After 21 years my wife and I finally had our honeymoon! We stayed at the GCP from Jan 25th to the 31st. We picked the GCP because it is small and all adult. It is a great place to stay and I can't imagine writing anything bad about this place. When we first got there we were given a room with a lagoon view but all we did is ask for an ocean view room and the front desk people found us one so we never even saw the lagoon view room. They didn’t seem to be looking for a tip but we gave them one anyway for being so helpful. We were on the second floor and we had a great view of the ocean and the pool area, mornings on the balcony were incredible! The bed was firm but it was just the way I like it and my wife didn’t mind it at all. I don't see any real need to have a club room because we didn’t spend much time in the room. The beach was our morning hang out and it was beautiful. There was always a place to sit in the shade or the sun and a very hard working waitress to get your drinks. The ocean water was rough but it was ok to swim in and there is a lifeguard to make sure you stay in the safest area. In the afternoon we would relocate to the pool area and again there was never a problem getting a chair and shade or sun. Loren and Katie would keep things interesting all day with different activities and all night with shows and nightclub trips. I don't know where they find their energy! I highly recommend the tequila volleyball, it's allot of fun but don't loose!
The food is excellent! We liked the Shangri-La most but the Old Barn was very good also. Burgers at the Breeze by the pool were great. Lets just say you won't be hungry! The Tiki bar was our favorite nighttime hang out. Jose is a great bartender who won't forget your name or your drink and he will keep you laughing all night.
There are plenty of excursions to go on if you want but we found it just too relaxing and enjoyable at the resort to leave. We did take one trip to swim with the dolphins and we will never forget it. Wet N Wild has dolphins in the ocean not in tanks so I would recommend it. We also got massages in the spa and that was a great experience and worth every penny!
We met allot of great people at the resort that just made us feel real comfortable. On our first night we met Mike and Deb and they broke us in right...from what I can remember! Every other day from that point we would meet someone new and because the resort is small we would end up meeting up with someone we knew just about every night.
We did decide to go out to a nightclub one night because we had heard such good things about Coco Bongo's. It was a great show and worth seeing but be ready for a late night. The van leaves the resort at 11:30pm and you just take the bus back when your ready, we got back at 2:30am but the club doesn’t close till the wee hours in the morning.
Overall the place is great, the staff is great, and all the people we met were great. We can't wait to go back and we will be staying in the same resort. Be sure to tip all the staff, they earn it and deserve it!

