I stayed here for ten nights on my honeymoon looking for a relaxing trip. This is a great, small, boutique hotel on Cancun's hotel zone strip nestled between the likes of the Ritz and the JW Marriot. It's not a large amount of property, but they did an amazing job with it and everything looks new and CLEAN and beautifully upscale. There are 3 gorgeous pools cascading down to the beach level, with each pool having a different temperature (hot, medium, and cool). The beach itself is small and somewhat eroded like the rest of Cancun, but when you look around at the other hotel beaches, Le Meridien seems to have an above average beach size. The water was very rough during our stay (not sure if it's always like that) and every day was VERY WINDY (not sure if it's always like that). There are two restaurants - the fancy Aiolo in the main building (with views of the ocean) and the more casual St. Trop by the pool area. It's not a pool bar per se, but off to the side and overlooking the ocean. The St. Trop has numerous waiters that walk through the pool areas looking for drink orders to satisfy. The gym and spa was in a small detached building to the side and is very CLEAN and modern, like the rest of the hotel. That's a general overview, and now onto the nitty gritty.

Restaurants: The eating experience at the hotel was amazing at the hotel, especially Alioli. The service at Aioli was the best we've ever had and the food was amazing as well. Like another reviewer said, the staff was a bit green but they were amazing nonetheless. The breakfast buffets at Aioli were out of this world. Very expensive, but worth every penny. Very classy and clean buffet with high quality food. The food at St. Trop was ok, but not great. However, the service and drinks more than made up for that.

Gym: We used the gym every day. It had very modern equipment (lifefitness cardio machines with touchscreens capable of showing tv) and was very clean. However, they kept the music on in the gym way too loud so it made it very difficult to use your own ipod unless you want to go deaf or get tinitus. When asked to turn down the music, the staff did so but wasn't pleased. Also, the gym was VERY crowded in the morning with what we figured were locals or other workers (they couldn't have been guests because they all knew each other and were in groups of like 5 to 10 people, but I guess it is likely). Also, there was no calf raise machine, hack squat machine or squat rack, but they did have a guided smith rack.

Pools:

A. THERE IS NO HOT TUB. I repeat. THERE IS NO HOT TUB. The "hot tub" is actually a small section of the upper pool. This upper pool is supposed to be the warm pool, but it never got too warm. It probably hovered around 90 degrees or less during our stay. So the hot tub was really a "warm tub" if even. This was disappointing. In addition, because it was only a "warm tub," a lot of parents kept their children and babies in the hot tub such that it wasn't even a relaxing experience. No fault to them, but also disappointing.

B. The lower pools were also usually way too cold such that we only went into the upper pool because it was tolerable. Oh well. This didn't ruin our pool exeprience as the pools are beautiful and fun, but we were very disappointed in there not being a hot tub.

C. The resort did not have enough umbrellas for the lounge chairs such that there was a competition every single day to get the umbrellas for shade. If you did not get down to the pool by 9 or 10am, you were a nomad without an umbrella because people generally did not start leaving their umbrellas until 4 or 5pm. I woke up early every day to get an umbrella which is not a fun way to spend your vacation.

D. There were a number of conventions here which was fine. Most were relaxing, but one of the conventions included people in their 40s who wanted to relive their youth and party like it was spring break. Now, this is fine, but most people choose Le Meridien to escape the spring break atmosphere of Cancun. But some of the conventioners partied hard by the pools and took the entire bottom pool over such that it wasn't very relaxing at all.

Excursions: We used the Naturama office in the hotel to book two excursions - half day at Chichen Itza and one day at Xcaret. Xcaret wasn't as amazing as everyone said, but still should not be missed. The show at the end of the day was amazing. Chichen Itza was great to see but was a 3 hour bus ride each way.

Room: The room was great and the housekeeping service was very nice and very willing to help. The tv gets a NYC ABC feed which was great as well. There was a South Florida NBC feed, but other than that everything was the international version (CNN International, ESPN International, etc.).

Convenience Store: The hotel store is terrible. Has nothing. We ventured to the JW Marriot store on one of our last days and were amazed at how large it was and its great selection. They even had a small coffee shop in it as well. You could get anything in there including more US typical snacks and yogurt and books and magazines. If we had known earlier, we would have stocked up at the JW Marriot store for snacks for the room and even cheaper breakfast options.

One other general Cancun thing to note: the Cancun airport has the worst magazine selection ever. The store at the entrance of the airport has the best one of the entire airport, so if you wait till you're past security you're screwed, but even that store was very limited. Make sure you buy your magazines for the plane ride home before you head to the airport.

Summary
Pros: Best service, amazing food at Aioli including breakfast buffet, very modern and clean hotel.

