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7 days in Mexico at The Grand Moon Palace

Travel

6 Sep

Do you ever have certain hotels or holiday destinations you just have to visit ? Well the Moon Palace in Cancun is one of those resorts, and I have waited 17 years to get there. We went on our honeymoon to Mexico back in 2001, and I still have a slight regret we didn’t book the Moon Palace. Don’t get me wrong, we had an amazing honeymoon, but in the back of my mind I knew I had to visit The Grand Moon Palace one day.

Booking The Grand Moon Palace

With the kids getting older, I know our family holidays are very much on borrowed time, so last September I finally booked our flights, and our stay at The Grand Moon Palace. We just had a very long 350 day holiday countdown to wait, but as the saying goes, all good things come to those that wait.

And wait we did, and before we knew it we were in the taxi heading to Manchester airport. This was our 5th time travelling long haul, and the first time going indirect. We went Manchester to Heathrow, and then Gatwick to Cancun, which seems a crazy journey but I can honestly say everything worked out really well. Plus the 1k saving I made on the flights will go towards our next holiday.

Beach Bar at The Grand

The Beach at The Grand

Of course we were shattered by the time we reached Mexico, but walking into the breathtaking lobby of The Grand Moon Palace, being handed a cold towel and a refreshing drink, certainly made us forget how tired we were. Once in the room we ordered room service, and not long after that we crawled into bed.

Day One

Our first day was spent exploring The Grand Moon Palace, and there is no mistaking that it is a huge hotel. The lobby itself is an impressive size, and this is where you will find countless restaurants, bars, shops, reception and guest services, the Wired lounge which is full of arcade games, and the 24 hour coffee and cake lounge. It was lovely to get our bearings and stroll around the grounds, and then have a dip in our swim up suite which was amazing. Katie and I also went for a manicure and pedicure in the Moon Palace AWE Spa, which I had booked prior to us going. That night we ate in the Mexican restaurant (of course).

Swim up Suite at The Grand

Daughter in Swim up Pool

The kids at The Grand

Day Two

It was time to visit the famous Cancun strip, which is around 15 minutes drive from the hotel and cost us $25 each way. We visited a few shopping malls, got dragged into Bath and Body Works AND Forever 21 by the 12 year old, and enjoyed a very welcome cold drink in the Hard Rock Café. That evening we dined at Jade which was the Aisian restaurant in the lobby. Hands down this was my favourite restaurant, and as we had the tasting menu it meant we all tried a variety of dishes.

Hard Rock Cancun

Daughter in Hard Rock Cancun

Jade at The Grand

Day Three

The husband and kids disappeared for a few hours to do Zip Lining, which meant I had the hard job of sitting in the lobby bar with a book and several cocktails. The afternoon was spent in one of the many pools, and of course it would be rude not to sit at the swim up bar and order a Pina Colada. In the evening we ate at Cusco, which is the Peruvian restaurant near to the beach. This was probably our least favourite out of all the restaurants we ate at.

The Lobby at The Grand Moon Palace

Pool at The Grand Cancun

Day Four

As the waterpark at The Grand Moon Palace is only half operational, you are offered complimentary tickets to visit a nearby Waterpark called Ventura. After being enveloped in the luxury of the Moon Palace, we didn’t have high hopes for the waterpark, but we actually had a fun packed 4 hours there. After a much needed chill out in the room when we got back, that evening’s dinner was at Tavola, the Italian restaurant in the lobby. We had a great evening, partly down to the teenager raiding the mini bar when we weren’t looking, and drinking 3 cans of lager. Of course I don’t condone underage drinking, but my goodness he was funny that evening.

Tavola at The Grand

Daughter eating Pizza

Day Five

Today was all about getting pampered, as the hubby was booked in for a massage in the morning, and I went for a facial in the afternoon. The Moon Palace AWE Spa is out of this world, and probably one of the best spas I have ever visited. You get your own personal host that walks you around the spa, explaining the various rooms and the water journey. I could have spent the rest of the holiday in there. However it was back to reality, and we left The Grand for the evening and went over to Nizuc, which is one of the other hotels at the Moon Palace. We dined at the Brazilian restaurant which serve various meats on skewers, and wow what a meal we had. After that it was time for Katie to sing a few songs, as it was karaoke night over at Nizuc.

AWE Spa at The Moon Palace

Day Six

It was our last full day and we spent a few hours at the waterpark at The Grand Moon Palace, followed by a stroll to the beach. The beach at the Moon Palace gets bad press due to the amount of seaweed that gets washed up every day. But the hotel work tirelessly to clear it, and as you can see from these pictures it is certainly a beautiful beach at times. Our final evening meal was at Habibi, the Lebanese restaurant at The Grand. Again another wonderful meal with 5* service.

The beach at The Grand

The Waterpark at The Grand Moon Palace

Lazy River at The Moon Palace

Habidi Restaurant in The Grand

Day Seven

Our last day and we returned to Cusco, and whilst we hadn’t enjoyed the restaurant in the evening, breakfast was much better. After that we had a final stroll around the resort, and at last we spotted an iguana chilling out by one of the pools. All too soon it was time to be collected from our room, have a final drink in the lobby, and check out of this amazing hotel.

Iguana in Mexico

Our stay at The Grand Moon Palace had totally exceeded my expectations, and the service we received from every single member of staff was amazing. They really do work exceptionally hard to make sure that you have the best vacation. Hopefully we won’t leave it another 17 years until we return to Mexico.

