I'll write more later and include a couple o' pics, but let me just say that our vacation April 4 - 13 was simply wonderful. My wife, 4-yearold daughter and I are now walking advertisements for this place.

Why? Well, the location is very nice -- great sheltered swimming beach, snorkeling reef preserve onsite, great view northward of Cancun beach. The facilities are decorated with a Mexican/Mayan flair. The updated rooms are attractive and the AC/water pressure are to our liking. The food is good to occasionally great. The drinks just keep on coming. All day. All night. What's not to like, right?

But what won us besides the other guests at the club was the staff -- from the head guy down to the security and cleaning people, they've got their act together. It's all about service and attitude. By that, I mean friendly, professional, accomodating.

The children's staff spoiled our daughter. She fell in love with them. They taught her and her compatriots a hip hop routine to wow the parents. Then, they covertly taught us one to wow the kids. My wife had to threaten divorce to get me to participate. All I can tell you is Da Pimp Daddies and da Hoes brought down the house that night.

Wait till you see the acrobats and trapeze artists do their show by the pool. It's like Cirque du Solei (sp?) but trimmed down to the essentials. And speaking of trapeze, my wife conned me into getting up on that thing and the staff couldn't have been more encourageing and understanding of my fear of heights.

The watersports staff were just the best, even if some of the windsurfing equipment is not. And they have a chase boat for those overwhelmed or too lazy to come back in. Catamarans are primo, as is the instruction.

The culinary staff prepared a birthday cake for my daughter's 5th and I have to say it was by far the best cake I think I've ever eaten. And that's no exageration. Rich chocolate. Not too sweet. With little surprises of fruit somehow hidden in the layers.

When a security guard said to me, "If there is anything you or your family need, don't hesitate to call on me," I was completely bowled over. Since when does secruity staff act like a conceirge?

Anyway, we went to Punta Cana last year and loved it, but Cancun somehow managed to raise the bar another notch. Any questions, feel free to e-mail.
Phil Lanier

My family and I just returned from my first stay at a Club Med. The Cancun property is very nice. It is probably on the best part of Cancun's beach. The snorkeling is good, but it ain't Hawaii. The food is not bad. Some items look better than they really taste. I would stick to the Mexican dishes. The rooms are in good shape, but they do not change the sheets on a daily basis. The children's swimming pool is actually better constructed than the adult pool. The adult pool is out of date. It has a vinyl lining that is starting to buckle. The children's pool over at the "kids club" is tiled.

Be wary of the rules. We have two children. They are ages 6 and 3 1/2. Despite an indication from our travel agent that the "mini kids club" would likely accept our younger child, they refused to do so. The cut off is four years old. There are no exceptions. It was a bit difficult having one kid in and the other excluded. Most of the folks who work there as GOs are extremely outgoing and helpful. They want you to be happy and involved in the activities. The pool areobics is fun. The manager is a very friendly guy from Israel (army vet) who has been with Club Med for about nine years.

Finally, keep in mind that it is not easy to get off of the compound. There is no access to bicycles or mopeds. You either take a taxi or you walk on the beach over the Westin, tresspass through their lobby, and walk down to the main road where you can take a bus that drives down along the strip of hotels and into town. The folks at the Club Med like to keep you on the compound. They may ask why you would want to leave the property outside of a Club Med organized excursion.

Our family of four has never been to a club Med before, and we are now hooked. My kids LOVED all the activities, especially wake boarding (13-year old son) and trapeze (10-year old daughter.) They each had the freedom to go where ever they wanted, when ever the wanted. My son made friends and hung out with them; getting all the virgin pina coladas a teenager could want. My wife and I loved the food, beach, pool, sail, evening entertainment, and staff (GOs). We checked out the other beaches; we walked 2.5 miles up the beach from this property, and there is no question that the Club Med beach beats the Hilton's and Westin's. There's snorkeling too. All this is walking distance from your room.

I understand that this property has made a total redo after the hurricane Wilma in 2005, all for the better I might add. Everything has been upgraded; there are flat panel TVs in all the rooms.

What the best part? In general my 13 year old son has a low opinion of his parent's ability to do anything right. The day after we got home, he told me that going to Club Med Cancun was the best vacation ever. And he even thanked me! That is a first!

