Our friends organized a New Year vacation to Cancun and we tagged along. Have never been there before, so didn't participate much in the decision-making and just sent our money for deposit. Cut a long story short - basically we hated it.

First let me list the good things. To be clear - nobody tried to rip us off or misrepresented anything. The rooms were also clean inside (daily cleaning), furniture was on par with an ok college dorm. Staff was friendly, you are very close to the beach.

The negatives - it's located smack in the middle of downtown Cancun which means non-stop music blaring (we stayed facing hte ocean so could sleep, but i have no idea how you can sleep if your room faces the street) Also we come from a large city and when we travel want to feel like we actually left the big city. Here you fee like you're in the middle of Queens , with a beach behind you. Now the beach - it sucked. You have to either go to the beach club in front of the mall ($10 a person + $20 for a cabanna) or slum it out with the local kids on the public beach. They're nice, but favorite game seems to be 'throw mud at your friends'. Common areas of the condominium feel very bare, kinda run down. Doors either slam very hard or have annoying hinges on them that make closing very difficult. The main reason why my friends got it was cost, think we paid about 900 for a week. However, that doesn't include food. Think would have been a much better deal to get a nice all-inclusive hotel for 1500 with a nice beach. This way we tried to save but ended up not really liking the hotel or location.

The salvia is the perfect place to stay in cancun...with all the clubs and restraunts out the front door it is ideal.

the beach is terrific about 35-50 yards in either dirrection out the back door. directlly behind the condos the beach is made of 3 big flat rocks perfect for watching the sun come up with a bottle of sparkly and the wife!!!!

the room we were in was clean and big enough to sleep 5. i hghly reccomend this hotel for young couples and not too out of control party-goers.

make sure you try the juevos rancheros from the little poolside restraunt with a michilada (beer, ice, limejuice) to start your day right.

seeing as i was there for new years, i was suprised, but the noise wasn't too bad from the clubs. i would bring some earplugs just incase your a light sleeeper.

if you stay here or anywhere near this hotel i would make sure you get the 2x1 entertainment card. within 3 blocks there's atleast 5 restraunts you can use the card at.

carlos n charlies (next door) has a good deal with the card. incl....3hrs drinkn and dinner for $30 a piece....well worth it....

the seahorse and my place are a must for dinner as well....

if ya dont know; the card entitles you to a free entree when you purchase another!!!! the more you spend on dinner the more you save!!! basically after 5pm you have to get desert or an apptzer as well.

checjk this out...@the seahorse....lobster, huge steak, potatoe, veggies,garlic bread,chip n salsa, margaritas (2 huge ones) , desert....$50 incl. about $8 tip.

that right there paid for the card $15. my steak was free ($18)

if your interested just go to cacnuncare.com

anyway....salvia Good!!!!

The penthouse was so much nicer than we expected for the price! We had 6 adults stay and it did not feel crowded at all! If you can get the penthouse it is worth it! You can not beat the location it is in walking distance from everything you need! The staff is great, the guy in the front booth that organizes tours helped us out! He organized all of our tours and gave us good deals! I would definately recommend staying here!

We found the condo [-] -the unit was listed as the penthouse at the Salvia Hotel in Cancun. When you call the number to book, you speak with Bob @ Travel by Design. We spoke with Bob prior to the trip and specifically asked him about the noise because he said it was"right in the heart of Cancun" He assured us that he stayed in the same unit and didn't hear anything from the bars next door.

Well - unless you are there to party I would stay away- the noise continues until 8 am in the morning. If felt and sounded like we were in the middle of a disco-even though the apartment was on the 14th floor. My wife and I are 37 years old and have done our share of partying, but this is ridiculous. It is impossible to sleep in such conditions.

Below please see our pictures, this place is a dump, if you like to sleep at all don't stay here.

In conclusion, this is my first review on VRBO, but I did it for to help others. The pool was very dirty, the common areas are a mess, the staff is rude, and stay away from VRBO Listing [-].