We have been going to Westin Lagunamar with our family for 5+ years. The property is beautiful. We have gotten to know the bar and restaurant staff, and they greet us each time we return. The pools are huge and beautiful - with swim up bars. The location is also the best in Cancun, imo. The beach is probably at the widest of any resort along the hotel zone. It is also across the street from La Isla shopping mall and lots of restaurants within walking distance. We can't wait to go back again this year.

This is a gorgeous resort. Nice rooms, most if not all have great ocean views. Very well managed and clean. It is rather compact so everything is very easily accessible.

The location is hard to beat in the best North hotel zone and ideal for a resort that is not all inclusive since the La Isla (luxury) mall is 300 ft away, across the street. At the mall you can find many restaurants from fast food to upscale. Other restaurants are within walking distance or a short bus ride (1$ per person), every 5 minutes. Large grocery store within 5 minutes (walking). Also a smaller one on site. The restaurants at the resort are decent to good. Great burgers (i am usually not a burger person). We ended up saving money compared to an all inclusive in Cancun and it was (surprisingly) more convenient since some all inclusive resorts are so big that you have to walk quite a bit to get to the restaurants, pools etc.

The beach is gorgeous and the infinity pools are some of the nicest i have seen. The staff is amazing. I understand that it is hard to get a job there so people really do their best to keep it.

The drive from the airport is only 15-20 minutes (although it can be 30-40 at rush our). We did not see one mosquito (stayed there in March), for my wife this is a great plus. The wifi internet works great through the resort, we ended up not using roaming at all, just forwarded calls to my VOIP number that works on my cell. I run a business so for me it is important to stay connected.

I'm an owner there and ended up taking 8 other people to this resort. Everyone including myself was amazed by the huge pool with swim up bar. Many days were spent there enjoying the sun and literally swimming up, ordering a drink and sitting on seats inside the pool at the bar. The infinity pool allows you to keep cool while enjoying unobstructed views of the ocean just 20 - 30ft away. The restaurant located down by the pool served amazing food and drinks. The staff was always friendly, helpful and made one feel welcome. Ever since taking our group of friends there, multiple couples have returned each year. It is a must see!

I'm an owner so I might be a little biased but I love this resort. Great location, right in the heart of the Cancun hotel zone, within a short walking distance of shopping, restaurants and bars. I've been there many times (10+). Nothing to dislike about this resort. Great location, very new, huge awesome pools, great beach, tons of activities, good food, free wi-fi, extremely high level of customer service. Love it.

stayed 3/21/2015-3/28/2015 excellant resort .I,m an owner at harborside bahamas and i love harborside but this resort really surprised me .yes it is much newer than harborside but also more upscale. Loved the huge shower & jacuzzi. Staff very well trained and go out of their way to be helpful. Thinking of buying a unit here next trip

Just returned Mar 16, 2014, This place is great, a beautiful resort, great service, courteous staff that is very friendly, big enough that is does not feel overcrowded, one of the larger beaches on the hotel strip that is cleaned and groomed each night, bus is conveniently available right in front of resort to go to downtown Cancun and other venues, great location right across the street from the La Isla outdoor mall which has good selection of restaurants and shopping, pools and hot tubs are clean and well maintained, new owners lounge, second health club facility just opened.

Stayed the week of Jan. 11-18. What a great week! This was our second time at this resort and it was even better than the first. The resort has a great location across from a beautiful outdoor mall with many options for dining and shopping. The resort is beautiful, with great views of the pools and the sea. I've been a Starwood owner for 11 years and haven't had better treatment at any previous resort stay. The resort was reportedly 90% full but didn't feel crowded because of the choices of huge pools as well as the beach. The room is great and my only minor complaint was that the pillows felt hard and didn't feel like the heavenly pillows that we have come to expect at Westin hotels and resorts.

Amazing resort. We have stayed at other nice places in Cancun but this by far blew us away.

Location: GREAT Villa: AWESOME Service: Not too bad

I have stayed here twice. I loved it so much purchased a resale timeshare from Ebay. Now I get to enjoy Xmas here every year

Been to 20 different time shares. By far the best one in terms of location, food, activities, service, gym. Could not have been happier with my 3 stays there.

I just want to say thanks to Jose for his informative posting. I'm also own Royal Sand. Just recently got back the Royal Sands and had a chance to tour the Westin. I was impressed with it and I'm considering renting it to try it out. Sounds like, overall you still enjoyed the Resort, so I will give it a chance.

I have ownership of 25 timeshares, 13 of which are Starwood properties, three of those at Westin Lagunamar – I am also a 5-star elite member with lifetime Platinum SPG membership. I also own at Royal Sands and Royal Haciendas and will compare these with the Lagunamar.

I just returned from a week-52 stay at Westin Lagunamar where my family and I had 4 rooms reserved. The facilities at Lagunamar are very good-to-excellent, just a small step down in quality from Hyatt properties. The management at Lagunamar however is fair at best, largely as a result of poor front-desk management. Almost every encounter with the front desk resulted in a rude remark and/or treatment during the entire stay, which I will describe in greater detail toward the end of this review.

