I just returned from a short get-away to the Gran Caribe Real. I searched for a long time trying to decide which resort to stay at. In the end, I chose to pay a little more to stay here, and I am thrilled I did.
The facilities are excellent. Everything is kept very clean, from the lobby where you could sit for hours feeling the breezes coming off of the Caribbean to the rooms. The staff was cleaning non-stop.
A couple of things that set this hotel apart from others I searched:
1. free in room safe
2. free wi-fi in the lobby area, and it worked great!
3. beach was great to actually get in and enjoy
4. restaurants offered buffet or a la carte, and the food was very good.
5. So much more.
The evening shows were entertaining, the event staff worked hard to make people's stay a little more enjoyable. I personally did not participate in the events throughout the day, but many people did.
I took the advise of previous travelers to this region and took a bunch of $1's with me. It was never expected by any of the staff, but it certainly brought a smile to their faces when they were given a little something in return for the service they provided. It was sad to see the very low number of people vacationing in Cancun as a result of the economy and the influenza. At NO time did I ever feel exposed to hazardous conditions. Cancun is a wonderful place to visit, and the Gran Caribe Real is a great place to stay.
Feel free to Message me with any specific questions, and I will tell you what my memory recalls. Oh, and use sunscreen!

We stayed at the Gran Caribe Real Cancun from May 28-31. I was a bit concerned since the reviews posted varied from Great to Gross – But after our 3 night stay at the resort, I must say it was Fantastic!

We booked through the realresorts.com website and got a good deal on room rates, transfers and a trip to Chichen Itza. It actually was too good to be true. We purchased 2 Junior Suites – one with 2 doubles (Rm #2328) and another with a king bed (Rm #2459). Both rooms were very clean – sheets and towels were fresh and our minibar/bathroom amenities were stocked and replenished each day. The beds were not Westin’s Heavenly bed…but then again we weren’t at the Westin, the mattress was firm but not uncomfortable. We all slept well.

The marble floors were clean all the time. But with marble, sound bounces, so the hallways were a bit too loud. There were some hotel guests that were very inconsiderate and rude, running, talking and screaming at the wee hours of the morning. We were unfortunate to be at Gran Caribe at the same time as a huge group of HS Juniors/Seniors were. Other than that – everything else was OK.

The Pool and Beach area were great…..we hung out mostly in the kid’s pool area since it quiet all the time. The beach was fun and we all loved the lounging beds right by the ocean…it was very relaxing! Drink service by the pool or beach was excellent with waiters in all areas – they were constantly checking to see if we needed anything.

Both buffets had standard fare for breakfast but new dishes were brought out mid morning, lunch, mid afternoon and dinner. There was always something new and different. The food was tasty & appetizing - overall the buffets were clean. As for Sunset Grill and Maria’s, I give both restaurants 2 thumbs up! Hilario at Maria’s provided excellent service! His “Mayan Coffee” presentation was spectacular! You have to try it – it is delicious! The Sunset Grill has a very relaxed atmosphere, and the waiters were very attentive to our needs.

Gran Caribe Real Resort in Cancun provides its guests with a Great Atmosphere, Comfortable Accomodations, Excellent Service, Good Food, Abundant Drinks & Total Relaxation.

We got to our hotel (Grand Oasis Playa) and it was closed. They shipped us to Grand Oasis Cancun and it was just awful. We paid extra money to move to Gran Caribe Real the next day. It has a wonderful open air reception area with a large main bar. Right away when you walk in you get a comfortable and friendly feeling. Like you just found the place to "be". This was important since there was nobody down at the Oasis Cancun Hotel. People are NOT going to Cancun right now. Half of the hotels are closed and people are being shipped to other resorts. You might think that you are going to get there and be treated extra special, but that is NOT happening. They have fired staff because they can't afford to pay them.

The location of our room was awesome. Looked out over the main pool and ocean which was beautiful. It was a junior suite with a king bed and living area with a couch. The problem was that it was extremely MUSTY. We had to keep our clothes in our suitcase and close it up at night to help keep them smelling clean. This did not work! If you had clothes out in the room, the next morning they felt wet wen putting them on. I had to wash everything when I got home and my suitcase is still sitting wide open airing out. The toilet had old urine puddles at the bottom near the floor on each side. We called housekeeping and specifically asked to have this cleaned and left a tip on the bed. When we returned the urine was still there.....gross. I then called the front desk and they sent the housekeeper up with a supervisor and got it cleaned.

