We just got back from Le Meridien and we were amazed by this hotel. It was very clean and the staff was very friendly. The atmosphere was quiet and relaxing. Plenty of seating around the pool. There is construction next door but did not hear any noise. The pools were excellent, although a little cold due to cloudy skies. They have one heated pool and two unheated. The beach is beautiful although the beach isn't very wide. There is enough space to lay out in the sun. The restaurants were good although overpriced. There is a small snack shop nearby so you can buy bottled water and snacks. If you are planning on taking the bus, there are two bus stops within walking distance. The hotel is not directly on the main street. The rooms were very nice and spacious for two people. The beds aren't Heavenly Beds but we didnt have any problems.

I am a very hard scorer/grader. I stay at 0* to 5* hotels. Rating them by answering the question, 'would I stay again for approx. the price paid?' This hotel was a solid YES.

To receive Excellent the hotel must equal or exceed all my expectations.
It was a real pleasure to stay at this hotel. I consider it better than any of the three RitzC I have stayed.

Problems/Negatives:
Front Desk service slow.
Much of sand has been eroded from front of hotel.
Music too loud in main dining room (for me).
Minor flaws in restoration of room bath tub.
No coffee in room.
Mini bar missing one or two mini bottles.
Two sets of slippers and only one robe. Advised front desk. Told, not to worry. Will see if any subsequent bills are charged.

Positives: Everything else was Excellent. So much so that the minor issues above are mostly ignored in my rating of this hotel.
Staff Great/Excellent. Quality of hotel Excellent. Room/Bedding Excellent. Food Very Good for price. Enjoyable experience. This hotel is 5* in my option. Excellent!

If you stay, I hope your experience is similar.

This hotel was lovely. Clean rooms, nice amenities. Beach area is wonderful - great loungers, hammocks, cabanas. Everyone was extremely friendly.

Beach is swimable and had every activity we could want, right on the beach. Great poolside service.

I would stay here again, in a heartbeat.

I miss the beach already!

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this hotel! I thought all the rave reviews were too good to be true! I was wrong. Check in was quick and easy. The room was spacious and clean. Service was great even though they were booked solid the entire week. Granted our room was often cleaned late in the evening but who cares...we were out enjoying the facility and Cancun! The staff was very nice and always seemed geniunely happy that we were there. Check out the spa and gym facilities. I had a hot stone massage at the spa which was the best EVER!It was well worth the price! Hopefully the following info will be helpful:
Food:
The only in house restaurant we ate at was the St. Tropis Bar/Grill next to the pool. The food was decent and the view of the ocean spectacular. Cancun has the bluest water I've ever seen. The price was what you would exspect for a place in Cancun other than fast food and you get the added bonus of not having to leave poolside. We ate at Champion Sports bar which is in the Marriot and is within walking distance( decent food and price), Rainforest Cafe in the Forum by the sea mall (loved my meal and the view from the balcony was great to people watch with decent prices), Carlos and Charlie's next to Rainforest (hated the food and I bought a yard drink that had little to no alcohol in it), Chili's in the Isla Mall (same as the U.S. chain with decent price), Italannis is in the Isla Mall (this Italian restaurant was great with decent prices), the best meal of the week was Combalache(Argentine Steak House at the Forum by the Sea, it was alittle pricey but well worth it!!). Don't exspect alot of breakfast choices...Cancun stays up late and sleeps in...we had McDonald's which is just down the street from the hotel and Starbucks in the Isla Mall have really good breakfast sandwiches and muffins or pastries. Another important piece of info is the small local minute mart(Super Tropical)across from the hotel. They have snacks and sodas as well as alcohol for MUCH less than the hotel. We stopped there every night. The take US dollars or pesos.
Transportation:
We used USA airport transfer which is a local private owned service. The were waiting for us when we arrived and picked us up at the hotel on the day we left. They were reliable and cheaper than a taxi. $52 round trip. I would definitely recommend them (google entertainment plus cancun).Use the bus! It's cheap and easy. The stop is just around the corner and they come by every minute or so. It will take you anywhere in the hotel zone for 6.5 pesos. When you want to get on just wave and when you want to get off just stand up and walk to the exit if you don't see a button to push to idicate your stop.
Shopping:
There are 4 major shopping mall's: Isla Mall, Kukulcan Plaza, Forum by the Sea and the Plaza Caracol. Forum by the sea has less stores and more restaurant/bars...it's down by all the clubs. The Kukulcan Plaza has alot of the more expensive stores. I liked Isla because it had a good mix of all. Stay away from the flea market by the Forum by the sea..they harass you so badly you can't even look around and then the prices they quote are often more than in the mall.
Tours:
We did the Joe's Jeep Adventure and it was great! Pipi ,our guide, was lots of fun. We got to drive brand new jeeps with AC. We saw Ruinas del Rey, swam in a cenote, did a zip line, had a buffet beach lunch and went to a great petting zoo (got to handle a snake, an aligator, iquana, deer, monkey...it was very hands on and really fun). We also went on a catamaran tour to Isla Mujeres. It was fun also but the snorkling was not so great! The water was rough and there are VERY few fish. I loved riding the catamaran and the spinnaker(alot like parasailing). I wish we would have had more time on the island to explore. Next time we may take the ferry so we can spend the day and skip the snorkling. I did enjoy the open bar on the ride home....go with the beer b/c the mixed drinks have practically no alcohol! You can book many tours from the poolside area.
General Info:
Exchange US dollars for pesos in the hotel each day. There's no charge and they give you the best exchange rate. Although everyone takes the dollar, they round down unless the store has a register that figures it for them. $1 is about 10.5 pesos but the locals usually round $1 is 10 pesos. Basically you lose money with each dollar you spend which adds up over time. If you use pesos there's no cash loss.

I hope this stuff helps. We really enjoyed this trip...Feb is a great time to go....the weather is perfect...not too hot!

The Castro Family