7.17.2007
Great Parnassus Hotel & Resort - Cancun, Mexico
We stayed at the Great Parnassus Hotel & Resort on an all-inclusive deal from Sunday afternoon to Friday morning. I have a mixed review for them. I did have a lovely time overall, but I am unlikely to go back to this particular hotel.
Hotel:
The hotel is beautiful, as you can see from the pictures. For an all-inclusive, it had a lot of restaurant choices, which was particularly important to me (it's easy to get tired of your choices, even with this many). I particularly liked Portofino, which was a 5-star dining experience. I strongly recommend the lobster/shrimp ragout plate. Mmmm...
It did not have enough elevators. There were many times we were packed in like sardines, which is never pleasant, especially without air conditioning (A/C is limited to the rooms).
The public restrooms need to be cleaned a lot more often. The restrooms near the bottom pool outside were SO DISGUSTING they nearly made me puke. The inside public restrooms seemed a little better, but again need more frequent cleaning.
Some important amenities were not open yet - no gym, no spa. You have to go to the sister hotel, Golden Parnassus, for that, which is an adults-only hotel. This means if you have a minor with you (my sister is almost 18 but not quite), you have a heck of a time trying to get a pass for them (especially because of the language barrier).
Also, it seemed like the hotel was put together very quickly and perhaps not quality-checked enough. The handrail in the tub in our first room, for example, was barely hanging onto the wall (good thing we didn't really need it).
Pools:
( Top Pool) 
The second pool was dedicated to activities (aerobics, volleyball, etc.). We spent most of our time in the bottom pool, which was fine. The hotel is very family-oriented, with a huge play area like a pirate ship & castle. There was an adults-only area on the second floor, but the pool there was tiny.
Room:
I loved how the rooms were designed each with their own balcony, each with an incredible view. I liked that the room was not carpeted, though I believe my mother and sister would have preferred it to be. The bathrooms were large, with the toilet separated into its own closet, and had plenty of storage space. We did have to move rooms once because the first room we were in had black mold near the shower and near the A/C ducts. When we explained the situation, we were moved to another room and had no further concerns. The A/C in the room worked great.
Employees:
Many of the employees were very helpful and friendly, as well as responsive. I was particularly happy with the host and servers in the Portofino and Samurai restaurants, as well as the walk-up bar by the pool and the 2nd floor bar called Atlantis. Also, Frederico (in the lobby - not sure I am spelling his name right) was great.
However, a few employees were unfriendly to the point of hostile. The particular incident that upset me is when my mother slipped and fell. She slipped because the showers were tiled and oily from everyone's sunblock (they really should have concrete here, not tile).
There was a ledge beneath her when she fell, which she hit her back on. This could have resulted in a very bad injury (when I saw her fall there, I had visions of broken back or concussion), but we were lucky and she was ok. There was an employee standing right behind the shower area looking right at us who did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help. Besides the fact that he does work for the hotel (we saw him all week putting out umbrellas & putting them away), this earns him an F- on just being human.
Here's a pic of him.
Next time, we'll go to an adults-only resort. We may even try the sister hotel to this one, The Golden Parnassus. We went there for a massage (best one I've ever had!) and it seemed really nice.
Cancun is so beautiful. It is also very tourist-oriented, which is very nice for newbie travelers like me.
We stayed at the Great Parnassus Hotel & Resort on an all-inclusive deal from Sunday afternoon to Friday morning. I have a mixed review for them. I did have a lovely time overall, but I am unlikely to go back to this particular hotel.
Hotel:
The hotel is beautiful, as you can see from the pictures. For an all-inclusive, it had a lot of restaurant choices, which was particularly important to me (it's easy to get tired of your choices, even with this many). I particularly liked Portofino, which was a 5-star dining experience. I strongly recommend the lobster/shrimp ragout plate. Mmmm...
It did not have enough elevators. There were many times we were packed in like sardines, which is never pleasant, especially without air conditioning (A/C is limited to the rooms).
The public restrooms need to be cleaned a lot more often. The restrooms near the bottom pool outside were SO DISGUSTING they nearly made me puke. The inside public restrooms seemed a little better, but again need more frequent cleaning.
Some important amenities were not open yet - no gym, no spa. You have to go to the sister hotel, Golden Parnassus, for that, which is an adults-only hotel. This means if you have a minor with you (my sister is almost 18 but not quite), you have a heck of a time trying to get a pass for them (especially because of the language barrier).
Also, it seemed like the hotel was put together very quickly and perhaps not quality-checked enough. The handrail in the tub in our first room, for example, was barely hanging onto the wall (good thing we didn't really need it).
Pools:
( Top Pool) 
(Second Pool [Activities Pool])
( Bottom Pool)
There are 3 pools on the ocean side of the hotel, in which you could see out over the ocean as if there were nothing separating the pool & the ocean water (infinity pools). However, the top pool is usually filled with young children (so is the pool to the side with the swim-up bar) and thus is questionably hygienic. I'm not being paranoid about the hygiene - they actually closed the small pool because of a child not making it to the bathroom in time.
The second pool was dedicated to activities (aerobics, volleyball, etc.). We spent most of our time in the bottom pool, which was fine. The hotel is very family-oriented, with a huge play area like a pirate ship & castle. There was an adults-only area on the second floor, but the pool there was tiny.
Room:
I loved how the rooms were designed each with their own balcony, each with an incredible view. I liked that the room was not carpeted, though I believe my mother and sister would have preferred it to be. The bathrooms were large, with the toilet separated into its own closet, and had plenty of storage space. We did have to move rooms once because the first room we were in had black mold near the shower and near the A/C ducts. When we explained the situation, we were moved to another room and had no further concerns. The A/C in the room worked great.
Employees:
Many of the employees were very helpful and friendly, as well as responsive. I was particularly happy with the host and servers in the Portofino and Samurai restaurants, as well as the walk-up bar by the pool and the 2nd floor bar called Atlantis. Also, Frederico (in the lobby - not sure I am spelling his name right) was great.
However, a few employees were unfriendly to the point of hostile. The particular incident that upset me is when my mother slipped and fell. She slipped because the showers were tiled and oily from everyone's sunblock (they really should have concrete here, not tile).
There was a ledge beneath her when she fell, which she hit her back on. This could have resulted in a very bad injury (when I saw her fall there, I had visions of broken back or concussion), but we were lucky and she was ok. There was an employee standing right behind the shower area looking right at us who did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help. Besides the fact that he does work for the hotel (we saw him all week putting out umbrellas & putting them away), this earns him an F- on just being human.Here's a pic of him.
I did complain to Frederico about this guy doing nothing. Frederico seemed greatly concerned about this incident, but I'm not sure whether anything came of my complaint.
Next time, we'll go to an adults-only resort. We may even try the sister hotel to this one, The Golden Parnassus. We went there for a massage (best one I've ever had!) and it seemed really nice.
Labels: review, vacation great parnassus hotel resort cancun mexico
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