Caribe Internacional Cancun

I’d look for another place next time. When we went downstairs for blankets, toilet paper, or water, we had to ask in person since there were no phones in the rooms, and we had to bring our own bottle to fill downstairs. The room itself was spacious and nice, though clearly old and a bit tarnished. There was a connecting door to another room, and at 3 a.m. I heard people trying to open ours. Luckily, I’d made sure it was locked. There were cockroaches coming from under the beds. I told the maid in Spanish when she came to clean, but she just looked at me and did nothing. Breakfast was another letdown: an included menu option wasn’t available, and when we asked the cook for a substitute, he said no. We went elsewhere. My mom mentioned it to the front desk, and they listened but didn’t act. She was visiting me in Cancun, where I’m staying temporarily, and had booked this downtown hotel for access to nearby necessities.

The evening food options are a big plus here. There are lots of restaurants right across the street, including Mexican food about a minute away, and Pescaditos, a tasty, inexpensive seafood place, is a 3-4 minute walk. You can also walk to KFC or McDonald's in about three minutes. Parque de Las palapas has a large stage with music and dance groups, especially on weekends, plus around 20 kiosk restaurants. Further along Tulum av, both sides of the street have bargain shops for miles. For a very cheap late meal, turn left from the hotel and walk two blocks to the second street on the left, where three taco trucks serve from about 8 to 11:30 p.m. I can fill up for $3-4 U.S. I’m from Montréal, Canada, and this is my eighth year coming here. At first I stayed 3-5 weeks, and now I spend 4-5 months here each winter. It feels like my home away from home. Staff are very nice, rooms are immaculately clean, and when my air conditioning broke they moved me to another room right away while waiting for the part, which arrived the next day. If something goes wrong, maintenance comes within an hour. Reception is open 24 hours, it feels safe, and it’s very quiet, with mostly couples and families. There’s no loud partying. My room faces the street and restaurants, so I hear some traffic and music until 11:30 p.m., then it quiets down. This is a large hotel, so let the water run for a minute before it gets hot. I believe local rules mean there’s no alcohol at the hotel, but restaurants are right across the road. Rooms are affordable. A larger one with a fridge and microwave costs a little more, but I don’t need those since eating nearby is so cheap. There’s no need to cook or keep beer cold. Tell them you know Gino and maybe they’ll give you a discount, or maybe charge you more, LOL. Have a great vacation!

We were glad this room was available after our previous booking got cancelled, and the air conditioning worked decently. There’s a huge tiled area and one small closet, but no safe. The pool was lovely and cool, and we could get extra towels from the front desk, since the room didn’t have enough. The beds were uncomfortable, with no fitted sheet, and the pillows were quite hard. The toilet cover wasn’t big enough to cover the water properly, which led to some interesting smells. At least there were no bed bugs. The rooms are serviceable.

The pool is nice, the room is big, the price is good, and the location makes it easy to get downtown and enjoy Cancun nightlife. But I’d only stay a night or two. The room was very noisy because of the connecting door, and we could basically hear everything going on next door. It was also very old, with lots of broken parts. For example, the window glass was broken and had been patched with tape. Getting in touch with the hotel was another problem. The phone numbers didn’t work, and they didn’t reply to Booking messages or emails.