The Great Parnassus Resort & Spa

Unfortunately I have to say stay away.
Some of the front desk staff very rude and unwilling to help.
Food quality was not that good .
Also our bed mattress so uncomfortable if felt like were sleeping on a piece of 4×8 ply wood
And the list goes on …

We got to the hotel around 12pm and we were told the room wasn’t ready. Ok, fine. We asked, well what can we do? Mario just waved us off. By 3:30pm our room was ready, we had intermittently received our wristbands (5) and then we were given only 1 room key and told if we wanted another one to come back the next day.
We got to our room and it had two double beds, bunk beds and a pull out underneath the bunk beds. Over the course of the next four days we found out there was wifi, but it was 15.00 a day or 70.00 a week and it was for only ONE device. So if I wanted my phone, my husband’s phone, computer, or iPad… do the math. Not that we would’ve used it anyway, but it would’ve been nice to be able to keep in contact at home.
The pool was nice, but if you sat on one side of the pool you were completely separate from the bar, the snack bar, the bathrooms, and the towels. And if you wanted towels you had to be accosted by Aqua World employees trying to sell you excursions.
My husband and I wanted to have one dinner by ourselves, but after 2 hours in the kids club, our kids were begging to never go back. They said it wasn’t fun. The schedule is the same each day and there was a disco party, a pajama party, a mini spa, mini golf, craft time… The kids tried it out for the first 2 days, and then it would just be a bunch of kids running around, nothing truly organized as indicated. Our kids ended up just hanging by the pool with us, playing beach volleyball or water volleyball or trivia games. Itzel, organized the volleyball games and we LOVED Itzel. She was fantastic and really made the games we played fun.
We were stopped REPEATEDLY by people selling time shares and excursions.
The food wasn’t horrible… it wasn’t great. If you stayed here, do room service for breakfast. Ten restaurants and only the buffet was open for lunch and breakfast. We ate hamburgers every day from the snack bar because the lines were ridiculous at the buffet. My husband really liked the Maguey, the Mexican restaurant, but that was because of the fantastic service from Limber. I thought the food at Portofino’s was better.
The beach was nice, but red flagged because of the waves. The birds on the beach were asinine. I’ve been to Mexico before and I know the birds are bad, but this was ridiculous.
On Tuesday, we’d been there 5 days and every day I had to go back to the front desk and get a new key card because it didn’t work. And we were on the 5^th floor on the other side of the hotel. On Monday we had NO towels. None. We called down for more towels, but they never came. The next day I saw the cleaning person and verified that we would get 5 towels. This would also be the second day in a row that I had to ask for the room to be fumigated due to ants and spiders.
We get back that night and my son wants to go to the hotel room, I take him upstairs and my key card won’t work. I go all the way back downstairs (and half the time you take the stairs because the elevators were CONSTANTLY down), get a new key card, go upstairs and check the bathroom. There are THREE towels and THEY WERE PLACED ON THE SHELF WHERE WE HAD HUNG OUR SWIMSUITS TO DRY! They were wet and damp. I lost it. I went downstairs and told them:
1. ramshackle check in
2. bugs in room
3. key cards never working
4. kids club is a giant room where kids run around, regardless of what the schedule indicates
5. WIFI???
6. rooms not being cleaned until 3pm, and then garbage not being thrown away, i.e., a cup of 7UP was placed behind bottles of sunscreen
7. towels not being replaced
8. a pile of garbage outside my room
9. constant barrage of requests for excursions or time share meetings.
Alejandro’s response? What do you want me to do? I can get you a new room. No thank you, primarily because the woman next to us while we were waiting for Alejandro said, oh, my sister has had cockroaches in her room. My husband said, well, we don’t want to switch rooms because what if its worse?
The next day the cleaning person knocked on our door at 8:30am. And when we returned, there was a bottle of champagne and a fruit plate. My daughter ate the apple and that apple core stayed in the garbage can for two days.
As for alcohol? If you want a margarita, you ask for either Jose Cuervo or 100 Anos. The bartenders Fernando at the swim up bar, Sebastian at the Yacht Club and Julian and Patti at Kilimanjaro bar in the lobby made good drinks and were friendly and nice.
THE DAY WE LEFT: my normally patient husband lost it. Two separate times my husband went to the front desk and asked if we were done. We were told TWICE and given a ticket to get our luggage from the bell boy. The bell boy said no, go talk to someone else. The bell boy said no, go talk to someone else. Apparently we owed for a bottle of wine. Fine, if we owe, we owe, but to be told TWICE that our account was cleared? This was happening while our family was in the van waiting to go to the airport.

