My boyfriend and I booked a trip to Cancun for our birthdays and to experience the much-revelled American Spring Break. After reading a lot of bad reviews of Cancun’s hotel zone hotels, we came across Temptation. The biggest appeal for us was the “no kids” policy so we decided to go ahead and book. We flew with Thomas Cook and had no problems. Each person got their own TV screen with films to watch, which was a nice surprise. Security queues at Cancun airport didn’t take long and our transfer was waiting for us outside the airport. When we arrived, the check in was quick and efficient and a very friendly bellboy kindly carried our bags up the two flights of stairs to our room. We were not bothered by the “timeshare lady”, which was a relief. The room was great with two double beds, a double shower, a big wardrobe and a balcony with a table and two chairs. It was also far enough from the bar that the music didn’t bother us at night. During our stay, the grounds and swimming pools were cleaned and maintained every day. Not once were we asked for a tip or refused service for not giving one. We did tip freely as the service by all was excellent. All of the staff were excellent, especially the maids who were very attentive when cleaning the rooms and the bar staff who were fun and full of smiles. I did encounter some Americans being very rude to the staff for minor discrepancies, which I thought was disgusting behaviour but all in all the atmosphere ranged from fun and friendly to peaceful and relaxing. HINT: If you want a sunbed, put a towel/t-shirt over one as soon as the pool areas have been cleared, which I think is about midnight otherwise you will struggle. We encountered people who hogged the same sunbeds for the entire 2 weeks of their stay, even when they didn’t spend the day at the pool. Unfortunately, this selfish behaviour is universal so you’ll have to play them at their own game. An alternative is the hotel’s own section of beach, which is well maintained, has plenty of sunbeds and it’s own harbour. You can’t swim out in the sea far due to water sports and it isn’t very deep but it is worth taking a dip. The food quality and range was excellent. The buffet (the only restaurant open for breakfast) has the same food each day, which is fine because there is still loads of choice and at home you probably eat the same things everyday anyway. The rest of the day the food varies depending upon the theme nights (see the hotel’s website for more details). We ate vegetables and fruit despite being advised not to as they may be washed in local water but we didn’t get ill. We tried all of the restaurants except the Seafood; with the Asian being our favourite as the food and drinks were delicious and we had great service. Margaritas is great for lunch with a buffet including chicken wings and a menu of delicious choices. The drinks were fine and brand labels are used for various drinks. The bar tenders will make you any drink you want and whatever strength you want. My favourite was the strawberry daiquiri. HINT: Take a bubba mug with you (on sale at ASDA/Walmart) as they will fill it up for you so you can clean it yourself, it keeps the liquid colder longer and the lid will keep flies at bay. There are daily and nightly events so you never have to leave if you don’t want to. The Sexy Pool (the most popular pool) is topless optional and the games are a bit raunchy. The entertainment staff is fun and enthusiastic. Each night you can go to a different club, which a member of staff takes you to (one-way transfer is included in the price) and you get a table, open bar and they stay with you for an hour or so. You then get a taxi/bus back to the hotel. We went to Coco Bongos the night before my birthday. The transfer was fine, we pretty much bypassed the queue to get in, we got our own section near the bar/toilets but it was tiny and you had to stand on the sets to fit everyone in. The waiter service was rubbish so we got our own drinks from the bar. HINT: Be specific about what drink you want; grape soda is NOT a good mixer! I recommend sticking to the beer as it is the least watered down and doing straight shots to feel any kind of buzz. I’ll let you make up your own mind about the club itself. The hotel has a spa (which we didn’t use) and a gym (small but user friendly).We used the hotel’s excursion desk to book the Jungle Speedboat Tour (highly recommended – awesome few hours!), which worked out cheaper than booking online so definitely stop by. Also the excursion left from the harbour right next to the hotel. We also separately booked the Tulum Jungle Maya Tour through www.alltounative.com (best day ever!), Captain Hook Pirate Ship (good birthday fun – worth a look) and to Isla Mujeres (great island with brilliant snorkelling). Patty O’s bar (the main bar) has plenty of space and seating and is busy usually every night. You can also get food from here (very nice burgers). The pool bars are great and you never wait too long for a drink. The Alternative Sports bar is only open at night and we didn’t go but we went here during the day (they have two pool tables and a ping pong table). It is a little dire in there; it would be good to have more sports show on the wall-mounted TVs. The hotel as a whole needs a lick of paint but they probably don’t have time as it is such a popular place to stay. We have already booked to come back for our holiday again next year as there are still lots of excursions we want to do, the people are worth going back for and we are staying at Temptations again because, quite frankly, it’s an awesome hotel!
Awesome review! Thanks for all of the information Sounds like you had a great time. So excited for our trip in June!
Thanks for the review and the tips. I'm off to shop for some bubba mugs to keep our drinks cold! Going to be 70 here tmw and then only 40 and snow on Sunday. Can we just be done with winter already?
Great trip report, sounds like you got too a little bit of everything while their. you just got too love a 3am PatyO's burger!!!!! you can't eat just 1....
Thanks for telling us about your trip! Those of us who are impatiently waiting for our dates to come up appreciate word from the front lines!!
