This is the second review which I am writing since I started my week off at Sun Palace first. Le Blanc is a very nice hotel. Check-in was a breeze and we appreciated the coconut milk and wet towels at check-in. Our room was lovely and the staff quite attentive. We really did not utilize the butler service since we did all our own packing and unpacking. Everyone in the hotel was quick to take care of whatever you wanted. The grounds themselves were marvolous. We loved the tiki huts, especially the one down by the lagoon. The lagoon was lovely and we loved seeing the different wild life that were there. I found the food to be very good but my husband was not too impressed. I was a little disappointed about their wine selection. My reading the reviews posted previously indicated that you could get wines from around the world with no problem. I found it was difficult at times to get California which we drink and were sometimes forced to drink Argentinian or Chilian wines which we do not care for very much. The pools were lovely, but since there are a lot of conventions at this hotel, the tranquility pool we found to be quite crowded so we either hung out at the pool by the lagoon or the pool on the third floor. I would definitely return to this hotel. I found it to be quite classy and we loved the music playing around the hotel, not too loud and just great background music. Great band and lovely harpist, pianist in the bar area. Very relaxing vacation. Hated to leave!

Not done all inclusive before like this, you tend to get so much free then you have to pay for certain things, not with the Spa, all we wanted was free and good brand names not cheap rubbish,
Food was excellent, although if your meal seems to be taking a long time, call the waiter and make sure he has put your order in, the only late meal we had the waiter forgot to tell the kitchen, but never mind we just ordered another bottle of wine.
Again service in room was good, although 2 evenings the room was not refreshed, we only had to mention this once to the butler, yes you have your own butler. and it was never missed again.
Pools excellent, but you can get the odd smell from the lagoon, not a fresh smell I have to say, you do get used to it. Sea was too rough and undercurrents are very strong so beware, I swam out first day although a little rough, nothing too much as I am a good swimmer, when I turned to swim back the under current was very powerful and had a struggle to get back. Advice do not go further out than waist deep unless you are a very strong swimmer.
Entertainment available but if you are not in to magic, fire eaters and karaoke avoid planning your evening round their entertainment.
Bars very good the main one being lounge bar, drink as much or as little as you want. Free.

Before I begin my review I thought that I would just tell you a little about myself and this trip to help “lay the foundation.” I have traveled in many parts of the world, and have served as an examiner for our national quality award for five years. Because of my training and experiences I pay utmost attention to organizational excellence and customer service and have great deal of expectations, particularly in the customer service area. During this trip my wife and I took my 80+ year old parents to Le Blanc to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary with them. We stayed at Le Blanc March 27 – April 3, 2008. Here then is my review.

Arrival:
While Le Blanc looks a little austere from the street side upon your arrival compared to other nearby resorts, that image is lost when you enter the lobby. It is an expansive lobby, decorated in minimalist style, presenting the appearance of an elegant first-class hotel. As you leave your bus or van you are quickly greeted with a glass of coconut juice and a cold towel, then escorted to one of several registration desks. Also as you enter, your attention is quickly drawn to the individual desks used for registering guests, the individual seating areas, the large flowing curtains separating these areas and the gorgeous view towards the main infinite pool and the ocean. Check in was quick, professional, and very pleasant.

Rooms:
Regarding the rooms. I did request oceanfront rooms at the time I made the reservations, and when we arrived both my parents and I received oceanfront rooms on the 8th floor---very, very nice! (we are also Palace Resorts members and that may have helped as well). Just a little more information about the rooms. The way they explained their room categories to me is as follows (I did ask them about this while we were there). The lagoon view rooms are their standard deluxe rooms. The oceanfront rooms are all "honeymoon suites." The corner rooms (larger rooms with a view out of two sides) are their "Governors Suites." They also have “Presidential Suites.” The oceanfront rooms have french balconies. They do not have enough room for chairs. However, they do have two sliding doors that you can open which would allow you to move your chairs close to the doors. But, some of the rooms have the jacuzzi by the doors---taking up some of the room where the sliding doors are--meaning that you may only be able to use one of the chairs. The exception to this is their Governors Suites and the Presidential Suites which do have larger balconies. Although specific floors may be requested, all room assignments are made based upon availability (within the same room category).

Butlers:
I have now read several reviews where some people have complained about their Butler not being at their station. This is not a problem! When the butlers are not at their stations, they are taking care of individual guests (i.e. preparing the Jacuzzi, unpacking bags, coordinating special requests, etc.). If one is not at their station, all that needs to be done is to call their special phone number and you will receive a response. The Butlers appear to be Bluetooth equipped and are in constant communications with each other. They do everything possible to make your stay pleasant and memorable. Our primary Butlers were Margarito and Joel. Both were “world-class” in service delivery, attitude and sincere desire to please. I am sure that the other butlers are just as service oriented.

