We were moved to the Grand Sirenis, from a horible hotel in Cancun. We Knew nothing of the hotel and did not know what to expect after our disaster which lasted 12 hours in Cancun.
We arrived at this resort and were over the moon, we went with 2 children ( ages 7 and 5). It was just perfect, the whole place is kept so clean. The staff were amazing, well mannered and always there to help, nothing was a problem. Restaurants were lovely, the only one with bad service was the Med Grill, but we can forgive them for just one bad eating place.
There are lots of activities to do during the day to keep adults and children amused and shows in the evening. The disco is built away from the resort (but still onsite) and this means no noise in the evenings. For anyone who wants a resort very near to perfection Grand Sirenis is the place for you!

The room is one of the best we have ever stayed in. There are many activities such as kayaking, air rifle shooting, archery, pool games, etc. They have a really nice beach, with interesting sand texture which I wasn't used to. The pools are very nice, and they have an ice cream room right next to the pool. They also have a swim up bar which is pretty sweet too. They have different animals you can take pictures with, such as iguanas, parrots, toucans, monkeys, etc. They have a different show all the time, ex. lion king. I had a great time on my vacation, and it was very relaxing, so I cant complain too much.

Lets start with the small negatives first. The location of the resort makes it a difficult to enjoy the full activities around you. Playa del Carmen has a beach, tons of shopping, bars, restaurants, etc and is approximately 25 min away and costs about $50 usd round trip.

Cancun is about an hour and 10 min away and costs $180 usd for a round trip. There is no need to describe what Cancun has, but at $180 a trip, it is a luxury to go there more than once.

The gym is very small. There are maybe 3 treadmills, and 3 elliptical machines. There are also a few regular machines, however the max weights top out at about 200lbs which is not much of a challenge.

The game room sucks, badly. There are about 3 pool tables, which are horribly aged. The pool cues are junk, they have plastic tips, there is no chalk tip, or any chalk to be found anywhere. The foosball table looks like its from 1980. It is quite shabby looking and uneven. You can drop a ball in the middle, and neither side will ever hit it. Its really quite shameful. There is also an air hockey table, which is also about the same age as the pool tables and the foosball table. However it appeared to be out of service. I probably spent 10 min in the room out of the whole vacation.

On our last day, we requested the golf cart to help us with the luggage to arrive at 11:15. We had a car waiting for us at 11:40. At 11:25 we asked the concierge to follow up as the cart DID NOT ARRIVE. As we are walking halfway over the bridge, the guy comes to pick up our luggage and assures us that it will be at the front desk when we get there. At 11:40 our luggage is nowhere to be found. The instead of taking our luggage to the front, he somehow decides to pick up other luggage of people checking out hours from now on the way too. After arguing with the staff (and the staff among themselves with the golf cart driver) for about 15 min, and our airport ride threatening to leave without us, our luggage finally arrives with a ton of other suitcases of people who will be checking out sometime later in the day.

I assure you, your luggage is not very important when checking out. If you want it there, request for someone to pick it up at least 2-3 hours beforehand.

NUMBER ONE NEGATIVE.....FOOD

Goodness, the food is TERRIBLE. Lets start at breakfast.... There is a pretty big buffet, with mostly crappy food. The juices taste watered down (except apple juice which was really good one day). The cold cuts are probably the safest thing you can have for breakfast. The toast is very hard, the bagel with ham and cheese are not good, neither is the ham and cheese sandwich. The croissants taste like the lemon yogurt, and vice versa, (its very strange). The bacon is terrible, as are the sausages. The waffles and pancakes vary depending on the day. Some days they are okay, some days they are bad. Omelets are not great either, your best bet is to have the cook make it on the spot. Some days the fruits look like they have been there forever. If you must eat the breakfast, stick to fruits, cold cuts, cereal, apple juice (get it yourself). Its important not to miss the initial breakfast buffet, because the second one is even worse than the first.

The theme restaurants do not live up to their hype. The Mediterranean is not very impressive, and the food is not really all that great. Honestly I did not feel as if it was very Mediterranean. It tastes pretty much like all the other bland Sirenis food.

Please don't expect too much from the steakhouse either. I had top sirloin, which I did not really care for. The filet minion is better, however is still not up to par with any other steak I ever eaten.

Lets not forget the Brazilian restaurant. Its a weird combination of seven or eight meats that the waiters come and carve at your table. None are very memorable, however the red sauce makes them somewhat digestible.

I did not try any of the other theme restaurants nor the dinner buffet, and I am happy about that.

The snack bars, are crap. It is pretty much leftover food from the breakfast bars. The hamburger is beyond compare. It is really really really bad. Ultra bad. No words can describe it. The hot dog is one step above the hamburger, also really bad. On a scale of 1-10, the burger would be -5, the hot dog possibly -3. Anyone ever hand a hot dog (not sausage) with onions and peppers? They serve it there, and it looks quite nasty. The quesadillas are probably the better choice, as are the chicken nuggets and the nachos.

The room service food is a little better. Nuggets, fruits, and quesadillas are a good choice. The ham and cheese pizza is the worst thing I tasted in years. It is not mozzarella cheese. Its some kind of a weird mix of Provolone and possibly American Cheese, and its nasty. The crust is rock hard and should never be used on pizza, ever!!!! If you make the mistake of ordering the hamburger to your room beware. We received a burger with provolone, bacon, and ham that was just awful. Its really one step above animal feed. I never thought anything would hit a -10 on a 1-10 scale, but that would probably do it. Much worse than the burger at the snack bar.

THE BARS..... well where do I start? The drinks do not appear to contain alcohol. Please do not be fooled, I drank probably a dozen drinks a day, tequila, margaritas, daiquiris, etc and never even felt a slight buzz. No matter what you ask for, the drinks DO NOT appear to contain alcohol. Even when they come out of a bottle that appears to be vodka or tequila, there is never any alcohol taste, or effects. For some odd reason, a tequila sunrise and a long island iced tea taste exactly the same...Like cough syrup when you were a kid.

Overall, it is a very very very nice hotel with many activities, and a relaxing environment. However the food really devalues the experience.

My Honest Review:

Hotel - Food = 9.3 out of 10
Hotel + Food = 8 out of 10

We spent two perfect relaxing weeks in this great resort with our 15 year old son and 10 year old daughter.

If you are looking for Playa Carmen or Cancun nightlife and shops stay at those locations. If you are looking for great pools, great beach (a pair of water shoes is wise to avoid hurting your toes on rocks in the sea), lovely rooms and great food (both buffet and specialist restaurants) then look no further..

The snorkelling from the left hand side of the beach is superb ...as are the turtle tracks giving away the fact that these wonderful sea creatures lay their eggs here during the night.

A few tips are much appreciated by the waiters...20 or 40 pesos...and this guarantees you great on going service - drinks and wine.

We visited Dolphin Discovery - over priced but a great experience, Chichen Itza - a must, and did the Fat Cat Speedboats to Akumal beach where the turtles swim and graze on the sea grass.

If you want two weeks relaxation, great weather and fantastic service this is a fantastic resort. Yes you could find the odd fault.....but that is not what we go on holiday for.

Visit and enjoy!

went to this resort for rest and relaxation! Had a wonderful time the lobby area was so open and relaxing. Huge pool area. grounds kept very clean. Lots of staff to take care of your every need.great nightly entertainment. The rooms are wonderful they have huge jetted tubs and 8 head showers huge rooms with lots of space to strecth out and relax. i will definitely recommend this place to my friends and i will be back. Only one down fall was the pool closes at 7:00p.m. so they can clean it daily, so late night swimming was out because the pool and beach area is not lite for evening use.