I always think of Cancun as the land of college students and crazy parties but I know realistically, that isn't what it's all about. So, have you been? Where did you stay? Did you like it? What did you do while you were there (aside from sitting on the beach or going to clubs)? I looked at a place called...I'm forgetting now, darn it. But it's adult only, no party atmosphere allowed. It looks good and it has over 700 good reviews. It IS expensive but not so much so that it's out of our real of possibilities. But anyway, tell me about your trip.

Okay, here I found it. It's really big which I'm not so sure I would like. http://www.realresorts.com/The_Royal_Cancun/

Oh, and also, has anyone been to Riviera Maya, south of Cancun? Is that a better place to stay if you want pretty beaches and quiet atmospheres? And what about Isla Mujeres? Anyone been there?

CANCUN is gorgeous, I have been there 3 times. Love it, love it, love it!
I prefer to stay at the all-inclusive hotels, that way food & beverage are paid up front before I leave, which is ideal.

I have not stayed at Riviera Maya, but I have taken several tours up the coast, fun & beautiful. Yes I have been to Isla Mujeres, you can do a day trip there.
I definitely recommend Chichen-itza, the ruins are beautiful! ALso Tulum and Xel-ha up the coast are great, book a bus tour, Xcaret is also cool. You can book all of these in your hotel lobby. Have fun!

For hotels, go to tripadvisor.com type in cancun hotels & from their you can read the Cancun forums, the reviews of people who have stayed there etc. I do not travel anywhere without reading and researching on tripadvisor, I find it very valuable and in my 25 years of traveling the world, it has never let me down, all the places I stayed were accurate to the reviews.

Did I mention I love Cancun?? Hotels I've stayed at in Cancun are Gran Caribe Real & Gran Melia. I am also a big fan of the Riu hotel chains. In the all-inclusive package all meals, snacks, beverages, drinks, non motorized water sports are all included in the package...

Hope this helps you some...

Have fun...we're lucky if we can afford a trip to Syracuse...

I may not be helpful or I may be who knows.

I've been to Mexico a ton of times. Only once on the gulf side (not sure if it was Cancun, I actually can't remember) and it was as part of a cruise. My friends wanted to do a cruise and it was cheap so we did. I personally didn't like it. If you want to go hang out at a beach with a bunch of americans and that is your goal, I think you might like it.

The shame is that based on recent travel advisories, tourists really shouldn't leave the tourist areas but I think the non tourist areas are where it is interesting. I'd personally love to go visit Mexico again but I'm going to wait a few years to see how tourist safety improves.

I'm not sure if you're open to general suggestions of places to stay in Mexico, but I really enjoyed Manzanillo. I was pretty young at the time, 13 I think, but looking back on it, I'd like to go back some time. It's in the state of Colima (on the west coast). It's quite touristy, but that means lots of nice resorts and beaches. They're pretty well known for their deep sea fishing.

We stayed at what's now the Tesoro Manzanillo (it's changed names at least twice since I was there). It was family-friendly but not overrun by kids by any means. If you want to stay away from kids altogether, I'm sure there are adults-only options in the area.

I've been checking tripadvisor for tons of hotels here in the US and in Cancun. That is how I found the Royal Cancun. I guess if you have 800 good reviews, 45 average and 70 bad, that's pretty good? Wouldn't you think? But looking at it, I'm not sure staying right in Cancun would fit our personalities.

Remember everyone has an opinion, but for me I always try and read the reviews of peeps that are sorta in my neck of the woods same state or close in vicinity anyways, being I figure their reviews will be more realistic instead of reading the hoidy toidy can't please anyone kind of people that our out there in various states, countries etc. I won't mention the names, but yanno they are out there, some people will complain about EVERYTHING!
Geesh! Read the good and go with it, a vacation is what you make it remember.... Don't let the handful of negativity stop you, some of the complainers never even stayed at the hotel, yet they write a review, trolls are out there too keep in mind, so when you click on the name, if there is only 1 review, that could be a suspicious one...

I use a different alias on that board, but I do write a review every trip I go on, sorta just to give back to all the reviews that helped me.

Go enjoy your trip, I am sure you will enjoy Cancun. My husband loves Cancun too.

I will not recommend Puerto Vallarta, to anyone, I hated it there. I only went there twice being I got a free trip back, because the first trip was a disaster & they refunded us a free trip back, otherwise I never would have went again, but it was free so we went. Puerto Vallarta was not for us at all!

Yeah, some of the negative reviews were like "oh my goodness, they would not wipe my derrière for me, I'll never stay there again!" Some guy kept complaining they were not like the Ritz Carlton. Well, then go stay there and shut up.

EXACTLY! INSANE I tell ya, on the no butt wiping!

LOVED Cancun! I second the Chichen-Itza trip -- Mayan ruins ROCK and there aren't as many people as there are at Tulum, the closer ruins. And Xel-ha is amazing because of the water and fish there and the snorkelling. We loved it.
DH and I aren't nightclub people at all, and we found that there was lots to do and see in Cancun and it felt really safe with lots of restaurants and outdoor night activity, other than nightclubs.
Boy, if we had the $$$ we'd go there too! Right now, we can barely afford the mortgage!!!
Kira

Oh my goodness, if you look up places you've stayed you can find some really dishonest reviews. The bad things people say are not at all true. They don't even make sense!