Spent Memorial Day weekend in Cancun with Frankfort (KY)Ski Club friends and this time we chose the GR Solaris after several trips to the Royal Solaris, Dreams and the Royal. We chose the GR after some great experiences with the Royal Solaris and we wanted to experience the step up the GR was supposed to provide, while not paying the lofty prices at the Royal. Being located on the south end of the hotel zone also cut down on the number of people who were visiting for Hip Hop week and the 24 hour loud partying. Overall the hotel is very good, the rooms are comfortable and clean, and a good value. We booked the romance package to get the ocean front room and jacuzzi (which was located on the balcony and so went unused) and we found this to be overkill as all the other rooms for our group were fine.
We were unable to escape the "orientation" at check in and so wasted an hour receiving information and upsell from our concierge. Pool is somewhat small for a Cancun hotel, and we preferred the Royal Solaris, but the entertainment staff is great and the poolside games are unusual and fun. Oddly, the poolbar service is uninspired, as if the bartenders don't want to be there. The beach is dissapointing and Cancun sorely needs to do another beach restoration after the shortlived post Wilma restoration. We saw extensive survey crews last September, but no actual work appears to have been done. You can still walk the narrowed beach extensively in both directions and in some places the sand is back to being the powdery sand Cancun was known for. We enjoyed the food, and it was generally excellent and diverse. We were not able to build a group consensus early enough during the days to make a reservation for Marco Polo, though we found the rest of the restaurants to be very good.
Entertainment after dinner was surprisingly the best of any of the Cancun hotels we've stayed at. Lobby bar was somewhat quiet.
This was a very good value for the money, and was great for a group trip.

This was our first time to visit Cancun and after reading the reviews, yes I had second thoughts. From the time we arrived from the van ride to the hotel, it was wonderful. All of us had a great time. We enjoyed the food, ambiance, the pool, Gulf, and even the shows at the hotel! Yes, it was the whole family on vacation and there was not one of us that had a problem. We will be coming back next year or even sooner. We did rent a car from those in the hotel. We drove down to Playa del Carma and took the fairy over to Cozemel and back. I recommend you to use a Brand name when renting stuff. I would not give your Visa or Mastercard to anyone. Get one of those throw away cards from the credit card companies that have a limit on them and use them. Get a couple with $50 and one with $100 incase they want one. That's for anything down there not just for car rentals. There is something for everyone at the GR. The only kind of problem we had was when the younger one did asked why some of the ladies didn't have tops on. My wife just said that it was normal down here and we moved the conversation on. The bang for your buck is well worth it and we are coming back! For those who get that winter time cold and stuffy nose the saltwater will clear that up in about 2 days. Get your sandals, bathing suit, sunblock and get ready to have a great time. I know we did!
P. S. you might want to bring a few $1 for tips at the beginning of your trip.

My wife and I just returned from a weeks stay at the GR Solaris (June 1 - 6, 2008) and had a very good time. If you've read the many reviews available for the GR, you already know it's story. It is both good and bad.
The bad:
-Food can be hit and miss.
-The beds are very firm.
-The Concierge is in on the sales pitch under the guise of explaining the hotel to you.

And the good:
-The hotel is spotless.
-The staff is very friendly and very helpful.
-Some of the food is fantastic! (Try the mexican oatmeal or the Cream Carrot soup)
-The sales pressure was not horrible (but present).
-The nightly shows are near professional and are very much fun.

This was our first trip ever out of the country and we tried to read every review we could on the GR and Cancun so we would know what to expect. The first night there, I was so disoriented I was sure we made a BIG mistake by going on this trip but after a meal and meeting some really great people, everything came back into perspective and we had a great time. Some day we may go back to Cancun and we would again consider staying at the GR. If you would like, you can e-mail me and I will be happy to share traveler tips and answer any questions.

We just returned from 10 days at the GR Solaris, and found it to be wonderful in some ways, and mediocre in some others.
First the good; Our room was excellent, with a great ocean view. Housekeeping was great as well, keeping us supplied with towels, beverages, and towel animals at turndown most nights. We travel with our two teenage girls, and they loved the turndowns at night with the accompanying chocolates. The place was very clean throughout, with the exception of the upper pool in the afternoon. The concierge staff, especially Enrique'(Henry) was amazing, among the best we have experienced anywhere in the world. We also can't say enough about the lobby service people, solid all the way down the line. Most of the service people were friendly and helpful, and the shows at night were great, not Broadway caliber, but entertaining, especially for families.
The mediocre parts of this resort, in my opinion, are really a result of trying to cater to a younger, more outrageous crowd. There are three pools, upper, lower, and adult. There is only one bar to serve all three, and the bartenders, while competent, are somewhat testy, which is understadanble, considering the volume of liquor they are pumping out, and the number of drunks yelling at them. There is virtually no wait staff to be found to refresh your drinks, especially at the lower and adult pools.
The food, as has been mentioned here countless times, is spotty at best. The sit down restaurant, Marco Polo, tries too hard to be a gourmet experience, except that the food doesn't make the grade. The ambience is fine, as is the wait staff and the presentation, but the times we were there, after dinner, we shuffled off to the deli to find something we recognized to supplement our dinner. One night after Italian night at Marco Polo, I went back to our room with a bowl of Ruffles. And I generally don't eat snack food. There are enough options to satify your hunger, just don't hope for a good dinner at the end of the day.
The entertainment staff was okay, except for every sentence had to have either a sex or a tequila reference in it. I'm all in favor of both, but it got old pretty fast. Also, the lobby bar at night was so loud, we could hear the (bad) lounge band on the eighth floor.
There were a lot of little annoyances, but who needs that on vacation?

In my opinion, this is just a little fine tuning away from being an excellent resort. Get a few more service people, tone down the booze and sex references a little, and kick the food, (especially the dinner food), up a notch, and I would reccomend it strong