I wish I could give this place no stars. I think I lost 10 pounds because the food was so bad. Room service takes 2 hours to show up. The front desk staff is so unfriendly. I would never come back here or recommend this place to anyone. Stay away!!!

No ac in this hotel and I would not recommend this place to my friends or family but they have wonderful helpfully and friendly staff at the front and they had great food that I never try before.

Stayed at the GOLDEN Parnassus but had the option to visit/​eat/​enjoy all the amenities at the GREAT PARNASSUS in my vacation package. Why did I not check this place out sooner?! I was hesitant to come here since it wasn’t an adult-​only hotel, but I seriously didn’t mind the kids at all. The pool area was festive, with its own closed off location for children. The party vibes were awesome, the entertainers were phenomenal at their job. I chose to stay lounging by the beach. Not too many people there, silent, peaceful, and drinks were on point. We went to the Mexican restaurant at the hotel at night and were served by HUMBERTO GOMEZ. He was amazing!!! Superior customer service. Made us feel right at home. I give him 5 STARS! By the end of the day, all we wanted to do was stay at the Great Parnassus longer but knew we had to get back to the Golden Parnassus (which was not bad at all, but the food was the biggest issue). Soooo many food options to choose from at the Great Parnassus, good quality alcoholic beverages, friendly bartenders, lots of activities. If you’re looking for a fabulous family place, THIS IS IT!!! If you’re looking for a couples vacation, THIS IS ALSO IT!!! It’s a huge hotel and the division between kids and adults is perfect! As long as you’re not annoyed at watching kids run and play at a distance, you’re good! :) Would definitely come back here again! And what AMAZING VIEWS from this hotel!

Your first impression of any business is those who represent it. Those at reception have the energy of a snail to want to help, and the attitude to boot! Each and every one of them was so unwilling to help me recover my lost bag, not even to offer use of the phone for a local call. No feeling, no positive attitude, could care less. In the US we pay for service; I expect that when I travel even moreso. Briseida in reception needs to realize that those jobs are well sought after means of employment. The idea of being there is to help the guest! Every time I think of the experience, it fries me!
Also, the food was horrible there. I was there 5 days and lost weight, no appetite. But at least the help in the dining area were pleasant and offered help. THey seemed well trained. Perhaps they could inservice the rest of them at the front desk!

