I'd like to know as well...

Booked a room at the adult's only Golden Crown Paradise Spa for a week in early January..

3 of us going (ages 22-23), but have since been scared by the 'adults' only specifications...

We don't want bratty kids around, but we also don't want to be the youngest..

That being said, we're looking for a nice, quiet place, nice looking, with good food!!!

anybody know more?? The recent reviews have alternated between horrible and terrific...

My wife and another couple stayed at the GCP last spring and we had the best vacation in years. Let me start off by saying if you are looking for a place that is wild with non stop partying, THIS IS NOT THE PLACE. The resort caters to mostly older couples who prefer a resort without kids. My partying days are long over and my wife and I have high stress jobs and when we go on vacation, we do not need the ambience of a drunk college kid screaming at the top of his lungs outside our door at 4 AM. We want to relax. The pro's are the excellant and attentive staff. Tipping does help. A dollar here and a dollar there goes a long way. The GPC is extremely clean. The food in the restaurants and snack bar is good to very good. (if you want gourmet quality, book a higher end resort). The beach is beautiful and there are always plenty of chairs around the pool. The resort only has 200 rooms so it never feels crowded. The staff does have activities and games around the pool everyday and there are nightly shows. There is no nightlife at the resort but a bus goes out every night to the downtown nightclubs. The resort is dead after 11 PM. The con's are the resort is a little dated and the beds are very hard. If you are young and single, you will meet very few other single people. The resort is very hit and miss in that regard. In conclusion, if you want a clean resort with excellant service in a VERY relaxing and adult admosphere this is the place for you.

The Golden Crown Paradise is wonderful. My husband and I stayed there last winter for a week and it was a week of heaven. The staff are amazing, the food was great. We did the Jungle Tour which wasn't that great and also the Catamaran which was well worth the money. If you have any questions please e-mail me.

Thanks for the information. We are heading to GCP with friends at the end of the month for a 7 night stay. We had to book this without a lot of research as it was a replacement for our previously booked stay at Secrets Excellence in Punta Cana. The reports that we were reading after Jeanne were not encouraging so we canceled and rebooked in Cancun. I'm keeping my fingers crossed regarding this vacation. The reviews on tripadvisor are mixed and the latest was horrible; I think it was 1 star with a report of never returning.

The 4 of us are big time cruisers; in fact, our friends have never stayed at an all-inclusive. Our last AI was at Beaches in Turks & Caicos. We loved it.

QUESTIONS:

Did you do any snorkeling? Anything to see "under" the water at the beach? Did you go over to the sister hotel during your stay? I heard something about the steakhouse at the Crown Paradise being better than at GCP.

Sorry to be so long winded, and thanks in advance for your answers.

Carole

Came back from this hotel on Wednesday 6 October after 2 weeks. The beach is great, sea beautiful.

Breakfast & lunch are excellent but we soon tired of the Barn and pier 12. There is a shuttle to take you to the sister hotel where they have a Mexican and Italian restaurant.

The lack of air conditioning in the main lobby is terrible. Did not mind the hard beds. Some of the entertainment is lacking and there is really not a lot to do at night.

Lot of young people going out to party at 11pm, but to old for that.

So if you like the beach and want a quiet holiday this is the place for you.

As for the 1 star review, the writer was looking for a place to party hearty for a week and once again, you will not find that at the GPC. I also booked at the GPC with trepidation because it was our first trip to Cancun but that was all washed away about one hour after checking in. The beach is great but there can be a strong undertow so I do not thing you will be able to snorkle. I heard Isla Muerlas is great for snorkling. There are also travel guides at the resort who can assist you if you want to rent a car or take a tour. My wife and I used to cruise alot but became disallusioned the last few years because of the poor service and abundance of unruly kids on the cruise ships. Our stay at the GPC reminded of the service we used to receive on the cruise ships in the late 80's-early 90's. As for the Crown Paradise, I heard they have a couple of good restaurants but you have to make a reservation in one day in advance. We went there for a show one evening and the place was overrun with kids. We could not wait to get back to the GPC. We also met several people who stayed at the Crown Paradise but spent everyday at the GPC but it was so much quieter and void of children. Please E mail me if you should have any further questions. We are also going back later this month.

