Cancun Experience

I love when everyone shares their travel itineraries, especially when going to frequently visited places. My mom, sister, and I recently went on a girls trip to Cancun, Mexico! I know in recent news there have been numerous stories about Cancun regarding safety. Everyone was so kind and caring when we were down there. Not once did we feel unsafe at any point during our trip. Obviously anywhere you go, you should be using general safety rules! I just wanted to say that every single person no matter where we were was extremely friendly especially when I was brushing up on my Spanish skills!

Where we stayed in Cancun

The JW Marriott was a perfect location in the hotel zone in Cancun! We were less than 5 minutes of driving to any popular restaurant in the area. The entrance is gated to go into the hotel and you have to give your last name and room number upon entering.

Room Details

We got the Caribbean Suite for three people. The main bedroom had a king bed and we had a pull out sofa bed in the living room. There were one and half bathrooms and a full balcony as well. I have to say this was perfect size for three people. We called housekeeping and asked for four mattress pads and king size pillows. We love a comfortable bed!

The hotel is converting the other Marriott hotel into an all-inclusive resort so there is construction going on. We didn’t notice it really while we were at the pool. The only weird thing I have to say is that the cleaning staff came so late in the afternoon, around 3-4 PM. Unfortunately, the timing always aligned for when we came back from the pool. I think there were possibly a lot of checkouts so they left the guests rooms to last. Lastly, the free coffee in the room would only make espresso shots no matter how many times we hit the larger cup.

Pool Review: The pool at the hotel is absolutely amazing. I am an early riser so I had no problem getting pool loungers at 8:30-9 AM. The pool loungers are super plush and comfortable and have perfectly placed thatched umbrellas above them for shade. I personally do not sunbathe and wear SPF 60 so I thought this was perfect! We ordered lunch at the poolside every day! The service poolside is a 10/10. The staff member continually brought us buckets of ice to keep our drinks cold. I will put down below in the food section what we ordered! You can also walk out to the beach directly through the gate if you want to swim in the ocean. We surprisingly didn’t notice a lot of seaweed where we were staying. The ocean and the pool were room temperature water.

Parking: The valet parking is FREE with just tipping recommended. We didn’t tip every single time but did try to give around $3-5 each time we took the car out. They also have a self park option if you don’t want to pay a tip. With the valet parking we were still able to stand inside in the air conditioning. It only took 2 minutes to get our car each time so we never waited for an extended period of time.

Knick Knacks: They had a small convenience store within the hotel if you forgot anything! This store was outrageously expensive even for suntan lotion. They also made it seem that you had to pay for coffee at the convenience store which was about $4-5 per cup. In the breakfast buffet area, before you enter they had a coffee bar with FREE coffee which I realized toward the end of our stay. The breakfast muffins and iced lattes are very good. I would skip the donuts and breakfast sandwiches though. We actually walked to a gas station and pharmacy which was less than a ten minute walk to get all of our snacks and waters. If you are addicted to coffee creamer, my mom brought the individual coffee creamers from International Delight which tasted amazing.

Where we ate in Cancun

The food in Cancun is EXPENSIVE at the popular restaurants. My sister said that the prices have significantly increased from when she went. For three people with one drink, 2 entrees, and 2 appetizers we paid about $250-$350 per dinner. The food though besides the exorbitant cost was amazing. I will note we did have a mediocre experience that I will share. To note, it is very similar to Europe where when you are done with your meal they will not immediately bring your check. We specifically had to request the check every time. A lot of the restaurants have accompanying shows and entertainment for dinner.

Tips for Dining in Cancun

Make a reservation in advance. Make sure the reservation is after sunset so you don’t boil in the sun.
Wear light clothing. The restaurants did not have any air conditioning even in the 90+ degree heat.
Bring mosquito spray. Many of restaurants are on the water so avoid getting eaten alive spray yourself before with bug spray.
Cancun is very tough for vegetarians to find food. Make sure you do plenty of research before! I ended up eating fish at most places as I do not eat chicken, beef, pork, or lamb.
Double check your bill very closely! Just make sure they are not double charging for food.

