We booked this hotel kind of last minute... It was a pleasant surprise when we arrived. The grounds are beautifully kept and the hotel pools were practically empty because people are afraid of the Swine flu. It's too bad because there are ZERO cases in Cancun and it's killed their economy.

We took the bus pretty much everywhere - for 15 whole pesos for both of us (roughly $1.20 US) we couldn't justify a taxi every time we wanted to go somewhere. We ate at this place called La Padilla and it was really great - food, service, atmosphere - everything. But you might want to take a taxi since the bus doesn't get you very close and if you don't speak Spanish, it might be hard to find. We did find a place the next day called the Tequila Grill in the Kulkulcan Mall that is by the same people, right on the bus route, much less crowded and equally great food. As for the hotel's restaurants, we only ate at the Kiosko (outside pool grill) and got room service. Both were good - the burger at the Kiosko was probably the best one we had in Mexico and was reasonably priced at about $11 US. We didn't want to do an all-inclusive hotel since we don't drink... and we spent less money finding our own meals than it would have cost to purchase an all-inclusive room anyway so it worked out.

As for activities, we did Chichen Itza as a day tour and Isla Mujeres on our own day tour. BUY ALL OF YOUR SOUVENIERS AT CHICHEN ITZA, NOT IN THE SHOPS OR RESTAURANTS. We found everything we had already purchased for 2 or 3x cheaper from the random vendors on blankets inside Chichen Itza. Learn from our mistake! You can take the ferry to Isla Mujeres for $6 per person round trip from UltraMar. You just need to take the bus that says PUERTO JUAREZ and you will be dropped off right in front. Give yourself an entire day - the beaches are more beautiful than any we've seen and you can walk literally a quarter mile out into the sea at the north end of the island. You can rent a golf cart and drive all over, but they have to be returned by 5 so get there early and make a day of it.

We really enjoyed our week in Cancun, and will probably be back someday.

The letter that I forwarded to the Manager at the Hilton Cancun.. giving him 4 days to contact me at the resort 2 doors down... never one word from him!

I would like to write to you in regard to our recent stay May 20-23 at your resort in Cancun Mexico.

Upon our arrival we were given an upgrade to a room with a balcony, which was very much appreciated! Thank you!

Once arriving to our room we started to look it over. Our first note was turning the TV on and noticed that there was a lot of static snow in the screen. So we called down to have someone come check it out. Next we noticed that there was one glass in the room, we needed two since there was two of us. Again, we called down to see if we could have another glass. Later we were told by the front desk that the reason there was only one glass, was that there was only one person noted on the reservation. I’ve never heard of anything so crazy… especially when we were being upgraded to this room. My question here would be.. did someone run up to the room to remove the other glass, knowing only one was needed? If this is the case (which I seriously doubt), then why was there still two coffee mugs in the room?

Next we went to open the door to exit the room, and one of the screws holding the deadbolt latch to the trim around the main door, fell out onto the floor and left the deadbolt dangling. Once again, another call to the front desk.

Another item noted was the rug under the coffee table.. apparently it had not been vacuumed in some time. Beside this was a long black hair that remained on the floor from the previous occupant , phone calls were made to the front desk.

I noted that there was a number to contact someone if we thought our experience was less than a 9 or 10. Right now I was being generous with giving the hotel a 4. I called the number and was informed that they would send someone up. They also noted that they would be willing to move us to another room. Another inconvenience, and we hadn’t even been at the hotel for 2 hours (probably closer to one hour).

We waited in the room for someone to come and look at the issues we noted. I would say we waited almost an hour, no one came, so we went to enjoy some of our time at the pool since we had been traveling since 4:15AM EST. (for the cleaning issues.. the maintenance items were addressed immediately).

Later that evening we were moved to another room. Again, it was not what I would expect a 5 star hotel to be. The carpet had been removed from the coffee table area, possibly for it too was not as clean as it should be?

