The main reason in picking this hotel was because of the beach. I had read many reviews here on TA about the beach being beautiful and it was! Plenty of chairs, Calm Ocean, the sand was soft and cool. Very quiet and relaxing! We never used the pool but everytime we walked by it, it was never full. The hotel grounds were clean and maintained

The Rooms:
Were comfortable and clean. The cleaning lady did a great job of keeping the room clean and organized for us. She left us plenty of towels and whenever we needed to call the front desk for something they were friendly and were quick to bring up whatever it was that we needed.

Food:
We didn't eat at the hotel only because we really don't believe in spending $14 on a burger and we weren't given the option of going all-inclusive. The food and drinks seemed to be a bit overpriced (I’m sure most hotels are this way) Instead, we ventured outside the hotel to eat. Btw, they didn't seem to care when we brought outside snacks and drinks into the hotel. The hotel is in walking distance to lots of shops and the bus stops right in front. Once you get the hang of it, the bus is totally the way to travel!

The Hotel staff:
Was friendly and helpful. We arrived at 1pm and I think check in is at 3. We had no problems checking into our room. It was quick and easy. We didn't see any time share people in the lobby.

One of the things I really liked about this hotel was that you could have friends from another hotel come visit you. I know this is not the case with other hotels, where they want to charge $50 for you to visit. All we had to do was sign a waiver for them to come in.

The only negative thing I can say about the hotel is that we purchased a calling card and used the phone in our room to call home and were hit with a $60 phone bill upon check out! The front desk called it a "connection fee" Wow, we didn't see that coming! Nowhere was it posted that you would be charged if using a calling card to call the US. I'm not sure if this is common knowledge or if we just don't travel enough to know. In any case, we'll stick to payphone's outside the hotel when calling next time.

Overall, it was a great stay for the price. We had lots of fun and would definitely return!

Me and my boyfriend went here to relax for spring break. We stayed there for 5 days 4 nights with the all inclusive meal plan plus airfare for about $1400. we took a shuttle that we booked through bestday.com because it was the cheapest and the service was pretty good. the lobby area was nice and clean.

Room:
our room was good enough because it had comfortable beds and the maid cleaned the room without any problems for us. I was scared about losing valuables so i put my valuables either with me or i locked it up in my suitcase with a combination lock since i did not know how to use the in-room safe.

It sucks that since it was during spring break, i was constantly awoken by the people across the hallway and down the hallway coming back from clubbing all night. This occurred around 4a.m. - 6a.m. every day.

The beach was the most relaxing and cleanest beach i have ever seen. we walked down to the other beaches and their beaches were pretty rocky from what we saw. the pool was nice but we didn't really stay there because it was cold and the beach was much warmer. And of course we did not go to cancun to lounge by a pool, we wanted the best beach and presidente had it.

Food:
by getting the meal plan, we never had to worry about where to go to eat and we got to order as many meals and drinks as we wanted. we never even used all of our vouchers for the meals because we were too full to eat anymore.

the best part was lunch time at cana brava by the beach. everything they had there was delicious. breakfast was good too, we ate a lot of omlettes. dinner was ok for the most part. the best dinner was on our last night during their BBQ & Grill night. The servers were very pleasant and always greeted with a smile. This made our stay very enjoyable.

Activities:
free kayaking was fun. and jet skiing is available on the premises for $45 for 30min. it was very fun and highly recommended. I do not recommend booking day activities through the bestday travel desk because they over price the actual activity. I recommend going on their website before going to Mexico and booking it through there because it was significantly cheaper.

I booked this trip for my wife and me for the main goal of sitting on the beach all day and doing nothing but relaxing. This was the place to be with this goal in mind. We have been to Playa del Carmen and Cozumel several times but we only had a couple of days for this trip so we avoided the extra travel time and decided to pick a place in Cancun. The beach was excellent, the water was calm, and the other hotel guests were pleasant. We found a lot of the hotel guests are vacationing Mexican families, and thoroughly enjoyed being around them rather than drunk partying Americans.

All of our staff and service experiences were positive, although, we are not demanding on the staff and like to do things ourselves. With other resorts where we have stayed in the past, saving chairs on the beach is a must, as they quickly fill up. This was not the case at the Presidente. There were always plenty of chairs and room on the beach.

Our first impression of the hotel was good when we walked into the lobby. Walking down the hallway to our room, my wife and I both looked at each other and hoped we hadn't made a bad decision. Like others in this forum have said, the carpet in the hallways need updating. We arrived at our room (ocean view) and were pleased with the selection. I booked our trip through Travelocity and wasn't able to choose my room preferences (king bed and non-smoking) through the booking process. About a week prior to the trip, I contacted the hotel via e-mail and stated my preferences. I received a message from a manager at the hotel and said my preferences would be noted. Upon arrival, I received exactly what I had requested.

