We just returned from 8 wonderful days at the Gran Costa Real in Cancun Mexico. “We” were a group of 13 that consisted of 3 families—this included teens from age 13 and up to young 20-somethings and 3 sets of parents. 2 of the families had never vacationed in Cancun before and it was our third trip with previous stays that included Fiesta Condesa and last year at the Oasis Playa. The Gran Costa is a wonderful hotel with super service. I have also been on almost 10 cruises and I would say that the service at the Gran Costa was as good or better than most cruises. I also want to add that I too read reviews here of “pretty bad food . . . .borders on horrible” and “inedible and not cooked properly” to quote a few past posters. I don’t know if these people are gourmet cooks or if they were eating at a totally different hotel than I was or what!!! But I can assure you that I will not eat “horrible” food or food that is not cooked properly, especially in a foreign country and I did NOT see or taste ANY food at this hotel in any of the restaurants that could even be remotely considered in poor taste. Please know that if you visit a foreign country—food will not taste like home.
The Gran Costa is located on the top of the Cancun 7 just next to the “inlet”. The hotel is just recently remodeled and all the remodeled rooms are beautiful! All white and yes the shower is huge and beautiful! I even got to looking forward to the end of the day and that wonderful shower! We never had a problem with lack of hot water or water pressure. Also, we never had a problem with the elevator but since we were on the third floor we usually just took the stairs. As I said, our room was on the third floor almost right off the elevator. We didn’t have a problem with noise from adjacent rooms or the halls. We overlooked the pool. And yes, they did have entertainment at the pool every night—if fact we could see it from our room. But since it was always over by 10 PM it never kept us awake or was a problem. The one or two nights we did go to bed before 10 pm we were so tired that we never heard the entertainment! Also, if you’ve stayed in Cancun before you know that the beds in many of the resorts are very hard. The beds at the Gran Costa are wonderful! Also, the rooms are immaculate as is the entire hotel! One other aspect that we enjoyed was the mini-refrig in the room. It is stocked daily w/2 waters, 2 cokes, 2 something else and a tomato juice. The AC in our room worked fine and also in the other 2 rooms. The family in one of the other rooms felt it could have been a bit cooler in their room but the wife thought the room temp was fine. All the rooms have fans and these help a lot with making the rooms feel cooler.
Many have made comments about the beach at the Gran Costa and to be fair I’d have to say that it is the one negative of this property. The beach itself is nice with beautiful sand that a gentleman with a name that begins with “V” rakes and cleans everyday. (He also gets you a chair in the morning, wipes it off and puts your towel down on it--all with a smile.) While the sand is nice when you enter the water it is somewhat stony and yes, the swimming area is roped off. Because it is right next to the inlet—many boats go by. We kinda enjoyed watching the boats come and go morning and afternoon. However, the water is very clear and warm. Because it is so calm, you can go out and float around in it and not get crashed into by the waves every few minutes. I did miss seeing that “Cancun blue ocean” and white sand beach, though. We did come to appreciate this beach and really enjoyed it. In fact, I spent more time on the beach on this vacation than I have at any other. You do have to get up and get out there to get a papala—usually by 9 am or so. While you are on the beach, they come by and will take your drink order. If you want some food—a snack, just ask them for a hamburger/cheeseburger and fries or a plate of nachos. We were really spoiled by the wonderful service we received on this beach. Also, the beach bar is right there, too. Julio, Sergio and company will keep your glass full and get what ever you want. My hubby would go sit at the bar and he didn’t even have to say what he wanted after the first day or so—it would just be there for him. The pool is also wonderful and has great service. However, there is very little shade at the pool—hence this just forced us into becoming “beach bums”—we didn’t complain!
