My husband, myself, and another couple stayed at the Westin over Memorial Day Wknd. We’re all in our late 20’s early 30’s.

We didn’t think the hotel was bad at all.

Pros
- Liked that it was away from the rowdy downtown area. We’re all done with our rowdy partying days and came to relax
- Comfy bed! Loved it.
- Clean comfortable room.
- There’s a bus that comes every 5 right at the gate that goes down the main street and into downtown for restaurants, shopping, catching the ferry, etc. No need to catch expensive cabs

Cons
· Food is very expensive on site
· Some hiccups with our room – shower door wouldn’t completely close, and safe wasn’t working. But then again, we didn’t call front desk to complain or have it fixed
· I read about how great the beach is the Westin, but it was very rocky with the red flags up our entire 4 days. Walking far to the right towards Club Med we got calmer water.
· There are 2 pools on site but both are pretty small and tends to get crowded
· Tours at concierge desk are way over priced. Book the tours yourself online prior to arrival.

My wife and I just spent eight nights at this resort and generally liked it a lot. Some of the concerns raised in prior reviews (in particular, the humidity in the rooms) are definitely valid, however. One expects rooms to be humid in the tropics but we were suprised, at the end of our stay, to discover that our passports, which we had left in our room's safe for the duration of our stay, looked like they had been dropped in a tub of water. We also noticed that the airconditioning did little to solve the humidity problem.

We did not stay at the Royal Beach Club because my wife was attending a conference and we had to stay in the rooms that had been assigned. This meant, for example, that we had to pay for breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast buffet was 24 dollars but was very good. The items varied from day to day, but generally had all the usual breakfast foods one expects, as well as things like fried plaintains, barbeque beef or pork, and tasty fruit smoothies.

The location of the hotel can be a plus or a minus depending on your needs. It is at the extreme end of the "hotel row" that stretches for miles along the shoreline promenade and is about 12 miles from the town itself. This makes it somewhat isolated and quieter than many other places but also means that people with children may have to deal with boredom. However, a very convenient bus (R-1) runs about every ten minutes all day (and I think all night too) long and only costs 6.5 pesos (65 cents). The trip to the center of town takes about 40 minutes, but in fifteen or twenty minutes you can get to shopping centers such as La Isla and Kukulkan Plaza; there are restaurants at both (and fast food places at the latter). A little further along, near the convention center, there is a large open-air market.

Many people might not want to take a bus trip early in the morning before breakfast, though, and so unless you take a box of cookies or something from home with you this means you are pretty much required to go to the hotel restaurant, which is pricey but not bad. (As mentioned, there is an excellent buffet and you can also order off the menu-- a large order of bacon and eggs and potatoes, with a basket of pastry and juice and coffee, cost 16.50.) There is a convenience store of sorts a short walk up the street; it's called Iguana Laguna and looks from the outside like sort of a dive, but inside you can buy things like coke or bottled water for about a fifth of what the hotel charges for these mini-bar items. A short walk beyond that is a very nice open-air restaurant built right on a dock. I don't think it is open for breakfast but we had a splendid lunch here-- excellent food (mostly seafood, but some beef and chicken items), excellent service, very fair prices and a scenic locale. I am told that in the evening one can see an alligator in the lagoon that comes by about every night.

The hotel is beautifully landscapped and has about five pools as well as a section of beach. The water here is often rough and the red no-swimming flags were often flying, but walking a ways down the beach almost invariably resulted in our finding an area where the flags were yellow or green. If you walk right (as you face the beach) along the beach you get to a rocky promentory sticking out into the sea; this marks the start of the Club Med property, and there is a "private property" sign to that effect. However, under Mexican law, beaches are public, and if you continue walking past this sign along the beach you get to a rocky cove where you can snorkel. The snorkeling varied in quality with the day and time we visited but was generally good for seeing at least some colorful fish. Also, the place where the rocky outgrowth meets the shore is home to many wild igunas which can often be seen running around or sunning themselves. Children seem to love hanging around here and looking at them; one youngster was feeding them leftover pizza crust. I got quite a kick out of seeing them and taking pictures too. There is an open patio on the Club Med property and one morning I got there when a couple of people were eating an early lunch; I counted 17 iguanas hanging around on or near the patio, presumably looking for scraps.

One final tip-- we exchanged money at the airport and were sorry we did so. US money is accepted everywhere and you do not really need to go to the trouble and expense of changing money. We were quoted a rate of 53 dollars for a cab ride at the airport and instead took the shuttle for 12 dollars a person. The Westin is the first hotel the shuttle stops at, and is only about fifteen minutes from the hotel. However, at the hotel, going to the airport, we were quoted a cab rate of 27 dollars for the entire group (up to four). I have no idea why it is so much cheaper to go to the airport rather than from it. If you want to take the shuttle to the airport, you need to reserve a spot 24 hours in advance, but if you want to take a cab (which you should do if there are two or more of you) you can get one at a moment's notice (but check with the bellhop to make sure of this).

About 8 months ago we started to plan our destination wedding at the Westin. The hotel was everything I thought it would be, it was clean, modern and the beach was beautiful. We stayed there for 4 nights, and our room was always clean, I loved the lobby and all the restaurants. The photographer at my wedding said this hotel has the best beach, meaning the largest beach. The pool is also great and really large. We did the all inclusive option which we would suggest if you are going to be there for a few nights. The hotel also offers a lagoon side, where not as many people go, so you can have the pool and view to yourself. The hotel offers a salon, dry cleaning, gym, concerige service to book things to do during the day.
You might think the hotel is too far away from the mall and other restaurants, but it really isn't. The bus is pretty inexpesive costing about 75 cents one way. The bus is not old, it's like a greyhound bus, but the windows are open. You can take a cab for more money. Lots of people who stay in the hotels along the beach take the bus, so I wouldn't be scared to ride it. When you get to the mall there are alot of restuarants and shops. It's worth staying at the westin, because the grounds are really pretty, their website doesn't show you everything.
If you are planning a wedding in Cancun, I would consider having it here, they have a wonderful wedding coordinator that can assist you with whatever you might need and make your wedding prettier then you could imagine. She has several years of experience in planning weddings, and there are lots of different options on what you could do for your set up, and food choices, they will do whatever you want. I sent the wedding coordinator pictures and they were able to re-create these pictures. Remind you I never saw this hotel or even Cancun before my wedding so I was a nervous wreak on what to expect, but put all your worries to rest when you are here, just relax, and have fun and get married if you choose too:)

We stayed at the Westin for 5 days and would definitely return. We upgraded to an ocean front room and luckily got one with a balcony - the room was very clean & housekeeping was excellent. Everyone we encountered was friendly and as helpful as they could be (some language barriers, but mostly everyone spoke English). We went to LaHabichuela in Cancun City for dinner one night, but honestly enjoyed our meals at one of the on-site restaurants - Arrecifes - much more! The food was wonderful, service excellent, and the patio was lovely - looking over the ocean with the moon above. Great dining experience! Also enjoyed the lunches we had at the poolside retaurant. We definitely will recommend this hotel to our friends.