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Grand Sirenis Feb. 14-21 - 2/23/2013 10:35:01 PM
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sugarplum14
Posts: 5
Joined: 2/9/2013
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Where do I begin? First off, like most travellers I checked Trip Advisor daily for months before our trip to the Grand Sirenis February 14-21. Although I normally take bad reviews with a grain of salt, I was starting to get worried about what kind of trip to expect.
Our check-in to the hotel was smooth (we arrived at 12 - and our room wasn't ready until 3). We had requested adjoining rooms, on the 2nd or 3rd floor. They weren't able to accomodate us on the 2nd/3rd floor request, but our rooms were adjoining. We were in the Chucum building - rooms 2204/2206. Our rooms were spotlessly clean, and we had welcome letters and towel art waiting for us on our arrival. We were truly impressed with the modern look/feel of the hotel rooms. The beds were a little hard, but I didn't expect anything less when you are travelling to a resort. We visited the concierge immediately to book our al-la-cartes and she was beyond helpful. We booked with Transat so we had the "Mirage package" and we had a bottle of tequila in our room, and the concierge gave us a welcome gift of some after sun lotion, bubble bath etc. in it. We were able to book the Mexican, Steakhouse and Japenese for our stay (all at 6PM which was important because we had a little ****ling with us). She even co-ordinated it so that we weren't missing any of the theme nights at the buffet.
On our first night, we realized quite quickly why people request rooms on the 2nd/3rd floor of the hotel. We happened to be booked in to rooms that were directly across from a bunch of spring breakers from Spain - that had absolutely NO respect for the rest of the people in the hotel that might be sleeping at 3AM. Let's just say we weren't the only ones to yell at them, or complain to the front desk about it. Not the hotels fault, although I would have liked to see a bit more of a security presence at those times of night. Thankfully they checked out a few days in to our stay (and our sleep suddenly became a lot better).
We spent a lot of time at pool #3 - and the activity team there was AMAZING. A big thank-you to Migel, Emmanuel, Andrea, Jose, Johnny and Zeus - they made our time at the pool enjoyable - and we had a lot of laughs!
I feel like it is important to mention how amazing the people that run the kids club, were. My daughter was too shy to go and stay - but we saw them several times throughout our vacation with the kids and they were so well organized and the kids were having a blast. The mini disco at night was so much fun (my daughter participated most nights) and do NOT miss the Lion King show at night - the kids are able to be a part of the show and it was AMAZING. If you only get to do ONE show while you are there make it the Lion King! The Animation staff is amazing all around. My daughter really took to Shy (part of the dance team) and she was so great with her. She hasn't stopped talking about how nice she was. They definitely made our trip more enjoyable for my daughter.
The food: I'm not sure how people can complain about the food at this resort. I am an extremely picky eater, and I assure you that I did NOT go hungry at any point.
Steakhouse: The food was amazing. The steak was done to perfection, and we thoroughly enjoyed our food and the atmosphere.
Mexican: We had a FANTASTIC evening at this a-la-carte. Jorge (the manager) was amazing - and our waiters Migel and Jesus were fantastic. They made the experience a great one. They even brought my husband tequila shots, and took photos with/for us! The food was fantastic - and like I said I am a picky eater. The appetizer spread was unbelievable and if you like any sort of Mexican food you will NOT be disappointed. Try the sorbet for dessert - AMAZING!
Japenese - I can NOT say enough amazing things about this place - by far one of the most delicious meals I have ever had (and I don't like sushi etc.). They cook your meal right in front of you, and it is not only highly entertaining - the food is melt in your mouth delicious. I am allergic to eggs, and they were amazing with the food allergy too. I ordered the beef and my 4.5 year old daughter had the chicken and both were unbelievable. Do not miss this a-la-carte!!!
The vendors come in on Saturday night and Tuesday night - and I found them a bit aggressive to be honest, but I am admittedly a bit sensitive to that sort of thing. We did buy some beautiful hand-made things.
If I had to find something that disappointed me I would say that security didn't seem readily available during the wee hours of the morning when people were rowdy out in the hallway (and noise carries through the halls because it is all open.. it wasn't just the odd slamming of the door, it was a full out raging party outside of our room). It would also be nice if they had more shuttles that were readily available. The resort is large, and we found the walk back to our room after the shows was long - especially with a little one. Shuttles seemed to be few and far between most of the time, and when we saw them they were usually half empty. These were extremely "petty" issues however, in the grand scheme of our entire vacation.
The beaches are so beautiful - and it was so neat that there was a ruin right on site. Although the "walk" to the ruins was a bit treacherous (lots of holes) the view of the hotel/ocean/ruin was UNBELIEVABLE. My daughter was stung by a bee on our first day at the beach, and the lifeguard was good with her... sprayed some spray on it and took care of her. She was hesitant to go back to the beach after that, but was glad she did when she got to see all the fish. My husband was extremely pleased with the snorkelling on site, and he saw several sea turtles and fish right at the resort. He took the free scuba lesson as well and went out to the reef with the dive shop and say they were incredibly tolerant with people who weren't "divers" and the experience was good. Take the time to explore the beaches - there is a lot more "beach" then what you see when you first get there.. they own a lot of beach front property - and we didn't find a lot of it until our last days there.
Also, be sure to book a photo session with Adventure photos - you can find them in the lobby of the RM side. It is free to book - no obligation to buy anything - but I promise you won't walk away empty handed. They were fantastic and we really cherish the photos that they took for us. They also take the photos on the beach/by the pools with the animals - such a great experience for my daughter.
We only went to the lazy river once (and went around a few times) but it was extremely relaxing (when some of the kids who were unsupervised weren't trying to swim against the current) - and in the morning there were a ton of tubes available. We took our own, though and that was very helpful for both the lazy river AND the pool/ocean.
We didn't find it too hard to find a spot at the pool or the beach - as long as you were okay with being further back. The bar staff was amazing - very attentive and the drinks were awesome.
Overall this hotel is excellent. Take the negative reviews with a grain of salt - learn from the complaints (take water shoes, and earplugs) - but definitely don't let you miss out on the experience of this resort. I would go back again in a heartbeat.
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RE: Grand Sirenis Feb. 14-21 - 2/24/2013 1:42:58 PM
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sugarplum14
Posts: 5
Joined: 2/9/2013
Status: offline
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Susan,
The resort is definitely what I would consider as "modern" and big.. but - with that being said we learned within our first few days that we didn't HAVE to walk all the way to the main buffet for Breakfast, or lunch - and that we could just stick to our side of the resort (Mayan Beach) without having to walk too far. Mind you, I KNOW we didn't see the whole resort complex and if we didn't have a little one I would have done a LOT more exploring of the resort grounds itself. I don't have a lot of experience in Mexico to rate this against, as we have only been to Mexico one other time, and it was right before Hurricane Wilma - so we were evacuated 2 days into our honeymoon at the Barcelo Maya. I would say that the hotel rooms are a lot more "modern" looking then any other hotels we have stayed in (both Cuba and Mexico) - but it all aesthetic in my opinion. I can see why the "hole in the wall" might worry some people - but we didn't find it an issue at all - the bathroom still has a door to the toilet, and the shower was UNBELIEVABLE. My daughter used the jacuzzi tub and it was a highlight of her night. Mind you I think she had enough bubbles in there to fill 10 tubs! The lobbies are completely different - the lobby on our side (Mayan Beach) seemed to be much quieter and subdued - and the other one was where the action seemed to be. We like action (having a little one) and being close to the theatre for the kids disco was a big plus. We really enjoyed the shows. We didn't get to stay for the whole show every night, but we had a great time.
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