Xcaret Grand Occidental

[gabe_cali]

Has anyone ever stayed at the Xcaret Grand? I thinking about stay for a night to do the all inclusive thing and take advantage of the free pass to the park.

Gabe.

[MoonDollar]

I've stayed there a few times. This was my first place to stay while in Mexico. Some of my party didn't like it, only because of it's size. It's a rather large resort and the "beach" is a man made lagoon. But it's still nice and I went back with my daughter and friend after that.

The food is really good, I thought. But I also go into the experience knowing I didn't cook it and not everyone does it the same. There are tons of different choices to choose from. Several restaurants and snack bars and of course the buffets and speciality places. I loved Pacos Tacos and the Pizza place.

The service of course is excellent! Bars a plenty. Beach service, pool bar. The only problem with the pool bar is that it has a water fall all the way around it. But, put your hand over your drink and walk through it, your wet anyway. I think there was a sports bar added or something of the sort since I've been there too.

I really enjoyed this place and I met a lot of interesting people here too.

[shoediva]

I took the family 3 years ago in July. It seemed the best choice of the hotels available. I would not return however.
Pros - the service was very good
-there was drink service at the "beach"
-Pacos Tacos was one of the best meals we had
-the lobby bar was nice
-the shows were not bad
-the night show at Xcaret was awesome

Cons - the food was very mediocre (this a is big thing for me on vacation, and I was fairly disappointed)
-the place is HUGE and just too big for us
-the fake beach didn't do it for me at all, Mexico beaches are just too beautiful not to be able to experience them
-it's a long enough taxi ride into Playa and we were a party of 5 and so needed 2 taxis, so we only did that once because of the cost.
-I soooo do not want to be hounded by time share people AT the hotel I am staying at
-the park was a big disappointment for us. It may have been the heat (again, think lots of walking). When we finally did find something we were interested in, we were too hot to enjoy it.

I know that many people have enjoyed this place, but this is my 2 pesos worth.

[Ziggy]

I stayed there the first summer they were open, this must be 4 or 5 years ago. I enjoyed it. I thought the service was good, the food decent enough that you could find something that was good in the general buffet restaurant at any meal and the A La Carte restaurants were just a notch better. The bars were good and the service excellent, although I will say that when I get good service, even in an AI, I throw the server a couple of dollars. This then ensures continued good service through my stay.

I thought the grounds were beautiful and the facilities impressive. The rooms were very nice and were kept well stocked with beer, soda and water. Xcaret Park is of course an excellent added bonus. At that time it was my second visit to Xcaret. I love it there.

All that being said, the reviews I have read over the last couple of years about the Grand Xcaret seem to indicate it has gone down in quality since I was there.

Finally, I like your idea of going over nite to get the free admit to the park. I'm not sure I have ever seen anyone check into an AI for a single night, it might be doable though. When I went I got my reservation through an auction site and ended up paying less than $100/night for the two of us. You can still find the Grand Xcaret on Skyauction.com. Good luck with this, no matter what, if you get in for one night with park admission how bad can it be, right?

[MoonDollar]

The last time I was there they had a bus that left 2 or 3 times a day and dropped you off at a beach club. It was free and seemed to worked great for us. I can't remember the beach club though but it was nice and they would take you back or you could get a cab.

I missed the park the first time I stayed there but got to it the second time. It's pretty great. I was very impressed and have great pictures. It's worth checking it out!

Good luck on your decision.

[TAPPY]

There are some really good deals at this hotel right now on funjet.