A group of myself and five of my friends decided to stay at this place because it was A) affordable, and B) the only place that seemed to offer 5 person rooms, an odd number at best to be sure. Oh how wrong we were. The room had, understandably, tile floors and one incredibly claustrophobic bathroom. Said bathroom had a toilet that clogged at least twice a day (pretty much anytime somebody used it for that sort've activity, you know, the one that you'll do plenty of times if you go to Mexico) leaving us to be forced to use the public lobby bathroom which was one of the grossest things I've ever seen. Leaks, dirt, that bathroom had it all. On top of that we had no hot water for half of our 6 nights in Cancun, and even then it would go cold in about five minutes of use after being "fixed". The room felt pretty insescure too, with just a rickity wood door that had trouble shutting and the lobby seemed like an open doorway so far as people wanting to get in. I kept expecting to wake up with someone trying to rob us in the room.

To stay on the topic of how sad this room was, having been promised a suite that could hold five people comfortably (expecting two doubles, perhaps, and a cot), we instead got a room that had one extended bed (meant to hold three people, awkwardly at best) and two cots. One of the cots was a legit bed, which meant that alongwith that it had a broken leg. Meaning that the lucky camper who had to sleep on that bed (me) was forced to sleep at a diagnal incline on a bed that rocked back and forth anytime you moved like a High School desk that is missing part of one of its legs. Neverminding how uncomfortable three people in one bed is for sleeping (who wants to be the guy in the middle?), the last bed was hardly even a bed. No, instead, it was a mattress with white sheets tossed onto the floor by the wall. So that makes a three person mess of a bed, a mattress on the floor, and a bed that is doing its best impression of a rocking chair.

On top of this the hotel only gets 2 or 3 television stations (friends of ours stayed at Oasis and had the usual 20-25 hotels get) and there is virtually no where to sunbathe on the hotel proper. Instead, you need to go across the street to the public beach, which is relatively dirty and full of the locals trying to sell you things. Hardly relaxing.

But once you escape the Marina Club, Cancun is great. There are tons of great restuarants (except THE SHRIMP BUCKET, where they will rip you off and none of the workers know any English), and there are lots of great clubs and bars. The mall was surprisingly nice too, and contrary to a lot of what I heard, the open markets were a lot of fun so long as you kept a keen eye open for getting swindled (don't pay $20 for a T-Shirt you can buy across the street for $6).

Next time I'll shell out the extra money for an all-inclusive.

Okay, so it was 1999 (5 years ago), but we have nothing but fond memories of the Cancun Marina Club and largely it was all down to one person - Carlos the pool bar manager. The hotel was basic, but the staff were very helpful and polite and cleaned our rooms everyday with pleasure. Don't remember much about the pool, as we seemed to have the man-made beach to ourselves (2 friends were with us). No matter where we went each night, we always hurried back to Carlos' bar and sat there each night with him playing our personalised compilation tapes & cds and listening to his fascinating life stories - most of which seemed genuine. The best of it was that it was mostly just the 5 of us and we liked it that way, although on some occasions our wee group would get bigger and more fun. Amazingly, we had a crocodile swim right up to us, flash his beady eyes and swim off again - he returned later for another quick look for food - it was fab! Carlos said it was the first he had seen in 10 years of working there. Being a little away from the hustle and bustle was good and just an easy, cheap, short bus journey away. Food at Marina Club was ok, but we ate out most nights. Carlos & Charlies is just next door and it was great watching all the loonies take part in the "sporting" activity which included their legs skimming in the lagoon (where our friendly croc was). Anyway, on our last day we gave Carlos some parting gifts as he did us and hugged and kissed him like an old friend. He was one in a million and we always think of him - especially when particular songs are played. Carlos Jiminez, wherever you are friend - you are one of the good guys. My husband, Garry even worte a song about you and it's bloody good. Carlos made this place worthwhile. Sharon, Garry, Clare & Martin

I read all the reviews before coming and was dreading staying in this hotel but it turned out to be fine.
The room was clean, our towels and sheets were changed everyday and we had loads of hot water. The staff, except for one at reception, were all lovely and hardworking especially the bar staff, but maybe that's because we tried to speak Spanish, even if badly, to them. The food was simple and lovely and the cocktails great. The pool got cleaned everyday but wasn't so great when it had been windy.
All in all it was fine and noone should be scared of going there. We got our money's worth.

Seriously people, take NO notice of all the rubbish that has been written about this hotel- I promise you it is fine. Granted its not Moon Palace or The Hilton, but for £750 what do you expect.

Our rooms were cleaned daily, along with the pool and the air condition worked fine.

My only complaint about our holiday was the prat of a holiday rep we had- NORMAN!! He was such a sales man, and lied to us about trips, so he could get full comission from them.

Dont let all the other reviews put you off!!