Moon Palace Nizuc - Cancun — Hotel in Quintana Roo

We recently stayed at the Moon Palace Resort, which boasts three resorts on one property. The Nizuc, the smallest resort, was the perfect choice for my wife and me. We read positive reviews about it, especially for couples, as it had fewer families compared to the Sunrise and Grand resorts, which offer more activities for kids.||The buffet was just okay, but the sit-down restaurants required reservations. We enjoyed the pool area, where we could snack on various options like brick oven pizza, hamburgers, fresh ceviche, and fresh onion rings. The food was great while we lounged by the pool.||The pools were relaxed and had a nice vibe. There weren’t too many kids, and there were plenty of drinks at the swim-up bar. If you’re just lounging by the pool, the servers will always check on you and ensure you have everything you need.||If you’re traveling with a family and kids, I recommend staying at the Sunrise or the Grand, which offers a waterpark. I’ve seen mixed reviews about the Moonrise, so I suggest doing your research before booking there.||As for the Grand, it seems to be the best resort on the property, but it’s also the most expensive. The Nizuc, on the other hand, was a great choice for a relaxing couple’s vacation. We didn’t go to the beach because of the seaweed, but we knew that before we booked our stay. Instead, we decided to take a ferry to Isla Mujeres, an island about 20 minutes from Cancun. The ocean water around the island is clear blue, and there are plenty of restaurants by the water. We had a great time on the island if you’re willing to leave the hotel for the day. ||The Nizuc was exceptionally clean and well maintained our beachfront king-sized room, was excellent. The restaurants were fantastic, and the bars offered a relaxed atmosphere perfect for sipping drinks. We thoroughly enjoyed the overall vibe of the hotel.||However, there was one significant flaw that anyone visiting this resort would likely encounter firsthand. The sales pitch for a membership to all the palace resorts was relentless. As soon as we checked in at the front desk, a clerk pointed at a man behind us and informed us that he would provide us with all the necessary information about the resort and how to utilize our resort credits.||We reluctantly sat down with him, but he immediately began discussing a tour to the grand, which we were not interested in. Despite our repeated refusals, he persisted and even seemed to become agitated when we expressed our disinterest. After about 30 minutes, we decided to leave.||He didn’t show us anything except circling the sunrise resort and the Nizuc and grand hotels. He didn’t provide any information about the pools, restaurants, or their menus. Everything revolved around the tour to the grand to earn resort credits.||The next day, we received a phone call in our room from a young lady who claimed to be there to assist us with our resort credits. We went to the lobby to meet with this lady, and guess what? It was the same sales pitch and tour again! After repeatedly declining, we decided to take the tour for an hour and a half at the Grand. If you decide to take the tour for the resort credits, here’s what they’ll do first: you’ll have lunch with the salesman, then he’ll take you on a tour of their high-end rooms. Then, they’ll take you to a room filled with salespeople trying to sell you a membership for Palace Resorts for a minimum of $18,000. For my wife and me, who only travel once or twice a year, this makes absolutely no sense!||We declined the offer to the first salesman, so he sent another man, whom he said was quality control. He made another pitch to us, but we said no again. Then, he sent a third guy and asked my wife and me what was holding us back and what he could do to get us to buy the membership. We said no again, and finally, as we were leaving, he told us to talk to this gentleman, and he’d give us our resort credits. He also tried to sell us a 60% coupon for $299, which was unbelievable!||After two days, my wife and I were having to figure out the layout of the resorts, where we could eat, what they served, and what kind of attire to wear. In fact, it wasn’t until the second day that we found the pub, a bar at the Nizuc, that’s open until 1 AM. The bartender told us about a restaurant that we were allowed to go to that sits next to the golf course. This is something they should’ve told us instead of trying to get us on that tour for the sales pitch.||Finally, we checked out, and before we could walk out of the hotel, another young lady asked us how we liked the hotel. We told her everything was fine except for the sales pitch, and here we go again! She tried to sell us a 60% off coupon for $299, again which was unbelievable!||So, in summary, the Nizuc was great, the service was great, the food and the swimming pools were great, but at least for us, the sales angle...

