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Cancun & Cozumel Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews
Occidental Grand Flamenco Xcaret 02/28/2003
Reviewers Rating:  Great
We stayed at this resort Feb 20-27.
LOBBY/ROOMS/GROUNDS
The hotel is amazing. It was recently built so it definitely looks pristine and modern. The lobby has marble everywhere and has a little river in the middle that leads to a waterfall that flows into a small pond below. Around the pond is the piano bar that many visitors lounge around sipping daiquires and margaritas. There were also snacks offered during the day such as nuts, popcorn and veggies. The service here was excellent. Our hotel room was quite spacious and clean. No bugs anywhere. The only complaint I would mention is the bed is too small. We did push together our two double beds and that solved that problem. We did have a deck but it was relatively small. Just big enough to sit around and enjoy a book. Some other decks were bigger. Again this was not really a problem as we did not spend that much time on our decks. The bathroom was impressive. Lots of marble and very spacious. A glass door led you into a very elegant shower room. There was even a marble bench that you can sit on while showering. The showerhead was very powerful and we never had any problems with hot water. However, you do have to be a little careful while showering as the water has a tendency to slip through the sides. The first couple of times I showered I created a nice little pool in my bathroom.
The resort is quite big so plan for a lot of walking. There is a shuttle bus which is more of a oversize golf cart that will take you anywhere but it comes sporadically and the drivers are a little crazy. We were in Flamenco 5 and it took us about 5 minutes to walk to the buffet for breakfast or to the beach. However, we were very close to the largest pool but we ended up using the smallest pool instead.
As we were leaving, they were just putting up more signs in the lobby to direct people around the resort. This is helpful, because for the first day we didn't know where we were going. The resort is quite large and a lot of guests were complaining about getting lost.
BEACH/POOLS
If you're looking for a big beach with lots of sand and walking space this is not the resort for you. The beach is a man made cove and kinda small but adequate. There are lots of lounge chairs so
there's never a problem getting a seat. I liked how they built three tiers so that no matter where you lounged you can always get a good view of the ocean. The water itself does look a little murky but that never stopped anyone from swimming or playing in it.
We did spend most of our time around the pools. There is two big pools to make up for the small beach. Both pools are excellent and lots of lounge chairs for everyone. The larger of the two pools is actually three pools with interconnecting waterways that you can swim through. This is the pool area that has the swim-up bar. To get to the bar you have to go through a waterfall. The swim-up bar is actually part of the restaurant but I'll get to that later. There's also 5 jacuzzis at the end of this pool. If you're lucky and they leave the jets on at night go for a midnight jacuzzi. We did and it was amazing. Be warned though that the water is a little chilly but you quickly get used to it.
We spent most of our time at the smaller pool. The term smaller is a little misleading as this is still quite large. Again, lots of lounge chairs so you'll never have to wake up early to reserve one. We always hit this pool around 10:30 and never had a problem getting a good seat. We liked this one better because it was quieter. Everyone who stayed at this pool wanted to relax and read a book while enjoying the sun. The larger pool was more for fun and games. Music is always blaring and games of water volleyball, water polo, water football, etc is always in play. There's also 5 jacuzzis at the end of the smaller pool as well. Both pool areas are excellent and the water is clean and refreshing. If you do like the smaller pool make sure you request rooms in the Congrejos buildings. They are the closest ones to this pool. The Flamencos are closer to the larger pool. None of the rooms offer any ocean views. Around all the pools, hammocks could also be found in addition to the lounge chairs. The pool bars had swing seats at the bar which were quite comfortable while waiting for a drink. And you will have to wait, because there is usually only one bartender at the pool bars.
