Just returned from a 6 night stay. The 2 bedroom suite is huge! The furniture was a little dated (orange, sticky dresser drawers and only 2 pictures on the wall which could be found repeatedly through the hotel) If you can get passed the lack of glitz that you are paying for in the larger chain hotels, you'll love this place. Everything was very clean. The beach restaurant was top notch. You can swim in the pool, lounge on the most beautiful beach in Cancun (really, we looked!) and have a wonderful meal, beautifully presented, in your bathing suit! And then instead of wandering through a big lobby and up an elevator then down a long hallway to get to our room, we just walked across the property and straight into our room.
Tip 1 - head for the Cancun Walmart! - we bought rum for $8 a bottle there! We also got a case of water, beer and coke, froze the water in the full size freezer and put it all in a styrofoam cooler ($4, also Walmart) and took it all to the beach - saves a fortune in bar tabs! There is a full kitchen, so if you want to save even more on meals, check out the amazing selection of meat and seafood at the Walmart. We stuck with snacks - cheeses, crackers and the like.
Tip 2 - use the money you saved on the bar bill to rent a car! we had a blast driving down to Xcaret and north out of Cancun on a road to no where. Parking is cheap at the various malls, sometimes even free. We paid $3 for valet parking at Puerto Juarez for the ferry ride to Islas Mujeres. The freedom of going where you want when you want is great. Gas was cheap - $2.40 a gallon.
Tip 3 - request a room in the 5000 building - these are the closest to the beach. We liked the first floor.
Tip 4 - pig out at Rio on Kukulakan Blvd (next to the big open air Catholic Church) - the Argentinian steak restaurant is a never ending parade of meats on skewers with a huge salad and seafood bar.
Tip 5 - wear lots of sunscreen - a UV index of 11 says it all.

I'd stay there again in a minute!

I went with a couple of girlfriends to Cancun in the last week of May 2008. The weather was a pleasant change from the New England weather we were used to.

First, I was displeased with my check-in. I booked a double room for two people on Expedia, and I informed Jessica at the front desk that I would be signing in two other people as I had trouble changing my reservation through Expedia. I, of course, expected to pay additional persons fees but I did not expect to get the cold attitude and glares from Jessica about the situation. My friends and I felt uncomfortable, and not to mention unwelcomed to the hotel, but we were too excited about the prospects of our trip to be stuck on it for too longer.

We were assigned to a room on the 4th floor in one of the buildings. AV however does not have any elevators and is one of the older hotels on the strip. The gentleman who showed us to our room, also carried our rather heavy suitcases - all 4 of them up the stairs in scorching heat. We were so appreciative, we made sure to tip him very well for his service. Our room was spacious and the AC was a relief when we got in. However, the AC did stop working the last night we stayed, we called the front desk and they sent someone to fix it. Unfortunately, we realized a half hour after the maintanence person left that the room was still extremely warm. Rather than call the front desk again, we toughed it out for the night as we had an early flight in the morning.

The staff at AV was amazing (minus Jessica) - friendly, helpful, courteous. We requested extra towels for our room and left a tip (a few dollars) every day for the maid. Our request was granted every day and our room was spotless when we returned. At night, the front desk was excellent - the men gave us suggestions on the best places to eat, sight-see and the hottest place for night life (Coco Bongo is a must!!!) as well as discount coupons to use for free drinks.

The breakfast at the hotel restaurant near the pool was adequate. It was a buffet so we could fill up for the day - all of us enjoyed the fresh omellettes and pineapple juice in the morning. Our breakfasts were suppose to be all-inclusive but each morning the waiter would bring us a check charging at one or two of my friends for the breakfast, I was told that only two of the breakfasts were included. I had to speak to the front desk about this situation each morning. It was quite annoying that they couldn’t get it right after the first time.

