Read reviews of the best resort in Cancun: Presidente InterContinental

Viva Mexico!!!! What an amazing property with fantastic caring staff. We had a 5* experience from the time we arrived with a complimentary upgrade to the top floor overlooking the beautiful pool and ocean. I will break down the experience Check in - Helpful, polite and was able to accommodate all requests. Lounge - We had lounge access which is right behind the lobby with amazing service, breakfast, snacks and complimentary drinks (which the staff kept on bringing) during the happy hour from 5-7. The food was on the light side, but it's not intended to be a meal, a drink, snack and then head out for dinner. Lobby bar - staff was amazing and always looked after us. The beach restaurant was second to none. We ate at this location 8 of the 9 days we stayed. Manger Alberto, Server Antonio and Raymundo were first class and so pleasant. On our last day we received a thank you for staying with us cake. These staff members are vital to the success of this resort and should be rewarded. The food was 5* and price was also excellent. Pool - was always very warm with lot of available seating and towels. Never a problem getting a seat next to this lovely area. Beach - lots of loungers and what a great well kept beach. Surronding area - So safe and so much you can walk to around the hotel. Ricky's chicken across the road was incredible for a gas station and the service was also great. Night life is about one kilometer away with all kinds of restaurants, activities and bars for easy convenience. All in all, I can't wait to go back and see Antonio and Raymundo and enjoy some great Mexican hospitality. Well done team. Trevor & Rebecca

Wonderful resort in Cancun. Our room was spacious and quiet, with a very comfy bed. Breakfast was superb, with a vast array of options to choose from: from fresh fruit to local food and freshly made omelettes and the like. Very friendly and professional staff across the entire resort. We really enjoyed our stay here, we'll hopefully come back in the future! 🙂

We’ve been to Cancun a number of times, but having always stayed at the Ritz (or now the Kempinski). We’d never stayed at the Intercontinental before, but given the attractive pricing relative to other hotels around Christmas, we decided to give it a shot. Given a late flight, we only arrived at the hotel around11pm on a Sunday evening. The hotel is designed in a match-box style that was typical of buildings in the 1970s. The lobby is quite grand and striking with the marble polished to a high sheen. It was full of tasteful Christmas decorations. After a fairly efficient check-in we were provided electronic key cards for our rooms on the third floor. The hotel was at full capacity so an upgrade was not possible. We took the elevators to the rooms (not in the tower) and were greeted in the lobby by shouting coming from several rooms. We tried out key cards and none seemed to work, so we went back to reception to fix. We also let them know of the noise and they were able to move our rooms to the fifth floor. One key card from each room worked this time. The rooms were facing the lagoon side and they were clearly showing their age. Additionally, it was surprising how loud the road noise was at this level. I would definitely recommend staying on the ocean side if possible, just to avoid the noise which was really distracting. Additionally, I wasn’t a big fan of the cookie-cutter box layout and decoration that seemed quite sterile. We were quite hungry, but unfortunately by this time all of the hotel restaurants were already closed. Luckily room service was available and we placed out order. The food arrived 40 minutes later and was tasty, but lukewarm in temperature. It was around 1am before we turned down for the night. Unfortunately, around 3am, a group of guests decided it was a good idea to have a party in the hallway outside our door. We had to call down to security, who was in fact able to see everything with the hallway cameras. They were able to disburse the group but our sleep was disrupted. Additionally, a few days later there was a similar incident of shouting in the hallways a few days later that again required us to call security. The next morning, we made our way to breakfast, which is served in a covered palapa near the beach – it is open to the elements (temperature, insects and birds). Additionally, while the space is quite large, it cannot accommodate all the guests when the hotel is at full capacity. Over a stretch of 4 days, we waited for a table twice. Breakfast is served buffet stye with a dedicated omelette station, a good selection of breads, fresh fruits and juices and several Mexican and continental options. The food was good and high quality. However, there were several mornings when the servers were simply overwhelmed and there was quite a wait for coffee / hot beverages. I thought the food options were actually better outside of breakfast – less hectic, high quality and tasty. The options were expensive, but what you would expect. Service was an area, that the hotel really shined. The Intercontinental has a dedicated sommelier, Fredi, who has tremendous knowledge of local and international wines. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and personable. The valet were also suberb – we never waited more than 5 minutes for our hotel. Additionally, every staff we interacted with was friendly and helpful. In terms of areas for improvement, the hotel was built in 1975 and the rooms and some of the common areas are really showing their age. It’s not just fixtures, but design and layout in several areas just looked tired. Additionally, I found the hotel very loud. We’ve stayed in Cancun a half a dozen times and never had to make multiple noise complaints. Granted, there is little the hotel can do about this, especially during the holiday seasons, but I think it’s worth noting. I would probably come back, but would say the facilities and property are more akin to a 4 star resort while the service is what is expected at a 5-star resort. If the property underwent a full refresh, it could really be something special.