Cons: No hot tub, not enough umbrellas by the pools, some conventioners give a spring break atmosphere, the gym could be crowded and loud.

I was prepared to enjoy every minute of my frist trip to Cancun. I researched hotels copiously in advance and was pleased with my $308 a night quote at Le Meridien for a 4th floor suite.

It was a lovely, large marble suite with 2 excellently appointed bathrooms, one "3/4" and one full. There was a DVD and CD player as promised, and the coffeemaker was much appreciated. I knew this was not an all-inclusive property, which is usually the way I go. I was appalled by the prices of things at the hotel however. A local call was $8, shot of rum at the restaurant bar was $10 and they wanted to charge me for an extra packet of coffee for the room. I was so annoyed by the feeling that they were trying to make money at every turn (which I have never experienced before) that I shopped at the local market for breakfast each day and decided not to indulge in the $120 hour massage, though I had been looking forward to it. The "free" breakfast and drinks, by the way, which one reviewer alluded to, are not free. They come with the concierge level only, or can be added on to any room/suite for $100 a day.

The sea is magnificent...truly a sight to behold. The pools/restaurant/beach area of the hotel is beautifully constructed, relaxing and a delight. Less pleasant was my discovery that not only do the cabanas cost extra, but a lounge chair set up with a towel means someone has "claimed" it.

After 4 visits to Puerto Vallarta and this first to Cancun, I felt a real difference in the experience. There is no charming, walkable downtown in Cancun. The hotel zone has all the upscale shopping you would want and many restaurants however. The tip of taking bus, given by many, was brilliant. I felt that locals are more jaded than in P.V. where they genuinely appreciate your presence, your business and a simple "Buenas dias."

I have just returned from six nights at this hotel. First off, the pool and beach area are spectacular. If you want to sit by the pool or even go into the ocean this is a great hotel for you.

One problem I had was that I prepaid for my room. I think this is a bad idea. When you do this you lose a great deal of negotiating leverage if the room is not "up to par" after you check in. You're stuck there. I pre-paid for an ocean view room and was stuck in a room overlooking the driveway up to the hotel entrance. Who flies to Cancun to have that view? After three nights there I finally got a nice room up on the sixth floor with a GREAT ocean view. I found most service personnel at the hotel to be great, but the front desk people specialized in putting off inquiries about when I would get the room for which I had paid.

You will pay dearly for almost anything you consume in this hotel. Nothing wrong with that - they have to make a buck. A Snickers bar is $3 (U.S.), while a copy of USA Today is $4 (U.S.) - but maybe that is the going rate at an upscale hotel. The cheapest breakfast you can get at the hotel (after tip) is about $20 (U.S.). Be sure and tip. Wages in Mexico are very low and tips are essential for service personnel. Take a lot of small bills and/or Mexican 10 peso coins (worth about $1 US).

AquaWorld has a lot of excursions and is within a 10-15 minute walk of this hotel. I enjoyed the jungle trip, but the day-long snorkeling trip to Isla Mujeres was largely a waste, in my opinion. The little wave-runners are fun to rent for about 30 minutes.

Cancun is not a place we would normally vacation, but we were invited to a destination wedding at Le Meridien. We were very happy with our 6 night stay. It's a great place for a honeymoon or couple's vacation. Not close to the bar action or party scene, but perfect for us.

The wedding was in an outside gazebo, with an open bar for cocktails and appetizers. Then dinner was served in an outside terrace area. The Mexican buffet was excellent. The only problem was that it was windy. When dancing extended past outdoor quiet hours, we moved to an indoor ballroom to finish the party.

The hotel, rooms and pools are gorgeous. Despite the information from Frommer's, most of the rooms do have a side ocean view, although only the suites on one side have a front ocean view. We had a balcony on the sixth floor. Marble bathroom. Comfortable beds. Samsung LCD TV. Sofa and desk area.

The hotel is relatively small compared to the nearby megaresorts, so the pool area and restaurants never felt crowded.

Their Aioli restaurant served one of the best meals we've ever had. Wonderful taste and texture. Beautiful presentation. Not the best/most experienced service, but very friendly. Full breakfast buffet was pricey at $26, but excellent. There are partial buffets available though for less (continental ~$20).

When we stayed there, there was a conference with the Latin America presidents in Cancun. The president of Mexico and Honduras stayed at our hotel. (We felt important!) Even with all the security hoopla, there was minimal impact on the guests. The hotel staff had everything running smoothly.

Concierge service was excellent and friendly.

Spa services are said to be excellent but we didn't even have time to partake.

Few cons: Not directly on the strip (Kukulcan Blvd) so had five minute walk to bus stop; construction of new building going on next door (between Le Meridien and JW Marriott), so view not perfect, food expensive