Thanks for your observations. We definitely don't want to be dodging kids! Once our kids were grown we started to travel slightly off season; much better for us.

Sorry. jfred that you stopped finding cruising to your liking. We have found Celebrity pretty adult friendly (very few children) and were treated very much like cruising was 25 years ago; great respect and desire to please the passengers.

Were you on a package to GCP? We are doing an Apple. On past Apple tours, they always had a "get together" to give you the lay of the land and sell you side trips. I was thinking of taking a bus/taxi to the ferry and going to Isla Mujeres on our own, rather than a prepackaged tour. Any thoughts on this?

We met alot of people who booked their trips through Apple and if I am not mistaken, I think there is an Apple representitive at the hotel. We did not go to Isla Muerlas but talked to people who did go and they all seemed to have a good time. I am sure you will be able to book a tour there through the hotel. Taxi's are readily available butmake sure you get a price fromthe driver before you leave. The bus system in Cancun is great. The bus stop is one block from the hotel a trip down downtown is only .65. One day we rented a car and drove to Chichen Itza. That cost the same as a tour but did not tie up the whole day for us. Also, beware the people at the airport who welcome you to Cancun. They are trying to sell you a presentation to a timeshare and they do not take "no" very kindly.

There will be 6-8 of us going early this January for 1 week (3 couples and 2 singles). We are in our mid 20s to early 30s. Looks like the night life here may be limited but we will be checking out the Discos at the sister resort and go clubbing in town a few nights. We like to drink and party, so worse case scenario, I'll be picking up booze in town just incase we want to cut loose all night at the resort without going out. It will be as fun as you make it. They serve booze until 2am anyways so thats not to bad.

We just got back from the Golden Crown Paradise on Oct. 22nd after an 8 day stay. One of the most wonderful trips I have ever had. Resort is impeccable! Food is good, nice range of restaurants to choose from. 24 hour room service (we used on more than one occasion!). Wonderful staff, make sure to stop by the kiosk bar to see Perfecto (best bloody mary's I have ever had other than my sister-in-law's), the Tiki Bar for Carlos (also can be found at the Old Barn restaurant on the premises) and Edwin, and Katie in activities. Something is going on every night, even if it is sitting by the pool at the Tiki Bar just enjoying conversation with the other guests. Plenty to do to party while there. Not all guests are older (we are in early to mid-thirties and met some even younger). We relaxed when we wanted and danced on the bar a few times too. We went over to the sister hotel, nice place for familys, more to do to keep kids active, not as nice of beach, steakhouses were about the same quality wise. We made so many friends while there. Great times, great people and good food and drink. Beach is absolutely wonderful!!!! So many others were coming to the Golden Crown because it has the best beach in Cancun, many bad reports about some of the other beaches. Swam with small schools of fish right next to beach. You can rent jet ski's, go parasailing etc. from booths at the resort. No need to go looking very far. Prices ran fairly close at all. Also available are snorkling trips, excursions to the ruins and anything else you can imagine (even swimming with the dolphins). For fun, go on the Bar Leap. Not for the very faint of heart, but a total blast ($65/person, 4 bars with open bar and cover taken included, bars included Coco Bongo (a must see!!!)). Also fun was Margaritaville and Senor Frog's. Nightlife at the Tiki bar was great (open until 2 a.m.) we closed down a couple of nights. There are representatives from Apple and companies. We booked through discount-all-inclusive.com and their representatives were through American Express, they were wonderful. There was no problem with the air-conditioning while we were there, in fact the lobby was always comfortable and the rooms cool. We did not have a problem with the beds, usually so tired from all that we did during the day and night that we did not even notice. We are already planning our trip back in October.