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The Grand Sirenis Rivera Maya is part of Sirenis resorts, a chain of Spanish resorts. This chain owns a huge piece of ocean front property in the town of Akumal which is located about 1.5 hours south of Cancun Airport and 25 minutes south of Playa del Carmen. Sirenis resort company intends to build four resorts on this same large piece of property. The Grand Sirenis Rivera Maya was the first resort to open. It opened it's doors to welcome guests in November 2006. Shortly after, the second of these four resorts, The Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach opened up adjacent to the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya.
As you drive into the Sirenis resort complex there are actually two separate lobby areas. The Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya is to your left and the Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach Lobby is to your right. Each hotel has about 500 rooms so already this is a very large hotel complex with two more resorts yet to come.
Each resort has it's own separate lobby yet guests have total access and use to facilities at either resort. In fact, most of the common guest areas like restaurants, pools and beaches are strategically situated right down the middle between the guest room buildings of each hotel. So although there are two separately named hotels on this one piece of property, technically it's all one and the same resort. It can be a bit confusing but many of the resorts in the Riviera Maya are huge, sprawling resorts so hoteliers divide up the property this way. Our Vacationkids staff was excited to take a grand tour of both of these resorts and were very pleased with what we saw.
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First, let's just start by saying our staff has visited just about every all inclusive resort in the Riviera Maya...so we have a pretty good means of comparison. We'll start by saying the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya is NOTHING like any of the other Riviera Mayan family resorts! It has a completely different feel and ambiance which becomes apparent the moment you drive up to the lobby. The architecture can be described as Modern Metropolitan Mayan...everything is sleek, contemporary and sophisticated yet pays homage to the rich culture and history of the Mayans. The main lobby is shaped like an immense, Mayan pyramid. Downstairs from the check in area is an open space gathering area complete with lobby bar. It's a great open space for guests to gather and mingle.
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This lobby bar is one of 7 bars found in the Sirenis resort complex. In addition to those craving non-alcoholic refreshment, The Grand Sirenis also offers guests a health bar for fruit smoothies and energy drinks as well as a coffee shop with fresh brewed caffiene and de-caf concoctions. There's even beach service just in case you get parched while working on your tan!
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There are two air conditioned main buffet restaurants for their guests...
Tulum Restaurant- adjacent to the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya Lobby open Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Akumal Restaurant - adjacent to the Grand Sirenis Mayan Beach Lobby open Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Pool snack bar open for Breakfast, Lunch & Snacks
The Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya also offers as part of their all inclusive plan, 6 air-conditioned a-la-carte thematic restaurants open for dinner. Guests are required to make reservations to dine in the specialty restaurants. Guests are guaranteed 4 themed restaurant dinning experiences per week....
El Rancho-steak house
El Patio-Mexican
Cinecitta- Italian Cool,Retro 60's decor with photos of Sophia Loren, Can't get more Italian than this!
Ibiza- Mediterranean Menu
La Gira Rodizio-Brazillian barbeque
Ikebana-Japanese ...some of the best spring rolls and pot stickers we've ever eaten!
Le Relais Gourmand- Gourmet French Restaurant (additional fee)
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The Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya resort's contemporary style continues on throughout the rest of the property. And speaking of contemporary resorts, those of your familiar with Disneyworld's contemporary resort will find the guest room buildings very familiar. Instead of a monorail, golf carts drive right into the guest buildings to help transport guests around the property. The The Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya
resort had 10, 3 story, guest room buildings that circle their pool. There is a concierge located in each of these guest room buildings to help guests call for rides, reservations or whatever they need. Please keep in mind there is a VERY large property. It's fairly stroller friendly but there are some bumpy sidewalks and there are lots of stairs and steps.
Bring comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk.
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The Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya offers a wide choice of 408 Standard Junior suites, 33 Sapphire Junior suites, 60 Diamond Junior suites and 3 Grand 1 bedroom Suites. There are 4 handicapped rooms and there are 48 connecting rooms for families (on request basis only - not guaranteed).
Rooms at the The Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya offer these amenities...
