My girlfriend and I spent 6days/five nights at this hotel. We both thought it was great. If your looking for a quaint place to stay then this is it. Very peaceful and quiet. This is our third trip to Cancun, first at the Baccara.We chose the Avalon Baccara after finding a deal on the net and also checking Trip Advisor. I noticed on advisor that you either loved this place or didn't care for it. We LOVED IT.

Everything is life is a trade off, hotels are no different. If your looking for the cookie cutter type hotel then this is not it. It is an older mansion and is definately neat. Alot of the time it was like our own private resort. Most everyday for at least the first couple of hours we were the only ones at the pool. We usually got to the pool after breakfast around 10 or so.

Let me tell you that we go to Cancun to just rest and relax. To lay at the pool and enjoy the view and beautiful colors of the ocean. If you are going to Cancun for large beaches then you will be disappointed. When we were there Imeil, a supervisor at the hotel, told us that the beach was larger than he had seen it in 5 months. The tide at times came up to the base of the hotel and the distance from the hotel to the water during the time we were there was maybe 25 feet. This is true all up and down the hotel zone. We did watch it grow over the few days we were there.

We found the staff to be very friendly and they took care of our every need. Raphael (the hardest working young man in Mexico)and Juan at the bars keep the margaritas coming as well as engaging in some good conversation. They answered all of our questions and helped us with our Spanish. We called Raphael that because on our arrival, he took our bags to our room, waited on us at the bar, waited on us at Avaini', and even cooked our meal. He was funny too. Imeil was in the bar/pool area alot and he waited on us and was very pleasant and we enjoyed our conversations with him. Juan Carlos brought us our coffee (room service) every morning with a smile even having to walk up four flights of stairs. He also waited on us in the restaurant for breakfast. We had a small maintenace concern (electrical breaker tripped, 2 times) and maintenace was there within 5 minutes. They quickly found the problem and repaired it. All in all the staff tand service is great.

I can tell you that you must like to walk stairs because everywhere you go you go up or down them. The restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch is in front of the hotel on the small side street that runs idirectly front of the hotel. You have to walk downstairs or the steep driveway. Back upstairs to the hotel. The down them to Avaini', the restaurant that serves dinner. It is off the bar area of the lobby. If you go like you are going to the pool area then this restaurant is only 4-5 steps down. Down to the pool is farther on down the stairs. We got our work out in everyday.

Our room was 405B, you guessed it, 4 flights up. The room was nice. We had a standard room. Again you have to remember that this is an older hotel, but all in all the room was very adequate. The bed was firm by my standards, but I can tell you we never had a problem going to sleep. In the main room the only thing lacking is a chair to sit in. The bathroom was large and all tile. We always had plenty of hot water. Off the bathroom was our own private jacuzzi. This was a plus we were not expecting. It over looked the lagoon side of Cancun and was very pretty at night. As I said before we had a standard room and upon arrival I inquired about a room with an ocean view and when told the cost I declined and decided just to keep our room. When we got to the room and opened the curtains, we had a beautiful view of down the beach and the ajoining hotels Another plus that we didn't expect.

In both restaurants the menus were limited but the food was very good. Again like a private resort at times when we ate we were the only ones there and we were well taken care of. You can also order at the pool and room-service, they were both good. Try both retaurants and if your looking for a buffet and other choices you can visit their sister hotel, The Avalon Grand. They have three good restaurants.

On the down side, like stated before a chair in the room would have been nice. The windows were a little hazy, due to the sea salt blowing in daily and needed a good cleaning but we could still see out well. A good rain would have helped but it didn't rain a drop while we were there and that was good. We experienced some noise from the a/c unit but it usually didn't last but a few minutes. On your first night they give you coffee for the in-room coffee maker and want you to pay for it after that. Just do as we did and order room service, we had an all-inclusive deal so it was included.

Get an all-inclusive deal if you can, this is the only way to travel, I feel like they lost money on us.

Overall we enjoyed our stay. I will certainly consider it when we go back in a year or so.

We thought we did our research, we read reviews, looked at pictures, compared location and price but....we picked the WRONG one! Some will say it's quaint, has charm, is romantic but we didn't experience any of that. Our room was in the back facing the driveway with a balcony that had a view of the same, it smelled of fresh varnish, the bed was rock hard, the air conditioner had two settings - on or off and only controlled by maintenance somewhere outside the room! We tried to change, we begged, but nothing was available, it was Spring Break and all the other hotels in our close vicinity were also booked. The pool area is colorful but tiny. Due to the recent storm there is no longer a beach to walk on. The staff was friendly enough, offered us tequila to help ease the pain, but of course nothing is free. The sister hotel a couple doors away was much nicer and the buffet breakfast there was included in our room. We were only there three nights or would have made more effort to move. It's part of the adventure and a good story now, but unless you are sure you'll get a room with a balcony - then don't stay here!

We booked two adjoining suites for us and our children. We ended up in one ROOM (instead of the suite we paid for) 2 stories higher than our children suite. We tried to change it and were told after many tries that Expedia was the one who promised us those rooms and they didn't have to honor it. The people at the check in counter were arrogant and they do not care if you have a problem.
The air conditioning vents were right under our windows, and the noise was unbearable: a little like a trash truck standing under your window.
Coffee and water are supposedly provided in the room: we had ONE coffee and one bottle of water per stay per room (the second day, the maid put back the empty package neatly, so we thought we had cofee).
Among other problems: the unbearable smell of sewage that came and went, the dirty towels folded back and put on the rack in lieu of clean ones, the water in the shower always cold in the morning and at night, it would be hit or miss. We put $2 in the bed everyday, it didn't make any difference.
There is NO beach at this hotel: do not be fooled by the pictures: at the bottom, you have a boarded opening to the sea, no sand.
The tiny swimming pool is in the shade in the afternoon, which is a good thing because there are only two umbrellas for 20 lounge chairs, and you cannot stay in the sun in the morning.
The hotel is old and smell damp. We luckily went to the other hotel next door for breakfast. We didn't spend that much time per say in the hotel, since we went all over around Cancun. It would have been terrible to stay there during the day.
Do not waste your vacation in going in this hotel.

First of all - if you have ANY problems with disabilities or moving up and down steps this is not the place for you - simply because there are MANY steps to get to everything - to the lobby, to the rooms, to the pool ect. and there is not an elevator.
If you do not have any problems you will be amazed by this wonderful hotel. It's like staying in a castle. We traveled with 2 other couples, 3 rooms total - all were facing the street - but were still amazing!!! large rooms, small kitchens with a fridge & coffee maker, large bathrooms, large balconies.
The lobby is beautiful and has a pool table for public use. The pool is GREAT - beautiful landscaping, friendly staff. We were all inclusive and found it to be quite worthwhile with no problems getting drinks, food etc. We all visited the sister property 2 doors down - this is more modern and with that were crowds, loudness etc. An ok change for a few hours, but we found ourselves back at "our" hotel enjoying the serenity. The building is older - but well kept. Plenty of hot water for showers, plenty of towels, pillows etc. The staff was very accomodating. I would stay here again in a heart beat - am sad that we only had a one night stop before leaving in the morning - its a great property if you don't mind a few steps.