Grand-Sirenis.com

[matthewbrown737]

After a long 10 hour flight from manchester UK, we arrived at cancun airport. The immigration control at cancun can seem quite long winded, but beleive me, it saves you a load of time on the way back!

Very Nice airport, I had a smile on my face from getting off the plane, looking at all these cheerful mexicans! Avoid the time shares like the plague! Your designated representatives are not allowed in the airport, so head straight through to outside, just smiling at the time share sales people, and look for your rep, regardless of if the ones inside were yelling your tour operators name!

Fairly long coach journey, but nothing unreasonable, saw some of the other hotels, and the scenery of mexico.

Upon arriving at the hotel, I had a large sense of "ah, im home!" after looking at pictures online endlessly in the previous weeks. The bell boys will label your suitcases, and leave you to check in.

The check in staff are friendly, we were met with a non alcoholic cocktail, very sweet, but we soon got used to it!

Check in was painless, we got our wrist bands (U18 one for me, damn! no alcohol ), and the bellboys dropped us off outside of our room in those cool little golf carts!

The rooms were very nice, spacious, and clean. No bugs or anything, and heck, as for "musty" smells, if you've ever been in my bedroom, this will smell like the nearby sea breeze! Just make sure the air con is on, and you'll get used to the fact that your in a hot tropical country

Now to the food. In the buffet resteraunts, there was so much variety! The food was really nice, however, I think for a 5 star hotel, it didnt match up. For the highest rating possible, it wasn't quite there, but as I said, this was no problem to me, and many other people whatsoever.

The ala carte resteraunts were very impressive. It made a nice change from the buffet resteraunts, and we got to try a futher variety of food. I'll rate them out of ten by what we went to
Steakhouse - 8 I ate too much for the starter, so didnt feel like the steak
Cajun - 9 Very nice
Mexican - 6 Nothing special, and was far too warm in there
Brazillian - 7 Interesting experience, however I think they should not put the plates out for service 15 mins before the food is actually done!
mediterranean - 9 Enjoyed this one, try the paella!!!!Best dish there!
Japanese - 8 Make sure you have everything cooked in front of you! it's part of the fun, and by the looks of things, taste better! Bring your camera as well, and work on your "throw small item of food in the air and catch in mouth" skills!!!

The Beach. Very nice environment, very friendly staff, and always a free sun bed. The watersports take the mick a bit trying to get into. they punch a whole in your wrist band, allowing you to rent out the equipment, can just take a while, but once your in, it's excellent! I enjoyed kayaking the most, riding those huge waves while being covered in white sea foam is fun! Got friendly with the watersports guy, so much so, he got me to go and get him a coke from the bar before he let me take out a kayak!! The sand was nice in parts, but i wouldnt reccomend anyone walk the beach up to the watersports hut in bare feet. It becomes very rock, and can hurt your feet a bit. Was expecting slightly smoother sand, but still.

The pools. The nicest a pool possibly could be. Always a free bed, good regular drinks service, good entertainment, and near to the snack buffet. you could grab something, and take it back to your bed and eat there. But as I said, as nice as a pool can be. Became slightly repetative after a while, and all I wanted to do was listen to my music, which for some reason made me start thinking of home, but hey, I didnt have to stay there, and often didnt.

The entertainment. Could not knock it. Above all the Tennis. What a fantastic experience. Brilliant bloke called carlos who ran the tennis, archery, and shooting side of things, and he was very easy to get friendly with. Remembered our names for the whole 2 weeks there. Dont be afraid to turn up to begginers tennis lessons in the morning, or if you can keep a fair paced ralley going, go to the "advanced" one. You'll enjoy that, while making some good friends.

Towel cards. Brilliant service, saved us a few quid on the way back when were still charged over on our luggage!

Night time entertainment. Good, but no cigar. More for kids, and I felt the more adult entertainment was for the older adults, but hey im at an age where nothing seems to be good unless im with my friends.

Internet cafe. Good, if your going to spend a fair few hours in there, definately buy in bulk, it will save you a bundle

So my general impressions of the resort were very good indeed. As for rumours of teenagers getting drunk on the beach etc, i found this to be young teenagers, who hadnt drank that much, and were putting it on, to be a part of the crowd. They cause nobody any harm, just made me roll my eyes a few times. Dont feel pressurised into tipping. We didnt (well, i left 50 pesos as we left the room to go home, when my parents werent looking because i felt bad) and we got just a good a service, although they do get next to nothing, so tipping them will do no harm. The hole in the window thing with the bathroom was fine, frosted glass, it did the job. I met some interesting people there, mainly older then me, and heard some good stories. I wouldnt say this is a resort perfect for parents with teenagers aged 16-18 unless there with friends, or you share a fairly close relationship with them. As much as I tried to stay with my parents for the trip, I often found myself resigning to the room in the afternoon while they were at the beach, because I knew if i had too much of their company I would start getting ratty, but in doing this, I couldnt help but cast a mind back home towards the end of the two weeks. But all in all, a very succesful holiday, and I would love to return some day!

Cheers!

[bgarhan]

Glad to hear you and your familly had a nice holiday! Thanks for sharing the youth perspective of a teen!
Cheers mate!

[Mustang]

Well written and very informative. Thanks.

Mustang
_________________
Dreams Riviera Cancun 12/09
Barcelo Palace 6/09
Grand Sunset Princess 12/08
Barcelo Palace 7/08
Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach 7/07
IB* 00,01,02,03,04,05.06
Robinson Club 99
Windjammer (Fantome) 81,82,83

Carefree Highway!!!

[Marty in GA]

18 years old? Well written!

Damn American Education, i have lowered my standards! Big time.

Thanks for the information.

[HarleyMom]

I noticed people saying the pool was cold. What did you think?

[matthewbrown737]

[HarleyMom]

Thanks for replying. That's good to know. Kids don't care so much, but I do, and I plan on sitting at that swim-up bar!('')