The beach area is very nice. Almost all of the hotels in the zone have NO BEACH at all. This hotel did a nice job building a reef on either side to keep their beach. It hurts your feet trying to get in the ocean though. There are rocks that you have to walk over and then there are some big boulders further out.

One more gross thing was a roach that crawled across the buffet counter at the open air buffet next to the pool. My daughter killed it with one of the little plastic signs that tell you what food items are. After this, we always ate at the inside air-conditioned buffet which was wonderful.

Food at buffets and both restaurants was WONDERFUL. They served great red wine too which is rare at a Cancun resort. Front desk and restaurant staff were AWESOME. Pool side girls brought drinks to you all day long. Always activities going on to keep you entertained. Oh and speaking of entertainment....we saw a Mexican show and a dancing show of music from 60's to now and they were UNBELIEVABLE! Top notch for a resort.

Overall, I would go back. We were only there for 4 nights. Had we gone for 7 nights I would have spent more time complaining and getting into a different room.

Our family stayed May 19-26th. We had two rooms, one for the twin 18 yr olds and one for me,hubby and our 6 yr. old. We arrived around 11:45 at the resort. Got checked in immediately with zero problems. Got free oceanview upgrade. We were in our room literaly within 10 minutes after arriving by Olympus Tours (very friendly tour company). The rooms were fantastic. Huge bathroom with walk in shower all done in marble with huge vanity sink outside of toilet and shower/bath. We were tired the first day as we had been up since 2 a.m. to drive to airport for our six a.m. flight. We were so thrilled with out room and resort that we did not take a nap as planned but started to enjoy the all inclusive perks. The resort in itself is amazing. The staff is the most hardworking, friendly and accomodating people. My daughter who is six made friends with one of the lifeguards and Charlie who is one of the best bartenders. Not only did he make our daughter the best non alcoholic Okies but really got to know her. The lifeguard did as well. She colored them a picture on our last day and they were so gracious and thankful. The twins had a super time as well. They enjoyed visiting with the staff and other guests. In fact, we met another couple who had 10 month old twin girls and the father of the twins and my twins really had good conversation. We tipped generously as we felt the staff did a super job. I really enjoyed Theresa who worked at the jewelry store at the resort. She was friendly and polite. The bellboy also greeted us everytime we left the resort to do an activity off the resort. We had a nice personalized card in our room waiting for us which made us feel so welcomed. We did a few things off the resort but spent majority of time on the resort. There is plenty to do at the resort. We swam, socialized, shopped,,kids participated in activities such as dance contests, karoke contests in which my 6 yr old daughter sang Jesus Loves Me. I could not say this enough on how this resort makes you feel so special and pampered. I don't understand how there can be any negative reviews about this resort. The food especially the breakfast was awesome,the fruit was great and the drinks were good. We had asked for Appleton Rum and low and behold the bartender had it. I felt safe being outside sunning myself while my daughter was playing and swimming in and around the pirate ship. The lifeguards interact with her so much and she enjoyed talking to them. The shows in the lobby were good. Theresa in the jewelry store told me occupancy rate was about 30 percent so perhaps this is why we had such one on one attention but even if it was at 90 percent it would have not mattered as this resort met all of our expectations. We walked down to Flamingo Plaza (5 min walk) and shopped and ate at Pat O Brians one night and that was a fun experience. We parasailed and that was a huge hit for the kids. I want to also mention the housekeeping were awesome. They always did a new towel art design each day for our daughter and even for the twins. our daughter would say at breakfast "Mom I wonder what they are going to make from the towels today". We always had plenty of bottled water, juice and pop stocked. Air Conditioner worked great. We had a beutiful view and found it to be relaxing to sit outside our room after a long funfilled day. I had a massage as well and I must say it was the best massage I had in a long time. I tipped her a twenty and now that I think about it I should have given her more. We will definitely be back next year or perhaps sooner.