Overview

We are a family of four with two children aged 5 and 8. This was our 8th Club Med and the 4th with our children. Our previous family Club Med experiences include Guadeloupe, Ixtapa and Punta Cana. We have eclectic tastes in vacations as we have done Butterfield & Robinson, Sandals, Superclubs, Trafalgar Tours, and Globus. For our vacations without the kids, we prefer higher-end choices, while those trips with the kids cause us to make sure that our kids are well looked after even it means sacrificing amenities found in higher-end choices. Consequently while they are more expensive family options such as Beaches, we find that Club Med provides a better experience, and at a more reasonable price. If you’re a parent, you likely understand that if your children are miserable, then you will be miserable.

As a business traveler I do about 120-130 flights a year within North America and stay at hotel chains such as Fairmont, Hyatt, Hilton and Starwood (Sheraton, W, Westin). Consequently I believe I have a good sense of quality and value.

In short, our 10-day stay at Club Med Cacun (03/26-04/05) was excellent and we highly recommend this as a great family vacation option. This resort was completely renovated subsequent to the ’05 hurricane that hit Cancun and surrounding area, not withstanding this resort is now family oriented versus the pre-storm era when it was a singles-oriented experience. Last year we were thrilled with our Guadeloupe Club Med experience, yet this past 10 days takes it up another level. Kudos to Club Med on this resort!

The Mini Club experience for our children was fabulous and according to them, they each had a great time. As with previous Club Meds, the food quality and variety was as good as ever. Our accommodations exceeded expectations, although please note that we elected to pay for their high-end spacious suite with adjoining kids’ room. The beach, activity options, and evening events all met or exceeded the usual Club Med standard, ie. very good! We are ready to return next year. Quick pros/cons are below with substantially more details on all aspects of the resort further below for those interested in reading more. I would be happy to answer any questions regarding this resort to provide you with additional clarity if necessary.

Pros:
- 12 minute drive from Cancun airport
- ‘Jade’ building suite was fabulous
- food was excellent, covered spectrum from American to the very eclectic
- could be quiet/private, or party it up
- many activities
- drinks served to you on the beach
Cons:
- pool area/space was tight
- people monopolized pool chairs early in the day by dropping their towels on them to “reserve” which is very annoying
- ‘Crazy Signs’ ritual missing from nightly kids’ program

Details

I have attached 5 photos are as follows:
a. Club Med site map
b. Jade building corridor shot looking at ocean
c. Jade building shot taken of ocean-facing rooms while looking north up the beach
d. Lagoon view of buildings Amatista, Obsidiana, Topacio, and Turquesa
e. Main resort view looking at Soluna (#6 building on map)


Room – ‘Jade’ Building

Club Med has elevated their high-end room experience once again. While we were impressed with last year’s experience at Guadeloupe with their ‘Marie Galante’ building, Cancun’s ‘Jade’ building, cranks it up another notch!

The Cancun resort offers inter-connecting rooms for families such that parents can have a room to themselves, with kids in an adjoining room. The ‘Jade’ building offers a substantially larger suite for the main room, with the kids in an adjoining standard-sized room. Immediately upon entering, we were taken aback at how much space we had. The main room, with King-sized bed, is about 27 feet by 14 feet. The bathroom is about 19 feet by 6 feet, plus a shower that is nearly 5 feet by 3 feet. The whole suite was nearly 700 sq feet. This is big folks and as a Canadian my boys and I were tempted to break out a quick game of floor hockey. As a business traveler I’ve stayed in a wide-variety of rooms and this Club Med room would normally run you north of $700 a night in chains such as Fairmont, Hyatt or Westin.

The main room had a King-size bed, chaise-lounge chair, 2 coffee tables, and a circular desk with a computer terminal. There was a 36” flat screen plasma television mounted between the two French sliding doors. These doors took you to a wooden decked patio. Main room flooring was hardwood with black stone tiling throughout the bathroom and shower.

The bathroom had ‘his’ and ‘hers’ wash basins, with a bathtub in the middle. The shower was around the corner and was equipped with a hand spray plus an overhead ‘rain shower’ type head. Very nice. Hot water was never lacking.

