Our trip started out normal. Great flight there. We are Canadians and travelled from Buffalo to Cancun. I called the Resort a couple days prior to our arrival because we were told that we were entitled to ONE WAY AIRPORT TRANSPORTATION. So, we decided to make arrangements for a pick up from the airport TO the Resort. I gave all our information to a very friendly lady over the phone. (Flight arrival time...Airline Number...our NAMES...etc.) She told me that when we got out of the airport, to look for someone in a RED shirt holding up a sign that said SUNRISE and it would have our name on it. (Our last name.) Well, when we walked out of the airport...it was total pandomonia. People running here and there, grabbing you, pulling you to different spots. It was just crazy. Long story short....NOBODY had our name ANYWHERE. We just basically jumped in a Grayline airport transport bus and hoped we would get to our Resort. Which we did.....We finally got to our Resort, and as soon as we walked in, our luggage was taken and we were escorted to a 'room' full of food and drinks!! Very nice I thought! Then we were sat down and we had to show our confirmation letter. (We booked our stay through RCI.) We had booked an "Optional All Inclusive One Week Stay." That's what our CONFIRMATION letter stated anyway. However...the RESORT people said we had to pay for the ENTIRE week. (79.00 PLUS tax per person per day.) I told the (nice) man that we reserved it as OPTIONAL because my husband and I like to explore and we didn't know if we would be ON the resort property everyday. We were anticpating maybe paying for 4 days....leaving us 3 days to go and explore the beautiful city of Cancun....right?! NOPE. So, I got on the phone and called RCI. Basically told them that we were there now and really had nowhere else to go. THEY confirmed over the phone that YES< we had booked Optional......However, the resort wasn't going to accept that. SO, RCI agreed that if we paid the full amount, we could submit our receipt and they will reimburse us for 3 days...(as per our agreement...) I am HAPPY to say that that's happened, and RCI stood behind what they said. At the time though; it was very frustrating....

When we were FINALLY checked in though; and we had our bracelets on...it was going on 1:00 in the afternoon. We couldn't check into our Room until 4:00pm. However...the ever so friendly staff pulled a few strings and got us into our room at around 1:15 or so. We were SO happy, because as I said, we are from Canada...and it was HOT in Cancun. We just had on TOO many clothes!!

The room was absolutely beautiful. We were on the second floor. We had a view of the lagoon and we were able to watch the sunset every night while lounging in our HOT TUB that was RIGHT ON THE BALCONY!!! It was amazing!!

The room service was excellent...Breakfast in bed. Anything we wanted......Our fridge (although not the FIRST DAY) was stocked daily with Beer, pop, juice, water and peanuts. I think they should put more than 4 cans of beer in there though. (My husband and I would take out any beer we didn't drink in the morning and put it in our safe....and then when the maid came in, she would restock it with 4 more...and then we would take the ones out of the safe and put them back in the fridge to get cold....) Sneaky, sneaky...but it worked!! One night, we stayed on our balcony and watched the sun go down and drank 12 beers without even leaving our ROOM!!

The staff was incredible. Very very friendly. Especially Raul at the swim up bar. Always coming up with the "Raul Special" of the day!!

Wasn't impressed with the SPA. We had a 30 dollar credit, as a part of the all inclusive...BUT you had to get a service of at least 45.00 dollars or more. (go figure.) So, I decided to get a Reflexo Pedicure. FELT great...but the actual pedicure only lasted one day. The polish started falling off the very next day. When I went to ask if I could have a touch up...I was told I would have to PAY for it. So, I refused that and went around all week with half painted toe nails.

The food was great. The resort would have been an A+ IF it was on the Ocean. You couldn't swim in the Lagoon...but at least the pool wasn't busy. (except for the few who refused to get off the swim up bar stools ALL day.) Gotta wonder how they could hold off going to the bathroom when sitting there for a couple hours drinking......hmmmmmmm........YUCK.

The stay was nice enough. The staffing was adequate and very friendly. The elevator was out of order a lot of the time and we were on the top floor. Also, there were repairs going on. Unfortunately, the first day I was there I was dragged into a presentation that lasted all day and was convinced to buy a timeshare. I cancelled in five days and they refused to give me my money back. The do lie and I am still battling a collection company as my credit card company refunded me my money, but they aggressively decided to try to collect the sales price anyway.

They have a lot of complaints for their sales tactics. In my experience, the staff is knowledgeable of the timeshare sales staff and they comingle with the staff at the hotel.

Also, they change the kind of liquor served to different types of timeshare members. For example, they serve cheaper, nonbrand name vodka at the welcome party or events, and then serve another kind - Absolut at another. For instance for RCI members. Also, the sister hotel, Sunset Royal serves top brand liquors.

First thing when getting off the plane- they do tell you but I'll say it again do not talk to anyone at the airport. They are sales agents from differant hotels trying to give you dirt cheap rates on excursions and stuff. If you get lured in they will pick you up and bring you to their hotels for sales pitches first (time shares.) You will be offered discounts for these same attractions thru Sunset. If you can try to plan ahead for excursions so you can book them and be set. We would have liked to have done Chichen Itza or Tulum which are all day from 8am- 6pm but we weren't organized enough and kept running out of time. We did go to Isla Mujeres. Took the party boat (fiesta!) right from the marina. About 40 mins. out they stop and snorkle; then go to the island for lunch; back on the boat to the other side of island to shop (it's more expensive here than Cancun.) Oh yeah don't bother packing towels- they provide and they're nice ones. We also did go downtown to Market 28- good deals! We lucked out by hooking up with another couple where she was origanally from Mexico so was great at translating. They took us back downtown at night- which I don't think I'd recommend unless you really know spanish well. Almost every bar had a band and it was a pretty happening place. We ended up spending a good amount of time at the pool bar. Gotta love those crazy monkeys! (ice, vodka, kahluia & a banana) We made it to 3 or 4 nightly shows Then at 10 pm one of the hotel staff takes whoever wants to go out on the town. $35- (it's $50 if you go on your own) each night is differant- Co Co Bongos, Senor Frogs, Margaritaville.. You really wouldn't want to swim in the lagoon and the red flags were up everyday at the Sunset Royal (although we were still able to wade out at least.) Both the Lagoon & Royal had quite a few activities to choose from. I had the efolating body scrub/ massage on the last day and wished I'd had done it every morning to start my day. It was awesome! The staff was really helpful and alot of fun!

I don't understand the negative comments that some people have made about the Sunset Lagoon. We had a week's stay from January 5 - 12, 2008 and had an absolutely wonderful time.
The staff is uniformly excellent: helpful, upbeat and hardworking. They all went out of their way to make sure our stay was a great experience.
There are three places to eat at the hotel (don't believe for a minute when a reviewer says there are times you can't get food). The restaurant with the buffet meals is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The snack bar near the pool is open all day and into the very late afternoon. The Italian/Seafood restaurant is open for dinner (you do need to make a reservation for this restaurant) and then there's room service until 11:00 at night.
We had booked a studio room and found ourselves in a two-level room with full kitchen, a queen sized bed and a pull-out bed, with a terrace overlooking the beach, complete with hot tub on the terrace. The room was immaculate at all times.
We did take the timeshare tour, knowing we weren't going to buy. but the incentives to go on the tour were worth it. The entire tour took about 2 and a half hours, but as long as you know that going in and stick to your "I'm sorry, I'm not interested", you can just go on your way, incentives in your pocket. At no time were the salespeople rude or overly pushy.
All in all, it was a fantastic vacation and I would go back in a minute.