The floor also, had a lot of areas that with a little bit of scrubbing could have been cleaned. It was not worth complaining again. It was apparent to us that housekeeping needed some updated training.

At the new room, we noted upon our arrival that there were 2 regular juice glasses and another glass with a straw placed outside a door just down from our room. These same glasses remained there for the duration of our stay and as we checked out. It was our observation that the hall floors had also not been swept during our stay.

One area that we would like to give high praise to is the Spices Restaurant. The service
and selection at breakfast was EXCELLENT.

I hope that you take these comments as ways to improve your processes at your resort. I have been a Hilton Honors member for several years and hold the standards high for the Hilton Family, as I am sure you do.

Thank you for your time. ..."Very Respectfully,

Sorry, I forgot to note in my initial email to the manager.. and Hilton Honors.. the stains on the supposedly cleaned pillow.... however forwarded a note reflecting that.. along with a picture.

Their response.. was pretty much.. thanks for the email and letting us know your stay sucked and our hotel was dirty..

Would NOT recommend staying here...

This hotel is great. I stayed in an Oceanfront Villa for five days and loved everything about the hotel. The decor was just ok in the room, but the view from this room...priceless. During our stay, the Villas Lounge was closed so tickets were given for Contenental Breakfast, which translated to a buffett. The evening Happy Hour was in the main lobby bar. The tickets were good for well drinks of any kind, beer or other non-alcholic beverages from 5pm until 7pm. They did bring you a plate of food to nibble on while you drank. The service was fantastic. Eugenia, the Concierge Manager was the best. Of course, went to walmart to buy liquor and an ice chest to use while laying on the beach, which didn't upset the servers. I wouldn't recommend the pizza it wasn't very good. They do have a couple of resturants onsite which are closed due to lack of travelers. So call before thinking about eating at them.

My wife and I returned last week from a four night trip ending on Thursday, May 21st….and let me say that this vacation was the best we have even had! The Cancun Hilton Resort was recommended by my friends on flyertalk.com and we received a very good rate for an excellent room. We had a huge terrace and excellent view. From discussions with other travelers at the pool, we were lucky with our terrace, but all rooms had excellent views and most with nice sized balconies.

As far as amenities, we could not have been happier. The beach was rough, but it was nice enough to grab a dip and take a nice walk up and down the beach. Also, the pool was awesome! Very awesome! I stayed at an All-Inclusive at X-Caret a few years back that was great, but that one did not compare to this pool. My favorite spot was near the bar, where Juan made sure we had a cold drink at all times. (more about the service later) The Gift Shops were cool and the work-out-facilities was great, although we only looked, a few restaurants were closed due to the decrease in occupancy, but Spices was opened and very good, and you could always grab a nice meal from the pool or Lobby Bar.

So, forget the room and pool for a minute, the service was out of this world! From the check-in (which was very fast), we walked directly to the Lobby Bar to grab a drink to take to our room. In 10 minutes, Miguel had given us all the hotel information we needed for the rest of our trip. The folks at the reception, lobby, pool, Spices, housekeeping…you name it…the staff there was on top of the needs of their guest.

When we first checked in, we met the General Manager for the week, Moises. We were not able to convey our appreciating to him for our visit, as we were too busy having a great time. We did chat with Olga, who checked in with us after we arrived to our rooms to make sure we were happy. Were we happy? Best trip ever…

I been to Cancun before, and St. Lucia a few times, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica and although I am sure many of you travel more than myself, however, I do travel quite a bit and I’ve been to many place around the world; this place ‘gets’ it, the staff really takes care of you…you feel like royalty

In short, the service we received at the Hilton Cancun has made me a loyal customer, the view and the room just were ‘icing on the cake’. Our next trip was probably going to be in the United States, but my wife is lobbying to take her sister to this location, and after this visit, I’m all for it. Thank you Hilton Cancun…and reader of this review, you will NOT be disappointed, I assure you.