My husband and I stood at Carisa Y Palma April 22 to 28th and when you first see this place my expression was like "Oh my God what did I book!" Let me start from the beginning, We checked in and our room wasnt ready yet but they let us go upstairs anyway. So the cleaning lady is there still cleaning so we decide to lay down and take a nap. We napped for 45 minutes and she was just leaving (so it took her a while she was old). The beds Are HARD as ROCK, it was like sleeping on the floor. We doubled up the quilts and it became bearable. The shower pressure was low so it took me a while to wash my hair (i have long hair). The beach was very rocky so I didn't like it at all. To get into the water you would need watershoes unless your okay with the rocks under your feet. Also, there is no iron in your room or on the premises, when I asked for an iron they looked at me like I was crazy. So we took the bus to Walmart and bought an iron for ten American dollars and brought it back with us. Walmart in Cancun is better than any Walmart Ive been to, its a Super Duper Walmart and if you are missing anything go there. The pool was fine. Now for the good stuff, We had a great view of the ocean from our balcony. We were on the seventh floor so we heard the water crashing against the rocks so that was romantic and very beautiful. Another good thing was that a lot of happening places were in walking distance (hardrock cafe, senor frogs, the city (club), coco bongo (club) like 5 bars, local places to eat, Mcdonalds, Burger King, subway, a flea market and there is a small liquor store in the market, which was dirt cheap so i reccomend to buy your liquor there) and if not the bus stop was right in front of the hotel. Staff was very friendly. Like I said its your best buck for Ocean View and location.

My friends and I went on our first spring break and ended up staying at the Carisa y palma. When we arrived we were like oh great this is going to be a dive, but we ended up with a pimped out room. Turns out we had the nicest room on our floor. We had two large queen sized beds, although they were a little rough it doesn't matter when you pass out on them. The room had a nice little kitchen and a LOT of room for unpacking clothes or anything else.
Beach was fabulous although the sun did go behind the hotel by 3pm it was ok b/c by then it was time to drink. Staff was nice and friendly, dont need to get the safe for 20 dollars when you get there. The staff never stole anything from us. We also wrote down on a piece of paper anything that was wrong with our room before we actually signed everything that way they couldnt rip us off. We checked out and had nothing go wrong.
One of the nice staff guys told use not to use the phones in the room or the lobby. For some reason people were getting billed outragious amounts to their rooms for using them. Some ppl were getting billed 400 dollars. He recommended using the payphones.
Location is awesome, we couldnt have asked for more we were right there within walking distance from everything. Also the convenient store XOXO south down the street from the hotel was cheap and great for anything you needed.

My husband and I stayed in the Carisa builidng 12-19 April 2005 for one week with an ocean view room. We were on the second floor (I prefer lower floors), which was great since we used the stairs when the elevator was slow. Sometimes it was slow and sometimes it was fine. It was not a big deal for us. The elevator fits 3 people but there are two elevators. The end rooms are smaller than the middle rooms, we had an end room which was fine. There was some music noise from the nearby clubs at night. We could have switched to the Palma builidng which would have been a bit quieter but the music was not that loud and we didn't want to pack up and move. It is a budget hotel but very clean. Our maid was so nice we enjoyed talking to her every time we saw here. There was no maid service on Sundays. We had no problem getting extra sheets, toilet paper, etc. at the desk whenever we needed it. Service was good. It is a private condo hotel. We had a small kitchenette in the room which was really great. No counter space at all but not a big deal. I peaked into the other middle room while the maid was in there and they were bigger with good counter space, I guess they reserve those rooms for those that pay more. We paid around $70.00 a night so we were very happy with what we got. The maid washed our dishes every day (except Sunday). Everything worked fine. We used the fridge, coffeemaker and microwave, tv. (Bring your own ground coffee from home, especially if you like Starbucks quality - - Mexican coffee is horrible). Shower was great, we had great pressure and hot water every day. The toilet was slow but not a problem. The air conditioner was great, just a bit noisy, but no problem. The bed sheets were thin and old, but clean, but we just got extra ones and doubled up the sheets, so that was good. The furniture in the room was old and damaged, but for what we paid for oceanfront, we did not mind at all. There was a room safe under the sink. There was a daily charge for the lock and key for the safe, but it was minimal. The security seemed a bit more lax than at a regular hotel, but we felt safe and usually always saw a security guard on the beach and walking around between the two buildings. The outdoor beach showers were nice and warm and good pressure. The beach was in the regenerating stage but still nice with large and small rocks and boulders, with these beautiful little sand beaches surrounded by giant rocks, so very beautiful with several cozy little beach areas. We snorkeled right from our beach at the hotel around these giant rocks. It was fun and we did see fish of many sizes but not a super great snorkeling spot, just so fun and convenient to do from the hotel. It was nice to snorkel there, then go back to the room to drop off the gear, come right back out to swim at the sandier beaches just a short walk from the hotel. It is a very short walk anyway to bigger sandy beaches to use. Very nice. We walked both north and south to enjoy all the beaches. We walked north for a few minutes and swam at the sandy beach at the NH Krystal hotel. And we walked south for a while and used the really nice beach at the Hyatt Cancun. The location was great and you could walk to the shops Coral Negro and El Zocolo in a few minutes. The bus stop was very close. There was always a guard at the gate of the entrance to the hotel's parking lot. There was a small store on the property for snacks etc. The hotel's swimming pool was nice but needed more attention in cleaning the leaves and a floating bottle in it. But we prefered the sea and beach anyway. So for the cost of the hotel and what we got, we think it was a bargain. If you don't mind an older property with minor faults, this is great. We will stay here again.

Only gets a 4 rating since it seems to be a hotel built when Cancun was born. (Newer, nicer hotels get a 5 though I'd never spend that kind of $)
We stayed here 4/16-23. The view of the gulf/ocean from our room (303-3 in the Carisa building) was just AWEsome. The staff members are friendly and helpful (maybe more since I speak Spanish although they were also great with patient English-speaking customers), the room had a kitchen area with dishes, silverware, a working 2-burner electric stove and refridgerator. There's also a safe in the closet you can use for 2 USD a day.
If you wanted to gripe, I suppose you could say the cons are having a TV with 1 or sometimes no channel with programs in English, there are too many rocks behind the hotel so you have to walk along the sand about 5-10 mins. to the left for a great swimming place (just beyond Coco Bongo), and that guest room doors are constantly slamming due to the nice breeze that causes you to always want your door open.
I did get to peek into a room on the lagoon side of the building. Nice though I much prefer one on the gulf/ocean side.
Looking very much forward to the next time staying here.