First let me say that I read all the reviews before I left so I was a bit.....I wasnt expecting the best. I thought it was going to be ok at best. However I was SOOOO WRONG!! This hotel was on of the best I've ever stayed in. I live in Chicago where weve got pretty ritzy places and I have to say that at the GRAN MELIA I recieved the BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE of my life. The bellman/ greeter was great. The people at the front desk ( although slow) great. Bartenders.. great. Yes some restaurants are closed who cares. I and almost everyone ate the room service food. I thought it was good and not that
expensive. I also recommend to order from the pool bar, food and drinks great. They also have a Mcdonalds, PaPa Johns and 7 eleven right across the street. The 7 eleven sells like this 2 gallon jug of water for about 20 pesos!!! pick that up! The room was clean except they have ants. So I would maybe bring spray. I sprayed them with the lysol I brought seemed to work a little. The beach waves get a bit rough at times, but if your from the city like me and dont get to the ocean much you wont have a problem with lounging in the beach chairs with shaded tables. Or you can hang out at the pool.

P.S the exchange rate is wayyy better when you get there dont exchange here in the states or at the cancun airport wait and take the BUS from your hotel to La Isla mall or to the party zone theres little exchange booths with better rates.

We stayed at this hotel from May 28th – June 1st.
Hotel was only at 30% capacity and that right there is where the problem started. We asked to be upgraded from our King-bed room (lagoon view) to another king-bed room with an ocean view. Told there was NOT any with a king-bed. Had to get two separate Full-Size beds. Once I found out there was hardly anyone at the hotel...I was ticked about this happening. I imagine the hotel only wanted to use a certain section of the hotel for cleaning purposes, but still...I wasn't happy.

There were a lot of things closed at the hotel. There was only (1) bar open outside at the pools (should be two or three of them).
Only two of the three pools were operational. The beach bar was closed. There was only (1) restaurant open.

The room was ok…I have no major complaints, but I do have a few.
The air-conditioner went down to 65 degrees but I am confident that room was no where near 65 degrees. It was a little to warm for my preference, but it was tolerable. The remote control for the TV didn’t work worth a darn and that bothered me too. Also, this hotel has A LOT of stairs! There is an elevator to get to your room, but the hotel sits on a hill. Going to the pool requires going down stairs, catching a cab or the bus requires using stairs…on & on.

We went to the restaurant one morning to check out the breakfast buffet. Since we did not go all-inclusive, we asked how much it cost per person. The cost was about $25 per person. A little much for me when it comes to breakfast.

Location:
Cancun’s hotels are situated in a “7” position. Those at the top of the 7 get smooth water with waves that rarely get above knee height. The hotels in this area are going to have much better beaches! Hotels include RIU Caribe, Fiesta Americana Villas, Intercontinental Presidente Cancun, etc… I will be sure to stay at Intercontinental on our next visit.
The Gran Melia is located in about the middle of the / on the 7. The water is rough! There isn’t a lot of beach but there is plenty to walk along or sit in a lounge chair and enjoy the sea. However, walking into the water can be dangerous because of all the rocks. The moss on the rocks is awful slick!

Hotel is across the street from a McDonalds, couple of convenient stores, and a place to rent jet skis, parasail, etc...(we didn’t go there so no opinion can be offered). We walked to the McDonalds almost every morning for breakfast. I love the scrambled eggs with ham mixed in!!!
As for downtown, the cab ride was anywhere from $8.00-$10.00. By downtown I mean where Hard Rock & Chili’s are located.

Other Info:
If you don’t go with the hotels all-inclusive option, you can charge everything to your room and pay at the end of your stay. This has always worked out best for us. Since we don’t eat every meal at the hotel and we don’t drink all our drinks at the hotel. Our tab upon checking out was under $200.00. This included our snacks from the little store inside (red bull, Mt Dew, etc..) all our pool drinks, and those we bought for others.

It kinda bothered me that the little pools/streams of water in the lobby for the fish was so nasty. This hotel has a beautiful atrium with a water feature, vines all over, and fish. The fish water was yucky in some areas and other areas had no water.

Overall….would I stay there again? Nope. Then again, I wasn’t that impressed with Cancun. I think my husband and I will try Playa del Carmen next time.

This was our first trip to Cancun and we found the staff and the hotel overall to be fantastic. The fact that several of the restaurants are closed is not thier fault but the fault of the U.S. media and the bogus swine flu scare. No businees means layoffs and closures. You will find that anywhere in Cancun. the smaller beach is a result of the terrible hurricane that hit 2 or 3 years ago and is still quite nice. Every single person we encountered at the Gran melia couldn't have been nicer. People who act nice probably get a nice response in return! Awsome resetaurants within walking distance. We are going back in the fall instead of our yearly cruise. It's a great place. The Mexicans really know how to treat people.

We went to the Gran Melia for a week the end of March 2009. The service is wonderful be careful they will try to sell you a time share for the first day just be firm and remember you are there to relax and have fun. They stop pressing you after the first day. If you want to go on tours do not sign up in the resort there is a hut in front of the resort that really has the cheapest prices in town. No really I tried everywhere and cash talks.

Once you check in ask to be in the main building (Building #3) we were in room 3822 it is a corner suite with two huge balconies. Ask for that room you get more room for your buck.

The breakfast was wonderful and across the street there is a place called the Shrimp Bucket................OMG.......outstanding.

The only downfall was there is no beach at all......a Stormed named ....-who cares- destroyed it.