When: June 14-21, 2008
Who: Me (28), Husband (32), and our two sons ages 5 and 9

It is hard for me to write a negative review about the CPC because the staff work nonstop and so hard. But I feel that if I am going to write a review I need to inform others about all the things I wondered about when booking a trip.

I didn't expect the CPC to be the Ritz-Carlton but the rooms could have been a bit better. I booked directly from the CPC website. The website shows only one picture of the family suites. I thought we booked a family suite where the main bed is separated from the bunk beds, two levels, two bathrooms. Apparently there are two (or more) types of family suites. We ended up on our first night sleeping in a Family Suite for 5. This is one level, one bathroom, king size bed, a vertical half wall and then bunk beds. Balcony off the bunk bed space. Now, I was hoping to have a little bit more, uh, visual and auditory privacy from my children - not because I don't like them, but because parent's need some time in private. This type of room did not afford a level of privacy I was comfortable with in that regard.

In another regard, this room adjoined to the room next to it. Shortly after we arrived, we heard the people in the room next to us. I mean we heard everything, we could hear them put on their socks or move about in their beds, speak, etc. We thought, "how thin are these walls?" As it turns out, it may not be the walls fault. You see, the adjoining door which had a lock on our side opened directly into the room next to us. So basically I could walk into their room and say hello if I felt like it. I thought, "Well, at least we are on this side" because the hotel has signs posted in the rooms which say they are not responsible for lost or stolen items - how convenient for the people who can't control access to their room.

This room was not acceptable to us. The bathroom STUNK. I agree with other reviewers who stated they felt as though the water in the toilets was sewer water - it was truly a god awful smell.

So, we were upset feeling that we had not been given the room we had paid for but as it turns out we didn't pay for the room we thought we had based on their based descriptions and pictures. We had to stay in the room one night and were lucky enough to move into the two level suite the next day (for the cost of an additional $75 USD per night - 450 bucks more for our stay).

New room was much better. I don't care that it's view was of the next door run down, derelict hotel. I had privacy, security, two bathrooms, a walk-out patio - with a sliding door that locked. The suites are on the first floor which is convenient. New room was just off the lobby and was surprisingly quiet. This could be due to the two air conditioning fans loudness - which to me was white-noise and fine. The tiles in the rooms can be slippery at times - be careful. I also wore my shoes in the room because no matter how hard they try to keep it clean there were always bits of sand or whatnot that would get underfoot.

The staff - waiters, cooks, housekeepers, maintenance, barmen, security were all wonderful and worked nonstop. I saw the same faces every single day I was there - it broke my heart to see people working so hard and I wonder if they ever get a day off. We tried to tip often - 1,2,3 dollars because of their efforts. But you do reach a point when you say "I just paid this resort $3,100, I don't feel like tipping." But when you see how hard the "little guy" is working we couldn't help but tip.

Kids club - FABULOUS - everything. I am the kind of parent that doesn't like to the leave my kids, paranoid, etc. The staff were amazing and also worked every day - unbelievable. I really felt comfortable dropping my kids off and doing my own thing at the hotel.

Hotel Shows - we only went to one and it was the Fantasy Night - which included Barney, you know the big purple dinosaur - need I say more?

Beach - narrow- big waves. Luckily enough I have boys that love to look for shells, throw seaweed and just stand and let the waves hit their feet - perfect for us. No trouble finding a chair under a canopy. However, did only have one day (out of five at the beach) where a server would come down and see if anyone needed a drink. And when you have to leave your chair, walk across beach, wash off, up stairs and hoof it to the bar it make you not want to tip.

Drinks - watered down. I only felt "buzzed" once - in seven days. Tipping did not seem to make a difference. The drinks in the actual hotel restaurants were a bit stronger and better tasting.

Food - buffet was ... a buffet. What can you expect.? There was variety but it was always a variation on the same theme. Definitely try to get yourself booked ahead in the real restaurants for dinner. We were only able to try Los Gallos (mexican) and La Piazza (italian). We enjoyed both but loved Los Galls more.

Sushi hut - also a lunch option with good food. you have to time it right though otherwise there is a line 10-12 deep in one little hut with hot griddles cooking and it's 85+ degrees already.

In summary, CPC: I would hate to see what their standard hotel rooms are like, if you can splurge for a suite for seven, GREAT for families and kids over 4, always someone cleaning or doing maintenance (which I appreciate), and hardworking, friendly staff, although the front desk staff could be a little friendlier.

