My girlfriend and I were due a vacation, but weren't sure where to go. Europe was off limits because of the exchange rate. ($7.50 for a little Coke, yeah right....) We both agreed on Cancun. I found a good deal on Orbitz and booked it. I spent the next month and a half checking TA reviews. I will say that I wasn't sure what to expect.

We took a shuttle bus from Cancun airport to the Presidente. It's a nice drive, but the hotel is the last hotel on Cancun Island, so shuttle service can take a while depending on the number of other stops. Pulled up to find 2 or 3 guys eager to help with your luggage.

The check-in was very easy and pretty quick. We got a Superior Lagoon View. It was on the 5th floor, windows facing opposite from the beach. The view was of the lagoon, but you can see the light blue tones of the beach on the other side and the hotels lining the hotel zone. The bellboy was waiting in front of our door with our luggage and I never felt pressured to tip.

The room was large and clean. It had tile floors and a firm (not too hard) king size bed. The furniture was in good shape and the
linens and towels were too. The windows open pretty wide but it lets in hot humid air and noise from the major street below. I kept the windows closed and never had any complaints. There's a TV, clock radio, in-room safe and minifrigde slash minibar. KEEP IN MIND that they have a rule against outside Food and Drink. They do have a couple of restaurants on site and a small store in the lobby with snacks and drinks and a whole bunch of things.

The beach in front of the Presidente is beautiful.. It has clean white sand and different tones of blue and it's really calm. We walked down the beach a few times and always came back to this beach. The other beaches were full of sea plants/weeds both on the sand and in the water. They weren't as clean. The hotel has beach chairs and palapas on the sand with food and drink service. They also have two pools. One is the adults only pool. It was usually pretty quiet and the other one is the main pool with 5 whirlpools built in. They are very nice. Both covered in blue Venetian-style tile. The hotel provides clean towels and there's always someone ready to bring you a cold drink or a hot snack..

The hotel had 2 restaurants that offered breakfast. Both buffet style. We only ate at the one closest to the beach. We ate here 5 times. The food was good and they changed the line up daily. We had different choices each time. We liked the custom-omelettes and pastries, but really loved the view of the beach. They have a coffee bar in the lobby and an Italian restaurant across the parking lot, but we didn't patronize them. We really liked the food we had while relaxing on the beach. The menu is small but good. (We liked the pizza and the chicken sandwich) The drinks were good too.

We loved the look of the hotel. The building looks kinda retro. (it was actually the first hotel to be built here when Cancun was starting up, 30-something years ago) The hotel is kept very clean. The lobby had a cool modern-art feel to it. Lots of shapes and angles. There's a long water fountain that I dugg. The lobby is huge. First you find the front desk then the lobby opens up with a nice view of the ocean. They have a lodge area with a piano and coffeebar. Further in is a bar, lounge area and small stage. They have live saxophone and band on Thurs, Fri, Sat. They also have a small balcony over looking the pool/beach area. Really liked the look and feel of the lobby.

The outside pool area was very clean and spacious.

We didn't get hounded by timeshare people. They were there though. I later found out that we were too young. We are both in our late 20's. You need to be 32 and married.

The only problem (if you want to call it that) was when we started smelling cigarette smoke. We think it was coming from a bathroom vent. We were actually getting ready to go out to dinner and stopped by the front desk on the way out. We mentioned this to the front desk person and he asked for our permission to freshen up the room. We ok'd it and went for dinner. We were back about an hour and half later to find a fresh smelling room with clean linens, towels and fresh toiletries. They also cleaned and straitened up the room.

We also found the free internet access convenient. They have 2 older computers in the "business center" accross from the front desk.

We really enjoyed our stay - the food in all of the restaurants was excellent, the rooms were nice, and we had a great view. The beach was FANTASTIC - the best in Cancun. The service at the bars was a bit slow but other than that we really didn't have any issues. Rented a car for two days and drove to Xel-Ha and Tulum so we could go on our own pace vs. riding the tour bus and had no issues - the highway is very nice and it was easy to follow the signs. You can walk down the strip to a few of the restaurants/bars but will need to take a taxi or bus to go the full length of the island.

I stayed at this hotel for 4 nights. The public relations image this hotel chain wants to project is that of a high-end line of hotels. While the staff was friendly and helpful, this particular hotel in Cancun has seen better days. For instance, the rugs in the hallways leading to the rooms were worn out and are in need of replacement. The furniture in the rooms was still in good shape, as were the bedsheets, pillows, and towels. There's free internet service in the business center, which is a nice amenity. I ended up paying about $150/night including taxes for a room with a King-sized bed. Given that it was low season this may be somewhat on the high end of the price range I would have expected, but then again it was a beach front property. There is an upscale restaurant right next to the hotel called "Alfredo di Roma" and the food is very good and amazingly the prices are not very expensive (about $40/person for a 3-course meal).

This hotel doesn’t belong to the InterContinental brand. The level of service and facilities are well below what's expected from this chain. From start, the valet was nowhere to be seeing during arrival. We had to unload our own luggage and carry it to the front desk. The front desk receptionist directed us to the Ambassador level check in representative, who also happened to be the concierge, and who just left us and went back to the front desk to process our reservation. Stroke us as a bit awkward and certainly did not enhance our first impression. Service was mostly average, not particularly friendly or welcoming. As per the facilities, they were certainly in need of a major overhaul. Rooms looked tired, and more like what you’ll find at a Holliday Inn or Ramada. On the plus side, the beach at the hotel is wide and beautiful. Don’t think I’ll stay here again, especially after a previous stay at the trendy ME Cancun (see related review).