Not satisfied:
- The Hotel can mention they are seaside, but I think they can’t say they have a beach. The beach is very small not convenient to use and dirty, the Hotel doesn't not care about cleaning it.
- Huge problems with laundry. Table cloths in the bar and restaurant VERY DIRTY – shame to see. In our room we didn’t have pillowcases upon arrival we’ve stayed for 4 nights and the pillowcases appeared only for one last night. Our neighbor gave some cloth to the laundry and went for a 3 days trip, when he came back nothing was ready.
- Saw a cockroach in the room.
- My friend got herpes on his lip after using “all inclusive glasses”.
- All meals are planed for 2 hours and are buffet style. The food is not refreshed. If you didn’t come during the first 30 - 40 minutes you don’t have a meal.
- Absolutely nothing around to see and to do, only one fish restaurant, no entertainment in the hotel, no sports opportunities, no TVs only in the bar.
- In case you will decide to see REAL Caribbean beaches 100% you'll be out of the Hotel for the full day. SO NEVER TAKE "ALL INCLUSIVE". Maximum breakfast.
The staff:
- Should mention the serving staff is nice, attentive and hospitable. BUT it's not enough to save the overall attitude!

It was great at the Hacienda Punta Sam. Don't pay any attention to the negitive reviews. The food was good and so where the drinks. Were some ants in room but not an over abundance of them, we just killed them when we saw them. The front desk has some Raid but we never used it. Went snorkeling on beach, saw some baby stingrays, baby baracudas and some tropical fish. Booked 2 additional snorkeling excursions, one in Cozumel and another in the hotel zone. They were great. An AutoCar drives by the resort every 10-15 mins and will take you to town for .50 US per person. There you can take the R1 big bus to anywhere in the hotel zone for .60 US per person. Went to Isla Mujueres(pronounced IS-LA MOO-HAIR-IS) which is right across the water and you can see it from the resorts beach for $7.00 round trip ferry ticket. The ferry terminal is located 1.5 miles down the road from the resort and an autocar can take you there, the autocar seats 10 people, it is just like a van. We went to Cozumel and Playa Del Carmen for shopping and sight seeing. An Autocar will take you to ADO bus terminal and for $3.40 US per person. 1 hour and 25 mins to get there, air conditioned bus and better than Greyhound buses. Ferry to get to Cozumel is $15.00 round trip per person, don't buy ticket in advance, go to the actual terminal, they have the best prices. Other people want 20.00 per person. ADO will drop you off 2 block from the Ferry to Cozumel. Great shopping in both places. Playa Del Carmen has a Mexican Outlet Store where you will find the cheapest souveniers anywhere. Food at resort was very good. For Breakfast you get 2-3 hot items and all the cold items served everyday. Pancakes, sausage, french toast, toast, scrambled eggs, omlets, cereal, coffee, milk, tang. Dinner and Supper 2-3 hot items such as pork chops, meatballs, spaggheti, cordon blue, baked fish, cheeseburgers, french fries, salad, mozzerella sticks, mini tacos, fagitas, chicken flavored rice, cheese filled ravioli and much more just can't remember. But all good!! Don't go downtown Cancun for shopping, alot of traffic and not to much shopping. Places look good for shopping when you are on a bus but when you get there, theres not alot. Isla Mujueres, Playa Del Carmen and Cozumel are the best. Playa Del Carmen is the best. We are used to 350 room resorts and this was a great change of pace. Only 35 room and no over crowding. Rooms are big and clean. Staff was friendly and helpful. I have no idea where the bad reviews are coming from, I guess you can't please everyone. This place is not a dump!! If I decide to go back to Cancun I will be staying at the Hacienda Punta Sam. If you want to ask me any questions about my stay(there were 6 people in my group and all in our 30's) you can email me at junkmail8300@yahoo.com. The water pressure in the rooms is not very strong but gets the job done. The resorts shampoo that is in your room, lathers really good and smells great and even with poor pressure, all comes out of your hair. The hot water goes in and out from warm to room temp and back to warm. But it is so hot there that room temp water feels good and it don't shock you when it fades in and out. The last day we were there the temp was 104 degrees. And a cool shower is what was needed. I had a great time and loved the resort.

The minute I set foot in this hotel, I fell in love with it. The athmosphere, the traditional Mexican looks, with colorful walls and roofs made of palmleafs, the pool, the shell with the gecko in it... The people are friendly, the beach is nice, the rooms are spacious and clean. We had a lot of fun with the staff and other tourists. So me and my sister had a great week.

BUT there were some problems. The food was not that good and often cold or gone by the time you wanted to have dinner. The bar closed at 22h and there was nothing to do in the nearby neighbourhood. We had to get a taxi or a bus to get into town for some action.

If you plan to go: don't set your standards too high and you will have a good time. Don't forget to take the ferry to Isla Mujeres! A wonderful place to go scubadiving, snorkeling or cross over with a golfcart.

Despite of some shortcomings, I'd rather choose this hotel, than one of the depressing big blingbling 5* concrete blocks in the zona hotelera. But that is personal.

Edith and Danielle,
rotzooi@kabelfoon.net

Why stay here??? ...when you can drive or take the bus 2 hours south to Tulum and get a great beach and a beautiful location. We stayed at HPS for one night because we needed a hotel close to Cancun to take an early flight.....The place is depressing, the beach was horrible!, (dirty, coverd in seaweed and stank) the place was made entirely of concrete blocks like a russian bombshelter (apparently someone had the wisdom to paint the blocks crazy colors, or it would look like a prison) , we went to the bar and ordered a margharita and got something that tasted like an orange-vanilla icecream float, and we had to ask them to change our sheets because when we arrived, it looked like an iguana had been using our bed as a toilet.