When my husband first asked if I wanted to go to Mexico on vacation, my reply was a resounding NO! His friends go there for Spring Break and love every trip they have had.
The first difference between Cancun and other all-inclusive resorts found in Jamaica or the Dominican Republic you notice is the layout. I am used to sprawling resorts with pathways to the beach, restaurants and a good distance between everything. Cancun is not the same. The ‘resort’ is actually a hotel. A big hotel, but still a hotel.
There is a big pool and of course the beach, but nothing more. I joked to my husband that Cancun is the ‘Las Vegas’ of the Caribbean. There is a long strip that is just hotels upon hotels, just like Vegas. My first thought was I was NOT going to like this ‘resort’. I was wrong. It was actually perfect for our family. With kids aged 10 & 12, they were able to freely go around the hotel and we felt they were safe the entire time. They could go up to the sports bar to play pool, go up to the rooftop hot tub or play volleyball with friends. Of course they had to let us know where they were and with who at all times, which took them a bit of getting used to. Overall it was a great experience.
Photo credit: Paul Hand
The Beach
Although my husband LOVES the pool (mostly for the entertainment), I am a fan of sitting by the beach and listening to the waves while reading a book. My kids love jumping in waves, swimming and of course looking for exotic shells on the beach. That means we need a nice beach. Beach Palace did not disappoint.
We actually met some people who were staying at the fancy The Grand at Moon Palace who came to our beach. They have a water park and 3 hotels together that gives an incredibly long beach, but they said the Beach Palace beach was better. Their beach had a lot of seaweed and was being set up for a big country concert in a few weeks. Find out more about The Grand here.
The beach at first glance looks small, but surprising it was only crowded one day. The ‘official’ Beach Palace part of the beach is roped off, but you can really go in the ocean anywhere you’d like. I think the ropes are more to set an area for the lifeguards on duty… that’s right, a ‘s’ on guards. Every day we were there there were 2 life guards on duty.
For walking, the beach is great and you can walk, and walk, and walk. For the kids the waves are a bit big some days. There was only one day it wasn’t red flag, but everyone still went into the water. My kids wished they would have brought a boogie board to belly surf the waves, but honestly I was happy they hadn’t and were limited in how far they could go out.
Insider-tip: Snag seats close to the ‘Beach Palace’ sign so you can keep an eye on the beaches waves and still sit back and relax. If you don’t like volleyball don’t sit in the back close to the beach volleyball. We did one day and I spent the entire day returning the ball to the players!
The Rooms
We usually try to go down south at least once a year. Sometimes if we are lucky we get in more. Either way, we are used to a wide variety of hotel rooms and levels of quality.
Beach Palace hotel was clean, new, cool and most importantly it wasn’t humid as so many places down south are. But can someone please explain why so many resorts put the tub in the middle of the room?
I may be weird, but one of the ways that I rate a hotel is by the amenities they provide in the bathroom! The Beach Palace had a GREAT shampoo & conditioner (even if they only gave you one bottle of Chi then switched to lesser quality after). They had an old lady magnified mirror on the wall (great for us aging ladies) and they had all the things you don’t find in Cuba/Dominican like a sewing kit, cotton swabs, cotton pads and a nail kit.
For my kids, the in room mini-bar was their favorite thing! I know many of you will shake your head and comment, but they loved playing bartender and making us 5-7 cocktails.
The Food
Where to start with food… For starters, the buffet was good but did not offer great variety. It was a bit on the small side for selection as well, but you can eat in any of the restaurants as much as you like, without reservations!
For starters there there are 3 sit-down ‘a la carte’ restaurants, the buffet (Tequila), an outdoor pool-side burger bar and you can also order food at the swim -up bar or the rooftop bar. It has to be noted the only place for breakfast is the buffet (Tequila). For lunch, there is the buffet (Tequila), poolside snacks or the rooftop bar.
Insider tip: We have never been to a place that has so much served to your poolside or beachside chair! They even have a menu with all sorts of options. Most go to the buffet, but check out the poolside menu at the rooftop swim up bar!
The Buffet
I have to be honest that the buffet was a bit disappointing. We are used to resorts that are much bigger and have a lot more variety and choice. It seemed to almost always be the same variety of food. Even on nights when there was a theme, it was the same foods going with it, just perhaps the meat dish was different. It did help that they had things like a pop-up churro station at different times… my daughter was ALWAYS on the lookout for fresh churros!
The buffet did excel at service and desserts. For a family that usually does not have dessert, I think my kids had 3-5 deserts for each meal… including breakfast! Mind you they were small portions, so it’s not as bad as it sounds! My kids were obsessed with their chocolate bombs…. I couldn’t even tell you how many that ate… but it was too many!
Wok (Asian)
We love Asian food, so this was the first restaurant we tried. Sadly, it was more authentic than my kids were expecting, so it was not their favorite. That didn’t stop us from enjoying it.
