1. room - good size, nice view, easy to use free wireless and safe, but no closet doors and bottom rod of the sliding door needs to be fixed
2. food - we all like it so far
3. service - overall poor.
* has not delivered on promises to either fix the sliding and closet doors or change room.
* room cleaning done in the evening and did not replace removed towels
* front desk staff not very responsive (call instead of going down. More friendly over the phone (recorded?)
* bartending - not experienced yet but is small
4. location - not in the hotel zone. need to take cabs to the hotel zone and may be expensive to do so every day but hotel does offer free drop offs and pick ups to one night club at 10:30pm every night.
5. entertainments - no hot girl performance sbut good for family with little kids
6. Pool - good for family with little kids but may not be good if you are a big teenager (16-100 yr old)
7. Beach - not the nicest blue water but calm and shallow for kids to play in
8. Fellow guests - majority is mexicans and other latin americans. Nice people so far. Do not expect to meet lots of americans or canadians but not what we expect to do here.
9. Noise - loud. Rawdy and showy guests
* first night - two guys singing opera at 3 pm
* second night - a group of caucasian mexicans jumped and danced in pools until midnight after performed poorly at the karaoke night
10. tours - service desk available in the lobby but not used its services yet

Sounds like 10 top reasons not to come here? but overall, value for the money, safe surroundings for the kids, decent food, clean room (fixed the sliding door myself) makes up for the poor service.

CONS: SMALL ROOM, PARKING, SOME TOPLESS WOMEN ON BEACH, PELICANS
PROS: GREAT PRICE, GREAT STAFF, SOME TOPLESS WOMEN ON BEACH, PELICANS

The hotel and rooms were basic and very clean. The staff is very friendly. We have a timeshare in cancun that still costs us $350 a night for all inclusive food and beverages. We stayed here and saved $280 a night which we used much of for great meals in great restaurants and felt better about our savings when we left.

The room overlooked the ocean and the view was great. We could see Isla Mujeres lights at night.. The beach has no waves and that is great for families. If you prefer five star hotels at five star prices you may want to go elsewhere. If you want to have a great time on a budget you would be smart to stay here.

Most of the families were Spanish which we loved because of the international feel of the hotel, which is Mediterranean in style and feel.

Parking was a problem so we often walked outside to take a bus to the entertainment zone or the downtown restaurants, away from the hotel zone. We never waited more than two minutes for a bus which stops right at the hotel or across the street depending on where you are going.

We did not get all inclusive because we wanted to experience the local restaurants and we were delighted with that move. We actually stayed a few nights at one of those five star hotels in Playa and we preferred Holiday Inn Cancun Arenas.

So, don't be discouraged by all the negative opinions voiced here. Go with low expectations if you must and you will be more than happy with your decision to stay at the Holiday Inn Cancun Arenas.

I was a little nervous about staying here after reading some of the reviews but to my surprise those reviews were wrong. We were there Feb 28 to Mar 7th. The staff very helpful and very friendly. Our rooms was nice and clean great view,beach small but nice food was great a bit expensive. The only complaint I had was we weren't offered the all inclusive plan when we booked our vacation and buying food and drink at the hotel was very expensive. I would recomend all inclusive if you were to go there. Other than that nice clean very friendly staff we had an awesome time. Oh the make sure you get a massage while at the hotel they are wonderful Maria does a great job. We will definetly stay here again but go with the all inclusive package that is a must have.

I'll be the first to admit that I was a little nervous about staying here. I'd been to Cancun before and was happy with where I had stayed on that trip.... but I was very pleasantly suprised. This was a great trip for traveling on a budget. The hotel was super clean, the room was nice, very comfortable bed, and I loved having a balcony that overlooked the water. The food was amazing... I have some pretty dietary restrictions and was worried about what I'd eat, but I never had a problem. The buffet had a wide array of foods and the restaurant at night was amazing! This is a smaller hotel, and I liked that. I never felt crowed or overwhelmed by all the people. My only complaints would have been that check in and check out service was slow and appeared to be unorganized. Other than that, I was a little further from the main area of shops and restaurants that I would have liked, but with the buses, it was okay. I went on vacation very nervous and came home very relaxed and grateful for a wonderful time.