SLS Cancun — Hotel in Cancún

Not sure if we had bad luck or if it’s ALWAYS so windy that they post flags prohibiting swimming, water was (consequently) yucky anyhow. I booked this hotel with credit card points, otherwise it would have been extremely pricey ($600/night? W/fees) the room itself was absolutely gorgeous, however we would consider what we experienced a COMPLETE FAIL on service. I am guessing there is issue at management level as the same hardworking gentleman at door when we arrived was then encountered as waiter, bartender, room service—and he was great, but he was ONE person doing all of those jobs. There were other employees and I’m not sure if they were tasked with some top secret mission (that didn’t involve helping us) or if they worked for “…And Residences” portion of SLS Cancun Hotel and Residences (timeshares? IDK) The first night we stayed we started by trying to eat at restaurant#1 (started with a C? Mediterranean fare) however it was SO WINDY that even in partially enclosed outdoor pavilion style area it was very uncomfortable feeling like we were about to be blown away by wind… Anyhow, was permitted to put son’s meal on tray and take up to room but waiter didn’t want to take my order for meal there (I’d let my son order ahead while I browsed menu as he was the hungry teenage boy) and instead requested I just call room service—fair enough. Unfortunately after multiple calls attempting to order, finally placing order and then additional (hypoglycemic) calls trying to find out where food was it was two hours and a walk down to lobby before I was able to get my ($20) club sandwich. The “concierge” gave me false sense of optimism by emailing me a couple days prior to stay (while still in Cozumel) asking about needs, plans and dietary restrictions—all of which were subsequently ignored. I had just wanted to book massage package but was never able to get response to scheduling request from spa. The hotel itself is in gated area with No restaurants within walking distance, and as expected exorbitantly costly mini-bar offerings… so you are at hotel’s mercy if you want to eat food. There was even a sign on wall outlining prohibition of bringing in outside food/beverages when we arrived (?!) I would have been fine with buying their food if they would pick up phone to let us order it. I was told prior to departure last morning that the lovely breakfast (that we were miraculously able to order) was free of charge as part of hotel stay 😆 which would have been nice to know days before as maybe we could have been fed without a battle/large cost for at least one meal a day otherwise. Again, the room was BEAUTIFUL and spacious, huge bathroom with separate room overlooking ocean with two showers and an amazing soaking tub…. but NO HOT WATER 🥹 Upon learning this and putting in single call to front desk I had list faith that they were going to fix anything and filled a large tub full of lukewarm water, closed door to bathroom/remainder of hotel room (large living room/tv with beautiful stone table for dining—-on air food, large bedroom with wraparound floor to ceiling windows, around deck over beach and a hammock) and tried to let the warm air outdoors come in as I was DETERMINED to soak in that tub. Got out still shivering 🥶 and sat outside to warm up. I left stars blank for 0/5 on service, hopefully that counts. Also, the day we went down to VERY WINDY beach as soon as we sat in lounge chairs to avoid flying sand in one of probably 50 vacant chaise were promptly advised by not one, but two staff members that those chairs were not for hotel guests. Naturally, the small number of chairs for hotel guests were taken—also were on side of beach by inlet with big DANGER CROCODILES (translation) sign 🤦‍♀️ I was and continue to be SO disappointed with this stay, if I’d paid for with actual funds I would have made larger issue of, but enough energy/time/frustration spent to argue over some credit card points (even though it was $1200 worth) I just gave up, the two wasted days of vacation were enough, very very sad for...

The SLS is a nice property overall but the hotel experience was not up to par. Not quite what I expect from the SLS brand and I would not recommend this hotel. The service is great but the property doesn’t provide a good experience. It was not relaxing and restful at all and overall just not a good vacation.

