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Re: After the Hurricane..... (by KaTHY M.):

Thanks for your reply! You left Cancun on the day we arrived there. I got home yesterday, 2/9/07, after spending two weeks there. This message is a bit of information for all those people planning to visit Crown Paradise in the near future. We found many changes from the last time we were there, most of them not to our liking. I had exchanged my one bedroom timeshare for a studio when I made my reservation for 2007, so that I could get two weeks while only using one week of my timeshare allotment. After spending several years in a one bedroom suite in the new tower and always being extremely pleased there, I soon realized I made a big mistake by making this exchange, as I found the studio to be old and not updated at all, and apparently the hurricane took its toll on the appliances that were in the room. The air conditioner never got the room cooler than 25 degrees celcius, which is about 75 degrees fahrenheit. I complained constantly and they kept telling me it had been fixed - not true....Finally after a few other malfunctions occurred in the room, I was upgraded to one of the Crown Club Rooms, which I loved. So, lesson learned was to stick with my one bedroom suite, and never trade it in for a studio, just for the sake of gaining more time there. Onto other matters - yes, I did find that the restaurants still needed reservations, and so often we were told they were booked up, but every time we were in any of the restaurants, they were never full. I don't know what that was all about..... The French restaurant, which was where the Italian restaurant used to be located pre-Wilma, was very wonderful, and truly elegant. The Italian restaurant, now only opened for lunch, was mediocre at best. Previously, it was really great but the menu is very limited now. Wayne's Boots was good most of the time, however, the bull had broken during the first week we were there, and as of yesterday, it had not been fixed and therefore, a lot of people were disappointed not to be able to get the bull riding experience. The worst change was the fact that the entertainment staff who had been a major part of the Crown Paradise's appeal, had all been fired after there was a split of hotel ownership. The new management has decided they wanted to 'tone down' the activities, which was a big mistake. The previous entertainment staff had the people rocking the whole time, adding to the enjoyment of one's stay at the hotel. Now, they hardly participated in events with the guests at all, which made the vacation seem much less fun. What a shame the new owner thinks this is the way to keep people happy. I was with a group of 20 people, and even though we had fun despite the changes, we all feel we would not encourage anyone to buy timeshare there, unless things go back to the old way of doing things. Another negative point was the fact that the lobby used to have lots of chairs and tables for people to congregate at night. Now, with the lobby bar being located where it is in a new spot, and the new pond in the middle of the lobby, there is no real comfortable area to sit around and mingle at night. There are only 3 or 4 tables near the lobby bar, and they are usually occupied by people who smoked quite heavily, which made it difficult for the non-smokers to breathe!! We did request the chairs to be returned to the lobby, but were told it wasn't going to happen. On the upside - the waiters are all wonderful and are at your beck and call. The food was very good at the Japanese restaurant, and LaPalapa had a good variety of items every day. The beach has gained a good deal of sand post Wilma, and there are more chairs than ever on the beach.

Crown Paradise does still need some re-vamping, and if someone is looking for luxery and upscale food, this is not the place to go. However, if you have children, they do have a great kids' camp, a different show each night in the theatre, and the price is right for the kids, since those under age 12 are free.