We decided to go despite all the flu crap and so very glad we did! No long lines, great deals! We originally booked at the Royal Solaris and apon arrival we were moved to the GR. I was kinda dissapointed but I knew before hand unlike many others, that they were consolidating because of low occupancy.
We arrived to beautiful scenary and nice clean looking resort via the free shuttle booked through soloris website 72 hours prior and $9 pp back to airport. Apon check-in we were escorted to the side desk where the lady began trying to sell us day trips is La Isla Island for a great price! She was nice but I had already made up in my mind that I wanted to go to Xel-ha or Xcaret and she didnt seem to interested in selling that trip to us unless we brought the island trip. Everything she said after that sounded like blah blah blah because she wasnt selling what I wanted and at that point I just wanted to see the ocean!! We had no one try and sell us a time share or memebership the whole time. I guess because were not married and didnt have the same address listed. Worked for me!
The bell boy took our bags to the room and we tipped. The room was nice. I good sized room plenty for two people. We king sized bed and balcony with ocean view and lagoon view...I liked being able to see both and still hear the ocean but not hear all the noise of being right in front of the pool. The bathroom was a decent size, stand up shower big enough for the two of us, but the floor will get wet during each shower. There are all marbled floors so we put our extra towels down throughout to walk on. Mini fridge stocked with 3 sodas, 3 beers and 3 waters everyday. We had a 27" TV, big enough, and I liked the CD/Alarm Clock...glad I brought a few CDs. There were light switches on each side of the bed so that was convinent. We had night stands on both sides and there was a table and two chairs in the room as well as on the balcony. The bed is hard but I asked for a pillow top and that day came up and re-made the whole bed with the pillow top and that worked just right.

They cleaned the room very well. I seen them scrubbing floors daily. They organized anything left out and left towel animals. There is an envelope for tips on the desk with the maids name. My suggestion would be to lock your money in your suitcase and keep the keys with you. I feel like I had some money missing from the safe one day but I am not sure.....so I will not accuse...I will just make a suggestion and leave it at that. Anybody who has a room key can get in your safe.

The beach was 3-4 car lengths long from the wall to the water, plenty of room for sunbathing. Red flags were up the whole time we were there but we still played in the water as did others. Jet skis and parasaling to the right. About 2 hotels down on the right we had massages on the best for $40 and hour.THE BEST!!! I love you MARIA!!! LOL
There were 3 pools. An upper pool with side shalow area for kids and the swim up bar, Lower pool with volleyball net and a separate adult off to the left side where there were massage tables in the corner. There were 2 jacuzzis out of plain view so they were empty most of the time. I can see how the pools would be very crowded if the hotel was at full capacity. Some people come out early to reserve spots in the shade. Im sure at peak times all the chairs would have been reserved. The time we were there we swam right up to the bar and got drinks and shots and made special requests with no wait. Wonderful! The only complaint I would have about the pool was its surface was little pebbles that were every uncomfortable and if your not careful you could easily scrape up your toes. During waterpolo and tequilla volleyball we both were very mindful of the possible pain. Sitting on the bar stools or the edge of the pool had to be done very carefully. Pools and beach close around 8 i believe. The staff did have different activities everyday that they tried to include everyone in. Contests to win t-shirts, games etc. My boyfriend actually won the title of Mr. Solaris the second day we were there by doing some funny tasks. It was hilarious! We met so many nice people from all over and kinda felt like a family. The staff was great! I wish I could remember all the names so I could give shout outs. We tipped all we could because they deserve it, they are not expecting it but Im sure they need it!!. All the resorts staff were really nice and even if they didnt speak much english they tried their best to help. Drinks were ok, dont expect top shelf at an all inclusive......but ask and they will try to accomadate!!!

The resort had two resturants open during dinner. 1 buffet was open for lunch outside with a view of the pool/ocean with a snack bar open with nachos, hamburgers, hotdogs, and some other appetizer like dishes available. The snack bar seem to attract these crow like birds that wait for people to leave food behind on the tables. At one point I seen birds actually eating from the cold side of the bar. That really turned me off because the staff didnt seem to pressed about getting rid of them. We made reservations at Marco Polo one night for Oriental cuisine. The food was Ok and it was kinda romantic. I think we did better at the buffets even though they could have been better. I never went hungry though. You can tell they try and I decided the second night to just make a point of filling up and not expecting spectacular resturant food. Breakfast was buffet and almost anything you wanted was there. Omeletts were my favorite. Waffles and pancakes did the trick too. We also ordered room service that is included with your stay. That was convienent! There was also a deli open late night til 6am with good sandwiches, chips, ice cream and beer on tap. Good late night fix to hit the spot.