The desk table terminal provided free Internet access and line speed was quite fast. This offering was not available to other rooms on the resort. You could attach the Internet cable to your own PC if you wish.

Storage space was ample as the room provided closets immediately inside the main door, as well as on the opposite side of the room near the shower. Although we had brought our scuba gear and golf clubs, let alone the usual luggage, we had space left over even after storing our luggage in the closets as well.

The patio came equipped with two chairs, a table and a very comfortable cushioned lounge chair. My only complaint is that there should have been two of these comfy loungers as my wife commandeered the lounge chair for most afternoons.

Other room amenities included an electronic safe, bathrobes, a welcome bottle of Tequila with two warped shot-glasses, a stocked bar fridge and a la carte room service.

Chambermaid service was the best we’ve ever seen at a Club Med. Their turndown service included a complete replacement of bath towels, shower mat, and beach towels. Normally at Club Med you have to change out your beach towels at various kiosks dotted around the resort, but with the Jade room it was done for you. A small detail, but very welcome. You could also leave a note for the chambermaid with respect to requesting certain bar fridge items to be re-stocked. They also provided 4 large water bottles in the room on a daily basis.

Our Jade room was ocean facing and was on the ground floor. It’s a 3-storey building and there were a total of 3 suites w/ adjoining kids’ room. The other rooms were all suite-sized but did not have an adjoining kids’ room. Please note that the suite-style rooms in the Jade building were all ocean facing. Many of the garden-facing rooms in the Jade building did not appear to be of the larger suite-size. However, the Jade building offered a special concierge service located in the building on the main floor and was available to everyone staying in this building. This service was not available to those staying in other buildings on the resort.

The concierge service was a nice amenity to have and one that we used for a wide variety of requests. For example, they took care of arranging golf tee times arranged at local resorts, taxis, on-site restaurant and Spa reservations let alone external restaurant reservations. The concierge had a dedicated office on the main floor and hence was readily accessible. The concierge office also had an open bar along with some light snacks if you were in need of sustenance!

The Jade building was also appealing because it was located in a very quiet part of the resort. This meant that there was little foot traffic in or in front of the building. The only downside was that the hallway was made of tile, which amplified any talking or foot noise that occurred.

With minimal noise and people, sitting on the deck to read provided for a very tranquil time, coupled with a fabulous view of the ocean. On that note, the ocean was about 30 yards from our room separated by a grassy area and some palm trees. The oceanfront was not part of the main beach area and hence why there was little pedestrian traffic unlike other parts of the resort. It’s been a while since we’ve enjoyed such a great room location and view such as this. In fact, we both agreed that the only view and location that comes close is in terms of other Club Meds is the oceanfront room we enjoyed at Columbus Isle.

I have attached several photos of the Jade building plus a short mpeg movie showing a 180-degree perspective taken from our suite. While my review of a year ago at Guadeloupe highlighted that room experience, this takes it to another level again and consequently I highly recommend this room option if your budget can accommodate.

For those contemplating rooms elsewhere on the resort, you may find the following of use:

Granate Building

Rooms in this building should be of interest (building ‘E’ on the attached map). The Granate building is situated very close to the main restaurant, pool, beach and spa. The ocean-facing rooms provide a great view, plus a 60 second walk to the snorkeling beach that has several beach umbrellas. See more detail below on this. Several guests commented that it was a nice area to swim too because it was sheltered by the reef during low tide. The beach part was small however very quiet given the lack of beach bathers given that the main beach was on the northwest side of the resort.

Topacio Building

If you want a beach-facing room where you literally exit your patio and set foot on the beach sand then this is the building for you. Of course, if you’re on the second floor stepping out from your patio will cause you slight injury as you fall to the beach 10 feet below. Taking the stairs will alleviate such pain.

