Overrated and overpriced. The quality of the service and food is inconsistent -- sometimes good, sometimes lousy. This is billed as a 5-star hotel, but by U.S. standards it is more like a 3-star. The room and food prices are comparable to a Four Seasons or Ritz-Carlton, but don't expect anything close to the high service level those hotels provide.

Also, don't expect a Heavenly Bed. The mattresses are a bit lumpy. The convertible sofa bed had some broken springs, so the sleeping surface was uneven.

The hotel provides shampoo, but not conditioner. The in-room safe is very small. The on-site grocery store is quite expensive, even after the 20% discount coupon. Getting a computer for internet access is not a problem, and the rate of $5/half hour is decent.

Note that the hotel charges extra for a crib. The Kids in Paradise club is more of a glorified babysitting service. The woman working there didn't seem friendly.

If you buy the all-inclusive package, it is not really all inclusive. At some meals, they post a sign stating that tips are not included. Certain beverages, such as Mexican coffee are not included.

The pool with the waterslide is very noisy. This noise spills over into the upper pool. The pools by the outdoor restaurant/bar are quieter and kid-friendly.

It is sometimes impossible to get a lounge on the beach. Try to get a lounge away from the stairs because the peddlers congregate at the bottom of the stairs.

Timeshare sharks are not a problem.

Take lots of small denomination U.S. bills. $100 bills are tough to break, and sometimes even a $20 is tough if you don't want to end up with pesos. Locals will give you change at 10 pesos to the dollar, but most will accept 10 pesos to the dollar.

If the room and food prices were much lower and reflected the quality levels, then the stay would have been much more satisfying. You should have fun at the hotel, but set your expectations low and don't expect good value for your money.

Please read this before you book. This hotel was the worst, I mean everything from the front desk service to the food was terrible. The staff was very rude, unhelpful and outright insulting! They treated us as if we were an inconvenience to them! We will not ever return to this hotel, there are far better for the price.

The hotel was nice. A little out dated and could have been a little cleaner.... BUT it is a perfect location to downtown and the people were excellent.

The best deal was ALL INCLUSIVE. We went there with 16 friends total and had an EXCELLENT time.

Would definitley stay there again. Lots of activities to do off the resort and places to see.

Can't say enough about the location.... location... location.... it is the BEST !!

There is a pungent sewer/sulfur odor that permeates rooms along the entire front of the hotel, due to local construction. When we asked to be moved to another room, the manager was unapologetic and said we would have to pay double the rate to switch.

Further:
*The place was overrun with children and people looking for a Girls Gone Wild experience.
*The service staff was generally unknowledgeable and unhelpful, except for when it came to trying to sell time shares, their true moneymaker -- the hotel itself is more like a front for the timeshare industry.
*We got calls every morning [early] asking us to come down and pick up a "welcome packet" of information and "gold card" for local discounts. Yet, when we stopped by to pickup the packet later they wouldn't give it to us unless we went through the timeshare orientation. We made it clear we were not interested however, despite these conversations, the early phone calls persisted.
*One afternoon we were asked to clear the pool area at 2pm in order for hotel staff to set up for a private party later that night. In the afternoons, the pool is plagued by loud DJ blasting music, bingo and trivia games.
*The television in our room had a persistent buzz, as if the speakers had been blown out -- but that didn't matter much because there were only a few channels and there was no pay per view. *The food was poor quality and over priced.
*The beach is small and filled with local vendors and tourists getting henna tattoos and their "name on a grain of rice."
*The rooms were bad down to the detail; the bedding was not clean or fresh, and one of our beds didn't have a bed spread.

I travel frequently for work and am happy 99.9 percent of the time. No hotel is perfect, but in the spirit of vacation, the shortcomings are usually easy to overlook, especially in a clean room.

We disliked the Villa del Palmar so much we splurged and went to another hotel for a night, despite the fact that we had already paid for our room, just to escape the smell. I wish I could say one nice thing about the place but the truth is staying at the Villa del Palmar added stress to our vacation. I couldn't wait to get out of there.