For breakfast, we went across the street to the taco place one morning and Ty-Coz the next. The Ty-Coz croissants and coffee are excellent. For lunch everyday, we left the beach and again walked across the street, with my wife eating a Ty-Coz sandwich and me eating fish and shrimp tacos at Los de Pescado. The horchata (rice drink) at Los de Pescado was especially refreshing. All of the eating places are in the strip mall across Kulkukan and a couple hundred feet to the west of the hotel. The food at these stands was a highlight of the trip.

We returned to the hotel one night after going to downtown Cancun, only to find the only dinner available at the hotel was a $23 dollar buffet that was lacking. We would have eaten dinner at the hotel, but there never seemed to be good options.

Overall, we prefer the atmosphere of Playa del Carmen and will probably return there next time. If we do return to Cancun, we will most likely stay at the Presidente.

I mistakenly posted this review under the Presidente InterContinental Cozumel. My review below is for the CANCUN location.

We are a married couple with a 17 year old. We booked in haste because of Spring Break. We paid $1800 for 5 nights (NOT all inclusive meal plan) and did NOT include airfare. Our fault, but we also expected LUXURY for the price we paid. The hotel was nice, clean, and pretty but NOT worth what we paid.

Lobby and bar area are pretty, but nothing spectacular. Piano in the bar area is old and badly painted. My son played it two nights in a row and everyone seemed surprised, but not bothered.

Bar inside did not appear to be hopping on any given night, but we went to bed by 10:30 so maybe there is a late crowd? On our last night, they had a Flamenco dancer, guitarist and singer which we watched for 5 mintues. Really nice.

I would say that our room was on the same quailty level of a newer La Quinta in the US. Two double beds that were comfortable with plenty of linens. Room was super clean. Travel size shampoo/conditioner was provided which was nice. Also had a hair dryer and plenty of towels, but they are hard as usual. Armoire with tv, mini bar, small round table with chairs. Bathroom was ok, nothing spectacular. The room is a good average room. BUT NOT WORTH the price we paid AT ALL.

Hallways are dank and look scary. They need NEW CARPET AND air freshener. You feel like you are in a cement cave. Window and seating area by the elevators on the 2nd floor in the main building were cute.

We ate the breakfast buffet on two days. No one told us it was included with our room, so we missed out on the other 3 days. My husband only ate the breakfast on one day, but he had to pay since only two breakfasts were included with our room. Strange. Food was rather good if you like Mexican breakfast and ok if you like American breakfast foods. You wouldn't go hungry as you could find something to eat. Service was good.

The beach. Well, it is gorgeous, but it really isn't a beach. You can only "wade" (not swim) about 20 yards or so. There is a net that keeps you close in. I think it is a man made beach. Right outside the netting fence are a couple of boats with people who are loud and obnoxious and act like they've never seen water. However, there were a zillion lounge chairs, palapas, etc. on the beach. It was VERY pretty. Sand was clean. Very relaxing to lay in the sun or shade. Pools looked clean and had plenty of seating, but we didn't use them. There is an adults "quiet pool" that looked awesome.

The grounds were beautiful. Lots of staff everywhere.

On the beach, we ordered pizza (delicious), fish tacos (don't waste your time), and chips with guacamole (average) and beer (nice and cold). Service was fast. Bernardo was an excellent waiter.

There were other restaurants and bars on the beach that were part of the hotel but we didn't try them.

All three of us had massages on the beach on our morning of departure. They were awesome!! I highly recommend that. You should do it on the day of your arrival and the day of your departure.

TIPS:

take your OWN transportation from airport to your hotel. DO NOT rely on your tour operator because they make you WAIT for OTHER FLIGHTS so that they only have to make a few trips back and forth. THIS IS NOT WORTH IT. Pay the extra money and just get YOUR OWN TAXI or private shuttle.

We walked right past the tour operator station in the lobby near the bar. We SKIPPED our tour operator's "orientation" and ignored their multiple phone messages and visits to our room. We had our own agenda, and I booked ALL of our excursions ONLINE before I left Houston! That is the way to go.

I think that we booked the wrong hotel and an overly expensive one because of our haste. We didn't spend any time there at all, so it was too expensive for our needs. We were gone from 8 am until 10:30 pm every day. But, I also think that it doesn't make sense to spend that kind of money to sit by a pool (even though the weather is GORGEOUS) or on a man made beach.

However, I guess if you just want to RELAX, go NOWHERE, have your food brought to you, OR eat on site every day, then an expensive resort is the way to go. Our trip this time was all about excursions, so we didn't have a need for an expensive hotel. Our mistake.

But, this hotel is definitely NOT on the level of a 5 start InterContinental in the US, nor is it worth the money you pay.

Grounds are beautiful and beach area is super comfortable, but that doesn't merit the price they charge.