Stayed July 8-12

Our stay was ok and by that I mean just that. Nothing spectacular.

- Restaurants were sometimes strange, closed when they should be open, almost all of them required a sleeved shirt (didn't do the French one)

- Room Service, lol, 24x7 but closed 6am-7am if that makes sense. We did order pizza one night but were first told they were closed. It was then I challenged them on it by asking if i went to the Concierge if he'd tell me the same thing... they took the order but the pie arrived undercooked

- Tipped the Maid $5 a day and she'd not only give us enough towels but, she also gave us ~6bottles of water which was very much appreciated.

- When checking in, you must ask for a TV remote and a safe lock, otherwise, you're not getting one unless you go back to the desk, we got a room at 11am no problem but got one overlooking the Hilton's dumpsters... blech.

- No fridge in the room

- TV in the childrens' sleeping area, had no cable/antenna connection, I suppose it could be used for a gaming console but othewise, nothing

- Pools, great

- Entertainment, great

- Children's pools with the slides, great

- Beach... watch it. When you read the prior reviews, it's not 'rocky', there are huge ROCKS and the ocean breaks right at them. I had a difficult time keeping my eye on my two children for fear they'd be swept out if they got too far so we were very cautious when at the beach

- Staff, very courteous but there were a couple of guys/gals that seemingly couldn't be bothered you were there

- Drinks, served in a 6-8oz plastic cup, very week but you can order shots and/or, get a cup from the gift shop which are larger

- Nice looking hotel but it is noisy when kids start yelling from one floor to the other, a towel under the door helped

Definitely not a 5star hotel but the kids had fun and that's what it was all about. FYI, the transfer rate at the time of our travel was 9.50 pesos to one U.S.D. Dollar is accepted everywhere but sometimes we found they'd only know how much pesos an item was so, knowing the rate, we knew how much to give them.

Went to Aqua World and did the Dolphin Adventure... good times but, we arrived there at 11, sat around for an hour for our orientation to begin (12pm), got in w/the dolphins for 45min and had to wait until 3pm (2hours 15min) for our ferry ride back to Cancun... that was a long afternoon.

Phone calls Stateside from the hotel will cost you ~$10 a minute so, if you don't have a calling card, make sure your cell phone will work.

Enjoy.

The hotel & staff meet & exceeded our expectations. That means we had a great time at a mid level ( 3 star ) resort that included room,food, drink,entertainment. etc for a price that was a great value ( 2 adults, 1 teen & 1 child) for less then $1500 for the week. If you do not like surprises, take the time to do your research so you dont confuse this place with a Hyatt or Ritz but remember you pay about half the price of those "name" hotels.
I will give as much detail as you can stand for those like me.
We choose the Great Parn because two years ago we stayed at the Crown Paradise with neighbors and kids and had a blast. The Great is a two year old, carbon copy concept of the Crown with what I thought were better pools, similar food and what should have been a refined version of the Crown. The design of the hotel is a long & narrow "cruise ship" structure. For a 2 year old property, the minor cosmetic defects are visable. If you spend time focusing on the cracked tiles, the loose plumbing, the burnt out light bulb, slight smell of mildew ( hot tropic / humid environment),etc, etc you will hate this place. My suggestion is to notice it and move on or risk wasting your vacation on the same defects we all probably have in our own home. We arrived at 12 noon and once we found out our room was on the 3rd floor, I asked if they had anything higher up and closer to the beach. Karla at the front desk went out of her way to find us a room on the 9th floor and only 4 rooms away from the ocean front suites. Not sure if it helped but I had a $10 bill in my hand and gave it to her after she told us that we could move to the 9th floor. The noise does travel up so I strongly suggest trying for a high floor and an odd number room ( opposite of the Hilton a/c units & construction/ trash). You will receive your towel cards, room safe key lock & TV remote control at this point.While we waited for our room to be ready ( 3 pm sharp) we explored the entire hotel so I had my bearings for the next day. One word of caution. My wife & I hated our room the 1st day. We then realized that we had been up 12 hours straight, traveling and were just tired,cranky & hyper critical. The little bit of mold in the shower corner, dingy white sheets and hard beds did not matter after the next day of fun, sun & activities. Give this hotel a chance and do not form an opinion until 3 days in. The room air conditioning worked great and I told my kids about stuffing the toilet with paper ( a no no) so we never had any floods or issues ( except the one day my wife tried to shower and had no water). A quick call to maintenence fixed that in less then one hour. We did notice 2 rooms that did have floods during our week stay. We also had not enough towles, no shampoo ( they re-fill the small bottles) but a note to the maid the next day ( along with a small tip each day) fixed that problem. The maid took the time to ask me each day if we needed more towels, soap, water so a kind smile, a little bit of spanish & a nominal tip mean alot. Each room ( we had two double beds) did have a futon type sofa that we converted to a bed for our teenage son. Food was never an issue with the food court buffet ( Magnus) with fresh fruits, smothiees, salads, pasta,sushi, grill, deli, etc,etc. If you can not find something that is acceptable, you are staying at the wrong type of hotel. The pool grill ( chicken wings,burgers, dogs, ribs, sandwitches, etc) was also consistently good( the head cook at the grill came over from the Crown after 15 years to work here). The Mexican style restaurant ( located near the baby club & reen water park) is only open 1 PM - 6PM but was a nice change of pace for lunch ( plus it has great a/c). The other individual restaurants were okay ( some good, some okay) but the servic e varied from excellent to extremely slow. Again, it you get upset you are wasting your time. We relaxed and made a joke of the slow service and kept ourselves entertained with cards, jokes or just people watching. Japanese style stir fry / sushi place was fine. Portofino's Italian was okay, Big Ben's steakhouse was decent, Manhatten Deli was good, etc, etc. Just for a perspective, it all depended on what we ordered so we have to share the blame for some poor choices. The bars inside the hotel (Kilamenjaroo Lobby bar, Octoberfest, Vin de Fromege, Karokke bar, Atlantic Adult only, Palos Sports Bar) all had great service and were never crowded. Yes the cups are small but if you ask, they will make the drink as strong as you like. People had thier own cups from Walmart or the gift shop. Again, we tipped as the staff as a whole were 100% friendly and willing to help you any way possible. Pool activities staff worked morning till night and were always upbeat. We spent almsot everyday at the main pool which has 3 levels and end at the beach infinity view pool. Swim up bar was smallish but neat. The adult pool which is located at the extreme end away from the beach ( near tennis & basketball courts) was small in actual pool area but had so many chairs and was never crowded.
The spa & gym ( 2 flights down from the lobby) were great and perhaps the most beutiful decorated parts of the hotel. Go through the mens & ladies locker rooms in the gym to find saunas, steam bath & secluded hot tubs. They showed 1st
( really 2nd run ) movies every night at 6:30 PM & 10:30 PM and had cute, nicely produced shows each night but I was tired almost every night by 10 PM ( THE ALL INCLUSIVE DRINKS WERE TO BLAME ONE NIGHT). Pool activities ( vollyball, basketball, water polo, water arobics,etc) kept you as busy as you wanted to be. Alot of kids but you should expect that going to a family resort. I have a million more little things but I am tired of hearing myself so if you have specific questions, email me.