If you want the “Cancun” beach, take the bus over to the Gran Costa Carib—a sister property. It is located on the wilder, surf-crashing ocean-side of the Cancun 7. The Carib has a very long beach--part of it is still eroded after 2 hurricanes ago BUT a good two-thirds of it is available for swimming and boogie boarding. This property has all the same restaurants as the Gran Costa Real but is larger and as my kids said—a bit hipper! They do a water aerobics beginning at noon that goes for over 1 hour and it seems that everyone gets into it! The Carib’s main pool is just ahead when you walk into the main/front door. They do have another pool that is almost deserted by their 24 Hour Club—it basically is on the other side of the resort. If you want peace and quiet—head over to this pool. There is also plenty of seating on the beach, too. They do a beach b-b-q here and all you need is your wrist band to partake of all the facilities at either property. Also, we found some good shopping at the few shops at the Carib. They have one shop with silver jewelry and the more you buy, the cheaper it gets! Also, one shop had all your “usual” Cancun souvenirs but for a buck or two and was great to get little stuff especially for kids to take home. And, I found some good bargains on good quality t-shirts in their Real gift shop. The service at this hotel was wonderful too! On our second day there, the pool waitress recognized us and we were never wanting for anything!
One of the things we enjoyed the most about the Real was the good quality food and service in all the restaurants. We ate at all the restaurants. The buffet’s food was very good—especially in the morning they would make cook-to-order omelets or eggs that were delicious. The fresh fruit and bakery items were also very good. This buffet called Albartos was great because it was right next to the ocean with huge open windows. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that close to the ocean before! Right across from the buffet was a dual restaurant. It shared the same building but had an open wall between the two. During the day both sides served the same menu but at night half of it was Il Pesactore—Italian and on the other half--Gaviotas also referred to at the “international” ala carte restaurant—kinda like a big, upscale coffee shop. Next to Albartos was Maria’s—their specialty restaurant. We ate at all the restaurants and they were all very good. We did eat at Il Pesactore two times at it seemed that more of us enjoyed that the most. We also ate at Marias one night. I ordered the extra charge lobster that night (+$14 usd more) and it was soooooooo much that I couldn’t eat it all. The waiter asked it I wanted it with shrimp and of course I couldn’t eat all that either. We finished off this meal with the Myan coffee. It is a real show with the flaming of the liquors etc and of course the coffee was delicious! In fact, the last night we were there, we were eating at the Italian restaurant and asked the hostess if she could do the Myan coffee for us. She got our waiter – who was familiar enuf with the routine and did a special service just for our tables. We were the hit of the restaurant! I would really question anyone that blasts the service or the food at these restaurants. It’s not the same as one would find back home in the US—in fact, some things are better! I can still taste those wonderful tortilla chips and Mexican salsa. . . . .also, that Myan coffee and those omelets made with salsa, too were great. I don’t think that anyone does bakery items better than in Mexico and we had tooo many great ones to mention! One hint—if the buffet line is long—just go over to Gaviotas/Il Pesactore for a sit-down breakfast/lunch because they’re usually not that busy—it goes fast. Also, if you happen to be there on a Sunday—you may want to go to breakfast a bit earlier or real late. Around 10 am they get very, very busy because of the locals and general Sun/Sun stays checking out that day and everyone wants to eat one last meal before they leave. Another nice aspect of the Real properties is the All-Inclusive Club. This is just above the lobby and has a large selection of hot appetizers—all very good and beer/soda on tap all-day, everyday! If one of more of the teens didn’t want to eat with the group or didn’t like the food at the restaurant—they’d head up to the 24 Hour Club for some pizza and nachos later! It was great when you’d come back after a day of sightseeing and were hungry, too. Also, every night there would be entertainment—you’ll find a listing of it in your room. The best night is on Monday—Mexican night. They set up tables/chairs all around the pool and have a buffet out by the pool. (buffet restaurant is closed that night and the other restaurants serve Mexican food that night.) As you enter that give you a hand-made Mexican clay-pottery “shot” glass on a string—to hang around your neck for the rest of the night—and offer shots of tequila before entering! (You don’t have to drink a shot but take the little shot glass as a souvenir!) Later they have the traditional Mexican dancing and entertainment. The pool is all decorated and it is a very nice night! (Hint—take some bug spray as the mosquitoes seemed to find us this night!)