Restaurants/Food:
The resort has four restaurants. Although the resort was booked at 90% capacity during a couple of the days we were there, we never needed a reservation. The only reservation we made was for the gourmet dinner—and only because of the high occupancy at this time. The food was fantastic. We had read several reviews where some people did not like the food, but my parents, my wife and I felt that the food was exceptional. They also have quite a few menu choices at each of the restaurants, and for breakfast and lunch there were many choices at the buffets. But because they are an all inclusive, and do cater to many visitors from a variety of countries and with a variety of tastes, they do keep the food somewhat bland--but this was not a problem for us. We were also particularly impressed with the quality and the preparation of their beef. We ordered beef dishes several times, including Chateaubriand for two--they were cooked to perfection and absolutely superb.
An example of their service and desire to please is offered by the following. I am particularly fond of Mexican egg dishes for breakfast. I mentioned this to one of the dining room supervisors and on several mornings he asked the Chef to prepare special dishes for me–they were not offered as part of the buffet. On one of the mornings he asked me how I would like to have my Mexican eggs prepared. I responded with “surprise me.” He immediately asked some of his peer supervisors about some ideas. What I received was a dish that one of the supervisors would eat as a young boy—it was absolutely delicious. That is what I call service and a sincere desire to make your stay memorable.
Overall, is the dining room food equal to a 5 star restaurant in New York or Chicago---no. Is it fantastic for a world-class all inclusive resort---you bet.
On the negative side. During two of our evening meals, one each at the at the Oriental and Italian restaurants, the amount of time it took between the service of the appetizer and the entrée was approximately 45 minutes—too long. In addition, while at the Oriental restaurant, my parents and I received two different menus. Although all the dishes were listed the same, several of the dishes on the apparently older menu indicated that some of the dishes would be prepared tableside (flambé). The other menu had no such indications. While I ordered a dish that depicted that it would be prepared tableside, this was not done. I am not sure if Le Blanc has discontinued this type of tableside service. However, if they have, this would clearly be a reduction in the level of service, and may reduce their attractiveness and competitive position when compared to other high end resorts in the area.

Pools/Beach:
They have two pools at the oceanside of the resort and a large heated Jacuzzi. They also have another pool at the front of the hotel. All were kept extremely clean and had lots of lounges available. The only negative comment here pertains to guests. Many guests leave their towels at the main pool to reserve their lounges for the day. This is a practice that happens at virtually all of the resorts. However, it appears that most guests also leave their towels on these lounges after they leave the pool area—with no intention of coming back to the pool; rather than taking them back to the towel service. This makes it very difficult to distinguish between lounges that have been vacated or are still being used (just had to vent a little here). The nice thing about having pools on both sides of the hotel is that in the afternoon the shadow of the hotel covers the main pool, but then guest can move over to the pool at the front of the resort and continue to enjoy the full sun.

Regarding the beach. The beach in front of Le Blanc is one of the widest beaches within a 5-10 minute walk to either side. Lots of room for lounges and umbrellas—very nice.

Activities:
They do have some activities, but more laid back and more on the quiet side. For example, they have water volleyball available for those that are interested, water aerobics, yoga, salsa lessons, towel folding (art), and jewelry making; I’m sure that there were more, but these are the ones I remember. They do not have the “party” type atmosphere that you would find at some of the other resorts—definitely more quiet and relaxed. If you want the party atmosphere you may want to consider one of the other resorts.

They have nighttime entertainment (shows) as do all of the other Palace Resorts. The “fire show” is not to be missed. Later in the evening they also have either a small band, singer, or karaoke. In the main lounge, during the late afternoons/evenings they feature a piano player, sax player, guitarist, etc.—again, very relaxing.

General: Overall this resort is first class. The service is world-class and the resort staff will do everything in their power to make your stay memorable in every way. The age groups of guests varies widely. There were honeymooners, guest in their middle ages, and several couples in their 60’s or older. My parents, who are in their early 80’s met several couples near their own age they spent time with. My parents kept mentioning that this was the best vacation they have ever had.

If you are considering Le Blanc don’t worry about a thing—just go and have the experience of your life and get prepared to be pampered.

My husband and I just returned yesteday from Le Blanc. I was truly so looking forward to this trip and enjoying all of the lovely amenities that I had been reading about and this resort did not disappoint me.

The Spa is without a doubt the most sublime I have been to and the staff is lovely. It is scented with a wonderful aroma and just has the perfect lighting and ambience. You do need to made reservations here though as they were not able accomodate us on a walk in basis.

The food - Honestly I would really like to say it was amazing but it was not, it was good though and the international restaurant for breakfast and lunch was truly tops but the italian was very average. We enjoyed the oriental the most.

They do have a gourmet dinner that you can make arrangements to have and that was very very nice however it was a very long meal so keep that in mind, they serve you 7 courses with wine pairings and it was close to 3 hours. It was outside by the lagoon pool and that was a huge highlight.

While we were here it was very humid and very windy which may be normal for this area but that is the one thing I was not prepared for. I had not read about the wind and it was REALLY really windy, to the point that several of us could not wear dresses we had chosen becuase they would fly up and become a problem.

The carribean is amazing and so unbelieveably beautiful, so blue and pretty.

The sand is soft and cool.

We did 2 day trip things and they were both well worth it, we did a ferrie over to Isla Mujeres and rented a golf cart to tour around and that was a blast! Fun place to spend a day.

We also did hte speed boat and snorkel tour and that too was just great. We loved the snorkeling and saw so many cool fish.

No Sea lice while we were there, I know lots of folks have asked about this. I did not hear of anyone having any trouble with that.

The pools at Le Bland are so great and the wait staff near the pools were fantastic, you never had to wait for anything longer than 5 minutes.

They had evening entertainment and we saw the magic show and it was truly worth watching. Very good.

The room was very well done and relaxing. Great view.

We walked to the flea market and when we arrived back at Le Blanc all hot and steamy we were greeted on the steps with an orange blossom scented wash cloth that was ice cold and soooooo refreshing. My husband and I were so impressed with this and it just made our day.

Everywhere you turn you are asked if you need anything and not in a in your face kind of way just there.

The butler was always around and did a great job of accomdating us, we asked for different snacks and it was done, we got the lavender pillow which is so fragrant and filled up the room with its calming scent.

There is so much about this hotel that we loved and it is mainly the staff. Although we did tip I did not notice many doing that and it almost seemed out of place.

If you like Cappuccino you really should try one hre at breakfast it was so good and came layered and perfect. Very hot and steamy and wonderful.

Afternoon tea was another favorite here, nice tea selection and yummy little treats to enjoy with it.

If you have any questions please feel free to send a message.