Pros: Excellent service. The hotel car service was great and front desk staff was excellent; they were ready as soon as we got to the hotel with an early check in. The hotel managers and wait staff were also very courteous and personable. The Rooms are very nice and the oceanfront suite was modern, and spacious. Very nice bathrooms with robes and slippers. Turn down service is also provided. Nice large balconies on the ocean side. The property itself has great décor and is well kept, including the hotel pool, lobby, and beach club. The food at the main restaurant was very good; however, it’s the only option for dinner and the menu is tiny so you'll need to find other dining options outside the hotel. The beach club was also very good and has a nice lunch menu

Cons: Being on the 2nd floor it was a bit loud at night with folks hanging outside at the beach. Even with the balcony closed fully we could still hear the chatter outside. There was also a lot of noise from the hallway in the morning as well. We could hear every footstep, every voice, every door slamming in the hallway throughout our stay. The rooms are just not very quiet and I did not get good rest at all. Night two was music blaring outside. There was not a quiet peaceful moment to be found at this hotel. Also has to listen to dogs barking from other units. The pool for the hotel guests is nice but very small; the resident pool is much larger. The Beach club area is very nice but also a bit crammed. Tough to relax with so many other conversations, cigar smoke, dogs, pet parrots, etc. A little more spacing would go a long way. Locals can also buy day passes so I'm sure that contributes to the crowd on weekends. It was much less chaotic during the week. The hotel also has more of a family environment (lots of kids and dogs etc.) probably because of the residences but not exactly what I expect or am used to from the SLS brand. There’s many more local families than hotel guests and lots of small children. Felt a bit out of place at times. There was endless squeaking of rubber ducks, kids throwing footballs and jumping in the pool. Unsupervised kids yelling to their parents on the beach and disturbing everyone. We couldn't enjoy it all. Meanwhile the giant resident only pool was near empty our entire stay. Instead of splitting pools between residents and guests it'd be much better to just have a family pool and adults only pool, like every other decent resort. Another issue encountered was smoking pretty much everywhere including the beach, pool, and balcony. We couldn't open our balcony doors, as soon as we did our room was filled with cigarette smoke from an adjacent room and it completely ruined any chance we had to enjoy our oversized balcony, even with the doors closed we still had some odors of cigarette smoke in our room to the point that we couldn't even relax and enjoy the room. It was really disgusting and disappointing that the property isn't smoke free. For the sake of other guests, it should be. We actually walked out of the room and you could smell the cigarette smoke in the hallway all the way down to the elevator it was so bad. I asked the front desk if they could ask him to stop, which either he didn't or they disregarding because after dinner he was back on the balcony lighting up. Another miss was the car service to the mall nearby at the Marina. The driver mentioned when picking us up it was only a courtesy because of the rain. Which is kind of weird; not sure if he was looking for a tip, which I would've given anyway but the hotel should not advertise a service and then make us feel bad for utilizing it. The hotel staff and service saved it for us otherwise it would have been a complete...

Recently stayed here to have a nice get away for my fiancé's birthday. We were pleased with the room; we booked the ocean front king room. The room itself was really nice and spacious with a nice living room area, large bathroom with double head showers, and soaking tub for 2. The check in process was not the smoothest because had to wait a little while, 10 mins or so for our room keys, which was inconvenient after the stress of travel, but once we got up to the room it was lovely. The pool is nice, but I wish they kept it hot at all times, it was always cold when we wanted to get in, and with our days planned out with off property activities we did not have time to wait for it to heat up. But none the less it was a beautiful pool and view, and the service was nice, Antonio greeted us with towels as soon as he saw us go for a seat in one of the loungers. The highlight for us was the staff members at the restaurant we would visit for breakfast daily, it's now a Mediterranean style restaurant called Cielo. I didn't get the name of the first server we had, but he was very attentive and pleasant. We did get the name of our other server Diadelys L who took care of us our final mornings, she was very sweet, attentive, and she absolutely provided the luxury service we are used to, I'm a F&B Manager in the luxury hospitality industry, and I would gladly have her work at our property. Another staff member Hector V was also a highlight of our stay, we had quite a few questions about old Cancun, Playa Mujeres, and other places we were planning on venturing out to, he answered every one of them with true personal and professional answers, his personability is perfect for the hospitality industry. They both left us with a genuine lasting impression. Monica at the front desk assisted us with our car keys a few times, and our check out process, she was very helpful and pleasant as well. We will definitely stay again in the future due to the employees and...