Rooms and Amenities
This hotel is fairly new. I believe the construction was completed
sometime in 2007. The entire property is clean
and spotless. All amenities are state-of-the-art. Guest rooms are
huge, in fact, they're all junior suites, there are also presidential
suites. These rooms
are the biggest I've seen in the Riviera Maya hotel zone. Beds are very
comfortable and actually soft, unlike other hotels in Riviera Maya.
Bathrooms are very large and modern. Each bathroom is equipped with a
with multi-head walk-in shower, as well as two-person jacuzzi. Marble
is everywhere -- on the walls -- on the floor. Each junior suite has
its own refrigerator filled with soft drinks, water and beer. A large
semi-private balcony complements each room. If you get an ocean-view room,
you're in luck. Views of the Caribbean are spectacular. However,
pool view rooms are just as impressive as they're facing west, where
you'll see beautiful sunsets over the jungle.
Dining
I wasn't completely thrilled with the food during each visit. The
buffet is just OK. Breakfast buffet isn't bad, though. Lunch and
dinner buffet need some improvement. It needs more choices; more fish
and meat options; more fruit and definitely more desserts! Food
wasn't always warm, unless it was brought out of the kitchen or made
fresh in front of you. There are two main buffet restaurants located by the lobby
which probably seat couple hundred guests. These two air-conditioned
buffets are very elegant and nicely decorated in orange and green
tones. You may opt to sit outside in open air with great views of the
property and Caribbean Sea in background. You may get a little hot
there during lunchtime, but I highly recommend this seating for late
dinners or even breakfast. Service is very impressive. Staff is
very attentive. You might even see a Mariachi Band on some nights.
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There are two additional buffet restaurants located by two swimming
pools. These
buffet restaurants are not air conditioned as they are open to the
outside. There is a limited
selection of food, but these buffets are a great alternative to the
two indoor buffets. Also, these buffets are closer to the beach and
pools and proper attire is not required, though you must wear
something over your bathing suit.
The Sirenis has numerous a-la-carte restaurants,
which are quite good. Japanese restaurant is by
far the best a-la-carte establishment there. Your other choices for
a-la-carte restaurants include: Italian, Mexican, Mediterranean,
BBQ-style, Steakhouse, French, and Brazilian. There is also a Lobster
Gala Night which is held in the main buffet restaurant, and sometimes
on the beach. However, the Lobster Gala is only offered to guests
who had booked their vacation package with a certain travel agency.
Service
Service at the Grand Sirenis is quite impressive, given its enormous
size and amount of guests. Most staff members speak English and French.
Some staff members who work in the lobby speak Italian and German. Nevertheless, you'll have to be
patient and speak slowly, as Spanish is the native language. If you're in your room calling for
something like room service or room supplies, make sure the person on
the other end of the phone knows what you're talking about.
Bars and Nightlife
Bars throughout the property are quite impressive. Beach/pool bars
offer awesome drinks. Order from the menu or create your own. What
really stands out about the Sirenis is that the lobby bars offer
premium liquor/spirits. So you won't be consuming any generic vodka or
rum or tequila, as most other hotels in the area do. Just ask for your
favorite brand, and there is a good chance they will have it.
Beach/pool bars are only stocked with generic liquor/spirits and a
limited amount of mixes. But if you are extremely picky about what you
drink, you can always walk over to the lobby bar for your premium
drink. I must mention that the beach bar has its own self-serve ice
cream machine! Nothing better than cold ice cream cone on a hot
day.
Sirenis has its own night club. You
will only see Sirenis staff and hotel's guests. No outside crowds
are allowed. You will have to refer to a map to locate it as its
placed in an odd location, in my opinion. The nightclub can be a
lengthy walk, depending on where your room is. Its a rather large
club, with a full service bar, pretty good dance / electronic music
and fun atmosphere. No smoking is allowed. Some people were dressed
up and some were not. So if you feel like you didn't bring proper
attire for a club, don't stress out, most people wore khaki shorts
and polo shirts and women had on casual dinner attire.
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Daytime
Entertainment
Sirenis Hotel has its own full-time around the clock entertainment staff. These are young people
from around the world who keep the guests busy all day. They're easy
to identify by their uniforms. There are dozens of daytime activities
such as volleyball, water polo, etc. At night, there are several shows
in the giant outdoor covered theater for guests to enjoy. There
is a different show each night, however, if you're staying at the Sirenis for more than seven days, you're bound to see same show twice.
The outdoor theater has its own fully-staffed bar.
The Beach
The beach is A M A Z I N G. It is fairly large. It is totally
secluded and private.
You feel like you're in a secluded, private resort as you do not see
other neighboring hotels or properties. Sand is white and soft -- gets
extremely hot in the sun. Yes, there is a lot of coral and coral rocks
in the water as you walk in. Therefore, getting in the water might be
somewhat tricky.
Nevertheless, there are ways of getting around all that -- just look
down as you're entering the water. There are several "paths"
where there is not a coral or rock in place. If anyone is concerned
about safety and doesn't want to fall down or cut their feet on the
coral, just bring beach shoes or go in the water wearing your flip
flops -- problem solved. I highly do not recommend going in the
water at night. Its almost impossible to see around you and
tides come and go.
Beach amenities
There are PLENTY of beach lounge chairs and palapas to go around -- I would say
over two hundred, if not more. So you don't need to get up at the
crack of dawn to "reserve" your chairs with your towels, magazines
or sunblock bottles. Recently, I stayed at hotel in Puerto Aventuras --
which was an adventure itself -- I had to get up at 5am each morning just so I could
"reserve" a chair and have
a place to sit/lay out all day. Even that early in the morning, hotel
guests were fighting for chairs!
That's not the case with the Sirenis -- which scores this hotel LOTS
of points! I can't stress enough how important it is for a property to
offer an ample amount of beach chairs. If you prefer being in the
shade, there are many palapas large enough to accommodate four people.
You won't find many palm trees on the beach. I am not sure if there
are any left from Hurricane Dean damage. However, right next to the
beach bar and massage hut, there is an area with several palm trees
which give some shade and a cozy-tropical feeling.
Beach staff
Beach is fully staffed with friendly waitresses. They do understand
English language quite well, not sure about other languages, but I did
hear some of them speaking French. But you are in Mexico, so how hard
is it for you to learn "Dos cervezas, por favor!" The beach staff
makes frequent rounds around the beach
about every 15-20 minutes. If they don't see you or bypass you, just flag them
down and
tell them what drink fancy. Your beverage will arrive in about 10-15
minutes, depending on how packed the beach is. Waitresses don't expect tips, but I always tipped
-- $1 or $2 every other round.
Having beach staff is a HUGE plus for me. Most hotels in the area
don't offer this service. There is nothing better than chilling or
baking in a beach chair watching your drinks being delivered by a
friendly waitress.
There are menus with drink choices.
Also feel free to ask what else is available, or just tell the staff what you like. Mojitos are the BEST --
they're loaded with light and dark rum and lots of fresh mint and ice. You can
get them with or without sugar, which makes the drink carb-free.
There are two beach bars. One of the beach bars offers cold and hot
snacks to go, and other bar, which was recently added on directly on
the beach, offers drinks only. Beach
staff is available until about 5pm each day. After that, you'll need to
get your drinks from pool bars or pool swim-up bars, but those close
around 7pm. And
if you miss that last call, you can always grab your drinks from the
lower-level lobby bar which
is open 24-hours!
There is also a fresh
juice bar near the beach and by the pool area. You can get
fresh-squeezed juices of your choice or make your own frozen drink,
sort of like Jamba Juice. This bar has limited hours, so be sure to
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