We just returned from our honeymoon at Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach. When we arrived, we were greeted with a tasty cocktail while checking in. Then, we were quickly taken to our first room. We spent two long nights in our first room. I was a little disapointed, as I had requested ocean view and it was not. Also, the air conditioning in our first room barely worked. I am a person who is always cold in the air conditioning, so if I'm complaining that I'm hot, then you know the air is not working well. Also, our refrigerator did not keep things cold in this room. We called maintance at about 9:45 p.m. and were told that someone would be there in about 10 minutes. Finally, at 12:45 a.m. the maintance man showed up. He said there was nothing he could do about the air because it was coming out (barely), but he did bring us a new fridge. On this first night, we ate at the buffet, as we could not get reservations for the restaurants until the following night. The food at the buffet is not great. I was ready to cry on our first night, as nothing was going right for us. The room was hot, the fridge was warm, and the buffet was not good. Then, after two nights in our first room (and several calls to the front desk), we were moved to a beautiful ocean view room in the 2600 building on the third floor. It was wonderful! The air worked really well, the fridge was cold, and we had a spectacular view! I will say that the rooms are very large and well laid out if you're a couple. Otherwise, the hole in the wall can be a privacy issue. We loved the hole, as we could lay in our jacuzzi tub and look out onto the ocean. We loved the restuants that we went to. Our favorite was the Japanese.....fabulous! We also enjoyed the French restaurant, which usually costs extra, but since we were honeymooners we got it for free. (Make sure you state this when making your reservations, as they do not come out and tell you that you get it for free. You have to let them know that you're aware of it.) We also enjoyed the steak house. The Mexican and Italian were okay, but nothing special. This resort is really nice, but there were a couple of things that really bothered us. First, they did not give rides around the resort on golf carts like others stated they did. The only time this occurred was to check in, check out, or go to the disco. Otherwise, you had to walk every where. Also, this resort does not believe in air conditioning their restaurants and buffets. All of the eating places are very warm and all of the cold food gets warm quickly. The temps there are so hot and so humid, that we found it almost scary that they do not air condition their eating places. You really need to watch some of the food items to make sure they're cold if they're supposed to be. For example, their packets of mayo were stacked in a bucket, which was sitting on ice, but only the bottom packets were kept cold. The two things we loved about this resort were the drinks--they are excellent every where (but especially the lobby bar---Louis Miguel makes a killer banana margarita---I highly recommend one or a few). Also, if you want to be alone, you can. There are plenty of secluded beaches and spaces. There are lots of children at this resort, but we actually enjoyed watching them. All in all, this is a great resort. I don't believe it's a five star resort, but I'd say a three and a half. They did tell us that they're working on having a shuttle that will take you any place any time, but that is not ready yet. They need to work on some maintenance issues in the rooms, but other than that we really enjoyed our stay. The workers are very nice and very friendly. Also, we took the collectivo several time to Playa, Cancun, and Akumal. Very nice people. Only two dollars per person. Go to Akumal beach and swim with the turtles. Lots of fun!

My husband, I and our 4 yrs old stayed at GS Mayan beach side from 6/28 to 7/4. We booked our trip from nwa world vacation and had no issues at all.

Room:
We stayed in room 2522 (Jaban bldg 25). The room was clean and big and we only had a broken balcony door handle issue which was fixed later the next day. We can see some ocean from the balcony. There was no hole between the bathroom and the main room. We emailed the hotel and requested to be in the Naan (29) bldg but didn't get it. It would have been nice since our son had blisters on his feet, so most of the time, we need to carry him around and it was tough in the hot weather.

Food:
There is room for improvement as far as food at the resort, but I never felt hungry because I had a lot of other varieties to pick from. My hubby prefers food from the Carnival cruise ship, but I prefer GS, so it's subjective. We ate at the steak house (grade=C), Cajun (grade =B), Japanese (grade =B+), and Brazilian (grade =C).
The oriental theme night at the buffet (B+).

Beach:
If you love snorkeling, this is a great place to be. We spent most of the time at the beach since we love to snorkel. We have seen sting ray, sea urchins, octupus, and all kinds of fish from the beach at the resort. There are different spots you need to explore. It would have been more fun if I can snorkel with my husband, but one of us have to watch our son. We also went to the Akumal beach and saw sea turtles there. It was amazing. One thing my son loves to do is to feed the fish at the beach. Some will even suck the bread from your finger. Pretty cool.
We didn't reserve any spots at the beach as we couldn't be bothered to wake up early in the morning to do that. We can always find shaded spots at the beach and beside the pool.

