We stayed at Grand Coco Bay from April 4 - April 11 and loved every minute. The service was friendly and accomodating. We enjoyed a good breeze from the ocean and kept us all nice and cool. The food was good and the specialty rest. were OK. Only 1 person had a problem from the food but was a good sport about it. To keep 12 crabby adults happy is a challenge at home but Grand Coco Bay did it in Mexico. We have all agreed that we will return again after we visit our other favorites in Mexico !!!

We have just returned from a week at Grand Coco Bay and loved it. This was our first trip to Mexico and our first trip with our daughters (7&5).

First about Grand Coco Bay:

The hotel & the grounds are great - nothing spectacular, but nothing at all to complain about. We stayed in 2123 - it was on the ground floor, non construction side, pool view. Our room met our expectations. It was clean & the housekeeping staff did a fair job.
The entertainment staff are AMAZING. I thought the shows at night were great - I heard others complaining about them being cheesy - and some parts were, but I looked forward to going everynight & so did my family. During the day there were lots of activities that you could do or easily ignore. The staff is very attentive & made a HUGE effort to make us feel like family. There was water polo, dance lessons, step classes, water areobics, beach volleyball & soccer, spanish lessons etc. During the times where there weren't any activities the entertainment staff made a point of keeping the kids entertained with things like tic tac toe & just general playing around - my daughters loved them & I appreciated their effort.

The bars weren't the highlight of the vacation. After a few days of horrible service with out so much as a smile - we gave the bartender at the swim up bar a generous tip & received mediocre service for the rest of the holiday. We found the restaurant, snack bar & bar staff lacked in their service skills - with the exception of the lobby bartender who always had a smile. The service improved with everyone with generous tips - but they made it very obvious with out a tip, you'd be waiting! The bars offered a small selection of premium liquor & the drinks were not watered down at all.

We didn't eat at the a la carte's because none of us remembered closed toe shoes - and it is the rule (not sure how strictly it is enforced - we didn't bother trying) We ate breakfast and supper every day at the buffet. No complaints about the food at all. I found the selection to be average - there was always something - even for the pickiest of eaters. The snack bar served great nachos, pizza's, ice cream, sandwiches, french fries & burgers for those times you crave a little taste of 'home-style' food. We ate lunch there everyday & it was open from after breakfast until just before supper - which was great for the kids incase they didn't like the themed dinners.

The pools are great - a small section for the little ones, lots of room for kids & another area that seemed to attract most of the singles & older couples. To get an umbrella we had to be out early - 7am for the pool, 6am for the beach - there aren't many & once people get them for the day, they don't move!

The beach was beautiful, cool white sand, clear turquoise water that was as warm or even warmer than the pool. Walking to the beach from the resort you can head right to go into a busy section area & into town for shopping. Going to the left will take you on a very quiet walk and to very calm water.

Grand Coco Bay is an intimate resort, I would not recommend it for young people looking for a party - you likely won't find it unless you bring all of the guests :) This is a great place for families with young to adolecent children, or 50 somethings looking for a quiet holiday.

As for the area, with it being our first trip to Mexico a few things suprised me:
1) It is very safe - I had no problem walking on my own into town, taking a taxi or walking along the beach.
2) The area is very americanized - mcdonalds, dominos, starbucks, wal-mart, DQ. Wal-mart was great for the convienence of needed supplies - but if you are going just to see what Wal-Mart in mexico is like - don't - it is the same - but more expensive.
3) Very few people speak english. At Grand Coco Bay it was only the entertainment staff - the others really didn't know any English.
It would have been very helpful to learn some basic spanish to communicate with taxi drivers & service staff.

CANADIANS - we converted our money to american ( & paid .23) before leaving only to find out that Mexico is taking Canadian & American at the same value.

Would I go back? absolutely - when we were leaving it felt like we were leaving home.

We went in March the weather was very nice. The Hotel room were very clean. There is two thing we din't like the buffet not enough food variety (never got any bacon in the moring)and in front of the beach to many boats not plesant you can smell the fuel gaz all day. Staff not pleasant at all can get a smile out of these people. Very quiet resort good for familly with children

Gina
Canada

stayed at grand coco bay spring break 2008. This is a three star resort for sure. O.K. location on beach with constuction. This hotel over books so you may noy have a room when you arrive. They move you to another hotel until they have a room. It may be expedia customers for some reason. Keep this in mind before booking because once they have your money the hotel manager is in control. This is hard to fight when in mexico.