1 king bed or 2 full size beds
Individually controlled air conditioning
Environmentally friendly key cards to save room energy
Mini bar replenised daily with water, soft drinks and beer
Ceiling fan
Cable & Satellite TV with 29" screen
In-Room Pay per view movies
Direct dial Telephone
High speed internet access (fee)
Clock Radio
In-room tea & coffee facilities
In-room safe
Furnished Balcony
Full bathtub/jets shower
Double Jacuzzi
Hair-dryer
Bathrobes & slippers
Pool & Beach towel Service
Amenities pack
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Standard Jr suites at the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya are over 450 square feet and do contain a sofa/sitting area which is contained in one large room in addition to all the above mentioned room features. With two double beds and the sofa this room will
accommodate a family of five allowing three children under the age of 11 to stay in the room with their parents. Again the cut off age for children is 11 years old. There is one draw back that we want to point out to parents...The resort decorators thought it wise to leave an open window in the wall between the bath and sleeping areas. Technically this way guests could use the jacuzzi and look out onto the room and balcony beyond. Perhaps this may be a romantic feature for honeymooners but it doesn't allow much privacy for families. Due to the privacy issue, more than 300 rooms have been outfitted with opaque glass covering the window which indeed solves the problem. Please know these rooms are on a request basis only and are not guaranteed. That said, resort services have offered fabric curtains upon request for rooms not yet fitted with the glass...we just thought our parents would want to know about this room feature
Sapphire Junior Suites offer standard room features PLUS
Ocean View Room
Daily Newspaper
Nightly Turn down service
Bottle of Tequila & Exotic fruits
Diamond Junior Suites offer standard room features PLUS
Panoramic Ocean Front room
Daily Newspaper
Nightly Turn down service
Bottle of Tequila & Exotic fruits
Grand Suite Riviera Maya offer upgraded suite ammenities PLUS
Panoramic Ocean Front room
900 square foot room with separate 1 bedroom
24 hour room servie
Butler service on request
Stereo/DVD player
Welcome gift with champagne & chocolates
Private bar stocked with Premium liquors
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The Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya has three huge swimming pools that include all sorts of whirlpool features and different levels to make for more interesting swimming. There is a main activities pool as well as an adults only pool with swim up bar.
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Between the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya and Mayan Beach resorts there is even a long, lazy river just like in the water parks back home. It's only a couple of feet deep so that even the kids can enjoy themselves without parent's worrying too much. There is a slight current so that you can relax on your tube or floatie for a relaxing water journey. Another note to parents...kids can spend all day in the lazy river but you'll need your own tube. You can purchase floaties and tubes at the resort for about $9 USD or you may want to save and pack your own from home.
Besides the pool, the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya Resort had a long list of activites that continue from morning until night. As part of the all inclusive program there are non-motorized water sports like kayaking, windsurfing and snorkeling (one hour per client, per day). In addition there is a fully outfitted gym, ping pong, darts, tennis courts, volleyball and football. There is an enthusiastic animation staff offering day and evening entertainment, dance lessons, professional shows and themed evenings. There's even a botanical garden!
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Akumal beach is world renown and the Grand Sirenis resort complex sits on over 3000 feet of pristene, private beach front. There are several coves with separate beach areas making this a beach lovers delight!
Guests at the Grand Sirenis Riveria Maya can enjoy the best of undersea worlds. There are sandy beach areas for swimmers. The sand here is white but a bit gritty so you may want to pack aqua shoes for any family members with tender feet. Besides the gorgeous, protected swimming beaches, there are out-croppings of coral just off shore. Wade into the water with your snorkeling gear and say hello to parrot and angel fish. The property connects to the Ya-chul lagoon so there is an abundance of sea life besides being a nursery for baby sea turtles. The property also contains several cenotes.
For those not familiar, cenotes are underground caves that are usually filled with pure, cool waters offering yet another option for swimming and exploring. If all this wasn't enough, the property also contains several authentic, original mayan ruins!
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Kids will have the time of their lives at the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya! Besides the lazy River, there is a separate kids pool located right in the kids club area with plenty of wet and wild fun for all the little ones!
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As part of their all inclusive program, the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya has the Galaxy Kids club for children ages 4-6 years old and the Rap Club for kids ages 7-12 years of age. The kids club is open daily from 10am to 5pm. There is an open air palapa for the kids club activities, arts & crafts etc. The kids were having a blast when we were there but parents should be aware that this area is not completely gated.
Great for older school age kids but many parents were playing together with younger children.
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The activities staff also assists the kids in a separate dining area for lunch. There is a mini disco at night for the kids as well. Private or after hours babysitting is also available at a rate of approximately $15 per hour and must be arranged in advance with concierge.
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Everything about the Grand Sirenis Rivera Maya resort is Modern, Mayan and Magical. This unique resort will be the center of the universe for many a family vacation time and again. Remember, family of five rooms sell out early, especially for busy travel weeks like the December holidays and spring break so book your suite now!
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