9:30pm Shows:
Lion King (B+); Broadway (B); Mexican (C)

Other:
We tried out the scuba diving demo, air gun shooting, archery, and tennis. They were all fun. We didn't leave our son at the mini club since I don't feel comfortable, but I did see the kids there and they seemed to be having fun. They also get to participate at the Lion King show.
Lazy river is so cool and relaxing. We all love it. There are always tubes there for us to use. No issue there.
My son loves to find Iguanas everywhere we go. He also likes to eat outside: the balcony of the main buffet and the beach snack bar.
Ice-cream bar next to the pool was a plus. The coffee shop's ice machine broke and was not fixed until the night before we left. I had a ice mochachinno and it was good but a little too sweet. The health juice bar was just ok. I love smoothies, so I had a few anyway.
Love the resort decor and the fact that it was built with nature in mind.
Wear lots of sun screen! Wet suit is good to have especially for kids.
Thank God that none of us get sick while we were there!

We Stayed at the Grand Sirenis from June 28th until July 5th. I agree with all the past reviews about the walking. My husband and I are relatively fit and active and by about the 4th day our legs were sore. We walked all over though. I'm sure if you pace yourself and don't do everything in one day like we did you will be fine. Definitely take good walking shoes. Our two children who are 4 and 6 did just fine and never once complained about the walking so it all worked out. Our kids loved the kids club. They especially loved Alex and we left them in the kids club for about 5 hours every day. I recommend taking rash guard UV shirts because even with sunscreen they can burn. They begged every morning to go there so it all worked out for everyone. While our kids were at the Kids club we took a collectivo to the Tulum Ruins. You just head out to the main road in front of the resort and carefully cross the lanes of traffic to the other side. Look for the collective buses or vans and it is only $2.50 per person one way. Just make sure you specify to the driver that you want the 'tulum ruins' and they will drop you off right in front. It's still a 10 minute walk in but very worth it. You can also take the collectivo on the same side that you catch the Tulum buses to head to Akumal Beach for only $1. It was worth it to go and snorkel with the turtles. Bring your own snorkel gear because there is awesome snorkeling off the beach from the resort. Go to the far left side and swim out past the rope to the dark coral areas.

I agree with everyone about the Japanese restaurant. It is simply the best and we wish now that we would have booked it for two of the 4 dinners. There really is something for everyone to eat.

I could go on and on. It really is a great resort. We will be back. We want to see some other places but sometime in the future we will return.

The hotel's location and grounds are excellent. It is far enough away from Cancun to avoid the big crowds, but not too far. It's roughly 20 minutes to Playa del Carmen, if you're looking for night life outside the hotel. However, the hotel itself has plenty to offer so we never went that route.
When you arrive, you are greeted by a very friendly staff. All the employees we encountered during our week stay were very polite and hospitable. This includes waiters, bar tenders, event organizers, etc.
The rooms are great for couples. However, the design of the room provides a large opening into the bathroom/shower, so it may be uncomfortable for some. For example, we talked to one guy who was staying in a room with his aunt (they were there for a wedding). It was awkward for them. My wife and I were on our honeymoon and we loved the room. It was large, clean, and had a nice balcony as well.
The grounds of the hotel are big enough that if you want to mingle with others you can do that at the various bars, pools, etc. On the other hand, if you want to be alone at the beach or pool, that can also be accomplished. The beach was very nice and clean. We never had a problem getting a cabana, which I've heard people complain about in other locations. They offer a variety of water sports and adventure trips. We went deep-sea fishing and snorkeling with sea turtles. I'd reccommend either. We also took a full day "Tulum Extreme" trip which involves repelling into cenotes, zip-lining through the jungle, and a tour of the Mayan city of Tulum. It was great. All of these activities cost extra, as they are not included in the all-inclusive package, but they are well worth it.
There are daily trivia games, dance lessons, and a lot more activities throughout the day. At night the hotel offers nightly shows at the theatre. Some nights there are gambling tables set up and some nights there are vendors selling all kinds of souvenirs. There is a night club and I reccommend taking one of the shuttles to get there. We went on one night and participated in a salsa contest. It was a lot of fun.
The food is good, whether you eat at the buffet, or go to a restaurant. Reservations are required in advance for the restaurants, but if you can't get a reservation for any reason, you should try just showing up and asking for a table. They will probably accomodate. Generally, it seems that people will make reservations and not show up. We ate a couple of the restaurants and it was never crowded. There is an extra charge at the French restaurant. It's nice if you have an occasion to celebrate.
The events schedule is set up on a weekly rotation, so 7 days seemed like plenty of time. Of course, we could have stayed for another week, if time permitted. The hotel is family-friendly, but that should not deter couples without children. As I stated, we were on our honmeymoon and had a great time.
The photos we submitted are of the activities we participated in. For photos of the rooms and hotel itself, you can look at the hotel's website.