The grounds of the hotel were BEAUTIFUL. The cleanest sand that I have ever seen. Smooth to the touch, and completely white. The water was crystal clear blue and warm to splash around in. Overall, Ambiance Villas was a pleasant stay and I would recommend it. If you're looking to stay on hotel premise a lot or want be impressed by an array of amenities - go to a resort - AV is simple, clean and perfect for those who want to explore Cancun.

Make sure to do a day trip when you're in Cancun. My friends and I did the Xcaret trip for $100. Make sure you haggle with the person who is trying to sell you the trip, we were originally offered it for $150....but I'm sure if we persisted, we could have gotten it for even less. We got to snorkel in a cave, on top of the cave, see exotic animals, eat a delicious Mexican buffet, see an awesome night show and a million other things. It was fun and exciting!

We stayed at AV for a couple a days in the week right before memorial day weekend in U.S. We booked a 1-bedroom condo through the AV website. May is low season and we got an excellent rate of $110 per night. We traveled with 2 small kids (2 and 5).

Check in was easy, staff is cordial and professional. Before getting the key, try to ask for either an ocean front unit or at least a room away from the main street. They were not able to meet the first request but were glad to accommodate the second.

The room is quite comfortable: it has 2 tvs, one in the living room and one in the bedroom. My son originally thought about sleeping on the sofabed in the living room, but even he thought it was not too comfortable, so all four of us squeezed on the king bed (which was not too bad, the kids are small). The fridge was a plus for storing water, juice, beer, yogurt, and it was quite nice to have those available when coming back from the beach for an occasional break. Also, the room had one of the coolest AC ever.

The beach, it has been said, is one of the best (if not the best) in Cancun. It is not too long and is shared by a couple of other hotels - the InterContinental Presidente is right next door, in case someone wishes to consider an alternative to AV while staying on the same beach.

We had breakfast included in the rate. Very good. It has several types of bread, toast, donuts, milk, coffee, tea, yogurt, fruits, hot chocolate, pancakes, waffles, sausage links, bacon, scrambled eggs, several omelete fillings, and other stuff that I can['t quite remember. They will also prepare eggs for you on the site. I particularly liked the motulenos: a piece of tortilla with refried black beans, an egg, some sauce and other stuff, and some fried bananas.

They have a beach front restaurant that serves lunch and dinner. I thought they were pretty good. At first, I didn't find it cheap, but after spending a couple of days in the area, I started to find it a bargain. Anyway, I thought the tik n xic was very good (tik n xic is a fish seasoned with Yucatecan spices that is grilled wrapped on a banana leaf). We also ordered coconut shrimp, beer, water, juice, and bill was ~$40 usd.

The hotel has a convenience store. Prices are ok. Hotel has also coin operated laundry (buy tokens on the front desk) and a public computer (10c per minute, also buy access on the front desk).

Location is great. There is a bus station right in front of AV. In our case, we had a rental car, a fast drive to downtown (we had lunch there and shopped at the Walmart), and also to the party zone and island malls.

Very few minuses but I should note them anyway.
The hotel is not luxurious, it is basically a condo that has also maid service and breakfast, but I think this made an extremely comfortable experience, especially if you have children. Also, the hotel is not particularly new and our particular room felt a bit worn out -some cracked and stained tiles, some grouting needed here and there - not a big deal, though. Also parking lot is not too big and was quite full, considering it was low season. Something to think about it next time.

Highlights for our stay ---

Excellent beach (besides downtown Playa Del Carmen) best one I've ever been to.
Excellent service. Everyone is extremely polite, speaks enough English to have no problem in communication. The staff is very hard working.
Excellent price for the stay. We had the American breakfast plan which includes a full breakfast which was good. It's basic but the fruit and omelette we had was very good.
The rooms were very large and accomidating. A few blocks away is a super market where you can but water and beer among other things. This is very convenient as they have a full kitchen in the rooms.
It is not a 5 star resort, so dont expect that. The rooms and property are very clean and well kept up. The service on the beach is great (drinks and food).
For the price of $100-130 to be on this kind of beach I think is a great deal. We would stay here again.