This was an amazing holiday for me, my husband and daughters aged 7, 4 and 2. After a 22 hour journey from the UK we were thrilled with the room. It was large, clean, well equipped and the jacuzzi was a great feature. Check in was fast and efficient and they got us and our luggage to our room very quickly

Though it was great, we don't rate it as a 5* - the service really let it down in the restaurants (fairly critical part of an all inclusive wouln't you say!). I believe it may be because they are catering for quantity rather than quality - its such a huge, busy resort they can't possibly provide 5* service

GOOD

Everywhere in the resort is spotlessly clean, the staff are fantastic in this respect

The kids club is great, lots of activities, an air conditioned play/TV room with Nintendo Wiis, DVD's etc. The pool is great for children with fountains and inflatables to play with. Kids in the club on Monday get to be in the Lion King show that night. Other nights included Mini Grease which they practiced for

Entertainment is OK - though could be more varied. The theatre is huge with plenty of seating. The Lion King show is a great effort

The pools are great, as is the lazy river. Plenty of sunbeds available all the time

Bar service fairly good - absolutely no need to tip

Staff all around are very friendly and welcoming

Drinks are offered around the pools and on the beach (female staff)

The beach is lovely, but take shoes as all the other reviewers mention due to the rocks

Its a great location, away from the main towns and close to Tulum

Great facilities such as ice cream parlour, coffee shop, snack bars etc

The Speciality restaurants are well designed and decorated and we had no problems with bookings though times were inflexible (generally 6.30 - too early - or 9.00 - too late)

Bathrooms are lovely and the towel displays - various animals etc once a week are fun.

Concierge is very efficient, as are check in staff, bellboys, room service etc

Lots of wildlife to see in the resort - mainly large Iguana's, giant butterflies and moths, birds, beautiful fish, hermit crabs, snakes (thankfully no spiders)

There is a cenote with a woodland pathway around the edge just by the shops behind the tennis courts

One very good waiter in the Buffet restaurant was called Angel (male) and a female with a name beginning with D (sorry, about 9 letters long, she was very smiley and pretty) was exceptional

When we complained after a few bad experiences in the specialty restaurants the main man (Roberto) sought to put things right by giving us a choice of booking for our last night and arranging some champagne and fruit to be left in our room

BAD

Whatever chemicals they use in the pool STAINED everything yellow and ruined all of our (brand new) swimsuits - it doesn't wash out!

Service at meals on the whole was well below average

English was limited/poor for most waiters - this should be a must considering the majority of guests are English speaking (English, Americans, Europeans)

At virtually every meal as we went to sit down the waiter tried to get us to move somewhere else (where he didn't have to serve!). As a family of 5 they frequently tried to sit us at a table for 4 with the high chair on a corner

Hardly any tables for 5/6 - if we tried to sit at a table for 8 they got stroppy

The only person to help us with a high chair was female, she insisted on carrying the high chair to the table and I felt embarrassed when she did - none of the male waiters EVER helped with this

We ALWAYS had to push 2 tables together by ourselves

Drinks were slow to be offered at mealtimes

You couldn't even taste the alcohol at some bars - either its watered down or they are just pretending to put loads in (the bottle is out of view when they pour. We gave up asking for mixed drinks and ordered neat rum and a separate coke for example then mixed them ourselves

We regularly helped ourselves to wine and coffee as the waiters did not keep the glasses topped up

At the Italian restaurant we were told to get our own soup (not practical with a 2 year in your arms) whilst everyone else was served theirs at the table. The main course was tepid and I had to send it back

At the Japanese the chef was the most boring you could imagine - our table sat disappointed as those around us whooped for joy at the various tricks and show their chef was doing

Food in the main buffet was quite dull and lacked variation

The themed restaurants should have had appropriate music - Italian in the Italian, French/Spanish/Greek in the Meditteranean, Oriental in the Japanese etc to give it a better and more authentic atmosphere. Another thing that would help here is if the staff dressed in costume to make you feel like you were in Italy etc

The health bar doesn't have an English menu so you have no idea what you are ordering (again poor English doesn't help)

We were told snorkel gear etc was an hour per room rather than person - they did give in when I made a fuss. My husband and I couldn't go at the same time as one of us had to look after the children

TRIPS

Half an hour down the coast by boat you can snorkel with Turtles - we saw 5 plus lovely fish

Tulum is stunning - the colour of the ocean is incredible. There is a tractor train to take you up to the ruins but until you are on the cliff top there is no breeze and you can't buy drinks once you have left the ticket/entrance area

Dolphin Disovery is lovely - you don't pay for under 5's however they still go in and have all the fun. They usher you to a room to watch the DVD (you don't have a choice - you have to watch it before you go!!!!). Get your own back on them If you have a camcorder and film the TV whilst it plays to save you buying one (you can also film the bits with just you in it!)! I didn't feel guilty as the 6 photos cost $55 (c.£38)

Plenty more to do and see however our youngest is 2 which somewhat restricted us

CONCLUSION

This isn't really a proper 5* though it is very close. The service is the thing that lets it down. Our experience gave us the impression that the women do all the hard work and the men (waiters mainly) were lazy and made little effort. Perhaps this is due to the tips many of the other reviewers give - WHY when you are All Inlusive at a 5* resort - you are paying for top service in the first place! We think due to the size and the quality of the staff (lack of English) that it doesn't quite make a 5*.

We would however recommend it and I think the quality was far superior to Europe and well worth paying the extra for. Just don't go expecting it to be perfect.

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!