If you're rich and don't mind spending $3.00 for the coffee you make in your own room, $9.00 weak drinks and waiters with an attitude, then this is the place for you. I was highly disappointed with the front desk folks. I was given a pool view instead of an ocean front view. I talked to the front desk and they said everything would be taken care of in the morning. So, in the morning I went back up front to change rooms and they acted surprised! What change? What's wrong with your room?? What a fiasco! The towels were very rough, the beds were hard as a rock. I don't understand why this is a five star hotel. The place was gorgeous and in a good location - but I won't stay there again.

We recently returned from a nine day trip to Cancun. Our first four days were spent at the Fiesta American Coral beach and they were wonderful. Our next five days were spent at another Fiesta Americana, and we spent those days wishing we could somehow return to Coral Beach.
The hotel is classy, yet warm and inviting. There are beautiful plants and paintings everywhere and the staff is always willing to answer any questions.
Our room was a standard junior suite and the view was spectacular. The room was spotless and cheerful. The pool was amazing, because no matter how many people were in it at once, there was always space to swim and have privacy. The food at Islay Contoy was wonderful, especially the ceviche.
The location is perfect for walking around downtown and cabs are always accessible if you need them. While there were many children at this hotel, my fiance and I were still able to have romantic and quiet times. The hotel is big enough and accommodating for both families and couples.
I only wish that we had been able to stay at this hotel longer instead of moving to Fiesta Americana Aqua. This was just as classy, and it had just as much style. If anything..it was more inviting and appealing. This is the only Fiesta Americana that we would stay at in Cancun again. It is worth the trip.

Like several of the recent reviews, we were staying at the FAGCB during Emily's visit to Cancun. I’ll give a general overview of the hotel first and then detail our experience during what could have been a very difficult situation.

We have stayed at this hotel in the past, and although there are several other very nice properties in Cancun, I prefer the FAGCB over the other 5 stars (JW Marriot, Ritz Carlton) for a couple of reasons. The location on the North side of Cancun provides a very tranquil beach and the water is a comfortable experience for swimmers and non-swimmers, lacking the waves and undertow of the hotels located on the East facing beaches. The hotel manages to be elegant without being stuffy and/or snooty, and has the friendliest staff of any hotel I have stayed in, which includes many of the well known resorts. The rooms are large, and all have great views of the ocean. Yes, the food and drinks are a bit pricey, but no different than any other quality resort and the servings are generous. There are enough reviews of the facilities here to suffice and while I’m sure it would be possible to have a bad experience, I doubt some of the negative reviewers would be happy anywhere.

Now for the exciting stuff…

Any time you take a vacation in the Caribbean after July 1, there’s always that risk of tropical weather, and this time our good luck ran out. We were due to leave the day after the hurricane was to arrive and were unable to get our air travel rearranged to depart before the hurricane hit. The hotel staff was prepared, and had a number of contingency plans in place, which had clearly been thought out well in advance of this storm. 72 hours prior to landfall, the hotel began giving us updates on storm progress and their plans for guest safety. The day before the storm arrived, the Mexican government inspected the hotel and deemed it and their plans safe for guests, therefore, the FAGCB was the only hotel in Cancun (other than parts of the Ritz) that did not fall under the mandatory evacuation of the island. This was a tremendous relief to us; we far preferred to stay at the hotel than be relocated to an evacuation shelter.

The planning and the confidence of all staff members made my family and I feel very safe and secure. As mentioned before, the ballroom was set up with the beach lounge chairs including sheets, blankets, and pillows. The hotel encouraged us to tour the facility prior to the arrival of the hurricane, which we did. The setup included a huge (40 foot?) movie screen, silver buffet service setup, and a number of bathroom facilities for the 500 or so of us who couldn’t get out of town. Again, a huge confidence boost given the expectation of 100 MPH winds later that evening. We were asked to go back to the ballroom entrance at noon the day of the storm to be assigned a bed number and be given a wristband to identify us as hotel guests – well organized and no drama.

We went out to the beach for a while to watch the storm come in and then went back to our rooms mid day as the weather deteriorated, heading to the ballroom at 7:00PM as instructed by the hotel for safety purposes. The Mexican government had wisely suspended alcohol service across Cancun the previous day, but when we arrived, the hotel staff was butlering non alcoholic tropical drinks. A large buffet dinner was served at no cost to the hotel guests, and considering the circumstances, was better than good. The hotel showed three movies and then served a midnight snack of sandwiches and other food. Water, soda, and coffee were available throughout the stay in the evacuation ballroom. We never lost power or air conditioning, and despite the 500 of us, the bathrooms stayed pristine throughout. Believe it or not, although I wouldn’t want to do it every vacation, most of us had a pretty good time and we made a number of new friends. Was it like sleeping in your own room? Of course not, but compared to the stories we heard from those who were forced out of the other hotels, it was no big deal. A hot buffet breakfast was served the next morning, and the hotel manager asked us to stay in the ballroom area until all of the rooms could be inspected for damage, which was apparently very limited. All of this was a lot better than what most evacuees dealt with, which was about 36 hours packed into very small, un-air-conditioned spaces with little or no bedding, horrendous bathroom facilities, and no food or safe water to drink. Understandably, most non FAGCB guests were pretty miserable about their accommodations, and certainly had a lot less comfortable experience than what we dealt with.

The hotel staff was absolutely brilliant, keeping us informed at all times, and making us feel safe with their confidence in the hotel structure and their planning. I think it’s fair to say that they created a 500 person sales force, as I wouldn’t consider staying anywhere else in Cancun. A particular thanks to Karen and Arturo, who continuously went the extra mile to help us with travel adjustments and logistics. We were a bit concerned about the potential expense of the extra night we would have to stay and the cost of the two rooms, as we had booked via Expedia at a highly discounted rate. The hotel provided us with the extra night at significantly LESS than the Expedia rate due to the emergency.

It’s easy for a luxury hotel to be at its best in good times, but FAGCB and staff performed outside any reasonable expectation during a crisis. I won’t stay anywhere else in Cancun and strongly encourage others to support this hotel. Even if you don’t experience a hurricane, you won’t be disappointed.

My husband and I stayed at The Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach. We Stayed from 7/16-22. This is the most beautiful place We have ever been and we have been to a few nice hotels. They took wonderful care of us during Hurricane Emily. We didn't have to evacuate like some of the other hotels. We just had a Great big sleepover in the hotel ballroom. There were lounge chairs set up with blankets and pillows. Food and beverages all night. Movies, and games for the kids. We were let back into our room on Monday morning at 11:00am. They took such great care of us we almost forgot about Emily. The main hotel pool was open by 10:00am tuesday and by early afternoon the remaining pools were open. By wednesday the beach was ready. They were so quick to clean up we still had 4 beautiful sunny days to enjoy. One last thing I must say is that the employees at this hotel were probably the nicest I've ever met. If you want to have a great vacation in Cancun stay here.