The resort also had vendors come in and set up tables most nights. You could souviners there if you wanted instead of going into town, although I dont know how prices would compare.

I would suggest going to the shows at the resort. I thought they would be corny, but they were actually pretty good. Some of the poeple from the pool staff were involved. They had different dance acts one night, singing, and the magic show was great! They have the shows toward the end of the buffet in the ballroom. So you can digest your food and while having a few drinks and then its on to the lobby! In the lobby they more drinks of course, live performers, music and dancing. We did the cha cha and electric slide....too much fun. They presented my boyfriend with the Mr. Solaris award and had everyone particapated in a Limbo contest. The lobby area dies off at about 11:30 or so when most people head off the the clubs downtown. The resort has a shuttle that will take you, get you entrance, with special section for your resort and open bar around $45 but you have to find your own ride back. $1 on the bus or the taxis are so desparate right now they will take you for about $5 bucks! You may be able to get a better deal just going downtown on your own. We did, got entrance for 2 clubs for the price of 1, open bar, and still was able to party with our resort family.

I saw no sign of the swine flu in Cancun, I actually forgot about it while I was there! The tourists are gradually coming back, there was I big crowd of people arriving at resort when we were leaving. The clubs had nice crowds Saturday night, they only night we went downtown. The only sign of the flu is that people have lost their jobs and lively hood because of the media blowing things way out control. Its sad!!! GO TO CANCUN AND HAVE THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE BECAUSE I SURE DID!!!!!!!

Just let me start by saying that the swine flu not only proved to be disastorous to the Mexican economy, but also to the girls trip that I had spent countless hours planning. It was the third year in a row for the "girls' trip" but also was going to be the last, so it was important to plan the best trip possible given the budget constraints. The GR Solaris came up on my radar screen but one traveling member preferred more restaurant choices, so it was axed. After 50% of the group cancelled due to the swine flu, our flight for the remaining two of us brave souls, to Cancun was cancelled. After we were able to book another flight and then sweat it out about getting a seat for BOTH of us on the rescheduled flight, we were successful to only find out that the Royal Solaris closed and was upgrading us to the GR Solaris. At that point I was very thankful that the person that wanted more restuarant choices was no longer coming!!

While writing this review, I realize that the trip I planned was not the same trip we went on and although everything turned out absolutely wonderful for us, I do not know how another person will fare when Cancun is running at more than about 20% occupancy. I have know idea what occupancy level the GR Solaris was working at, so this very well may be an unfair review.

Location of the GR Solaris: Between the airport and the hotel zone but due to the public transportation system, very accessible to the rest of Cancun. The location should absolutely NOT be a decision factor.

Staff at the GR Solaris: VERY accommodating and friendly. The wait staff, except for one morning at breakfast was very attentive. We were never asked once about the time shares but maybe it was because we were two married women without our spouses and they knew that we would not be able to make a decision without the spouse. Who knows and who cares because that worked out perfectly in our favor.

The Beach at the GR Solaris: Just about the best beach around there. Many people walked down to the Royal Solaris and said the beach was rocky. We walked the other way, towards the hotel zone and it not only started getting rocky, but looking down the beach to the hotel zone looked horrible in terms of minimal sandy beach and plenty of rock!! Our beach never got too crowded, and always able to find a chair.

The restaurants: This one is a little trickier to explain, however, let me say this, when all else fails, there is room service, which we did try one night and did not have to pay for, and there is a deli open when nothing else is (mostly). The best I could figure, there was access to food at least 22.5 hours each day (could not figure out where to eat btwn 10:00am-11:30am, which was fine). Marco Polo is the reservation restaurant, for supper. The Rosmarius and the Cafe Solaris were the other restaurants available for dinner - if one was open the other was closed. For lunch, one could eat at the Snack Shack for burgers, hot dogs, chips, fries, etc, or the Rosmarius. There was always plenty of variety. This is the third all inclusive I have stayed at, and by far, the best I have been fed. Let's be realistic people. All-inclusives are NOT the place to go for fine dining!! They are doing the best they can to feed a huge number of people without a incredibly HUGE range of eating tastes. One cannot make all people happy for every meal at an all-inclusive. Don't be rude! They did the best job I have seen!!!

Rooms: Apparently all rooms have a balcony. Ours faced the road and the lagoon, but we actually started enjoying it. When the sun went behind the hotel in the evening, we scampered to our room and sat on the balcony and watched the sun go down completely. Yes. The halls are noisy because of the marble floors. My friend was awakened several nights, due to the noise and that was not under crowded conditions. I, on the other hand, did not hear a thing. Yes, the beds are hard, but the pillows are great. I have not stayed at aa all-inclusive resort that has prefected the two - great bed and great pillows. We did have a problem with the toilet whereas we had to take the lid off an manually flush. Not great conditions but we were too happy to care. When they came into the room to clean, they apparently noticed the problem and temporarily fixed it, for about two flushes and then we were back at it. We did not call for a repair or anything like that... We just dealt with it!!!

