We stayed at the Marriott Casa Magna for 6 nights starting July 18th. In our family there are 2 adults and 2 children (18 and 20). We were able to book the All-Inclusive through the Marriott website.
I tried to break it down so it would be easier:
The Hotel- The grounds, and the facilities are exceptional! Everything was clean and well maintained. We reserved an OCEAN FRONT room and it was amazing. We emailed the Concierge (Artemio at [--]) in advance and asked for a specific room (3095) thanks to some TripAdvisor reviewers. The room was OUTSTANDING. From our balcony (which was a walk out balcony with no balcony above you) you could look down both coast as far as the eye could see. It was truly an amazing view. You could also see a large portion of the pool. We would take this room any day over the PREMIUM OCEAN VIEW rooms (which costs more).
Airport Transporation- We arranged Airport transportation ($12 US each way) thru the Concierge in advance. It was a little crazy when we arrived (driver was not right there) but after a few minutes he arrived. We used the same transportation back to the airport when we left and it worked out great. Would definitely recommend Prestige transportation.
Beach - The beach is narrow all along the hotel zone strip since the hurricane. But when we arrived it was really very good. They had lounge chairs out on the beach as well as an area for beach Volleyball. However, during the week a tropical storm came in, and after that the beach changed daily. We lost almost 50% of the beach and it had become very rocky. (see pictures). It was amazing that the beach could change that much in a single day. Now we understand why some people say the beach is bad. Some days it was and others it was great! The blue water and white sand are unbelievably gorgeous and there were always palapas available for shade, even though the sand was higher under them on certain days. Be aware that the waves are rough so you need to be careful.
Pool - There is a large swimming pool, a large hot tub pool (like a Jacuzzi but warm, not hot), and a small baby pool. The pools were nothing fancy, but fine for cooling off and relaxing around. The pool bar is absolutely amazing and since we were all inclusive we pretty much tried every drink on the menu:) The drink prices at all of the bars are expensive. $8 for a Margarita, Vodka Tonic or Rum and Coke and $5.50 for a can of Corona or Modelo.
Food - The food that we had at the hotel was amazing. We ate at the La Capilla breakfast buffet ($22 US but we were all inclusive so it didn’t matter). We ate lunch at the pool or beach and it was great. The nachos are delicious as well as the burrito. La Capilla is also an Argentian steak house for dinner. We ate there several times. The steak, chicken and salad bar are all delicious. We ate at Sasi Thai and the food was excellent. Definitely try the King Crab spring rolls. They are so delicious. Mikado (Japanese) was good and it was fun to sit and watch the food being prepared. We ate at Champions and the food was very good –typical Bar food. For the all-inclusive we were able to eat the breakfast buffet from La Capilla, Lunch from the pool or Champions and Dinner from La Capilla, Mikado, Sasi Thai or Champions. I would recommend the all-inclusive if it is available. The food is so delicious and you don’t really have to worry about what to order.
Service - This was the odd part. The service was average. We don’t have a lot of expectation, but at other hotels we have stayed at in Cancun it seemed that the staff was overly friendly. We were all inclusive and maybe that was part of the problem. In the all inclusive there is a 10% built in tip, so you would assume they would be more interested in keeping you fed and a full drink, but they were not. And I was even tipping on top of that. The first couple of days it seemed odd that they were not coming right away to see if you wanted a drink or food. We need to point out though, at the same time that some of the staff were very friendly and attentive. (Carlos at La Capilla, Noe at the Lobby bar, Salvador at the pool, and all of the bellman at the door were very, very nice, friendly and talkative). The unusual service did not ruin our vacation in anyway, but it was odd.
We visited Isles of Mujeres for a day. We took the bus to the Ferry at Playa Tortoga. (We got off of the bus too early though – so stay on the bus until you see the sign for Playa Tortugas). It was $15 round trip per person for about a 20 minute ferry ride to the island. We immediately rented a Golf cart for $45 for the whole day. It was well worth it. We drove around the whole island. Playa Norte is an amazing beach and the lighthouse at the south point of the island is a must! Gorgeous view! We had a blast that day and would recommend everyone to do this!
Like others have said before the bus stop is right in front of the hotel. Make sure you get on and off quickly because they drive away fast. We loved taking the bus instead of a taxi because it was a fun experience!
If you are considering a vacation in Cancun this is a great place to stay. We would definitely go back! As I am writing this I wish we were back there! (Message me if you have any other questions, I would be more than happy to respond.)