We have become big fans of Moon Palace in Cancun. We really enjoy the food (44 restaurants and bars), the pools (11 including two mega pools at Sunrise and Nizuc) and the entertainment.||The pools: we spent most of our time in the Diamond area of the Nizuc pool. Big thanks to PCs Daniel, Eduardo and Ivan. We will miss talking to you every day. Thanks to our servers Raphael and Heremes in the same area who kept the drinks flowing all day long.||We also visited the Unique pool where PC Hector and our server Elsy took great care of us on our first day for the opening of the College Football Season. ||We took one-day trips to the Cusco pool where Carlos (AKA Young Carlos, AKA Just Carlos, AKA Skinny Carlos) made sure the shots were flowing on our guests' last day with us. At the Diamond Pool, Alejandro from Sunrise filled in as the PC, and worked with servers Berenice (Berry Nice) and José to keep us company. Seriously, there was nobody in the pool (the census was 43% that day). At the PEC pool, Miguel was running all day, but still found time to make sure I had dry towels. I think I used four.||Each pool has a different vibe. When you are there for 10 days you get to check them all out. Best Family Pool: Sunrise, followed by the front of Nizuc pool and then the activities pool at The Grand. The Waterpark at The Grand is a must do for families.||Wanna get away from the kids, Unique pool or the Nizuc Diamond area. Cusco is also very quiet most days.||I am a foodie. With so many different options at Moon Palace, even a week and half means you have to make choices. Remember it was just adults for our visit.||We made new friends with Saul and Miguel (Mike) at Tapas & Vino at The Grand. It is our favorite pre-dinner spot. The hardest thing is to stop eating all the delicious Tapas before you ruin your meal. Shout out to Laura who is also there.||Our best meal of the week was at Le Chateau, the French restaurant at The Grand. The team of Geraldo as server, our Sommelier Victor and Abigail the manager made it quite a night to remember. Although Victor's three bottles of wine also made us forget. Seriously, the food was amazing. Abigail has her crew firing on all cylinders. Thank you.||Second best meal was at Pier 8. Their seafood platter is a MUST get when you are there. Chef Gustavo included grilled salmon and snapper, octopus, calamari, a nice size lobster tail with two sets of claws and knuckles, mussels and grilled shrimp. We swore off going to Pier 8 a few years ago. Their menu was terrible. Chef Gustavo has it humming again. Javier was our waiter. He is old school and his service is impeccable. We loved the food so much, we went back a second time. Props to manager Faride for great oversight.||Best Italian restaurant is Trattoria at the golf course. Ask for Jesus and Tomas as servers, they are awesome. They made our dinner there one to remember.||Two Bars to check out are The Library at The Grand and the Sky Bar at Sunrise. Both are great places to chill away from screaming children. At the Library, José and Marisol are wonderful. He is new, she has been there since they opened. Both fed my pretzel habit with copious amounts of treats. Likewise, Flor at Sky Bar, broke out the new serving dishes, which provided double the amount pretzels in one trip. ||Gotta thank the Nizuc Diamond Concierge team led by Paola. Leadership matters! A few years ago the Nizuc DC team was a joke. It was a disaster. It was terrible. Do you get what I am saying? Today they are a well-oiled team operating at high efficiency. We had four DCs for 10 days. Cesar, Selene, Wendi and Leonardo. So many requests, so much work to make our stay there special. Thank you!||I would be remiss not to mention the sales team at the PEC including Eddie, Enrique and Ivan. TY for setting up our future at Palace. TY to Tina who is now in sales who was the first person we ever met at the resort. Fun seeing her again. Peace...

The only pros to this trip was that the food and views were still pretty good. We have been loyal customers to the Moon Palace over the years, even renewing our vows here in 2014, but the service we received on this trip was nothing short of disappointing and I doubt we will return.

My parents booked the rooms using vouchers they bought from the resort a year ago. This created nothing but a headache. The vouchers apparently only included one way transportation, it split the trips into two reservations 4 days and 3 days, no one seemed to know how to handle them.

We were traveling with my one year old son. I requested a car seat for the transfer and was told it was "subject to availability" and 1 year olds were not required to use a car seat, "we could just hold him". When we got to the airport, there was a sign with our name and they sent us over to the transportation rep, but they had no idea what was going on. We waited in the heat for about 30 minutes for a paid, private transport. They did have a car seat going to the hotel, but did NOT provide one on the way back even though it was clearly stated on our return voucher.

When we got to the hotel, we were escorted to member check-ins, even though we told them we weren't members. Check-in was so slow. It took over an hour. Then our rooms were not ready, which I understood because it was a bit before 3. Then the rooms were not ready at 3, or 4. I had to ask multiple times and they "expedited" preparing our room (which was already late) so the baby could lay down. We had requested a crib at booking, called to confirm, confirmed at check-in, and when we inquired about cleaning. Once we were assigned a room, we were placed on a top floor of a 3 story building. Not ideal for a one year old and stroller, but they said they had no other rooms. Then there was no crib in the room. When we called down, I was told I "must have requested it wrong". About 30 minutes later, someone finally arrived with a pack and play.

The room was also disappointing. Even after waiting over an hour past check-in, there was old food outside our room when we arrived. The air conditioner motor was broken and noisy (nearly 80db in the room) and maintenance had to come in and replace. The curtains and bedding were wrinkled and the hot tub had debris in it.

Throughout the stay, it was difficult to get towels and housekeeping, even after scheduling it with them. We ended up only having our room actually serviced twice. They claimed we had a "Do Not Disturb" light on when our room didn't have that feature. We only had the DND sign out when the baby was napping. There were many hours each day for assistance.

They also tell you to use the App for everything but the app is glitchy and does not work. You often have to uninstall and reinstall it. It frequently disconnects from your reservation. Getting restaurant reservations was nearly impossible. They claim to only be able to book them within 3 days and the only times we were offered most places was after 9pm. We ended up only eating at a few places during our stay because of this.

What bothered me the most about this stay was that no one really seemed to want to help resolve any issues. They just kept telling us that we must've done something to cause it. That coupled with the constant lingering for tips lead to a poor experience. I have no problem tipping for good service, and we did tip, but it has become an expectation and not a discretion at this all inclusive. Public Relations also refused to provide a slice of cake for my son's birthday. Even though they provided us such services in the past.

Resort credits are also not worth much these days. You can no longer use them for food or alcohol upgrades. The price of everything at the Spa and special experiences has increased. You remain only able to use $300 at the Spa. Unless you want to leave the resort, there are no family friendly options for using resort credits. We left with...