We purchased a Sams Club vacation package that was upgraded to the Royal Sunset from our original choice, due to the hotels closing in response to the Flu Hype. Here is our opinion of our stay.
The Good Points Location: The location is on the Northeast end of the strip. Your within walking distance of several clubs and the beach is OK for the NE end. Directly outside you can take the city bus (15 pesos for two) and quickly be at any location from the south end of the strip to Wal Mart in downtown. There is no need for a cab. The beach has about 20 meters of sand from hotel to the water w/ a moderate surf.
The bad points, the quality of facilities: The room was a standard hotel room, clean, had a kitchenette and had a small balcony. The hotel is showing its age and the pool is small by Cancun standards. Several rooms had broken AC and we had fun playing the game of which single icemaker in the hotel is working tonight. It advertises itself as a 5-star facility and in reality it is a 3-star. The Holiday Inn (500 meters North) was better and much cheaper. Do not upgrade to the all-inclusive as those that did kept inside the hotel. The "spa" at the Sunset did recieve raves from another group that we traveled with. You're in the a great location w/ fantastic local and chain resturants. Why stick yourself w/ an all inclusive bill for lackluster food and drinks. For the extra $60 (US) charge for all inclusive (per person) you could dine very well in Cancun. Also the spa is not part of the all-inclusive package nor is trips though they give trips and spa packets as incentives to do the timeshare thing.
The Ugly, Time Share hell: Though the package from Sams stated that we were not obligated to do the Timeshare sales pitch, they tried to force the guests at check-in to attend their "90 min" sales pitch. We attended in order to recieve a gift and regretted it.
It turned out to be a 4 hour tour of a staged resort apart from the Royal Sunset. They even had staff members acting as guests to impress the tours. The basic thing is that the timeshare costs and maintence fees are far above what one would pay for a real 5-star resort w/ airfare and extras. The Cheapest plan was $600 a month and $800 a year (maintenance fee) which equals $4400 a year with a host of extras tagged on. This for 1 week of staying in Cancun a year with no assurance of getting the package you bought. For that amount you could go 1st class anywhere globally, with no obligation to one of the shadiest industries around. The salesmen were friendly until they realized that we decided not to buy into the scheme, then they became rude and threatning. They also stated that if we did not buy a timeshare they would add charges to our stay. Luckly we bought from Sams Club but I'm still watching the Credit Card statement closely.
Since we had no charges from the hotel, they refused to give me a printed receipt, yet I did see it whie the clerk was helping another customer. The Resort would normally charge appx $700 a night for room and all-inclusive. At the same time and dates the Hyatt was charging $185 for a far superior accomindations. If one is staying at this hotel (its really a hotel, not a resort) do not fall for the timeshare scam otherwise you will be stuck in these second class facilities while paying for a premium vacation.
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