I just returned from at stay at the GCPS March 7-11, 2005. All I can say is I was quite disappointed in numerous aspects of this resort. I will preface my remarks by stating that everyone has their own expectations and taste, thus I will try to confine my comments to facts and let the reader decide the relavence to them. I booked an oceanfront room, via my reliable travel agent, last month for a rate of about $200/night. I read reviews here with complaints of unavailable oceanfront rooms upon arrival. I emailed the hotel several days prior to my arrival and stressed my desire for an oceanfront room. The reply was prompt and assured me that I did have this type of room on reserve. Upon my arrival on 7 March at noon, I was greeted by a reservation person and informed my room would not be ready until 3pm. I asked her was this an oceanfront room? She stated "yes." At 3pm, I returned and started the check-in process. Just as another clerk was about to process my credit card (you prepay for your entire stay), I asked again about the room type. The clerk said she was sorry, but there were no oceanfront rooms available today and she was putting me in a non-view room. I stopped the process and asked to speak with the manager on-duty, a person named Hippotel (sp?). I was quite frank with him about what was going on and my repeated assurances re: an oceanfront room. He listened politely and imformed me there was no oceanfront rooms for me. I insisted then he should not charge me for my first nights stay. He refused and stated if that was my demand he would not honor my reservation! He was actually willing to put me on the street due to an error his hotel made. I stayed in the non-oceanview room the first night, but demanded a reduced rate (which by the way, the initial clerk was happlily planning to charge me the oceanview rate for all nights). I asked that the general manager, Mr Pinhal, call my room but he never did and was always "unavailable." It is my opinion that the GCP is luring tourists to its location with promises of oceanfront rooms when in fact they know well that they have oversold those room categories. In the USA, that is called a bait & switch and I cannot recommend any hotel that operates in that manner. Period. It speaks volumes about the hotel's concerns for its patrons.
Review in brief: GUESTS: My estimate was 75% over 50 yrs of age. Mostly Canadian and American. Pretty sedate after 10pm. Nice folks. ROOMS: Clean, reasonable size. Good A/C. Beds hard as a rock, very uncomfortable. Good view when you get it. Shower pressure low. Had to have toilet fixed. Bad TV, only about 4 stations in English. No PPV movies. FOOD: Mediocre, similar to that of a Golden Corral or US chain buffet house. Recommend grilled/stirfried to order items. Avoid hamburgers and hot dogs, they were dreadful and always on stale rolls. Went to Shangri-La two nights-food OK, small portions. Requires men to wear slacks, no T-shirts as an FYI when packing. Little interest by waiter in deviating from the menu. I did not eat at The Barn (steak) or The Pier (seafood). I liked room service for breakfast on my balcony. Ordered the night before. Eggs were hot, but pancakes were cold. Specify everything (extra syrup, type of juice desired, etc). For a fabulous meal & service, I went next door one night to the Grill Room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (about $80pp). DRINKS: All served in 6 oz cups, watered down. Top shelf liquor available but need to ask or house brand used. House gin was awful, best they had was Gordons. Corona only draft beer. Tip: Bring a big insulated mug from home to save trips to bar given small servings. BEACH/POOL: Nice beach, clean, about 25yds deep. Tough to find chair on beach after mid-morn. Rip-tides are bad in Cancun, red flags most days I stayed. I swam a few times, but felt nervous when I could not touch bottom as you are definitely pulled out. Swimming OK when flags yellow. Water shallow for first 50 ft. Lifeguard was vigilant. Pool temp was too cold, only about 75 degrees. Note to disabled persons: for whatever reason main pool has no steps, all access by ladders. Jacuzzi does have steps. ACTIVITIES: Poolside activities were annoying at times. Every hour or so there was some type of bingo or game being forced on you. Not that you had to play, but the blarring loudspeaker was continuous. It seemed a bit tacky (just like the mini golf course in the lobby!). I recommend 11pm trip to CocoBongo if you want to party at a hip disco with a large under 30 crowd. It was $35 which included one-way transport and open-bar with private sitting area. SECURITY: I felt fairly safe at the resort. Security guard on the beach all day. In room safe was nice. However, I did walk in and up the elevator at 4am one night with no one stopping me to ask if I were a guest. Also, I was quite annoyed my last morning when a maid walked in without knocking at 9:30am catching me standing there in my underwear. Again, a lack of training and finesse. COMMUNICATION: Generally poor, English is basic only. Often felt person I was talking to did not completely understand me, especially at front desk. I sensed an overall ambivalance to guest concerns by the desk and management staff. MY REC: Look elsewhere to spend your hard earned vaction dollars, you will be disappointed at this property. There are many other choices in Cancun.

It's my fault; I read the reviews on this site, felt they were "mixed," and didn't go with my gut feeling. If lots of people list the same complaints, even if they seem mild, they're probably on target. And boy, were they ever... While it seems rough, my advice is don't stay here!

I've been to Cancun MANY times and I wanted to share the "great" experience with a friend this time. I made a mistake selecting this "resort" for the little bit I saved. If you're thinking (like I did) that I'm just "picky," STOP! Everyone we talked to while we were there stated they were very disappointed, but we all try to make the best of a vacation.

I'm going to give you the facts about this resort's faults. Read with a grain of salt is you choose, but I'm a reasonable person who wants to pass along an honest description of a poorly run and quickly approaching "run-down" hotel.

A few specifics...