I was SUPER excited when I saw crab cakes on the menu… but I was also a bit weary. As I expected the crab cakes were more asian than north american. I believe they were made with soft shell crab and my personal tastes is that I don’t like the ‘crunch’ of eating the shell. The sushi was amazing, and the warm sake was good too!
One nice thing is that when you are seated they bring you some black sago (fried tapioca) with a spicy dip. It was a great started with cocktails.
On our second visit we had a bit better idea of what to expect. My kids enjoyed the fried rolls, the rice paper roll (that had strawberries, cucumber and mango in center), udon noodles and plain white rice. If you don’t like spicy, ask for medium or no spice on the pad thai. Bringing that up, the staff was great & were willing to bring things like plain white rice and broth for the kids when asked, no problem!
Recommend:
If your kids are picky eaters, order the bread from the crab cakes. It’s like a sour dough. One night my kids are 3 orders.
Bocelli (Italian)
The first time we went to this restaurant, we had bad service, and my kids ended up going to the buffet to eat.
With only 3 restaurants and us being there for 10 days of course we went back. We were so happy that we did. Second time around we had a great experience and we were so happy we gave it another go. I was especially happy because I got to try pancotta… which is something I Had never had before and am now a huge fan!
My kids really likes this restaurant too because they could get custom pizzas (with no red sauce) or plain pasta with olive oil and real garlic.
It helps that this restaurant is located next to the buffet! We were there for 10 nights, so of course we went back, and we were all happy we did.
Recommend:
Try something new. They have squid ink pasta here which tastes great and makes for a great eating adventure for kids. They love getting black teeth!
Snokehouse (Steakhouse)
This was our favorite restaurant. I believe we ate there 3 nights, and we enjoyed everything we had.
The service was good and if it helps they have their own bartender and made the best cocktails in the entire resort! If you go, and like bitter drinks, try their whiskey sour.
Photo credit: Erin Ovaskainen
It’s hard to talk about food because everything was great. The crab cakes were my favorite! Unlike the Wok, the crab cakes here are similar to what you would expect in Canada or the U.S.
Recommend:
When we were there someone threw a full unopened can of beer from an upper floor. It turned out to be kids who had been left in their room alone. For this I would suggest asking to be seated towards the building more. As for food, try the lobster tails! At The Grand they were over $200, here they are $88 and you can use resort credit and only pay 16% of that. Did I mention they tasted amazing!
Photo credit: Ryan Ovaskainen
Coffee Shop
Can’t forget to mention the coffee shop has the best coffee, macaroons, ice cream and waffle cones!
Entertainment
Entertainment is something that is either hit or miss. Even within a resort one person may be great for adult activities by the pool, but the kids or beach may be lacking. There is the usual water aerobics, volleyball, pingpong, billard pool, waterslides and other things located throughout the resort that you can use as you wish. The entertainment crew offers various health activities (aerobics, yoga, water aerobics, pool volleyball, beach volleyball or beach sports). The inclusive manner of the staff and guests made this the first resort where my son went out and played volleyball, pool volleyball and all the adult activities.
We all loved that activities. My daughter LOVED them. Being 10 years old she fell in the weird age of enjoying the kids activities and also wanted to take part in the adult ones too. There was always kids club in the morning (which she never went to), but in the afternoon they would do bracelet making, bingo and activities for younger kids and families, which she loved. The staff were great with the kids of all ages and also helping to make everyone feel good in taking part. On times when they weren’t working, I would see the staff wandering around and playing ping pong with guests or chatting.
The paddle board yoga class was amazing and fun. It was the only class that one morning was all MEN! After a few days when they saw my daughters physical ability, they let her take part in the class and of course she had to show off!
She enjoyed taking part in the activities so much she became an assistant to Louis and Juan Luis. She even won a shirt and insisted on wearing it to show everyone she was ‘staff’!
One of our favorite activities was the daily brain game. Every morning 10:00 a.m. Pedro would go around the pool seeing if anyone wanted to try to figure out his brain challenge. Of course, being me, my daughter loves I had to go and try and figure it out before her to keep her on her toes!
Inside tip:
Don’t miss out, join in the activities. If there is something you are hoping for, just ask. The staff were very helpful and they truly want you to have the best experience while you are there.
Extras
One of the great extras Beach Palace offered was to have artists come onsite. For 3 kings day they had entertainers come onsite, they had churros and these really cool art & wax guys. And yes we carried wax hands home with us without breaking them!
And did I mention the fresh churros??? My daughter is still talking about them!
Accessibility
I have to say this was probably one of the biggest differences I noticed between Cancun and other places like Cuba, Dominican Republic or a recent trip to New Orleans. EVERYWHERE was wheel chair accessible! The fact that the hotel is one building makes it easier, but the pools are accessible, and even the beach. They had special chairs that could be rolled along the beach so no matter what your mobility you can enjoy the sun and sand.
Have you been to the Beach Palace? Let us know what your thoughts are.
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