The management fee at the Royal properties are only 60% of what it is at the Westin Lagunamar, and yet they have excellent personnel throughout the facility AND they have daily maid service (the Westin Lagunamar does not). The facilities at Royal Sands are nearly as good, except that there is not a Jacuzzi tub in the rooms and the beds/linens are not nearly as good as they are at the Westin properties. Royal Sands is more densely populated than Lagunamar; even during full-occupancy during week 52 Lagunamar almost seemed deserted. The Royal Haciendas in Playa del Carmen is a newer property, is less densely populated, and has as good or better facilities than Lagunamar, there are even Jacuzzis on the balconies of the Royal Haciendas. The Royal Haciendas also have excellent Wi-Fi internet service, the Westin Lagunamar’s Wi-Fi internet was so slow that it did not function most of the time (only worked after midnight). The Royal properties also don’t come anywhere near as flexible as Starwood properties when it comes to being able to trade one week for another or staying partial weeks.

As an example of the rudeness, when I asked for early check-in and check-out (one of the few perks that comes with elite membership), I was told that I could not because “everyone is an elite member” during week 52. This was just an outrageous lie – in fact, when I made the reservations I was not yet an elite member AND elite membership does not confer a preference for making reservations. When I asked to speak to the general manager of the property, I was denied and instead given to the front desk manager who made the statement, “Imagine if everyone here this week were an elite member.” I could imagine decent front-desk service, unicorns and leprechauns, each apparently equally likely at the Westin Lagunamar. In another instance there was a 5-mm by 4-mm tear at the corner of a $100 bill that we were exchanging, made as we pulled it out of the wallet. We were informed by the front desk person that if her “boss” decided that they could not accept the bill in that condition they would contact us. My wife offered her the tiny torn piece of the bill and the front desk person rudely laughed and flicked it back at her telling her that she should hold on to it. When I asked who her boss was, she refused to tell me and instead stated that it was the accountant that would contact us (of course no one contacted us because it was such a tiny tear).

To be fair, week 52 was fully booked at this resort that on average is probably with less than 40-percent occupancy at other times of the year at this relatively new resort. I suspect the staff was probably burdened with more than twice the usual occupancy. The facilities themselves did not look over-crowded at all and in fact still appeared under-utilized: pools, facilities and restaurants were never busy. The concierge staff was excellent and more-than adequately staffed. In fact, I never experienced a line anywhere –including the front desk during check-in or check-out. The location can’t be beat, directly across the street from the shopping plaza where there is also an aquarium (including a dolphin swim place) and a movie theater.

Given the flexibility of the reservation system, location and excellent facilities, I’ll surely return - despite the rude front-desk personnel, lack of daily maid service and the lousy internet service. (The fact that I own so any weeks here and throughout Starwood also makes it likely.) BTW, If you ever thought about becoming an Elite member, think twice - it isn't worth it. You don’t get preference in reservations. The ability to be on a waiting list for reservations sounds nice, but in reality it is not an automated service. It is supposedly done by some “department” somewhere that doesn’t seem to be staffed by anyone – the reservation folks clearly tell you that if you really want to get a reservation, keep calling several times a day, day-after-day, otherwise you’ll get nothing. Being a 5-star Elite member DOES confer the Platinum SPG status, and if you stay in a lot of hotels, it might be worth something. I plan a 3-week trip to Europe this Summer - we'll see if the free available upgrade really happens... Given Starwood’s track record – I doubt it.

thank you redweek for posting updated pictures of this beautiful resort!

Pros: Great infinity pool. Every room is attractive, modern, and has an ocean view. Nice resort amenities like Kids' Club, good restaurants, convenience store with reasonable prices. Right across the street from major outdoor mall. Right on the beach.

Cons: The resort is only a year old and our room already had a leaking window, loose tile on the kitchen floor, a broken dresser drawer, and a door to the balcony that didn't lock (a big problem with 3 small kids!) The pool area has VERY little shade. Each day housekeeping forgot to give us something or to do something. Kids' Club costs something unless you stay with your children. Also, it cares for kids 4 and up. They won't care for your very little ones, even for a fee.

This resort is fantastic. There are activities on the beach, chairs, umbrellas, etc. Great infinity pool w. giant jacuzzi overlooking beach. Views are spectacular. People are all friendly and efficient. Resort is very clean. The construction in phase 2 is totally separate - you don't even know its there (unless you are looking for it). Right across the street from major shopping/restaurants, aquarium.

We're here now in Jan 2009 and yes there is construction going on but it is mostly in the second phase and therefore we don't really hear a thing. Our unit looks directly out over the infinity pools straight out to the Caribbean sea and is absolutely wonderful!!

We stopped by the Westin Lagunamar at the end of November 2008 - we were staying at Royal Sands and we walked over. I would not stay here until it is finished - the construction was still going on and the beach was steep, narrow, with no chairs or any amenities whatsoever. Location is great across the street from La Isla Mall, the rooms will be nice - all with oceanviews - when they are ready - but I would hold off until the resort is completed, right now is almost looks depressing with the rocky steep wild beach and tons of unfinished construction, and few hotel guests.

They still have a few kinks to work out, but they are well on thier way at becoming a 5 star resort.

We visted this resort from October 10, 2008 through October 17, 2008. The resort is beautiful. Every room has a view of the ocean. It is located in the middle of the Hotel Zone. Shopping and restaurants are within walking distance. This resort just opened in August and only four of the total of 16 buildings are completed and in use. The other buildings are in various stages of completion. I would highly receommend this resort.

IT'S BRAND NEW.....IT HAS TO START w/5 STARS and a Jackhammer warning.