The main beach is located here and rooms in the Topacio building are as close as you’ll ever get to being on the beach. The pool is also a 30 second walk away, along with the beach bar. This building has 3-storeys and consequently provides for great ocean views. This building, like the Granate-building also provides rooms with a lagoon view. On that note, the resort has a lagoon that winds its way around some of the buildings, which gets used for water skiing. My attached photo will give you a good sense of the nature of the lagoon and associate room views. Rooms that are not ocean facing will either be lagoon or garden-view. The only negative we could see to this building is that there is high-level of foot traffic outside the rooms during prime time and in the corridor that separates the ocean-view rooms from the lagoon-view rooms, let alone beach traffic for beach-facing rooms. Patrons walk through or around this building when accessing the beach, kids club, Circus or water-skiing. A 2nd or 3rd floor room would negate this.

Food/Restaurants

The food was excellent and provided the usual wide variety of food options as other Club Meds. The main restaurant, L’Hacienda, is centrally located and on an upper floor with the pool and main bar downstairs. We were impressed with the renovations here because the main restaurant offers 5 different room layouts including one that is open to the outside air. We have found previously with other Club Meds that the main restaurant is a monochromatic design and hence creates certain visual monotony after a few days. However, at Cancun with the various rooms decorated with their own unique style, furniture, views and overall décor it alleviates this potential monotony. In addition, each of the main restaurant dining rooms had a more upscale feel to them as a result of the well-chosen décor. This is in contrast to other Club Meds where the feel is more cafeteria-like. My wife and I both agreed it was similar to the classy elegance we found at Columbus Isle.

As for the food selections, it did not disappoint. Breakfasts and lunches offered a wide variety of food choices. One could find the usual ‘meat and potatoes’ North American options if that’s all you wanted, or you could quickly find more exotic choices germane to the local cuisine. If you were in search of more varied choices such as kumquat juice infused pears marinated with pomegranate essence then you could likely find them. Ok, I’m exaggerating but I think you get the idea. As usual, Club Med offers a dizzying array of breads and desserts that they are known for and likely results from their French culture heritage.

The main restaurant also had specialized chef-stations for all 3-meal times. During breakfast these provided custom-made omelets or eggs any way you liked. Lunches and dinners had 4-chef stations where they were making decorative creations that were very well done and most importantly, tasted great. For example, on one evening they had a Sushi chef, a chef making Caesar salads on the fly, a foie gras station and a seafood appetizer station. This was a very nice touch.

In addition to the main restaurant, there were two other a la carte restaurants namely Las Cazuelas and La Pergola. La Pergola is located right next the beach that offered a late breakfast, snacks during the day and a dinner menu. Las Cazuelas is located at the other end of the restaurant and was open for dinner. Interestingly, the beach restaurant also provided food from 10 p.m. till 2 a.m. It appears that Club Med has listened to those requesting better eating options outside of normal dining hours or for those that during sleep walking get a little hungry.

The La Pergola offers Tapas fare, while Las Cazuelas provides Mexican a la carte fare. We enjoyed both, and we ate twice at the Mexican restaurant. The tapas-style restaurant had small portions but you had the ability to order several appetizers and entrees. Food quality was good with a few dishes being a highlight.

Club Med has finally listened to those of us seeking better wine options. As per other Club Meds, table wine and beer is included and available during lunch and dinner. However, if you enjoy quality wine as much as we do, the included fare just doesn’t measure up. I personally would be tempted to use it as fuel in my lawn mower.

Fortunately Club Med Cancun offers an a-la-carte wine list that was very respectable. It offered about 9-10 choices each of reds and whites. I was impressed that they had selected wines that were relatively well known and were of good or better quality. For the wine snobs in the crowd, they would be an 88-92 rating on a Wine Spectator or Robert Parker rating scale. Also, they didn’t try to gouge on price and hence most could be had for $20-$45 per bottle. In some cases , the cost was less than what I’ve seen in restaurants back home. Lastly, when ordering wine the server also brought proper wine glasses to drink with. Kudos on this because at other Club Meds the wine glasses have been reminiscent of a sawed off coke bottle.

For bar options, Club Med Cancun had 4 bars. A pool bar, a large covered bar near the beach and main restaurant, plus a bar at each of the two a-la-carte restaurants. As usual, you could pretty much order up any bar drink you could think of and the bars served them up using premium liquors.

