This review is a little late, but we had a great time at the hotel so I definitely wanted to share. My wife took me to Cancun for my birthday at the end of March and we stayed at the Fiesta American. She was a little skeptical about staying there based on some of the negative reviews, but I had always wanted to stay at the hotel due to its unique style. We had a great time at the hotel. A fabulous breakfast buffet (with champagne and vodka) was included every morning. The drinks were reasonable and the bar staff at the pool was top notch! Also finding a chair near the pool or near the beach was never a problem.

The room itself was well appointed though the bathroom was a little small. Many reviews have noted that the beds are firm and they are, but not uncomfortable. Also the AC does not get as cool as we like it in the US, but the room was never balmy.

The staff was friendly and our room was always cleaned promptly. Encountered no problems whatsoever with the front desk staff either. However, as mentioned previously the guys at the pool bar went above and beyond!

There is a beach (though it is still eroded from the Hurricane) and swimming was possible while we were there in March. The hotel is not far from La Isla and many fine restaurants. We ate at La Distilleria and Ruth Chris and had excellent meals at both places. The hotel is probably a 15 min. ride from dowtown and access is very easy via the busline.

WOW! Amazing! Spectacular! Gorgeous! This hotel has it all! One minute you feel like your in a tiki hut, and the next your in a rainforest! The endless pool was amazing and the rooms were perfect and cozy. The hotel is large and I never felt crowded. It is so nice being able to sit in the pool and look out at the ocean, or be swimming in the ocean and run right back to the pool from your hotel! This hotel I would recommened to anyone over 18 and would recommened for leisure because if your on business... you'll be sorry you have to miss out on how amazing it is! I felt like I was royalty! The staff was helpful, friendly and welcoming! Stay here and you will not regret. It will be one of the best vacations you will ever have. This hotel is by far the best I have ever stayed in, and hope one day soon to return!

First-timer to Mexico/Cancun... was beyond impressed with the FA Condesa from top to bottom. The staff was unbelievable, some of the nicest people I've ever met. Spent a LOT of time down by the amazing pool. This pool is fantastic, nice and warm, huge, a seperate area just for families, very shallow areas for sunbathing, and the waiters were all so friendly and warm - felt like we had all become friends by the end of the week. Read a lot of reviews about the lack of a beach and to some degree they are true, there is not an expansive beach in front of the hotel for sunbathing, however, there is a beach so don't be fooled by the reviews. The beach is great for walking along and if you want to lay out and swim, you can simply walk about 50-100 feet to the next hotel on the strip where there is more of a beach, even a volleyball court set up. All of the beaches are public so you can feel free to wander along as you please. The hotel room itself was very nice, any shortcomings, like a fairly-small bathroom were more than made up for with the spectacular view of the grounds and ocean from the large balcony (Ocean Front Room). The beds were nice and firm, which I loved, nice linens and what not. I had initialy thought that the hotel was a bit closer to "The Forum", which is where a lot of the restaraunts and nightclubs are centered, but was pleased to find that we were far enough removed to be out of all the hoopla, but close enough to hop on the bus and be there in five minutes. I would strongly recommend taking the bus as much as possible. It's easy, cheap and they literally come about every 30 seconds during the day (and about every 15 minutes overnight, running 24/7). I'm a cheap-eats kind of gal, so don't have a ton of comments regarding the hotel's restaraunts, but the breakfast-buffet that came with our room was fantastic, one of the best breakfast spreads I've ever seen... and the pool bar had great casual eats too - consumed ridiculous amounts of chips and salsa and surprisingly had some of the best thin-crust pizza that I've had in my entire life - who knew? This is not a hipster hotel, so if that's what you're looking for you might want to head up the strip a bit, but if you want an amazingly beautiful hotel with a wonderful staff and a nice and relaxing atmosphere to just chill in, this is your place!

I stayed with my husband for a quick get away without the kids. Was there April 5-9th.

We had a Junior Suite in the Sea Tower on the 7th floor. PERFECT view! I watched the sun come up over the ocean evey morning. We thought the room was excellent, two baths that were totally up to date. We had 2 balconies, the one off the bedroom had 2 chairs & lots of room. We thought the bed was fine - not hard & we have a Temper-pedic @ home.

The pool was georgous! It is so spacious. We did have some trouble with getting a prime chair (sun & option of shade), so you might need to do that early. (But we went Easter break) They had some pool activities in the afternoon.

I really liked where this hotel was located. We checked out the FA Grand Coral Beach & Dreams. I have to say I would still pick the Condesa. Although we did not see the rooms at either place, the grounds & pool area at those hotels were unimpressive. It really felt like a concrete jungle where those hotels are located. The Condesa has a really great tropical feel. I love to be surrounded by native foliage & flowers. That's what the Condesa had.

The food was really good. All mexican - which I like. But we had dinners at La Dolce Vita (good, walking distance), Lorenzillo's (great atmosphere), and Laguna Grill (walking distance & EXCELLENT food & great atmosphere!). I happened to not like the margaritas at the hotel - too mixy? Not sure what the problem was but I just had strawberry daqs & they were great. We ate the salsa & pico de gallo & had no issues.

This place is SUPER clean. We always saw somebody cleaning something.

The spa was great - had 2 massages. However the "spa maid" - not sure what to call her because I was not used to it - was directing you on where to go, like sauna first, then steam room, then jacuzzi - but I happend to like that since it turned out to be so relaxing using the facilities in that order, before a massage. I am more used to the American way & doing whatever you want to in a spa - I am sure you could, but didn't test it ...

The beach - this is such a hot topic. It is a real shame that they have no beach. We had NO beach the first 2 days, then the winds changed & we had some beach. Hubby was able to go swimming. (too many rocks for me as I am not a great swimmer) The water was beautiful, the color amazing. I hope no more hurricanes come & swipe more beach away but you can't prevent it - it's not their fault. The hotel worked real hard when the winds changed to get people down to the beach. You can see where the stairs are to the beach that the ocean washed away about 4 feet of sand! Imaging that - the sand was 4 feet higher then where it is now - crazy! Families were still having a great time playing along the beach we had. (There was more beach at GCB & Dreams but the waves were huge - no swimming! And the sand was dirty with seaweed & such.)

We went to Walmart and felt totally fine. Once the bus stops for Walmart you still have to walk about a block to get to it. I was impressed how nobody bothered us. We saw NO homeless people, no one asked us for money. I really thought we would see that. On our way back from Walmart, we were the only Americans on the bus with standing room only, I thought we would get this weird vibe, but didn't . Mexicans in Cancun are great & go about their business. It's not like other places where the natives don't like you.

Caution about the bus - they seem to try & beat each other to the next stop. They seem to go sooo fast then slam on the breaks for the next stop - It would make me sick! And I don't get motion sickness! (but I do on a Cancun bus!!) They also start to go as soon as the last person steps on the bus - even before they pay!! So please - if you are traveling with little ones make sure you hold on to them, and brace yourself.

We just went to relax for a few days, no night life for us, just nice dinners. The lobby lounge is nice too - (sometimes they have a DJ) but just played good music when we were there. It is def. not a party hotel, which we liked.

We can't wait to go back with & without the kids!