The hotel was the best one we have ever stayed in. Definitely 5*.Spotless 24 hours a day.The food was superb!Lots of choice.We found that the International restaraunt was the best.Check in was quick and we got a free upgrade.The staff were excellent and very friendly.There was something to do for all ages.The kids found the sports bar useful.There were many pools to choose from.The beach was located by a bridge within easy reach of the apartments.There were a few shops with various goods to buy.

Just arrived back from a 2 week stay at this resort, overall an enjoyable holiday.
On arival the first thing you notice is the building site, leading down to the main reception gate. Don't be put off by this as you soon realise the sheer scale of this hotel, and that there is no chance of any interuptions. This is without doubt one of the biggest hotels I have stayed in. To walk from the reception area to the beach could take you a good ten minutes. If the Mexican heat was taking it's toll there were golf buggies you could hitch a ride on.
The hotel is kept very clean, with cleaning staff apparently on hand 24 hours a day. The same can be said of your room, cleaned every day and the mini bar re-stocked without fail. The rooms were modern in style with a large bathroom, walk in shower an seperate toilet along with a Jacuzzi style bath (which the kids loved). Two double beds, hard but comfortable, with a 2 seater sofa and walk in wardrobe. The room comes with a balcony or terrace area, and a seperate insect cover for your patio doors. The room had a 26 inch lcd tv, but be warned limited choice for English speakers, couple of english film channels.
The food was great, but repetative, they seem to carter everything for people only staying 7 days, in the main this was the case as most of the guests were either American or Canadian. You could not fault the quality of the food, fantastic steaks that filled your plate on their own, good choice of salads and vegetarians were well catered for. The food however could sometimes be luke warm. For kids each evening was the same, burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and sometimes pizza and french fries. The nights were as in most all inclusive resorts themed, the chinese night was especially good, and if you fancy something different on Mexican evening you could try Chicken with Mole! Lunchtimes again were good, various pasta dishes and more kids favourites. Scattered around the hotel were hot dog carts, and on the bar areas around the pool were ice cream machines. Also located around and about were coffee containers, and in the evening there was a boozy coffee stand, which drew many admirers for the flaming alcahol being pored onto the coffee and cream. If you wanted freshly prepared snacks like burgers etc, the American Sports bar was available 24 hours.
The hotel was situated on a nice stretch of white sandy beach. The sea itself was surprisingly choppy at times, and the walk in is dodgy if you don't own a pair of beach shoes, as it is very rocky underfoot. As you walk in there is a shelf so be prepared for a quick drop of a couple of feet or so, once in you can walk out some distance before the water gets waist high, also the area for use is marked in bouys so no fear of going to far. Another good point about the hotel is the number of life guards, they were everywhere. If you enter the sea in front of the lifeguard station and continue out 30 or so yardas there are some great snorkelling areas, with plenty of colourful fish, while we were ther turtles also came onto the beach.
The pools are large and very warm, with jacuzzi pools place around the site. The deepest pool depth I came across was 4ft so not to bad for kids, but steps were not that common so you had to heave yourself out. One complaint with the pools was that because of the size of the place some areas would not get cleaned that often, resulting in grass and some suicidal insects left floating. Around the pool during the day would be mainly adult activities such as beer drinking contests and Tequila Volleyball.
The staff were always smiling and helpful, and also very laid back. Felix and Javier who worked in the pool bar around the main activity pool were great fun, and always made the kids laugh, if you like your cocktails then a Felix special can be recommended as well as a Banana Monkey (Baileys based), beer was Corona, very nice, if spirits are your thing all the well known brands are there, not just the local stuff.
The Animation team were an energetic bunch, always on the go.They tried their hardest during the day but at times it was just too hot to be messing around out of the pool. The evening entertainment is again on a weekly loop, so if you see it all in week 1 you may be slightly bored in the evenings during your second week. The Animation team put on shows, which in the main were miming to pop hits or Broadway songs, but the Grease show was good. In the main plaza most nights were traditional Mexican bands and a trio playing a selection of easy listening material, great Sax player.
I would definitely visit here again, but probably without young kids. There is a kids club, but again the activities seemed to be the same each day. we were supposed to be going to the Holiday Village at Cozumel, and this was offered as the next best thing, but it fell short in that area.
We did the Dolphin trip, however 4 of us through First choice it was going to cost just under $900. Instead we went to see the tour operator in the hotel, Best Day Travel. Here we got the Dolphin Experience and all day in the Cancun Wet n Wild WaterPark for $360. Be warned though if you do a dolphin swim or experience the cost of dvd or pictures is high. We had the dvd this cost $60 and lasts only 9 minutes.
Our time here was enjoyable, but the hotel was only half open, with numerous resteraunts shut due to staff shortages post swine flu. Also despite being only half open and 40% populated the resteraunts did struggle to keep up with demand at times. It would be intersting to see how it would cope if all 1500+ rooms were open.

