Grand Residences Riviera Cancun

We stayed here last year and had a great time, so we decided to come here again. We are more the “variety is the spice of life” vs “once you find something good, stick to it” type of family, so coming back to the same vacation destination (and hotel, no less) two years in a row was a bold move. It did not pay off, and here’s why. Most of the things we loved about the hotel were still true: - The kid’s club is AMAZING. All the staff there are genuinely fantastic, and you can tell they love kids and working there. They deserve all the praise in the world. - The resort is quiet. No weddings or parties on-site means no obnoxious music until midnight like other hotels. And the volume and genre of music played at the pool during the day is perfect. - The resort is small, so you can walk from one end to another in two minutes. It makes it easy to meet up with other families, get food, amenities, check in/out, etc. - Since the resort is small, there’s only two restaurants on-site. In reality, it’s more like a single restaurant with different menus depending on where you’re sitting. Luckily the food is good and generally hasn’t let us down. - Round trip transportation from the airport is included. It’s your own private black SUV which is quite nice. - Shout out to Manuela, our favorite person at the resort. She was our waitress for breakfast and lunch almost every day, and by day two she had already remembered our favorite drink orders and was automatically bringing them as soon as we sat down. Which brings me to the less than stellar aspects of our recent stay: - The remaining service staff at the restaurant are hit or miss. Most are nice, friendly, attentive, but there are some who simply miss the mark. There are two gentlemen by the name of Israel. One of them is fine, but the taller, skinnier Israel waited on us for lunch one day. Not only did he take the order from a table first that sat down well after us, he did not put my drink order in, and he had to be reminded twice to bring ketchup. The table who sat down after us were a white couple. I only mention this because it seems to be a recurring theme at this resort. Which brings me to my next point. - I’ve noticed that the staff are MUCH friendlier and livelier to white people than Asian people. At restaurants, the staff react completely differently to white guests, chatting up a storm, asking them about their plans, etc. That’s fine, I don’t really feel like having small talk with the staff anyway. However, the most egregious offence is the fact that the staff tells them about off-menu items that my wife and I have never heard of previously. Okay, to be fair, they’re just things like fruit smoothies or coffee drinks, but why do I have to overhear it from another table to know that it’s something I can order?! I’m sure the staff are trained to treat everyone the same, but in reality, it’s anything but. Management, please do something about this. - The same goes with owners vs non-owners. I don’t need to comment on the relentless pressure to attend a time-share presentation as soon as you check-in, as that’s been well covered in other reviews, but why is there such a strong delineation between the two? I mean, blue towels for owners and grey towels for non-owners? Owners get first dibs at restaurant reservations and beach/pool seating, while non-owners have to wake up at 7am just to try to get a spot for the next day, often getting rejected because everything is “full”? And that is with the resort at 60% capacity. What happens at 100% capacity? People just have to stay in their hotel rooms? During our stay, half of the pool chairs were empty until noon anyway. And as far as I can tell, the ocean-view rooms are now off-limits to non-owners. I’d love to be proven wrong, but I just checked a few dates later this year and next year and an ocean-view room was never an option. Just so I get this correct, owners get “front-row” rooms, front row seats to the beach/pool, and first dibs to the restaurant? Meantime non-owners are relegated to second class citizens? Give me a break. - The seaweed/sargassum situation. I know it’s not the resort’s fault, but it was really bad this year. So bad that you couldn’t even get near the beach, let alone go into the water. The resort tries to actively clean up the seaweed, but I think there’s actually more being washed ashore than being removed. Last year, the seaweed-removal tractor would just run for an hour or so each morning and the beach would be clear, but during this stay it was running continuously during the day. Take a look at the pictures. It’s quite a mess. - The massage place that I LOVED, Aqua Spa, closed down between April 2025 and April 2026. It was located between Grand Residences and Dreams Jade right on the beach, and it was such a great place. I had two deep tissue massages last year there, and they were some of the best massages I’ve had in my life. I was really looking forward to returning, but I was devastated to find out that they were no longer there. Again, not the resort’s fault per se, but I can’t help wonder if all the seaweed that they happen to put right near where the Spa used to be forced them to shut down. I could probably go on and on about other negatives, but I’m tired of typing. If you’ve read this far, then you can probably guess that I won’t be returning to this particular resort. I’ve been to Cancun 4 out of the last 5 years, so I think it’s time for a change of pace. Punta Cana, anyone?

Great get away for a short family trip. Beautiful resort, extremely well kept. Great food and friendly staff. Perfect for a relaxing stay.

Beyond our expectations. Was our first all inclusive, but they hit it out of the ballpark. From the grounds, rooms and staff, we were treated like Rockstars. Food was excellent and great variety for everyone. Loved it.

Overall good experience. The resort will be much better when the seaweed is clear, beaches are open (due to weather) and the construction next to resort is completed.

Wonderful chilled out high end resort. Perfect for familes that don’t want a 24/7 party. Amazing staff and wonderful food and suites. Excited to see the resort expand!