One review said to take like $100 in ones and $100 in fives for tips. We did that between the two of us. In four days we used about half the ones and only part of the fives. I have always done this for every all-inclusive resort I have gone to and you will be amazed at just how much good service that buys you!! It bought us a "pool boy" as we called him that made sure we never went empty. Some days we had not even found our seat before he brought us our drink. He ALWAYS saw us before we saw him.

Activities by the pool: FUN and a great way to get to know the other guests.

Great experience and would absolutely give it another try under crowded circumstances!! The thing about the swine flu is pish posh. I think they were more fearful of us bringing it back to them, than we were of getting the flu down there. We did get scanned for a temperature upon both arrival and departure. Get down there before the crowds arrive. It is AWESOME!!!

After a week of pointless anxiety about the stupid swine flu, I came to my senses and went on with our anniversary plans to vacation in Cancun. My husband and I booked the Royal Solaris through Expedia and got bumped to the GR Solaris due to low occupency. The GR Solaris was lovely.
The staff were hard working, happy, generous, friendly and helpful. We found the entertainment staff VERY entertaining, especially Robbie who we gave a nickname to; he was the Jonny Castle of the GR Solaris, hahahaha :) The nightly shows were lively and better than other shows we've seen at simiallr resorts, especially the Mexican theme night and the Latin theme night. The food was buffet (boo-fet) style and was excellent! I am a health concious vegetarian and found plenty of steamed vegetables, salads, fresh fruit and yogurt. They even made me egg whites at every meal so I got plenty of protien. If you don't eat dairy you'll want to bring your own tofu. There are mini fridges in every room stocked daily with bottled water, mini beer and soda. We never found the drinks to be watered down. Please tip your servers! Yes, tips are included, but a little goes a long way especially with their economy struggling as a result of over zealous news reports (aka Fox News). The beach and waters were amazing, just incredible. My husband did get stung by jellyfish larve the last day, but only experienced minor itchiness for a few hours. The entire resort was spotless and people were cleaning around the clock. We were psyched about how affordable the trip was and the quality we got for our money.
The bummers were that the bed was rock hard and there are time share sharks everywhere; at the airport, our resort, in town, on the beach. Because there were so few tourists, we got hit up pretty often. A polite but firm 'no thanks' did the trick mostly, but there was a steady stream of people to say 'no' to. We actually did tour the Mayan Palace which was beautiful and if you're looking to buy a time share, they're giving them away. We're not time share people, but we got two free tickets to swim with the dolphins on Isla Mujeres, so it was worth the two hours of 'yackity-yack' from a silly sales lady to play with some dolphins! The time share reps at the GR Solaris were the only staff who were very sketchy. Steer clear from those guys; we wouldn't recomend their little trips to Senior Frogs at night.
The only time we left the resort was to shop in town and to go to Isla Mujeres. Keep your wits about you and try not to look like a tourist. We took the bus, fast yes, but cheap and safe. People are selling things everywhere. Shopping in town was MUCH cheaper than the vendors they brought to the resort, so save your pesos for town. AND don't use ATM machines in drugstores or little shops, go to resorts or banks only, otherwise you could risk identity theft and less than stellar exchange rates.
If you can, reserve an airport transfer ahead of time. We thought we had one, but Expedia left us hanging and it was a bad scene arriving at the aiport in the ocean of taxis and time share sharks. Not a fun way to start your vacation. Expect to pay $40 USD for a ride from the airport to your resort. The time share people will be removed from the airport as early as July of this year per the Mexican government bc they've given a bad rep to tourism in Cancun. Something to look forward to.
With so much to do, breathtaking beaches, amazing weather and gorgeous sunsets my husband and I fully plan on going back. We may try another resort, possibly the RIU, but this time around the GR Solaris fit our budget and we left relaxed and rejuvenated. Overall I'd give it an 8 and the only thing I'd change was the hard bed and the two creepy time share guys.
High fives to Perez at the gym, Edar in the deli, David and Gustavo at dinner, Obelia on the breakfast grill, the 'pretty ladies' of the entertainment staff, Robbie and Enrique-the best beach server.

We just returned from GR solaris in Cancun. We were hesitant at first but there were problems with swine flu. The media makes it more than it is. We had a wonderful time, the weather and hotel staff was amazing. This is our 2nd time @ GR.