Le Meridien Cancun Resort & Spa

Retorno del Rey Lot 37-1
KM 14 Zona Hotelera
Cancun 77500
Mexico

Description: 213 rooms

"Nice hotel & pools, attentive staff, narrow beach and OK views."
12/23/05: We just got back from a week's stay at Le Meridien. According to the concierge, they are 95% occupancy through the holidays. Even so, there was plenty of privacy as the hotel is a manageable size and not one of those expansive properties like a Riu or Westin where it takes 20 minutes to walk to your room.


The hotel is in excellent pre-Wilma condition with the exception of the beach and lack of greenery. The leaves on the palm trees and other vegetation are just starting to regrow. Most surprising is the beach which is 1/4 the width pre-Wilma. There are more shells and rocks as well as some debris on the shore where attempts are made to camoflauge it.


The original access to the beach has been closed and instead they built a ramp by the restaurant. It works, but is another reminder of the damage from Wilma. The waves are extremely dangerous and swimming is not recommended. We saw many people get toppled over in the surf. Also, the undertow is peculiar because the surf pulls you back into the beach which is awful because you end up crashing in the surf. It's not safe to swim. The conceierge suggested 3 other beaches that are safe and accessible by the frequent $1 bus --- 2 of which are protected by Isla Mujeres and closer to downtown.


Le Meridien claims all rooms are ocean view. Not so much --- we had a superior room and had a view of the Ritz Carlton and Cancun Palace. If we turned our head 90 degrees, we would see the beach. There also is a lot of noise from all the marbled floors in the hallway as well as we could hear our neighbors upstairs scooting their chairs around. That was occasionally distracting. Also, the beds were very, very hard. Nice touch was a robe and slippers and nightly turn down service.


The pools are beautiful. Despite 85 degrees and sunny most days, the majority people would stay in the top level pool which was warmest. The bottom 2 pools were hardly used because their temperatures were colder and good for a quick dip. The cushioned chairs were plentiful and we could always find chairs with umbrellas. Prices at the grill were typically high --- $10 for a burger/fries. $3.50 for a coke. The chicken quesadillas were excellent and cost $16.


Pay per view is available --- if you want to spend $18 to watch a rental movie like "The Aviator" or "Meet the Fockers." You can also have access to your aol, msn or yahoo email account in the room for $19/day. The business center downstairs also offers surfing for 15 minutes/$5. We considered a spa treatment but reconsidered. A 1 hour massage is >$100. The spa is supposed to be excellent.


The layout of the hotel is odd such that to access the main boulevard Kukulan so you need to walk a block down a cul de sac type street. The lighting is poor and with the debris like gravel, it was less than convenient.


The concierges are helpful. Good recommendations for restaurants and directions. Overall, the hotel Le Meridien was very nice, but not exceptional.


The city of Cancun has some serious rebuilding ahead of it. Approximately 50% hotels, restaurants and shops were closed for renovations. My favorite mall, La Isla, is now a skeleton and there is no date of reopening. The Plaza Kukalan Mall with Luxury Avenue is about 60% functioning. Luxury Avenue with Louis Vuitton and Swarovski is in perfect shape. Plaza Caracol is about 50% functioning. The stores shut down at approx 8pm every night which is peculiar since Christmas is days away. Restaurants like Margaritaville and Hard Rock are closed. Best meal was at Hacienda Sisal --- it truly was excellent. There is rebuilding everywhere in Cancun with many hard workers putting their masonry and carpentry skills to work everywhere you look.


Cancun has some of the most pristine beaches I've ever seen with very kind local residents and lots of shopping --- however, it's going to be some time before it returns to pre-Wilma shape. I'm certain that when that day comes, Cancun will be better than ever and I can't wait to return at that time.

"Great Vacation"
The hotel is very nice, as soon as you arrive they greet you with fruit juice and fresh towels.

We had a very good time there, breakfast was inc. and was fantastic, however, I think it was too much for the 8 days we were there.

The spa is very good, we had some treatments and the staff is professional and I think one of the best hotel spa.

If you do not want to have treatments, you can use the installations anyway, jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, relaxation room, gym, etc.

The pools are amazing and the view from the pool is very nice, we were lucky that was low season and there were not a lot of children running/screaming around the pool.

"Le Meridien was absolutely perfect"
We have just come back from Le Meridien Cancun, we checked out just 1 hour before the hotel was evacuated due to Hurricane Wilma. Our stay at the hotel was nearly perfect. The hotel is a very nice facility with lovely rooms, elegant lobby, amazing spa, beautiful pools and very nice restaurants.

I was there with my new husband, on our mini honeymoon and for the occassion of my 31st birthday. Since it was off season, the hotel was not very full, which made for relaxation at the beach or pool great. We never had to search for chairs and always got our choice of location. We did not buy the Royal Club option and didn't see a difference. We did however have breakfast included in the package that we purchase and enjoyed the very expensive ($47 for two people) as a prepaid treat. It was very good and they gave you a selection of american or mexican favorites. The poolside restaurant was excellent as well. Our lunches were not cheap, they averaged about $50 for the two of us, but the service was great. We learned quickly to walk down the driveway to a variety store to purchase a 1.5 liter bottle of water for $1-2 rather than the $7 bottle that we were initially ordering at the pool.

The several concierges at the hotel were great. One really went out of her way to make sure that we enjoyed Cancun. Brenda not only helped my husband organize a gorgeous flower bouguet to be delivered to me in the morning of my birthday, but helped him organize (together with the hotel restaurant, Aioli) a truely romantic private dinner on the beach for my birthday.

I was very surprised to walk down the beach and find a red carpet lit up with candles leading to a small private cabana type hut which had a candle lit dinner set up for two. We had a personal waiter, who was lovely, catering to our every needs. The food was great and the whole set up was truely a memorable experience.

Brenda also recommended fantastic 5 star restaurants for us to eat at. Glazz was a sushi / thai place that reminded me of of trendy Miami hot spot. One of our favourites was an Argentinian steak and seafood place almost across the road from Le Meridian called Perto Madera. The food was very good and the atmosphere was elegant yet vibrant. We also visited La Madonna (Italian), Le Distilleria (Mexican) and The Plantation House (Seafood) ... all very good, but the first three deserved special mention ... Aioli, Glazz and Perto Madera ... you won't be disappointed.

I can't say enough about the place. Even when we were threatened with the upcoming hurricane, the hotel kept us informed and helped us with any necessary accomations that we may have needed to make to get out of the city. They gave notice to evacuate the hotel and held a meeting to inform everyone of what was going to happen. We were of the few lucky ones who could actually leave Cancun before the hurricane hit.

I've seen what it's done to some hotels and hope that Le Meridien has not had too much damage.

Overall it was a very nice vacation ... and even though the forecast called for rain each day, we often only got it at night.

PS. Don't get roped into the timeshare presentations by other hotels or resorts ... its a HUGE waste of time.

PPS. DO take some of the tours, we went to the Xel-ha / Tolum trip and had a great time. Half a day of snorkling and a couple of hours at the Mayan ruins ... very nice.

PPPS. DO take advantage of the SPA. It's pricey, but well worth it.