Hi guys, We just got back from Cancun. Spent 5 days at Desire RM and 1 day at Aloft Cancun. Aloft Cancun is in Cancun's Hotel Zone. It is a Marriott Bonvoy hotel, though many reviews will argue that it doesn't represent the Bonvoy brand well. I thought it was a great hotel. It is in a great location: a short walk to all the big clubs: Coco Bongos, Senor Frogs, Mandala, The City, Trap, La Vaquita and maybe more. There are shopping plazas, restaurants, bright lights and music and you can see the live entertainment from the sidewalk. It reminded us a lot of Fremont Street in Old Las Vegas. The hotel is also a short walk to the public beach. Here the waters are very clear: turquoise with no seaweed. There are many tourists and locals here. You'll have to bring your own towels. There were some beach chairs but I think those are taken quickly. There was a place to wash the sand off your feet. (I find this a very important detail when looking for a beach) While Aloft Cancun is not all-inclusive, it does have an open bar with free cocktails. Here is their drink menu: The hotel has 10 floors and a great rooftop pool. The view from this rooftop is beautiful. There are a handful of pool chairs but very little shade from the sun. My husband and I paid about $120USD per night and we loved it. The room was suitable, decent A/C, a mini fridge, a room safe, a large shower and a comfy bed. Some of the things we didn't like: It's not luxurious or grand by any means. The carpet is older, there is rust on the decorative poles by the pool. The elevators have weak air conditioning. They use plastic room keys, which are just plain white credit-card shaped plastic. If you lose these cards, they will charge you $12.50 (I found this ridiculous) When you walk into the room, there is a slot to insert the key. This keeps the lights on and the TV running. When you leave the room, you remove your key and the lights and TV go off. The rooms are stocked with 2 large bottles of water. Additional water can be purchased (I forgot the price but it was like 60 pesos?) We were just there for the one night so we didn't have to buy any. The check in process takes a long time, but I've had that experience in Temptation and Desire, so it must be the norm. We had to fill in paper forms (even though we had booked online and had answered all questions already) I am certainly not comparing Aloft to Temptation or Desire; it's not even in the same galaxy. But if you want a change of pace, or to save a little money and still have a good time, I think Aloft is a great option. We are actually planning to stay more nights here next time around. That way, we'll finally be able to see Chichen Itza and a lot of other beautiful places in Mexico. When we are at a resort, we feel tied down to it. There are many great restaurants in the Hotel Zone. We went to one called Almadia. They had the largest lobster tail I have ever seen. We had an excellent dinner there. Here are some more photos of Kukulcan Boulevard in the Hotel Zone: Our lobster tail at Almadia: Surf and turf at Almadia:
We stayed here on the day we arrived last week! We had a late flight in and didn’t think it was worth paying the Resort prices (though we did miss the neon party, which we love). We chose the hotel for its location and price. We went in with low expectations, and we’re actually pretty surprised. The Aloft is by no means a high end hotel, it’s obviously older and is missing a lot of luxury. We found the rooms reminded us a lot of college dorm rooms in size, and in the few furnishings. Ours had two beds, a tv, and a little bench… a tiny little window. Our TV remote didn’t work. The elevators were slow, small, and crowded. I found the front desk staff seemed a tired and worn out. That said it’s renovated, it’s clean, and the beds are pretty comfortable. Despite being so close to the action the rooms are quiet as well. The lobby bar was quick, and made some pretty strong drinks. The bartender was friendly. There was a piercing and tattoo party going on in lobby so it was pretty busy. They had a DJ. Staff was super friendly the next morning at checkout. As you pointed out where this hotel really shines is that it’s a block away from everything! All the big bars are within stumbling distance! Lots of choices for food, the beach is close, and there is a full grocery store about a block away. Essentially this is a 2.5 star hotel in a 5 star location. If we showed up late, if we were doing a bunch of tours, or just doing the clubs I’d stay here again.