We recently stayed one week at the Great Parnassus and we definitely regretted it. We originally booked Dreams and changed our reservation at the last minute as they could only accomodate us for six days. The hotel is beautiful but not well maintained. Upon our arrival we found our oceanview room overlooked the garbage bin of the Hilton next door. The curtains were soiled as were the blankets. During our stay we were greeted in our room by a waterbug. My son almost slipped in the bathtub , grabbed the tub rail and it was so rusted it came right off the wall ! This is not a four star hotel, it's barely a three star. The beach here is also poor , there are many rocks and the water is very rough.

Summary of review - if not being able to swim in the ocean doesn't bother you, and your budget is very restricted, this place is ok. This place is for families with young children, it is really not the place for couples at all.

MAJOR WARNING: Do not stay here if you want to actually swim in the ocean. Because of the numerous large (from man sized to automobile sized) rocks on the beach and under the water, you cannot go in deeper than your knees. There is a red flag up all the time, even when the waves are 6 inches high, because if you slip, or a wave knocks you under, there is a good chance you will crack your skull.

My family and I stayed here for 13 nights in June/July 2008 (2 adults, 2 kids) and we chose this place because we were trying to save money and they offer great discounts in comparison to the other all inclusive resorts in Cancun. We have been to Cancun 3 other times, but this was the first time with kids. My experience here was not very good - I would not stay here again. However, the kids enjoyed it, and so did my wife. I did not enjoy it because I came to Cancun for the ocean, and there were so many problems with the resort, that I spent probably a total of 3 whole days just sorting out the problems.

The entire experience was a random mix of good and bad things - for example:

1.) The rooms are very nicely decorated and the "family rooms" are perfect for a family of 4 or 5, since they have a sort of separate sleeping area for the kids. HOWEVER, we had to change rooms 3 times because of problems, and we heard numerous people complain about having to do the same thing. It seemed like everyone there was on their 2nd or 3rd room. We had to change because of a horrible molding smell in one rooms, and then the next room flooded when we tried to drain the bathtub (I mean flooded - the entire bathroom and part of the main room).
2.) The outside pool is very nice and the kids enjoyed the activities. HOWEVER, I am a beach person, so I was greatly disappointed in not being able to go in the ocean. The beach is ok for sunbathing.
3.) The food was good, but the service was entirely random. Sometimes the food would arrive quickly and the order was correct, other times it could take 25 minutes for them to take a drink order and your food would arrive cold and quite possibly not what you ordered.
4.) Restaurant hours are somewhat random also, the buffet claims to be open for breakfast until 11:30, but essentially shuts down around 10:45, and don't try to eat in the buffet after about 8 pm, there is nothing left. The one other restaurant for lunch and late nights is the Manhattan, but there service there is the most random of all.
5.) Housekeeping is generally good, but again, very random - in our first two rooms, we would sometimes get 3 towels, sometimes 5, sometimes wash cloths, sometimes not, some days we would get shampoo, other days body lotion, other days bubble bath. If your rooms is not ready to be cleaned at about 9 am, it might take until 5 pm to get cleaned.
6.) Room service was quite good and efficient (no howevers here!)
7.) The shows are very good (some of the best I have seen in Cancun, especially the Circus show) and they have a lot of activities for the kids - it is very kid friendly.
8.) They have nice facilities, but they are empty most of the time - don't ask me why. The have a huge adults only bar which is quite nice, but 80% empty at its busiest. The water park is almost always empty - after my daughter banged up her knee, she never went back (I am still not sure if that was her fault of the fault of poor design on the slide).
9.) The service at the front desk is also random. Every time we had a problem, they were polite and told us they would take care of it. However, that meant you had a 50% chance of it being taken care of in a timely manner and without you having to call back and remind them. Sometimes maintenance would show up, sometimes not. Sometimes housekeeping would show up, sometimes not.

In the end, we ended up calling this place the random hotel, because you never knew what was going to happen or how it would be dealt with.

We booked this place knowing that it was not a 5 star hotel, but it was cheap and that allowed us to stay longer - I would not make the same decision again.

If you go here, expect a number of problems, knowing that you are saving money.