We booked this holiday amidst the swine flu saga. We got it at a great price so were really looking forward to going. Then all flights were cancelled but thankfully for us we were given the go ahead to fly out the day before our due date. We had already emailed the Concierge to tell them we hoped the flight ban was lifted as we were really looking forward to coming over despite the swine flu. The hotel is a Thomson Platinum and you get priority drop off. Upon arrival, we were dropped off at the Grand Riviera Sunset. The two hotels run symetrical to one another. There is no difference between the two apart a few minor details. We were greeted by the Concierge on the front desk and told that due to the swine flu sittuation and how badly tourism had been affected, that the Princess was closed and that the hotel itself had only re-opened the day before. He also told us that the hotel was only at 20% capacity and that the stay were job sharing so all staff had a chance to work and earn money. He told us about the hotel and also told us that there was a free shuttle into Play Del Carmen on a daily basis which I might add we never took advantage of. We were given a free upgrade to the Platinum Suites of the hotel. We were told to wait for the shuttle that would take us to the Platinum area. The shuttle runs every 5 minutes. We were then greeted by the platinum concierge who showed us around the platinum area, which is complete with its own bar, snacks, 24hr concierge and free internet. He then escorted us to our room. which was amazing with a sea view. The rooms are identical to the main hotel area except you get an abundance of spirits, fruit basket, lounge area, 32" plasma TV, in-room DVD/CD player, Jacuzzi and sun beds on the balcony and 24 hour room service. Room service is gratis except if you order alcohol. You get a private pool with butler service and unlimited free beach towels. They also have thier own restuarants but these were closed due the hotel only being 20% full. The platinum suites are litteraly a 2 minute walk to the main beach. The hotel itself is very well maintained but your really do need the shuttle to get around as the platinum is a good 15 minute walk from the main hotel amimeties and restuarants. The beach is beautiful, although you might need beach shoes in and out of the water as there are a lot of shells and stones on entering. There is an abundance of sun beds and plenty of shade. With great views of Cozumel in the distance. The only downside to the beach is the beach bar, there is just one small bar to service both hotels! Considering both hotels have over 650 rooms this is hardly sufficent if the hotels were both open and fully booked. I suggest a walk along the beach in either direction. If you go to the right you will be greeted by some excutive hotels, with exquisite beaches! The pools run through the whole hotel from top to bottom and all the blocks run into one another which is great if you do want to walk and it is raining. The food was always good, we never went hungry. The speciality restuarants were also very good. Some better than others. Having stayed at vsrious hotels in the Caribbean over the years we found the Japanese to be a bit disappointing but otherwise the rest were excellent. Especially the Mexican and Grill. The entertainment were also very good, they never failed to put on a good show all be it they were often very cheesy but hey you dont go on holiday for that do you so it doesn't really matter. All in all we had an excellent time despite the lack of holidaymakers. If I am totally honest I really wouldn't want to be at the hotel when it was at full capacity, I think it would be too crowded. We met some wonderful people whilst we were there from as far as Australia to USA to UK...we have made several new friends whom we have since met up with upon our return. Would we go back to this hotel, probably not but only because it was so big and a little impersonal. Would we go back if it was only half full, YES!

The hotel is huge & spotless clean. We where lucky enough to be up-graded (for free) to platinum. Our room had 2 jacuzzi's, one in the bathroom and one on the balcony, the room was spacious for 4 of us. On arrival we had a full bottle of whiskey, teqiula, brandy, vodka and bacarddi, all with complements from the hotel, the mini bar ws also refilled daily with beer, water and soft drinks.
There where numerous resturants all of which where good, breakfast was again good with a wide selection.
All drinks where international brands, i.e smirnoff. In the platinum lounge I even got bailey's and budwiser.
The pool areas again where large and clean.
Entertainment in the evenings was ok (kids enjoyed it) but was repeated in the second week.
The beach was nice and you could collect lovely shells etc from the shore.
All in whole we had a lovely holiday and I would recommend the hotel to anyone.