I mentioned that ‘Jade’ building offered room service that was not available to those located in other rooms. This room service provided an a-la-carte menu that was a subset of choices available at the restaurants. There was a good variety of options that were ideal for breakfast or lunch. I would not recommend the service for dinner times given the wider array available in the restaurants. The menu provided a variety of cereals, muffins, breads, croissants and fruit for breakfast. For lunch, there was a selection of salads, breads, and sandwiches. The restaurants were always the best choice, however it was nice to order the occasional breakfast or lunch and have it on the deck while relaxing. The only negative was that at times the service was a little slow and/or the order missing an item. Room service selections were at no charge.

Mini-Club

Both our children were enrolled in Mini-Club for the 10 days. Mini-Club was available everyday except Saturday, which provided the staff with a day-off not withstanding it’s a popular in/out day for arriving/departing guests. Mini-Club had groupings from 4-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-17.

As with prior experiences, Mini-Club exceeds expectations on all levels. The staff are very kid-friendly and clearly enjoy working with children. Parents should have no reservations whatsoever in leaving their kids in the care of the Club Med GOs.

The kids’ program runs from 9 a.m. till 5:30 p.m., and again from 7 p.m. till 9:00 p.m. Organized activities for the kids included, but are not limited to circus (trapeze, trampoline), sailing, kayak, tennis, hip-hop class, snorkeling, beach time, science class, magic discovery, and soccer. Evening events included movies, practicing for the kids show mid-week and a kids’ fashion show. Every day our kids were itching to get to Kids Club which is a pretty good barometer by most perspectives for a parent.

You are able to sign your kids in and out of the program during the day at your leisure. For example, we had a day in which our kids wanted to spend extra time at the beach so we signed them out at 4 p.m. and headed for the sand. Also, the schedule for each day is well detailed and they follow it religiously. Consequently if you want to watch your kid become the next star at Cirque de Soleil you know that your kid will be on the trapeze from 9:30 to 10:15 and hence head over there to watch your little hero, quickly followed by a return to the pool to continue nursing your double vodka on the rocks.

The Spa!

Big kudos to Club Med for elevating the spa experience. Our prior 3 visits to Club Med where “spa services” were lacking; this is not the case at Cancun.

Spa services provided at other Club Meds have been limited to a massage only, and even then, I’d swear the Club had hired the local chef as a masseuse simply on the basis that he could spell ‘spa’. Cancun is worth every penny you spend on their spa, and they offer a vast array of spa services for both men and women. You can elect to go with a straight-forward Swedish massage, or go for a more exotic Indian wrap, followed by an exfoliation and stone massage. My wife and I went for a 2-day package that was to die for. In addition to that, I went in for a sports massage that was one of the best I’d had in a while. All of the staff we experienced were very professional and clearly were experienced in their respective fields.

The spa set-up was also excellent. You were provided with a luxurious terry-cloth bathrobe and towel upon arrival, and promptly escorted to a well-appointed change room. The change-room had about 24 personal lockers, with individual keys, along with several large showers and private change areas. The main concourse in the spa was nicely decorated along with gentle waterfalls and a private sitting area with six very comfortable lounge chairs overlooking the lagoon and garden area. A selection of hot teas and citrus water was available for consumption. There were about six private rooms upstairs used for the various spa services. Each room was very spacious and decorated. You had a private shower available for use during services such as an exfoliation.

Here are some examples of the types of massages you could receive:
- aromasoul oriental massage ritual
- aromasoul Mediterranean massage ritual
- aromasoul Indian massage ritual
- aromatic anti-stress massage
- hot stone massage therapy
- Swedish
- lushly ritual for hands and feet
- lymph drainage

Yes, lymph drainage! Drano not required.

Costs were in-line with what you’d expect at your local spa. I’d say they were cheaper on average than your higher-end North American options. A one-hour massage ranged from $87 USD to $133 USD. They also provided a wide variety of package options. Some were geared for couples to enjoy together, or you could opt for an individual package that knitted together a set of services. Other offerings included facials, pedicures, manicures, waxes and hair styling/cuts.

We are big spa fans and it’s great to see Club Med put together a well thought out set-up versus what we’ve seen at other Club Meds. We hope this is a sign of things to come at their other resorts.