This should be a no star hotel. i wished we had read the reviews before we booked. PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR FAMILY’S PRECIOUS TIME AND MONEY COMING HERE. This was the first time we’ve been to Cancun, but the experience overall was horrible. First, If you’re coming in from LA and have a connection flight in Mexico City on Aeromexico, and you ONLY have 1 hr to do so, be prepared to make miracles happen. u have to de-​board, which takes forever unless u’re in first class, go downstairs and wait in the massive line to go through customs, then pick up your luggage, drop it off at the connection conveyor, then go through a horrible security line where u have to LITERALLY take EVERYTHING out of your carry-​ons, then run like an olympian to the assigned gate, all with-​in 1 hr? Good luck. Aeromexico needs half of our party had to be dragged out of customs and we ended up without our luggage til the next morning! It was not a good experience at all.
After landing safely in Cancun, prepare to get ripped off on trying to catch a ride to the hotel. You think its the same company, but in reality they do give different deals. So bargain away! plus, its really only a 10 minute drive to the hotel from the airport, so charging $ 25 per person for this price is RIDICULOUS!
Upon arriving at the hotel, pretty impressive lobby area. But be prepared to sweat your ass off while checking in. Also, we found out that the only place that have AC are certain areas and in your room. the buffet have no AC at all. if you’re eating around noon? you should eat in your bikini so you can jump into the pool right after to remove all that sweat and grime from your body. basically, it was torture. the snack bar pool side? its always packed and there’s usually only 1 guy there so we usually wait forever for the burgers and hotdogs. And if you’re a tourist, the locals usually get faster service than us, so be prepared to compete with the locals too. they get better service than us.
Pool was awesome on the design. Loved it how it wasn’t overly packed (we were lucky i guess), but the activity the hotel planned for sounds like a spring break thingy for college kids. Hello! that season is over. its family vacation so please do something else other than the poolside pool party everyday.
Food was horrible. I wasn’t expecting filet mignon here but at least the food should be edible! Fruits weren’t fresh, and i dont think the sushi bar is even legal being that raw fish is stored like that. soda was flat, and there’s no ice tea!!! even mexican food tasted aweful!
The room was standard, and of course we were told we got a free «upgrade», but according to one fellow Unilocaler, thats just their way of giving you a less standard view than the one you had paid for in exchange for a jacuzzi in your «suite» that dont even work! There’s no AC in the restroom, so expect to sweat while you do the #2. Plus the fridge? Never worked. We were given a room on the 11^th floor, and the view looking down wasn’t very pleasant. it was borderline scary.
There’s only 6 elevators for the 12 story high hotel, so every morning coming down, it usually takes us 20 – 30 mns to get down. most do not have AC. its there, but they decide whether it should be turned on or not i guess, because sometimes its cool and sometimes its not. saving electricity?
The restaurants? food takes forever to come out, and i believe the chef favors 1 ingredient, salt. everything is super salty. There’s even 1 retaurant where u have to dress up to be allowed entry. wish we were advised of that. Who brings slacks, shoes, socks, and collared shirts to Cancun?
There’s more to complain about but I’m sure you get my drift. Hope this helps in deciding your stay and hope this review will save at least your vacation,
since mine turned out to be a nightmare in «paradise».

Swimming pools were great for kids. Beach would have been better if it wasn’t covered in seaweed. AC non existent in lobby areas and buffet dining area. Wifi almost non existent which seems hard to believe in this day and age. Ice makers wrapped up for storage. Only two elevator locations that were very slow. At least a 10 – 15 minute wait to go in either up or down. Food? A 3 at best. Restaurants were basically the food from the buffet but served with table service.
We ordered sushi from the Japanese restaurant. The roll was basically rice with a sliver of salmon (literally) and took forever to get.
AC in room was locked and kept at about 77 degrees with ceiling fan provided.
The Pros:
–Pleasant staff
–Hard working staff, unfortunately they were understaffed and so the staff they did have were running around like crazy and likely dripping sweat in the food.
— place was definitely kept clean
— fun pool for kids. That’s basically all we did. Stayed at the pool.
Overall, we will definitely not return or recommend to anyone else.

Absolute nightmare. Seriously, don’t ever stay here. The only place that had air conditioning was our room. As soon as you step out, you feel like you’re in a sauna. The whole lobby and downstairs area is open, so when you’re at the restaurants or the buffet you’re dying of a heat stroke. We arrived at 10am and couldn’t get into our room until 3pm. So we sat around sweating for 5 hours. The staff didn’t care at all. They offered for us to sit in the hospitality room, which was an awkward quiet room with people sleeping in it. There were barely any Americans staying there and we really felt like we were unwanted there. At the buffet, the locals staying there would cut in line and the workers allowed it as if we were invisible. The «Italian» restaurant was a disgrace. I don’t know what they think Italian food is in Mexico. The people, including most of the workers, were not friendly at all. I called and asked for a blanket one night, never got that blanket. The maids barely came in our whole 5 day stay. Our sink was clogged, then we later found cigarettes and seashells in it. The entire hotel smelled. Everywhere you went, there was a new weird smell. Any time we had to take the elevator, it was at least a 10 minute process. There was no free wifi. And even the wifi you can pay for was horrible and only worked (poorly) in certain parts downstairs. I could go on forever, but my point is, never ever stay at this hotel.

Horrible experience. I’ve been to other all inclusiveness and this is the lowest end. There was no AC for most of the time. Even when available, it was not very cool anywhere in the hotel. The rooms had leaky faucets and showers, broken TV and just horribly maintained property. I will never stay here again and would not recommend it to anyone. It is not even worth a cheaper price. Horrible vacation due to this place. The only bright point were the bartenders. The check in staff were so slow and required several visits to get a valid card.

