Paradisus Cancún in Cancun

The hotel is saved by it's fantastic hard working restaurant and bar staff. Every morning for breakfast (and often lunch) we relaxed on the outdoor terrace at the Buffet restaurant and were looked after by Alberto and Joni who were an absolute pleasure to talk to and excellent hosts. Thank you also to them from our 2 young children who were treated just as well as the grown ups.

We also enjoyed Aqua Marina where we were looked after by Erick, Wilbert and Sergio during the lunch service and Roberto in the evening.

Jesus at Capello, Melvin at Cielo and Daniel at Lemon Fish also are fantastic waiters.

For the people above, and for many more incredibly hard working staff around the pool and beach - they are working at 5 star standard all day long. Management need to look to themselves for areas that are making global review scores lower - and take the pressure off their employees.

The issue here at management level is greed. On the run up to the stay there was frequent contact from concierge services but only with a view to selling room upgrades or experience packages. Simple requests like a room on a higher floor or in a quieter area were squarely ignored once it was clear that no further cash could be extracted.

Fending off regular approaches from the 'circle club' sales team to attend seminars - not what I want to do on holiday. Some staff are clearly under pressure to sell upgrades for wine or 'chefs specials' and the daily rounds from the Spa and watersports excursions team. It can all lead to the need to say no thank you 10 times a day and walk around not making eye contact to avoid sales approaches.

The big problem with our stay was the room we were allocated on the first night. It was actively dirty with blood on the vanity worktop. Light switches were cracked, lamps didn't work and I killed 5 cockroaches in the bathroom. It was an extremely unpleasant environment and to top it all - incredibly noisy. This room was in dire need of renovation and shouldn't be in use currently for paying guests.

The response from reception was very disinterested - they processed a room change request which required me to return to reception at 0900 and again at 1500 to move room. Very disruptive to the holiday and absolutely zero concern about the state of the room. The reception team even suggested the next room might be in the same condition so there was no point moving. No apology was ever offered either.

The complaints process was dissatisfactory and I have since received a refund via my credit card company for the night spent in a dirty room. The hotel refused to refund but offered an upgrade voucher for a future stay which i declined.

The hotel itself occupies a huge amount of beach front and as a result has stunning views from all around the pool areas and lots of the dining and drinking areas. The building is old but there is a constant effort being made to maintain improve and re-paint areas. The food was excellent. Drinks selection also fantastic and the bar tenders in the mixology bar made incredible cocktails. Kanna Beach Bar is the perfect spot for the final drink before getting ready for the evening.

The only thing I didn’t like was the room service. They stole our wine bottle or they took it back.