RESTAURANTS
The main buffet restaurant is located near the lobby. This is open for breakfast and dinner and occasionally lunch. Breakfast is great with plenty of food for everyone. There's tons of eggs, potatos, cereals, fruits, juices, bread, pastries, pancakes, french toast and even meat. The busiest part is the omelet station. This is also where you can get fried eggs. The juices are incredible. Lots of selection including orange, guava, papaya, melon and the juice of the day. We came here once for lunch and that was adequate and in my opinion better then the pool restaurant. Lunch here is your usual hamburgers and hot dogs. But, you can also find paella, beef skirt (their steak), pizza, chicken, etc. Lunch and dinner is pratically the same stuff. We also had lunch at the beach restaurant and it's basically the same as the buffet. Dinner is where it starts to get repetitive. I found the food good but bland. I was actually getting sick of the food as it started tasting the same. It must have been the way they cook everything as they all had the same taste. Desert was decent but their ice cream needs to be colder.
I am glad we made the effort to reserve for the a la cart restaurants. It is a welcome break to the buffet. Reservations are easily done at the Guest Services desk. I believe you have the option to either book every day or book for the length of your stay. I recommend booking everything at once. Reservations seem to book quickly and if the restaurants get booked up then thats it. We made our reservations the day after we arrived and already the Seafood restaurant was booked solid except for one final day at only one seating. There are 5 restaurants you can book and we successfully booked 4.
The Sonora Grill is for all you meat eaters. However, I was disappointed with my steak. I had the rib eye requested medium done and it came back medium well. The cut of meat wasn't that great either. I recommend trying something else.
La Hacienda is their Mexican restaurant. The food was okay, the chicken enchilada was great but I had the surf and turf. The surf and turf is basically everything you can get at the buffet. The meat was the beef skirt and the seafood was the shrimps. What I did liked about this restaurant is the service. Our waiter was amazing and went out of his way to please us.
D'Oriental is their asian restaurant. I found it a little humorous seeing them dress up as asians and even trying to look like asians. The food was better then buffet but thats about it. Service was almost non existent here.
El Pescador is their seafood restaurant. Located by the beach and offering a great view of the ocean. In my opinion, this is the best of the four. I highly recommend the sea bass. The shrimps and scallop dinner was a little disappointing with only 2 scallops and the same shrimps you can get at the buffet. Service here was also excellent.
There was also Los Olivos, mediterranean/italian restaurant, but as we were only allowed to book 4 a la carts we decided to skip this one.
El Lago is the restaurant near the pool. Opened mainly for lunch and snacks. I didn't really like it but it's good for a quick bite. Served mainly nachos, hamburgers, chicken burgers, and hot dogs. Service however was terrible as only one waiter was getting drinks. We had to wait 15 min to order our drinks and another 15 min to get it. You could however walk around the corner and get the drinks yourself.
ENTERTAINMENT
I can't really say much because we didn't really attend a lot of the events. However, for those of you who want a relaxing time this is the place to be. We were never dragged to participate in any games and never felt obligated to do so. If you wanted to play games just hang around the large pool. The shows were good but we caught only two during our stay. We saw a Mexican Fiesta which was pretty good. And, caught part of the karoake night. There is a sports bar but don't think you'll catch any Leaf games here. Their night club looks very good but we only went their one night and we were too tired to stick around.
EXTRAS
Thrown in as part of the package is two free admission to Xcaret Ecological Park. This is highly recommended. We went and enjoyed our time immensely. Make sure you catch the show at night. It is amazing.
Due to the fact this resort is secluded you won't get pestered by vendors selling their wares. Definitely a bonus compared to some resorts that anyone and everyone can drop in and bother you while you try and relax.
However, there were two nights when the resort allowed vendors in around the theatre area. This gave us a chance to look at their offerings without being hassled.
Word of advice, if you want to buy some Tequila, the prices at the stores in the resort are quite high. The duty free at the liquor store is a better bet. However, the resort stores do have some interesting bottles, so you may want to buy these.
OVERALL
We definitely enjoyed our time at Xcaret. The service was good, the food was good at the restaurants and the pools were amazing. I would not recommend this place for beach lovers but if you want a great time under the sun this is it. There's lots to do and the people here are friendly. I would definitely go back to this resort. Check out their website. It offers plenty of information about this resort (www.grandflamencoxcaret.com/).
Raymond & Heather
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