The ROOM:
You will wait and wait for one, which is not uncommon at many hotels when you first arrive in Cancun. But when you get your key at the GCP, it's probably not going to be to a "beach" view room even though you paid for one. They give you a song and dance about being full, tell you they'll move you "tomorrow," and you're so glad to finally get any room you take it what you get. Everyone gets the same spiel, and only those who pay extra or complain to the hilt get moved. Spending one night of a three vacation with a view of the alley isn't my idea of ideal and is more upsetting when everyone talks about how the "we're full" scam seems to be policy rather than honesty. (We were finally moved, but many people we talked to were promised, but never got the "beach" room.)

Then both rooms (the alley and beach side ones) were in poor condition - beat up furniture, worn out bedding, etc. The lock on the sliding (outside) door in the first room we were given had been damaged so badly with a screw driver or drill that it did not lock. When I opened it, a man was walking on the balcony. I honestly wondered if that was the only reason they finally moved us (even though we paid extra).

The POOL:
Believe the reviews about cloudy water. Yes it's cleaned, but there are lots of people in a mid-size pool so the water looks and feels like luke-warm soup broth most of the time. Also, the umbrellas are scarce and put out and taken up on a strict schedule, not according to need.

The ACTIVITIES/ENTERTAINMENT STAFF:
The very small (2 man, 1 girl) main "crew" serves as day time "event" staff, evening entertainment (dancers in various shows, etc), nightly "clubbing" group, AND wait staff in the restaurants when needed. They run the same games (mainly volleyball and water polo) every day and are hung over from taking the partiers out the night before. They can also be rude to people and try to act like it's "all in fun," but frankly, I think they're OVERWORKED and sick to death of dealing with tourists. They openly bickered with each other too, and the girl regularly tried to settle down the guys (when she wasn't the object of one male employee's verbal assaults).

The FOOD:
Honestly, it was bad. The best meal we had was at the "snack bar" by the pool. Pier 12 is seafood only, which I love, but the meal was terrible, and there's not much of a selection. Shangri La, the "formal" restaurant, is also seafood, and it was edible. But do NOT eat at the Old Barn (steak house). We waited for an hour to have tough steaks in hokie western style decor.

Room service is included, but it's not likely you'll get to take advantage of that perk. The line is either busy, or they don't answer. The one night I did get them on the phone, coffee and two pieces of cake took nearly two hours and the coffee was cold.

The BARS:
I like mixed, frozen drinks and expected they would be "weak." They were more like virgin slushies and few and far between! Always order TWO drinks at a time; they're small and hard to come by. It doesn't matter too much if you get your own or the waitress brings them; you'll wait.

Tipping doesn't help either. And on the topic of tipping... I always take lots of singles; it's nice to give a little extra for service. But my experience has also been that "tipping" at all-inclusive hotels GETS you a little extra. Not here. We spent about $50 the first day and a half there. (Keep in mind we walked to the bar a lot for our own drinks too). I learned that the tips were "expected," not appreciated and the service never improved.

Overall I was disappointed in the stay. In all fairness, I should say my friend thought it was "okay." But, I've enjoyed beautiful resorts with EXCELLENT food and service in Cancun many times and didn't pay more than this resort cost. When we took a tour of one of the other resorts (planning for next time), my friend saw the difference too and realized the GCP wasn't up to par.

We made the best of our time. Hey, a beautiful beach is a beautiful beach. But if you're planning to go, trust these so-so or down right bad reviews and don't spend your money here. Cancun has many other truly great places!

Overall review is excellent service, good food, drinks were perfecto, how ever the regular rooms are Ok, and it was clean, nothing special. I will defiantly be going back to GCP, and Yes I have stayed at other resort this by far is the best. One particular bar tender I have to mention "Alfonso" aka "Fonzie it a super person, he always remembers your name and what you like to drink. Sometimes it’s the simple things that make you happy. I stayed at GCP from Feb5th thru Feb9th. I hope someone else will have the pleasure of experiencing it for themselves. Very satisfied customer.