Beaches

Club Med Cancun has a main beach, plus three smaller beaches and is partially surrounded by a small lagoon. The resort is shaped like a backwards ‘C’ and I have incorporated a link there to maps.google.com which gives you some nice overhead visual detail. If you look at the link, the main beach is located at the 11 and 12 o’clock position of the backwards ‘C’. The Google map coupled with the attached scanned resort map should give you a very good idea of the overall layout.

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The main beach is well situated and we believe they have the best spot relative to the other beaches associated with other hotels along the bay. The primary reason is that the Club Med location is tucked at the far eastern end of a large bay. Coupled with this is a small peninsula that protects the Club Med beach from typically high winds that otherwise creates large waves for the other resorts along the bay. Consequently, even during windy days, swimming is still enjoyable given the protection the peninsula provides. Also, given that Club Med is located at the end of the bay, there is no foot traffic from other vacationers that you often get when a resort is sandwiched between other resorts.

The beach is wide and is well appointed with many umbrellas for shade. In addition, the Club Med GOs were more than willing to erect a temporary umbrella for those that requested one. The sand is gorgeous and typical of the white fine-grained sand familiar to those who have frequented the Cancun beaches. Seaweed accumulation is not an issue. I mention this because reviews of other resorts further to the south toward Playa del Carmen have complained about this substantially such as Moon Palace.

We were surprised that Club Med Cancun had staff taking drink orders while you were relaxing on a beach chair. Our previous Club Med visits did not provide this and so perhaps this is a new trend. If so, it’s very welcome.

The other beaches are located on the eastern side of the resort. The next nearest to the main beach is where the snorkeling shack is located. This beach is not large but does sport 3 umbrellas and in addition to great snorkeling, can also be enjoyed for swimming although it is shallow because of the reefs during low tide. This beach can be found opposite the Granate building.

The second beach is located next to the Las Cazuelas restaurant, which is further south of the first two beaches. The beach itself is very large and flat, and provides a variety of beach chairs and umbrellas. This beach is not conducive to swimming because of the scattered coral and rocks in the rather shallow waters. However, it is particularly quiet and we found it was great for building sand castles with the kids. Better still, it had a bar right next to it!

The third beach was further south from the second and accommodates the sailing and wind surfing venue. A large selection of Catamarans and windsurfers were available during the day here. This beach had umbrellas and was great for relaxing it was ideal for swimming because it the area was geared for the coming and going of the boats and windsurfers. However, another quiet spot to relax under a variety of umbrellas.

The Pool

The pool is centrally located next to the main restaurant and the main bar, not withstanding it has its own pool-side bar. Next to the pool is a very ‘chic’ outdoor comfy lounge partially covered by what appears to be suspended sailboat sails. Evening band music was played next to the pool area in this lounge area starting around 6 p.m. and hence it was a popular area to kick back and be a lounge lizard while nursing that double vodka. The pool itself was quite large, about 15 m by 30 m, and had an ample offering of deck chairs and umbrellas surrounding it. However, overall space around the pool was tight and at times it felt crowded. The resort could probably do with another pool located elsewhere. I am nitpicking though as this was not a major issue.

Discovery Center/Services

Club Med Cancun has a nicely appointed promenade with a variety of shops as you walk from the Granate building to the main restaurant. The Discovery Center had several people assisting you in making arrangements for external excursions available at an additional cost. These include, but are not limited to scuba diving, Mayan ruin explorations, deep-sea fishing, golfing, Cancun shopping and so forth. Costs were reasonable and ran from $40 USD for a half-day Mayan heritage sites to over $130 USD for more elaborate, full day excursions.

I am an avid scuba diver and on that note, Club Med provided scuba excursions to Playa del Carmen on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These involved an 8 a.m. departure with a 4 p.m. return. Costs ranged from $120 USD to $180 USD depending on the nature of the dive. For the divers in the crowd, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel offer some of the best diving in the western hemisphere. I did four dives and was not disappointed. In particular, I did the infamous Cenotes dives or otherwise known as cave/cavern diving. It was one of the most memorable diving experiences to-date for me. The cost for the scuba excursions was inclusive of transportation to and from the dive shop in Playa del Carmen, as well as a light lunch. The quality of their staff/equipment was first rate.