This place should be named The Great Disappointment. The only reason I gave it one star is because I couldn’t give it zero. It’s a dump. I went with my family to Cancun for 8 days and we stayed here only for 2 nights.
We arrived at 11:30 at night, and went to a pirate themed Italian restaurant. Only had a late night snack menu, and I got Fettuccine Alfredo. Tasted like buttered crap. We went to sleep; and we noticed the air conditioner was not working. We assumed it was temporary, so we went to bed with it.
The next morning, it still wasn’t working. We went downstairs and went to the breakfast buffet. Since there was no ac, the food was warm and soggy. They even screwed up the bacon. How do you screw up bacon?!
We went to the beach. No problem with that. The burger place up near the buffet is whatever. But, here’s what made this the worst excuse for a hotel. The ac still didn’t work. My dad went to the front desk and asked when the ac was fixed. They say in one hour. 7:00 pm. Tomorrow morning. For a week.
When we heard it was going to be closed for a week, we exploded. We switched hotels to the JW Marriott, which is awesome and I rate 5 stars. But the food is gross at the Great Parnassus. Unless you want to die of sweat and lack of good food, do not stay at this hotel.

Just got back and we were very disappointed. This is our second time here at this hotel about 3 years ago and we were happy but this time around we were very very disappointed. from the checkin in and all the way to check out was horrible customer service. It seemed likes everyone was mad giving attitudes. a/​c not working, phones not working, ice machines not working on all Floors and we would call to fix them and they would not fix it. I had an infant with me and drinks a lot of milk and it was so hard to find milk. Once I called room service to order her milk and they never showed up. I could keep going but I will take forever. I’m not a person that likes to complain but this time I was just not happy. One good thing was our taxi driver Rogelio from the hotel. He was awesome. other then that BAD BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE!

My boyfriend and I enjoyed a week long stay at the resort. We had an exceptional experience from the the check in, to the advice and assistance of the staff, the large spacious size of our room, and the free parking of our rental car. The only negatives were the lack of free Wifi and the quality of the food. The wifi had to be purchased and on principle I refuse to pay anything that should be free, especially in an all inclusive resort. From what I could tell, people using the wifi were not happy with the quality anyway. As for the food, it was very bland and cheap tasting, but I suppose this is to be expected of any kitchen preparing for large volume. We ate in the main cafeteria, the Japanese restaurant, and the sports bar area. Although the location is very far south and away from the clubs and bars on the strip, we didn’t mind as we had a rental car and were not reliant upon the public bus or shuttle services. For me the best part of staying in the resort was the ability to walk from the hotel directly out on to the beach, enjoying the ocean, coming back to the pool deck area, relaxing in the cool pool with drinks from the bar. It was very nice and easy going. We used our rental car and spent many days taking side trips to Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, Chitzen Itza, Valladolid, and even an over night stay in Merida. If I had to do it over again, I would potentially stay here again. Although in reality I would want to stay in another resort simply for a new experience.

The hotel workers were wonderful and friendly. The check in workers were rude and less then friendly. It was all inclusive which was good but places to eat were always closed and food wasn’t all that great. Room was dirty and door won’t close but got a free upgrade

Excelente hotel y un buen servicio.
Disfrute mucho este hotel. Es uno mas de los hoteles que tenemos en Cancún que ofrece un servicio «All Inclusive». Cuenta con restaurantes de especialidades que hacen que las cenas en este hotel sean magnificas y muy deliciosas y por ser todo incluido puedes disfrutar de la comida todo lo que quieras hasta que te canses de comer.
Por supuesto, por ser «all inclusive» también puedes tomar todo lo que quieras y los cocteles que sirven se me hicieron muy buenos.
Si tienes hijos, estoy seguro que les va a encantar, ya que dentro del hotel hay una sala de juegos para niños padrísima.
La decoración de este hotel es poco convencional pero muy interesante; encontraras muchas cosas raras, como que en la entrada del restaurante de carnes veras una versión a escala del Big Ben.
Por los costos accesibles, este hotel es una buena opción para tomar unas vacaciones económicas y buenas.