First I must say I am not a member of this hotel or any of the "Premier Class at the Solaris" aka "time shares." Alot of vistors at this hotel are but everyone I met was extremely nice. When you get there they will have you sit with a guest rep. who is nice as well, but will go on to get you to take the tour. It took about three "no I am not interested" type comments but eventually he stopped and everything was fine. I truly believe if this type of sales pitch is a big problem for you Cancun itself might not be the place to go. In Cancun everyone tries to sell you everything, and be ready to tip everyone for everything despite what anything says about gratuities. If you know this going in you will enjoy your stay that much more.
Room- I upgraded to an ocean front room at $30 a night. It was pretty good. Typical toilet issues and water pressure issues. The view and the balcony were very nice. I stayed on the third floor in the middle of the resort. They did a good job cleaning and restocking the fridge. I suggest leaving a few dollars and write a note for "4 aguas please", and you will get it each night. The bed was hard but you can sleep on it. The only real thing that bothered me was on my last night I had a little to much sun and wanted to turn in early and rest in my room and I was still up to at least midnight. It gets pretty loud with crying children (not sure why this group felt the need to bring them into the hall) and other normal things. The hallways albeit very nice and clean are very loud.
Pool/Beach- The pools and beach are the best part of the stay. I disagree that the barstaff is unattentive, but I do think that you have to tip. The resort may say not to but honestly these guys do not get paid alot. Every morning when I would start my day I would go to the pool bar and find "William" and give him 10 dollars. I never tipped him again but I bearly ever waited for a drink. Most the games are fun and the entertainment staff is very cool and personable. You do have to get down around 8 or so to get a good chair. I have been to other resorts and it is the same deal, so I do not have a probelm with this. If you do not get up that early you will be able to find a chair but it might not be where you want. The beach is smallish, but is awesome. Be careful of rocks especially on the north side of their beach. It is pretty dangerous but still very nice. I found that because this resort is smaller you will make friends with alot of people at the pool and see them over and over. You will see them at dinner, breakfast, at the bar, etc. I liked this but if you prefer to keep to yourself you might like a larger resort. You still can keep to yourself here but I don't really believe it is that kind of place.
Food- In the early part of the stay I really liked the food. By the last day (5 days) I honestly could not eat it. I am not a picky eater. I also have never gotten sick in Mexcio. I did get sick here on my last day and the next day which was travel. It could have been a lot of things. I did drink a bunch at the pool the day before (no sugary drinks though) but I do that on every vacation and don't get sick (as in actual shooting stomach pains). I think it was a combination of this: the sun, drinking, salt water (ocean), the water in the shower in the room, and the brazilan night themed diner. Really just the later two so take that for what it is worth. I did not really eat or drink for the last 1.5 days of my vacation except for water.
Overall I would still recomend this place with those few warnings. The funny part about this trip versus my last was the it was the complete opposite hotel and length. My last stay was 11 nights at a huge resort, and this was 4 nights at a small resort. I found myself liking the GR Solaris more then the large resort in the beginning, and liking the large one more at the end.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
most likely
I recommend this hotel for:
A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, Great pool scene, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, Pet owners
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Beach / Sun, Theme / Amusement park, Spa