We had a fantastic time,the food and people were great,the hotel was very clean,the service was fantastic,and the great Jose at the Tiki bar was an absolutely fantastic person,as well as all of the wait staff and entertainmeny staff,we cant wait to go back next year,the Ketners ,Norman Oklahoma

We have stayed at the Golden for 4 years. this year we changed plans and went to Riviera Maya. What an eye-opeing experience. Durint the four years at GP the desk crew changed very little and the attitude of the few in charge was horrible. The last two years we stayed (2006 and 2007), the time-share crew was on full alert and could not understand why we would not want to visit the sister hotel. All it took was having a meal there to clinch that decision. In comparison to where we stayed this year, the GP appears like a low end hotel. At GP there were tears in the sheets, covers, curtains, the iron and board needed to be replaced, door knobs were loose and the doors did not close fully. These problems did not appear to be addressed in the four years that we stayed at GP. We did like the fact that this was adult only and the wait staff, etc. went above and beyond to make you feel welcome.
After reading some of the experience of current travelers coupled with our last two stays, a recommendation for GP cannot be given to travel to Cancun only to meet with such disappoinment.

First, to the people who were "overbooked" if you took the time to book it through a "real" travel agent instead of some website trying to save a couple of dollars you wouldnt have any problems. This was a first vacation for my husband and I and it couldnt have gone any smoother. Of course people are going to try and get you to do time share stuff and activities - small price to pay for being in paradise. The time share people at the hotel asked us once and when we said no they left us alone!! The hotel is a little old but by no means is it falling apart. The rocks on the beach are from the hurricane they had in 2005 - which destroyed Cancun....there werent rocks everywhere - there where a few - so just walk around them and be on your way - really not that bad at all!! The food was ok - the one place we LOVED was Pier 12 - Lorenzo was the best waiter ever....totally amazing service with him and sit outside on the deck for lunch - couldnt get a better view while eating. Certainly bring small bills because no one has change and it sucks getting change in pesos. I would go back to this hotel in a minute.....and no kids is such a huge plus. Just got back to work today and after spending all that time with my husband - I miss him!!! Have a great time there - you will enjoy. There is always a chance of some small things going wrong or annoying people but really...why be so picky when your laying on the beach and the water is beyond blue!! (keep in mind that check in is at 3 so if you get there early you will be waiting around - you can go drink and eat and out to the bar though)

We went during the 4th of July week as a vacation for 7 nights. It was nice to be at an all adult only resort, but during the middle of the stay we noticed a 14 year old girl staying there with her family. The hotel on their web site states 17 is the minimum age but I am not sure how they can really verify this since they dont ask for ID or anything. The Time Share people( Jose) was very annoying, very persistant. They told us that it was to go see a new resort and it would take 90 mins( not 3 hours of waste, 3 hours we lost of beach time) and we would get 50 USD. We had decided to give it a try and sign up with it and our credit didn't get approved. Once that happened they tried the entire time we were there to get us to try and use credit cards or trying to apply with other options in which we told them no. Even after saying no we got a call the 4th morning saying they were expecting us to go on the bus to see Janice( who has a limp and is very slow) at 930am. We never agreed! It was funny how we were first treated when we were interested in the time share, even Jose gave us the tequilla( seems like if you dont sign up they will forget to give it to you). STAY away from THE TIME SHARE! Another annoying thing is getting your towels!!! You have to get attached by the Aqua world Rep each time you want a clean towel or card back, the hotel obviosuly did it on purpose. Also they ran out of towels one day and told us to come back in an hour, in which we did, and we were told to come back in another hour. I am sorry but a resort on a beach should NEVER run out fo towels! The food was below average. The Pier had run out of one of the items I had wanted for Dinner( again should never happen). The food is very watered down and not very tasty. The drinks are very Iced down and they use house brands( Like Skol which in my opinion is bottom of the barrel). The Bartender at the Tiki like most have praised was very good and knew our drinks by the 3rd visit up there, he was very good. The entertainment staff like most have praised was very good as well. They did a very good job at the shows, including the one they performed in. We went to 5 of the 7 shows, only the Circus show sucked, and I mean bad, the juggler( poor guy) kept dropping his objects, I was kind of worried when he juggled fire, and I believe the entertainment staff was as well since they seemed very ready for a mishap. Definitly worth seeing the free shows!
The people at the front desk where I have read many complaints were very good with the exception when our A/C was leaking into our room and we had to call them twice to fix it( may have been maintenance dropping the ball). It also may have helped I brought someone who spoke spanish, definitly a plus with many of the workers there who were not fluent in english. The bus is a good value, unless you have a band come on and sing as they are aggressive and expect a tip, so be prepared( only had one come on in like 4 round trips). Its worth going down to the Market 28 on the bus but be prepared to be bombarded with people wanting you to buy stuff, its really bad at times! You will find better values there then in the hotel or the strip thats just past the Hotel. You may also want to go to the Walmart if you need shampoo or bottle water( I would suggest you rinse your mouth after brushing your teeth with bottle water, I got a bit of upset stomach not sure form what).
We also got tricked at the Old Barn when a nice young guy came up and asked for our names, we were not sure what it was about but then he came back with some little cards with our names on them and asked for 7 bucks for each card, so dont give him your name!

We did one activity where we spent 95 bucks each( totally not worth it and was mislead again) at the Chichen Itza . Basically all you can do is snorkel, swim down a river in an inner tube, jump off a 15 foot cliff, bike ride or for extra money$$$ feed dolphins or scuba diving( it sucks it was not included in the 95 bucks). After about 4 hours there we were bored and laid in the hammock for about 2 hours. The food there was bad, you had birds attacking you, literally very aggressive trying to peck people for food!! They also told us was this place was 15 mins away from the resort when it was nearly 2 HOURS AWAY!
The weather for our week was not that great, cloudy 1/3 of the time and not much hotter than where we came from, mostly in the low 90s and upper 80s, but that was something we couldn't control. The best HIghlight was seeing a turtle come on shore and drop some eggs, sadly security would not allow us to get to close or snap a picture, they were very protective of it!

Overall its a decent place for the price but wouldnt go back to this resort. I would recommend bringing A LOT of singles, the 20 Peso bills are also good( since most tips are 2 bucks I believe) and I would recommend getting some pesos unlike a few did on the reviews, some places prefer it from what I gathered. Also say NO to any help if you don't need it. Do not take any Taxi's if possible its a total scam! Avoid the middle desks where they pretend to want to help when all they want is your Money for the Timeshare!!! Make sure you get out to the pool area early for a good chair was well. The Great Parnassus seemed much nicer ( after the timeshare visit)and wasn't much more expensive when I had to decide at the time from my travel agent, you may want to stay there instead.