Here's a run down: Food: The food is underrated. Although, food presentation is sparse, the taste and variety was above average. We really liked the Old Barn. The ambiance at the Shiangrala (the formal restaurant) was the best; however, the food was just OK. The worst restaurant was the Sumo. Contrary to other comments, the food at Pier 12 was pretty good; the decor was a bit cheezy. The buffet was great. For health conscious eaters, the breakfast selection was excellent -- yogurt, omlettes, bran cereal, etc. Rooms: The rooms were fine. Nothing too special. The only problem we had was noise. Because of the resort's architecture, it's particularly noisy on the middle/right side. Any noise (hollering, the accordian player, garbage truck) tend to amplify and resonate in this area. We had to ask for another room because this noise was unbearable. We got a room on the left end of the resort (above the internet kiosks / gift store) and it was great. Gym: The gym was OK. It had two treadmills (one that worked), three ellipticals, four bikes, a universal-type weight machine, dumbells, some preset barbells, and three benches. The machine could have used some TLC. The best part of the gym was the air conditioning. Staff: The staff was amazing. Extremely helpful and great attitudes. The were extremely helpful and gracious in getting a quieter room for us. Pool/Beach: The resort has one pool (3.5 ft). Nice. As others have said, the beach was excellent and access to it was very easy. People: When we were there last week, we were surprised by the fact that most people were either really young or really old (Twenties or 50+). In addition, most didn't seem to have health/weight management as one of their priorities. Based on other posts, we were expecting to see and meet people that were active vs sedentary. WiFi: We signed up for WiFi for $60 for 5 days. The daily rate was $15. Quality was generally good (2MB/s down/up). BTW, the resort offers free shuttles to their sister resort, the Great Parnassus. Guests can use facilities there as well, including attending their shows and eating at their restaurants. The Great Parnassus is an impressive facility but beware. It was like Disneyland when we visited -- kids everywhere. So in summary, we would stay at the Golden Parnassus again. However, we would be a bit hesitant because of the noise issue and weary of the "people" issue described above. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
50+ .... really old???? LMAO Good trip report. I did notice that too. Not many mid range age group. I think you are right on about the food. The decor of the restaurants and presentation takes away from the fact that the food is quite good tasting. We noticed the head chef going around tasting various buffet offerings to verify the quality. That was impressive. The pizza at the buffet sucks...lol. About the same as TTR only cold... Breakfast was really good. I think the various stations at the buffet, preparing different dishes is a great idea. You end up with a fresh cooked meal and it saves the resort wasted food.
While I was there last week, I didn't hear about anyone getting bumped. I had the same concern as well. My understanding is that guests of either the Great Parnassus or Golden Parnassus can share privileges of the other resort -- I think. So if you are concerned about this, I would get someone to confirm this. BTW, the two resorts are about two miles apart. Free shuttles run every hour on the hour -- the last one is at 10PM.
i thought the same thing do we all have to be under 50 and skinny. Older, chunky people like to party too.
Interesting that some of the respondents to my post assumed that I'm skinny, have a perfect body, and young. In fact, I don't have a perfect body and I'm almost in the 50+ group. One of my goals of vacationing in Cancun was to immerse myself in an environment that was more "positive" for me healthwise -- specifically, to engage in physical activities and practice new eating habits to reduce my (health) risk factors. My aim was to share time/experiences with people that have been more successful in managing their health. I made a commitment to myself and family years ago that I didn't want to be another statistic -- a burden on them, the healthcare system, etc. Hurrah to those with higher BMIs and different priorities.
Yeah but your post comes off as a type of judgement on people. Something that myself as a bigger guy does tend to take a bit more personally. Making a conclusion about someone based on their appearance alone (good or bad) is pretty shallow. You can have a fat person with a heart of gold just as easily as a narcissistic fitness model, or jackass fat person and awesome fit person... Anyways that's just my 2 cents for what it's worth.
When I read your post I didn't assume anything about your physical attributes, I did find your post a bit biased and wondered why someone like you would even consider Mexico considering what your looking for. If I were to assume... I would think you would of been more comfortable at a health club, fitness center. Speaking for myself we have a very busy lifestyle, and the last thing we are looking for in a vacation is more activity, laying around in the sun, drinking and eating things that may not be good for us, no responsibilties, no worries...well thats what we call a holiday/vacation.. Hurrah for you and your commitment to a better lifestyle.. 365 days of the year.. Some of us like to take a few days off and not be judged for it. Cheers