I also took advantage of the local golf options although I arranged by own transportation. Best golf options are the Jack Nicklaus courses at Moon Palace and further south at Mayakoba. Moon Palace was a very convenient because it was only a 10 minute taxi ride away whereas others such as Maykoba (a Fairmont resort) were 30-45 minutes. Service on the course at Moon Palace was very good, and the overall quality of the course was very good with 27 holes in total for playing. Remember that when booking tee times in this part of the world, that they operate on Mexican ‘time’. Consequently when you show up, your actual tee off may differ and hence allow yourself a bit of a buffer depending on your schedule.

Green fees at Moon Palace were $260 and because the resort is an all-inclusive you had unlimited food/drink during your time at Moon Palace Resort. Mayakoba will be known to golf enthusiasts because the PGA held an event here back in February 2008. Green fees are cheaper than Moon Palace ($130-$160), but keep in mind that the taxi fare will run you about $35-$40 USD.

The Club Med shops include a Thrifty Car Rental centre. This is similar to what we found at Guadeloupe last year and very convenient. Given the cost of taxis, you may want to consider renting a car for the day depending on your destination. A standard, 4-door sedan for a day was $70 USD inclusive of all charges, including insurance. Gas charges are extra and as of April 01/08 gas was $1.08 USD per litre. The car is brought to you at reception and hence you return it to reception with a full tank. I just wish more resorts made car rentals this easy.

The promenade also had a photography centre in which photographs taken by the resident photographer were on display. The photographer took shots during the day of your kids, you and whomever you happened to be with. These shots were put on display at the end of the day and hence you could order a variety of quantities and sizes. Orders were ready the next day. Costs were in-line with local North American charges for prints.

As usual, the promenade also offered a Club Med boutique with the requisite T-shirts, island clothing, hats, shorts and related wear. In addition, one could find travel staples such as sunscreen, shaving cream, postcards and the like.

Another store featured Mexican jewelry and related bling. This isn’t something that my wife and I are into, so I cannot offer details as to quality or selection.

The promenade also featured several days during which local Mexican vendors were able to set-up and hock their wares such as Mexican art, knick-knacks, clothing and various voodoo dolls so you could poke a likeness of your in-laws with pins and needles.

Resort Miscellaneous

The resort while spacious is easily navigated from one side to the other within a span of 10 minutes or less. It’s location is only 12 minutes from the Cancun airport which is perfect as the noise was not overly noticeable. While the Jade building was on a more remote part of the resort, it was only a 5-minute walk to drop the kids off and a shorter walk to the main beach. The theatre was located next the main bar and away from any of the accommodations so any residual noise from the evening shows would not impact those trying to get an early night sleep.

The resort guests were predominantly American and Canadian. I’d guess that 20% were from Europe given the variety of Italian, French, British and Germans we occasionally ran into. The staff were able to speak English well and many could speak 3 languages. Given the lack of Europeans relative to other Club Meds we’ve been to, topless bathing was at a minimum although it was evident from time to time.

The gym was well appointed and adjacent to the Spa. There was a large exercise area where classes were provided such as Bosu Core Training, dance, Yoga and so on. Large windows on one side offered a nice view of the lagoon for those using the running machines. There were 3 cycle machines, 2 cross-trainers and 2 bikes. A wide selection of free weights were available, plus two universal machines. As an avid gym user, I found the set-up more than sufficient for my work-out needs given it was supposed to be a ‘vacation’. Not surprisingly the gym was busy at 9 a.m., Noon and again at 5 p.m.

For those on their departure day whereby you had a late flight but with an 11 a.m. checkout time, you may want access to a shower/change room to maximize your remaining hours. Consequently the Club offers a nice changing room area near the main restaurant. No charge is required.

The Club also offers a laundry service and for those of us in the Jade Building, this was free of charge, and hence very convenient.

Outdoor sporting activities on the resort include circus from 4 p.m till 6 p.m. when not in use by the Mini/Kids Club program. Their staff are very proficient in this area as evidenced by the weekly circus show put on by the staff. Tennis is also available with over 6 courts available, plus rackets and balls if you needed them.

Beach volleyball was organized daily along with basketball and soccer. Sea-doos were available on the main beach by a 3rd party outfit at an additional charge.
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