Husband and Wife

How much was our holiday to The Grand Moon Palace ?

We booked our holiday back in September 2017 and we visited from the 25th August to the 1st September 2018. Thomas Cook is the only UK tour operator who offer The Grand Moon Palace, so after getting a quote of over 5k from them, I decided to book our holiday separately. We paid £1800 for our swim up suite direct with The Grand, and our flights were £2300 with British Airways, flying back Premium Economy. As our flights were indirect, we had to book a taxi between Heathrow and Gatwick which was £142 return. For everything that The Grand offers, I was exceptionally happy with what we paid for our Summer holiday.

Have you ever been to The Moon Palace ?

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20 Comments

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Comments

  1. Angela says

    September 6, 2018 at 7:13 pm

    Wow those views are idyllic. It looks like you had a wonderful time, I’m so glad it was worth the wait for you.

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 11, 2018 at 10:12 am

      Whilst it was a long countdown it was definitely worth the wait. It was a brilliant family holiday, and so nice to return to Mexico x

      Reply
  2. Sam | North East Family Fun Travel Blog says

    September 6, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    Oh wow it looks absolutely stunning! We’ve early booked this hotel twice now but both times it’s always been in the next price bracket to what we have wanted to pay. I never thought about booking it all myself! Makes sense. The spa really does look idyllic. I think this looks like the perfect holiday to enjoy with teens – it seems like there’s loads to do x

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 11, 2018 at 10:19 am

      It’s an amazing place Sam and totally exceeded my expectations. Brilliant place for families, but also a great hotel for couples too. Maybe one day we will get to return just the 2 of us (wishful thinking lol). I saved a small fortune by booking it myself, and I actually thought for what we paid it was pretty good value considering it was the Caribbean AND the summer holidays x

      Reply
  3. Rachel @ The Ordinary Lovely says

    September 7, 2018 at 8:42 am

    Oh my goodness, it looks amazing!! No wonder you were counting down the days. I’m seriously envious x

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 11, 2018 at 10:23 am

      It was a truly stunning resort Rachel and so glad I finally got to visit the Moon Palace. Trouble is I want to go back !!! x

      Reply
  4. Sarah MumofThree World says

    September 7, 2018 at 9:35 am

    It looks like you had an amazing time and I’m so glad it lived up to your expectations after your 17 year wait!

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 11, 2018 at 10:28 am

      Aw thank you Sarah, I think it actually exceeded my expectations so it must have been very very special as I am hard to please when it comes to my holidays x

      Reply
  5. Sarah Christie says

    September 7, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    Tracey I am dying to visit the Moon Palace and you have made me want to go even more, did you notice the smell of the seaweed? As the other side of St Lucia had the same, it seems to be a problem this year. That lobby omg it looks stunning x

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 11, 2018 at 10:35 am

      Honestly Sarah you would love the Moon Palace, as I know we have very similar holiday tastes !!! Everything was so decadent with amazing 5* service everywhere you went. Even though we only went for a week it felt like we had been there for weeks which was good. I used to get a faint smell of the seaweed from time to time if we were near to the beach, but the hotel does an amazing job of clearing it all several times a day. It certainly didn’t affect our holiday x

      Reply
  6. Faisal khurshid says

    September 8, 2018 at 1:11 pm

    Amazing photos!

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 11, 2018 at 10:51 am

      Thank you Faisal. Hope you had a truly amazing holiday too at The Grand x

      Reply
  7. Nikki Thomas says

    September 12, 2018 at 7:42 pm

    I have never been to Mexico but I would love to go one day. Your hotel looks spectacular and the food looked amazing too

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 16, 2018 at 7:11 pm

      It was a truly amazing hotel. I think across the whole resort we had 23 restaurants we could go to. I just think we needed another month to get round them all and experience all the amazing dishes on offer x

      Reply
  8. suzanne says

    September 13, 2018 at 7:55 pm

    Looks amazing Tracey! Mexico is another place I’ve thought about going as I think you get good value for money – what’s the weather like in August? I think that would be my only concern. Well done on your saving too! xx

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 16, 2018 at 7:14 pm

      The weather was amazing Suzanne, a constant 31 degrees with beautiful blue sky. We just had 2 x 30 minutes of rain over the whole week. I would definitely go again in August, and like you said you get good value for money in the Caribbean x

      Reply
  9. Emma MacDonald says

    September 15, 2018 at 8:56 am

    It looks like a lovely family holiday. I can’t wait until we go to Mexico. I’m so excited! 3 days to go!

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 16, 2018 at 7:39 pm

      I can’t wait to follow your holiday Emma, I bet you are so excited now. Though we have been back for 2 weeks now and still have terrible holiday blues x

      Reply
  10. Newcastle Family Life says

    September 17, 2018 at 12:39 pm

    It looks lovely, we have been looking at Mexico for our family honeymoon next year. xx

    Reply
    • Tracey Williams says

      September 21, 2018 at 3:29 pm

      I can highly recommend Mexico as a brilliant destination for a family honeymoon. We went 17 years ago for our honeymoon and so glad we got to return as a family x

      Reply

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The Williams World – Blogging about travel and life with teens

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I am Tracey and together with my husband and two teenagers we are The Williams World. Blogging our travels and family life since 2013.

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