We stayed as a family of four. Our room was on the ground floor, so it was a bit noisy because of the street. We really liked the hotel – a spacious lobby, a nice pool, and a beach bar. The beach was absolutely beautiful. Breakfasts were served in a great location with a wonderful view. The service at the bar was a bit chaotic, but they really tried 🙂. On the last day, I went to the spa for a massage, which also included a steam sauna and a jacuzzi in the price. Everything was of a very high standard. Additionally, Manicela totally surprised me with an excellent massage, using many different techniques. A wonderful experience!

As a family we loved the upgraded room we selected when we arrived, having a balcony, outdoor shower and lounge club access were important to us. Breakfast, happy hour and the incredible beach and daily access to the water craft were amazing. Food and drink were amazing, but were priced on par with hotels in the US. We also enjoyed meeting the sommelier and his wine tasting seminar. Property was nicely decorated for Christmas and always felt clean and safe.

We are a UK family of 3 fairly novice divers: myself on 30, husband on 50 and our newly certified 13 year old son on 8 dives. We decided to come back to Cozumel as we loved the diving here and is surprisingly easy to get to. We fly direct from London Gatwick to Cancun, then a taxi from the airport to Playa del Carmen and then the half hour passenger ferry across to Cozumel. We chose to stay again at the Hotel Presidente Intercontinental. This year we had a more basic room which was still very spacious - and had a lovely ocean fronting balcony too. The resort is peaceful and well maintained, and we love the fact that the buildings are all very open to the elements and naturalistic- there’s no unnecessary air conditioning, just lots of ocean breeze! Catering-wise, we enjoyed a plentiful breakfast at the beautiful Caribeno restaurant each morning - lots of local and international options which we all really enjoyed. For lunch we would often go back to Caribeno and order something simple like their delicious Sopa de Lima or quesadilla. For dinner, we would mostly get a taxi into San Miguel (the main town) and enjoy a variety of taco stands, tamales and other street food (our son particularly enjoys the marquesitas, which are like a thin waffle which they fold with your choice of flavourings, such as Nutella and banana). Places in town we really enjoyed include: Tacos Guisados, Taqueria Tzalam, Taqueria Diaz and the tamales stand which is opposite Dominos pizza! In terms of the other hotel amenities, we didn’t use either of the pools this year (spending so much time in the sea!) but they have a lovely ocean side pool set beside a pretty sandy cove for snorkelling. The beach further along to the north (nearer our room, and adjacent to the marina where the dive boats are docked) is always very peaceful and quiet and I would often base myself on a lounger there in the afternoons. I also made good use of the well-furnished gym which was always really quiet. There is also a spa which looks great (but we didn’t use).

My experience at the SPA with Manicela was a real moment of relaxation, every gesture is appropriate, every little detail in the treatment is right (atmosphere of the massage room, temperature, smells, warm towels applied at the right time, very kind attentions). Used to massages I give a score of 10/10 to my therapist Manicela who knew how to make me go through her perfect gestures a very pleasant moment of relaxation. Thank you very much.

Plus: Beautiful beach, pleasant environment Less: Noisy street side, bathroom layout not very efficient

Welcoming, friendly and luxurious. But I’d like to make a special mention for Deymi at the hotel’s Ikal Spa: she makes the best deep tissue massage!

Amazing facility. Always spotless, not one piece of sand anywhere. Incredibly friendly and helpful staff. Very chic yet inviting foyer. Pools are very clean, and warm. Even the beach is spotless! Wonderful, excellent food in the three restaurants on site. Loved the spa and their treatments—same cleanliness of the facility, and friendliness of the staff. We enjoyed every minute here.