in from different parts of the world). We've endured explosions and hurricanes but our love for the resort kept us coming back. Until this year.....

We have just returned from a week long trip with 12 of our friends. Prior to our vacation, I contacted the hotel both by phone and email to ask certain questions and make certain requests. None of which were adhered to, or answered. I find this ridiculous as previously, I've stayed at the Grand Bahia Principe Akumal TWELVE times and after the first 2 visits, they treat you like royalty and bend over backwards to make your stay as enjoyable as possible!

Originally I had asked if Colli was still at the villa bar. We wanted to bring a gift for him but never received a response. When we got there, we found him working at another bar within the resort and asked if it were possible to have him at our location just during our visit (remember, there was 14 of us). This request was never honored so we asked if we could have him just for our last day - no such luck. We have become friends with Colli over the years and the way he has treated us is one of the reasons we return. Last year we brought him back the fish we caught on a deep sea fishing excursion and the hotel management confiscated it - most likely to enjoy for themselves. Highly disappointing! As a result of asking for Colli, we had a very upset and distraught bartender questioning us about the job he was doing as apparently, his manager said it was because we didn't like him that we had requested Colli! Total BS! Not once had we ever complained about this poor guy, simply just wanted to spend the time with an old friend! Nonetheless, this set the tone for the week!

The one (and ONLY) thing the hotel DID get right, was making Alejandro the villa concierge! We were a little worried about Jonathon not being there but quickly realized that Alejandro was AMAZING and actually a far superior concierge than Jonathon (sorry Jonathon)! This guy gets things done faster than you would believe and ALWAYS has a smile on his face! He makes you feel like he too is an old friend and that it's not just a job! Job very well done in hiring him!

Now here are the TERRIBLES:

We get to our room and find out that they no longer provide you with large bottles of booze - only two mickies of crap! We would have purchased from duty free had we of known.

They no longer have STRAWS within the resort - have you ever tried to drink a frozen drink WITH NO STRAW? It ends up all over your face :(

Most days you were lucky to get new towels in your room - and really lucky if you had a washcloth!!!

No Internet the ENTIRE week (even though this is something you PAY for in the villa package). It's extremely difficult to enjoy your vacation when you're stressed out because you can't communicate with your children!!! Apparently, they were "working on it" all week! Wonder how long they've been saying that?!

For three days we had no hot water in the mornings! Seriously, as funny as it was to watch my hubby dance around trying to get clean, this is ridiculous!

The last day we were there we woke up to NO AIR CON in the entire resort. As much as I like the heat, waking up to a room that's 25 degrees is no fun. Not to mention eating at a buffet with 500 people where even the fruit was sweating!! How is it that the ENTIRE resort has no air? Did they not pay the bill?? Lol

From what we were told, the hotel is under new management. Apparently there is a woman from Spain running it. Here's my advice.... Get rid of the woman, put whoever USE to be in charge back in charge and save this hotel. Otherwise, I can assure you, my review will be one negative review of many!

Best of luck - sad to say we won't be returning :(

Stayed on the sunset side in the platinum suites(room 4123)for 10 days 8-18 ....We are a young couple from ohio and are first time travelers to Quintana Roo...First off the staff was unbelievable...i cant express it enough...from room service to concierge to tram drivers lobby staff,,buffet service al a carte restaurants to security...They gave 120% at all times...all smiles and very attentive.... The grounds were immaculate at all times...It is a big resort but as others stated there are trams running all day and night so it was very easy to get around...We used olympus for our tours and airport transportation they were 100% accurate and on time..but i will write a review on their site..to get back to the resort...The staff really is amazing the main reason i have given five stars...The room AMAZING(4123) had decent ocean views with some mangroves and the chill out bar in view but it was facing the ocean not the jungle....There are a limited number of ocean views so we really lucked out....we sat on balcony and listened to the waves crashing in from the jacuzzi...the room had two twin beds instead of a king but we did not mind at all i slept like a baby every night...the beds are firm which i didnt think i would like but i was wrong...great sleep every night and pain free waking up...air conditioner worked just fine actually turned it off for most of time..the nights in november were nice and cool and the fans provided more than enough air flow....We had no problems with bugs...2nd floor room we had some tiny ants on the balcony but never bothered us and we also had a pair of geckos hang out everynight...we bought bug spray and never even touched it...and most of our time we were in the jungle exploring cenotes still zero problems....The beach was wonderful..the sunrises are astounding...but the left side or adult side i swam out over roughly 200yds and finally found a spot with out rocks and coral everywhere...the water buy the buoys was relatively clear of rocks though...no fish and alot of waves...the water was murky compared to most beaches we were visiting...but thats also due to time of year and currents...plenty of space to chill out on beach...their is a snack station on beach as well as bar....the food left something to be desired but thats due to commercialization to try to satisfy every visiting culture...from what we experienced thats how it was most places..I am not a big fan of seafood but loved the dinner from Las Olas...La fleur was satisfying and had some good steaks...but we must of ordered the wrong thing from La Hacienda because we did not like it at all...highly commercialized... the food was the only downside to the resort but room service was prompt and good...and we always found something at the buffets that we liked...just dont expect a very authentic spanish dining experience(xel ha) had some of the best food we had...we did not partake in any resort activities because we were more interested in cave diving and exploring the reefs and beautiful land..but everyone we talked to said they were awesome...the market and fire show were very nice...Some very talented artist there amazing what they can do with spray paint alone...Overall we both loved the resort and would highly recommend this to anyone looking for an amazing time in this area of mexico...only 20 usd for taxi to playa and they do offer a free ride but we booked too many tours and didnt have time so we took a taxi..!!!If you dont have a wonderful time and have a bad experience i am sure you are either a very miserable person and will never be happy or are very rude and disrespectful and deserve any mistreatment you received!!!!...we witnessed alot of people from all over being unbelievably rude and disrespectful to the staff and locals...and if you were to act like that anywhere you deserve to be miserable and worse respect goes along way...we took 300 in singles for tips from everyone at the resort and tour guides taxi drivers etc...and even if and when we didnt or forgot to still had an amazing experience...but if you are booking a package through a website you are saving a ton of money so use some of that to support the staff and locals...One last thing...one night we went out late for some night life and i forgot to lock everything up in the safe...there was over 1500 dollars in camera equipment..around 200 in singles usd.. a laptop two cellphones and other valuable items we left out and the cleaning service called security to come and lock our valuables away and make sure nothing came up missing...we had to call security when we got back and they came and explained and unlocked our safe and triple checked to make sure we had all of our belongings..Amazing amazing Amazing...just book and let all of your troubles disappear...