Restaurant Reviews

Harry’s Cancun (Seafood and Steakhouse): Rating 10/10: For the table they start you with melt in your mouth bread with butter. I could honestly just eat these and give a 10/10 score. We ordered the crabcakes to share. For the entrees we got the mini burgers, filet mignon, and a fish course. The food was all very well cooked and seasoned. At the end they give you cotton candy.
RosaNegra (Latin American Cuisine): Rating 10/10: Really great experience with the fire show starting around 9:30 PM. We shared an assortment of tacos and they were all fantastic.
Elefanta: (Indian Cuisine): Rating 10/10: For our meal we got the Galouti kebab, paneer makhani (no almonds), dal makhani, garlic naan, and white rice. Keep in mind the portions are very small for Indian food. You may need to order two of each. They kept bringing us this small bowl with about a half cup of rice which was odd. We had to ask for like 3 bowls of rice to eat our food. Their cocktails were some of the best we had on the trip. Great place for vegetarians.
Chambao: (Steak and Seafood) Rating 8/10: The restaurant provides you with bread to start with three different flavors of butter. This was fantastic! We got the spicy Maine lobster croquettes, King crab mac and cheese, rosemary French fries, and Kobe burger. The King crab I think was over $80 and had one piece of crab in it that looked like a snow crab. I was disappointed as I thought it would actually be a more seafood mac and cheese. The rosemary French fries were a disappointment as well. They were thick and tasted more like roasted potatoes because they weren’t crispy like a fry.
Ilios Greek Restaurant: (Greek fusion cuisine) Rating 7/10: This dinner also came with a live show. The restaurant itself was the most beautiful I have ever seen. The cocktail cart that came around made an excellent mint mojito. We got the avocado tzatziki, ilios chips, tyri feta cauliflower, Greek potatoes, grilled salmon, and moussaka. I have grown up my whole life eating Greek food and although it was good food I wouldn’t say it is traditional “Greek” cuisine..perhaps you could say with a twist. The grilled salmon had zero flavor but that’s probably my fault for ordering salmon at a Greek restaurant. The hostesses were dressed in Halloween costumes when you come in. The way they attempt to “theme” the outfits it is a little cheap for how expensive the restaurant is. I would also advise to double check your bill as they did double charge us.
Sasi Thai (Thai Cuisine) Rating 6-7/10: We were lazy one night and didn’t want to leave the hotel. I am very biased with my reviews of Thai cuisine as New York has some of the best restaurants. Sasi Thai definitely isn’t bad it’s just not true authentic Thai food. I would go back for sure but with a different mindset as their food was generally well seasoned. We ordered the basil chicken, shrimp fried rice, and pad thai.
Nicoletta: Italian Cuisine: Rating 0/10: Wow in the worst way. I had really high hopes for the restaurant as it is absolutely gorgeous and owned by the same group as some of the restaurants above. We ordered the spicy alla vodka pasta, the giant meatball spaghetti, and funghi and truffle pizza. The spicy alla vodka tasted exactly like spaghettios out of a can. I am not joking…my sister even confirmed. My sister and mom got the meatball spaghetti and it was exactly as it sounded, a ball of meat. They said it had absolutely no flavor. I tried the tomato sauce and it tasted like marinara you would dip mozzarella sticks in at Applebees. The pizza crust was undercooked and doughy. I honestly couldn’t believe a truffle pizza could taste that bad.

What we did in Cancun

We didn’t explore as much as we wanted to due to the extremely hot weather. During the second day, we bought tickets to Isla Mujeres but ended up not going that day due to rain!

Cenote Zapote: It is a Prehistoric Park with 4 different cenotes, where in any of our tours you will see 2 open cenotes and 2 underground cenote (Cavern) with more than 10,000 years old.In each cenote there are optional activities such as jumping platforms, aquatic zipline, and snorkeling with your own personal equipment. Some of the cenotes you have to bike inbetween. If you don’t know how to bike you can rent an ATV as well for an extra charge. At the end they served us a beautiful lunch that included all you can eat tacos! The guides were all so kind and helpful! We had a shuttle that picked us up at our hotel as part of the tour.

La Isla Cancun Shopping Village: We spent a couple of hours shopping at the mall. The mall is mostly outdoors so keep that in mind with the weather. We noted that the designer item prices did not differ from the United States.