I did have the good fortune of being treated to some spa services. Be sure to ask to Irma—she’s great with a firm hand! The spa was also recently redone and is white like the rooms and immaculately clean and beautiful! We also rented those water Ski-doos for the kids on 2 different days. One of the dads walked down the beach and talked to a guy that rented them in front of the hotel/condos next to the Gran Costa. We got 40 minutes for each one at less than the $40/30 minutes they quoted at the beach services hut at our hotel. On another day we took the bus to the Puerto Cancun and took the water taxi service over to Isla Mujeres. You have to take a bus that is marked “Pueto Juarz” but you get off at Pueto Cancun marina—it has a big “lighthouse”. The water taxi here is very nice, modern, clean, well-maintained and cost $7 USD/per person round trip. You pay at the pier. They also have very clean bathrooms and a small store. We rented golf carts at Isla Mujeres for $45 for 12 hours. They’ll hold 5 total with 3 in the back if no-one person is huge or if they’re smaller kids/teens. We stopped at the water-park of Cancun—Garrafon and for $15 per person got to use the basic facilities including the pool next to the beach! We really enjoyed this because this pool was built right next to the ocean and included some shallow “grottos” into the side of the hill. By this time we were kinda sun-burned and appreciated that we could sit in the cool water and be out of the sun. We ate a lite lunch there (not included in price) and drove over to the other “half” of their park. This was almost the best part of the day. This park encompassed one end of the island and was at the Eastern most point of Mexico. It also had some small ruins on it that were interesting. Of course the kids love to see and watch the iguanas, too! By the time we finished with the parks and drove back to complete the trip around the island—be sure to wave as you pass by folks—we were ready to head back “home” to the Gran Costa. The ferry goes back and forth every 30 minutes and on the way back we sat inside on the lower level and watched the Mexican version of Funniest Home videos—it was a hoot! The bus ride back to the hotel-zone is distinctive because it snakes thru part of downtown Cancun—another world but interesting too. One other family in the group took the day trip to Chica Itza and also did the swim with the dolphins—both booked thru the hotel with the folks at the Best Day desk. They enjoyed both of them and felt both were represented fairly.
Because we had so many teens in our group—I just wanted to comment on some of their impressions of the hotel. My daughter—who is 16 and is a rather picky eater absolutely loved the hotel and especially the Italian restaurant. She said that alfredo w/chicken was some of the best she ever had! All of them enjoyed the pool and the beach too! They didn’t participate in the pool games as much at the Gran Costa as they did at the Carib. They all said they like staying at the Gran Costa tho. The bartenders would serve the older teens –like 18 and up liquor but not the younger ones. However, the bartenders got to know all the kids and would acknowledge them by name as they walked by! The kids loved it! Because the kids had so much fun during the day—the older ones never really had a desire to go to any of the clubs at night like they did on the trip last year. Also, it’s expensive to go to the clubs however if you want to go –the hotel usually has a group that goes to a different one every night—meet in the lobby around 10 pm or so. One night we all went over to Carlos and Charlies for supper. (ask the concierge to call and make reservations for your party) If you haven’t been there—they’ve moved Carlos and Charlies down to the convention center area. It’s still as wild and as much fun as ever! Oh! The barbeque shrimp is still as good as I remember it from last year, too! And a quick comment about the kid’s club. We didn’t have any small kids so we didn’t use the kids club but I walked by the Kid’s Club at the Carib and it was very large and looked like there was a fair amount of activity in it! Kids were running up to enter it—always a good sign!
I think that I’ve highlighted all the main points of the Gran Costa Hotel. Again, this is not a huge property like many others resorts in Cancun but it is very nice with outstanding service. If you can stand to be waited on day-in and day-out, like good food that isn’t exactly like you’d get or eat at home and don’t mind the fact that the waves on the beach don’t crash over you every 30 seconds or so—then I think you’ll feel like we did and you too will think that you’ve just discovered one of the best kept secrets in Cancun!