Very nice hotel, the room was great with a nice jacuzzi. A lot of pools and lots of activities. My only complaint is the service.the recptionist was moody and in a hurry, the concierge staff was also very moody and with long faces. But the worst was ine of the waiters at the mexican restaurant, he was super rude And not helpful at all, also the hostess at the orange lunch buffet was rude told us to just sit at any table and when we did she told us we couldnt sit there in a very rude way. So overall service is very poor.
The food was ok, expected somethibg betteer from 5 star resort...

My husband, 1 year old daughter and I just returned from our stay (November 10th to 17th) and we have mixed feelings on this resort. We travelled through Sunwing and used private transfers.

This is a long read if you are interested...but very honest.

Our main comment was we wish that the detail that they put into the resort grounds (cleanliness) we wish we had gotten the same amount of attention in our room(s).

We received fresh towels and linens daily (hit and miss on how many) but could tell it was not swept properly , floors not washed properly, counters and tub not cleaned or wiped down as we purposely left sunflower seed shells on the floor and around the tub (We had a deluxe suite) and they stayed there all week. We were even leaving a couple bucks a day...very very very disappointing especially with our daughter crawling/walking around in the room. We had a male "maid" and wasn't the friendliest of people when we would see him.

There is a sign on the fridge stating what and how much gets replenished daily...we had to keep calling about the water being replenished. It is not housekeeping that does this. (3 bottles of water/4 varieties of pop/2 beers/1 tonic or soda water) Tap water is not drinkable.

We also had problems with our first room. When we signed in we were told we had a king size bed and a crib will be there. When we arrive to our room #2209 the room smelled musty (actually it stunk really bad) and it was not a king but two doubles but we had the crib. When we called the front desk we were told to call back the next day at 9am to change our room as King size rooms were not available. But as we started to look at the room we found the front of the cupboard door to the bar fridge was covered in mould and the bar fridge leaking and not working. I have an allergy to mould so my husband called the front desk yet again telling them the severity of the health issue and was told someone would be there right away. A half hour later my husband walked to the front desk to find out what was going on again they said someone would be there shortly. After an hour of waiting we were finally moved to #3243 and amazingly it had a King size bed which we were initially told they did not have any available. Plus we had to wait 2 days to get the crib...this did put a bad taste in our mouths to start our vacation.

My husband and I are avid travellers and have stayed at a wide variety of resort star ratings and multiple cruises. And as much as we try not to we were constantly comparing this to other resorts we have stayed at. (Three to five star resorts in Cuba, Dominican and other resorts in Mexico)

This was our first time travelling to an all inclusive with our daughter. My daughter was in love with the people down there and they did pay a lot of attention to her.

As a family resort it is very good. There are high chairs in all the buffets and a la cart restaurants and wading pools for the kids. Our daughter is not a picky eater so she did well with the food.


However...the elevators are far apart and there are only 4. Two on the Sunset side and two on the Riviera side. We were on the 2nd floor and with the stroller it was rather inconvenient for us. But we are active so we did not mind the walking. This resort is very big one of the biggest we have stayed at. They do have golf carts available to move around the resort if you do not want to walk.

The meals were ok to great all depending on time of day what buffet or a la cart you went to. If it was busy at the buffets don't expect to have your plates taken away or drinks refilled too quickly or at all. But if you went at a quieter time the service was great. Some of the food is repetitive. If it was for dinner the night before we saw it again for breakfast and lunch the next day. But we have seen that at other resorts we have stayed at. Plus we found that no matter what time we went if the food was low or gone the replenishment of food was very slow. My husband would try something and share with me and if I wanted to get some of my own, very rarely was it available when I went up as one of us was always sitting with our daughter.

The a la carts (Mexican, Asian and Fondue) the service and meal was AMAZING...this is where they get their 5 star rating based on their official website. We did all our dinners for 6 and found we got the better service than others that came in behind us PLUS at the Mexican there is a type of salad bar...we left the restaurant at 7:30 and not once had the food been refilled or switched out from underneath the heat lamps. For the Fondue...the meat comes cooked (beautifully I night add) and the fondue is cheese.

We did not attend any shows as we usually do not but they have pre-shows and they were very good, the Mexican night and the fire dance night were very well done.

We did not spend time at the beach as we found it very crowded and a lot of annoying vendors as it is a public beach.

We sat on the same side as the activity pool but behind it at the wading pool and we has an AMAZING waitress. We tipped her regularly and she knew what were we drinking and always brought us fresh pineapple juice for the baby.

Overall it was good vacation but not the best. Would I recommend it...sure but go with low expectations. We will not be returning. And as a side note which we did not know and would not have known until we met people down there and goggled it when we got home but the Riviera side of the resort was the side of the resort that had the 2010 methane gas explosion that killed five Canadian tourists and two Mexican workers, and injured another 17 people, including eight Canadians.

Any questions please feel free to contact me.