One last note, watch out for the "VIP breakfast"/ "VIP package". These people greet you as soon as you get out of your arriving vehicle. They say the breakfast is to give you more information about to best utilize the resort, but it isn't, it is a timeshare sales pitch and they are persistent. They forget what you look like and accost you every time you walk by them.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

me and my family stayed at the CPC in august, the all inclusive facilities were good and drinks and food were available at all times.
The room we stayed in with was clean and very spacious.The reception area was good and the staff were very helpfull especially as the cards to enter the rooms were temprimental and would not unlock the door if they got wet.
The poor area was of a high standard and was allways clean. There were allways sun loungers available around the pool and on the beach. There were lots of touters on the beach but they only needed to be told NO once.
Entertainment throughout the day was exellent, but there was not much happening on an evening.
The buffet style restaurant was brillant and there was allways lots of choice, also the al a carte restaurants were good especialy Wayne's Boot's we had no problems booking in.
Whilst in Mexico hurricain Dean also hit. The hotel staff were exellent in the build up to this and kept us well updated.
Overall the holiday was exellent would recomend the dolphin discovery trip and chichen iza excursions. Mexico is a lovely place and the Crown paradise is a good place to stay.

Well where do i start?
Me and my boyfriend both 21 stayed here from the 5th of June till the 19th of June and it was amazing.
The flight was really long 10.5 hours but it was worth the wait.
We stayed in one of the club rooms and we would highly recommend these rooms- they where v.clean and tidy and the jacuzzi was great when you wanted to relax.
The hotel had a few pools but we mostly stayed around the main pool, it did get abit noisey at times but it didn't ruin nothing as the entertainment staff where all great fun.

I was very worried about the weather before we went as all the weather websites said it was to be thunderstorms and rain for the full 2wks- this was rubbish!!! It was gorgeous for the full time we where there, remember to take a good sunscreen as even whens its cloudy you can still get burnt! we did get thunderstorms a couple of times but it was at night and it was great to watch.

The quality of food was fantastic. We tried all the restaurants except the fishermans as we don't like seafood.
Waynes Boots the steak house was lovely (my boyfriend could have went every night)
The Italian was the best in my opinion and we went 4 times during our stay, you've got to try the penne arribiatta pasta!!
We weren't too keen on the mexican but i think it's because we where expecting food similar to the old el paso dinner packs we get at home lol
The French was a big surprise, im a very fussy eater and i took one look at the menu and didn't think i'd like anything but the waiter was very good and patient and the meal was lovely.
The buffet was good and had great selection for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The cheeseburgers and hotdogs kept us going during the day by the pool and we never went hungry.
The room service proved very helpful when we where drunk ha (my boyfriend loved the chocolate cake) lol

Don't listen to bad reviews we loved it!! It is a family resort but if the entertainment round the pool doesn't suit you there's an adult pool which is alot quieter with a swim up bar.

Overall the hotel was amazing and we would def come back, we're even planning our next stay.

I just returned from 4 nights at the CPC with my wife and five year old. Our room was spotless as was the entire resort. The food in the buffet was fine and the Mexican restaurant was outstanding. The Italian and Seafood places were OK but nothing special. It is very difficult to book the Steakhouse, we could not. As mentioned by other reviews, when you look inside the "fully booked" restaurant is less than a quarter occupied.
The beach area is quite small but that is no fault of the hotel and we had a great time there when the wind was calm. I had read over and over about the problems people had with finding chairs at the pool, our only problem was deciding which chair to use. It is also not as loud at the actiivity pool as some would suggest. The kid's water park is great as is the staff. The overall staff with very few exceptions was friendly and helpful. The rest that I could mention about tips and pluses has already been covered well by other reviewers.
We found only one major drawback. At around seven in the evening the cleaning staff starts cleaning the pools and pool areas by throwing buckets of pool water on and around guests at the pool. This happened every night we went to the pool at night. It makes you feel like you should leave even though the signs say the pools are open until 10:00. This was very annoying and was mentioned by several people around the pool at night. I saw a worker throw a bucket of water on someone's beach bag that was full of towels and cloths. You also can't get a towel after 5:30PM. This entire excercise was totally out of character with the rest of our stay.
I would go back to the CPC with my kids because of the great actiivites during the day. I wolud pick somewhere else if it was an adults only vacation.