We stayed at the Beach Palace May 1 - May 8. May I first say that our media has done a great disservice to Mexico where the swine flu is concerned. We saw no one who even knew anyone who had been sick in Cancun.There were only 27 people on our flight out of Charlotte to Cancun and 40 on the trip back. Occupancy in the hotel was roughly 20% when it would have normally been 90% for this time of year. There was no fighting for a lounge chair at the pool or a wait for anything. There were more hotel staff than there were of guests. It was truly a shame. With that said and off my chest, the hotel was great. We stayed in a Presidential Suite on the 11th floor. It was wonderful. It had (3) full bathrooms and a bar area with a sink. There was also a DVD player in the room and we had taken movies to watch. They come by every night and do turn down service and aromatherapy. The pool was excellent and we particularly enjoyed the sky pool in the late afternoons. We had no issues with the food and there was plenty of variety. Someone was wishing for fried onion rings at the pool restaurant one afternoon and the next thing we knew the waiter came back with a plate full of them. They weren't on the menu in any restaurant. The vanilla ice cream is unbelievable. They try very hard to make sure you are happy and having a great time. We have been members of Palace Resorts for 11 years and don't regret the money that we spent to be members.

We spent the week at the Beach Palace the week prior to the swine flu outbreak being announced. We did not get sick, and I wasn't surprised. The hotel puts obvious effort into service and cleanliness. It was not overrun with people despite being a busy week, and our two boys ages 10 & 12 felt at home there. They made friends with other kids their ages and went from the pools to the restaurants to the sports room with total ease. We took a few tours -- Paradise Snorkeling (which has a lovely beach for non-snorkelers), boat day trip to Isla Mujeres (what a fun party boat!!), and ziplining (included but not mentioned on line. Our boys loved it ,and I highly recommend it. They rented segways there too). We ate at the Beach Palace most every day and night with the all-inclusive, and it was great. The food is different from the US (reminded us a bit of when we went to Spain) but it was very good. We loved everything we ate at the Japanese and most at the Italian (try the risotto with beef - yum!). The flank steak at the outdoor restaurant was terrific... very tender and the grilled shrimp was great too. You would have to be very picky to not enjoy the food! We enjoyed rich, foamy lattes and made-to-order omelets most mornings at breakfast. The kids had ice cream from the machine by the pool every day and were in heaven. Bingo and water polo in the afternoon by the pool was a daily favorite. The social directors are awesome!!! They run the pool activities, play billiards in the sports bar with you and even entice you to sing on karaoke night! The staff at the Beach Palace love their jobs and seem to be taken very good care of by the hotel. We had such great conversations with the staff members who were taking English classes before work provided by the hotel. They are so excited to learn a new language and be able to speak to you, so be friendly and talkative! As far as evening entertainment, the kids loved the sport bar billiard games (with yummy munchies right there), and we all enjoyed the fire show on Thursday night... really entertaining out in front of the pool! The mall across and down the street which you can walk to (cross the street carefully) has loads of good shopping, an aquarium, a bungee jumping game for the kids and a climbing tower Great to do at night or during the day. In closing, we had a great week at the Beach Palace and would definitely return!

Stayed here for three nights before traveling around Mexico some more and upon check in, we were greeted with a beautiful property and friendly staff. The hotel had just been renovated due to the hurricanes that had come through the previous year or two before. Anyways, the room was nice, two big beds, nice jacuzzi tub in the room and a nice balcony with a "bed" of some sort out there overlooking the Strip which was nice for late afternoon naps.

Grabbed a drink from the in-room minibar and about 6 drinks later, noticed that I did not feel a thing and could actually take shots of rum down like they were rum flavored water. Not so sure the alcohol was legit there...

The food was alright, I got pretty ill one morning from eating something I ate here and ended up in bed all day long which was not fun.

Pool was nice, lobby was nice and big, but the liquor and food issues kind of killed it for me...Why would I pay for all inclusive if the stuff I am getting is 2nd rate. Definitely pay a little more and stay at the Royal Cancun up the street, where I spent the 2nd leg of my Cancun trip.

Three of my girlfriends and I stayed at the Beach Palace the week after Easter. We were treated like royalty and had a wonderful stay. The staff went out of their way to learn our names and take care of us. Guest rooms are very nice and plenty spacious, even with that double jacuzzi taking up space (and going unused in our case). The large balcony was a HUGE bonus and a great place to enjoy an afternoon cocktail. We had maid service twice a day, so we never ran out of towels.

The food was reasonably good. I don't think anyone goes to an all-inclusive resort expecting to be blown away by the food, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and taste. Breakfast however far EXCEEDED expectations with an omelette station along with made-to-order waffles, pancakes and french toast. There is also cereal, fruit, yogurt, etc. Breakfast was my favorite meal of the day. The lunch buffet was fine, we usually made salads from the bar. Their guacamole was also excellent. For dinner, we ate in the Asian, Italian and grill restaurants. I liked the grill a lot (grilled shrimp were great!) while my friends thought the food was a little salty. We all agreed the Italian was disappointing. The Asian was quite good. We also ate at the Asian restaurant at Cancun Palace and thought the Beach Palace's food was superior.

The one downside of Beach Palace, at least while we were there, is there was NO beach. I understand from other posters that this varies from day to day due to the tide. However, in the 7 days we were there, not once could you walk out to the beach. We felt like we were stuck on a cruise ship - looking out on the beautiful turquoise water but not being able to get to it. This was even more challenging since the front of the hotel opens onto a busy 4-lane road that isn't really conducive to walking.

As mentioned, you can easily get around Cancun on the city bus, so we took exploratory trips to the Sun Palace and Cancun Palace. Sun Palace is adults only, seemed kind of quiet. However, they do have a nice beach. Cancun Palace was huge (rows upon rows of pool chairs) and felt less personal than the Beach Palace. It also did not have a beach.

A previous poster noted that they took $100 in singles for tipping, and we did the same. I thought that was money well spent, particularly given the EXCELLENT service we received. The other tip I would note is that if you got the promotion where the "Swim with the Dolphins" was included with your trip, note that you have to book this separately from your trip to Isla Mujeres. So the vacation planner books your trip to IM (which is a disappointing place to visit, in my opinion), but then you have to SEPARATELY book your excursion. This was not explained to us even though we said we wanted to use our swim with the dolphins package, so imagine our disappointment when we got to IM but weren't reserved.

In general, I really enjoyed the Beach Palace and would recommend it, with the caveat that a week without being able to walk on the beach is difficult!