Moon Palace The Grand

Ryan Cotter

Great experience overall, but the relentless sales pitches did cheapen the experience somewhat. Billed as a luxury resort with prices to match I didn’t expect this. You should expect to be approached or called daily to join vacation club, usually under false pretences like “checking on the room”. Outside of that negative, resort is beautiful, staff is super friendly and helpful and food is outstanding. Stand outs are Jade and the JC Steakhouse. For breakfast definitely head to Carabeno and enjoy a quieter and calmer atmosphere, the main buffet can be quite busy. Beach is great and well kept. Gilberto in the Check Out area is exceptionally great and helped us arrange a day pass for a visitor. The room was big and very nice, but the double beds are tight if sharing, we asked for a cot so our kids didn’t need to share. Also noise travels between the rooms pretty easily, so just be aware that depending on your neighbours it could get noisy. All in all a great trip and the grand is a great resort your just need to be prepared to deal with some sales pitches throughout your visit.

Iain McHugh

Dad+3 stayed 6 nights in a Family Suite, a connecting King room and two double bed room. Both sides were massive and each had a large indoor whirlpool tub near the balcony door. Bathrooms were very nice, except that on 3 occasions, there was no hot water, and on one of those, there was no more than a drip of pressure. The food on the resort was great in the buffets, but left something to be desired in the restaurants. Particularly the JC Steakhouse. We spent over 2 hours in the restaurant and had only mediocre food and servers who continually brought the wrong dishes to our table. Tavola, the Italian restaurant has good pizzas, but little else on the menu was remarkable. Caribeño, the seafood restaurant, had only 12 main course options to choose from. The dish I chose there, braised short rib, was a single rib, and about 2 tablespoons of rice on a plate. The meat was ok, but the time it took in only a half-full restaurant (30 plus minutes for mains) was excessive. We attended an evening show every night, and these should not be missed. Most start around 9, so even with the excessive dinner service, we made it to all of them on time. The magic and comedy show was our favorite. The Mexico show is also very entertaining and interactive. The Water Park at this resort is where they set themselves apart. Best service on the property, as-many-as-you-like towels, plenty of seating (shade and sun) and food options within the park. There is a lazy river, two two-peraom raft slides, four "racing" slides, and a large water playground with smaller slides for little ones. Also, a two wave Wave Rider on site is free to use (but the lines pile up to 45 mins plus mid day. Go early!) Overall, I would recommend this place if you've never been. It is something to behold, even by all-inclusive standards. If you stay at The Grand, you have access to the adjacent Sunrise and Nizuc properties and amenities as well. We may stay someplace else or try another Palace property next time. Maybe Jamaica?

N M

This is a safety warning. I was injured on a water slide at Moon Palace The Grand after following all instructions, and the resort’s response raised serious concerns about guest safety and accountability. I’m writing this review specifically to document a serious safety issue at the water park at Moon Palace The Grand. During my stay, I used a slide that requires riders to go down on a mat in a prone (face-down) position. I followed the posted instructions exactly — arms straight and lifting the mat at the end. I am a 43-year-old adult of average body size (5’3”, not overweight) with no physical limitations. Despite this, I was forcefully thrown out of the slide at the bottom, landing well beyond the exit area and into nearby bushes. The impact caused significant pain to my back and neck, and my elbows were scraped on the ground. When I opened my eyes, it was immediately clear that I had been thrown completely out of the slide — something that should never happen on a properly designed and supervised attraction. Staff responded and contacted the Public Relations office, where an incident report was completed. I was asked whether I wanted to see a doctor, but this was presented at my own expense. I declined because I had a medical doctor family member with me and did not want to spend my vacation time navigating hospital visits when immediate care was available. I managed my injuries with ice and medication and planned to seek further medical evaluation after returning home. What followed was deeply disappointing. The next day, someone from the resort called to check on me. During that call, I was told that the slide had been “inspected” and was “functioning properly.” When I expressed that I did not accept this explanation — given that I had been thrown out of the slide while following instructions — the call abruptly disconnected. No one ever called back, and I received no further communication from the resort. When I later went to the Public Relations office in person, it was completely unattended. I waited over 10 minutes, and even a staff member attempting to reach management was unable to locate anyone available. To this day, no one has followed up, despite assurances that they would. This experience left me deeply unsettled. If my injuries had been more serious, it was clear that there was no accessible management presence and no clear escalation process. It’s also important to note that Moon Palace is divided into three hotels, and the only reason we chose and paid extra to stay at The Grand was for access to the water park. After this incident, we no longer felt safe using the water slides and avoided them entirely for the remainder of our stay. As a result, we paid over $2,000 extra for access to facilities we could not fully use due to safety concerns. I’m sharing this experience so others can make an informed decision. Based on my experience, I do not believe the water slides at this water park are safe, and I would strongly caution families, especially those traveling with children, to carefully consider this before booking The Grand.

Brian MacLusky

The resort is nice, I'm not an avid all inclusive traveler but to call this 4-star accomodations is not true. Some of the basics such as lack of towels every day at the pools of a very annoying thing. The doors in the family connected rooms blocks the air conditioner if you have them open, room cleanliness is okay, there were some fake lashes on one of our towels, the outdoor furniture is stained, there is some mold in the showers in the corners. The peep hole to look into the hall way is fogged in a way you can't see, one of the reading lights is broken the elevator in our building the down button doesn't work so you can never get it. The wifi strength of signal is okay in our building but the throughput is nothing so devices connected to it can't always get to the Internet. Not a great beach for swimming considering the seaweed. That being said I wouldn't normally be so critical but we were convinced to do the "90 minute" presentation to join the club. The sales pitch is 2 hours without breaking a sweat you'll meet with 3 main salesman then one last one that sells you a coupon before leaving then walked out by one person that will give you their number to call them. Besides all that they gave us $500 off the room for attending, but the reason for the criticism the memberships start at 150k USD and it goes up to 1.5million. this isn't for prepaid vacations it's for a discounts on x amount of weeks of vacations. At that price point I expect more... Much more.

Chandler Mount

Thanksgiving week 2025. We had a great week at Moon Palace The Grand. The property is beautiful, the beach is clean thanks to the seaweed barrier, and the staff throughout the resort are consistently warm, attentive, and professional. Our suite was spacious and comfortable, and the app made ordering amenities easy. The resort’s size brings a lot of variety, from shows to restaurants to wildlife you don’t often see at a smaller property. The Thanksgiving dinner event had some operational challenges, mainly due to everyone arriving at the same time and a single check-in point that created a bottleneck. The atmosphere, food variety, and live music were all strong elements, and with a few adjustments—such as staggered entry times, clearer station signage, and more flexible seating—the overall experience could work extremely well. The foundation was good; it just needed better flow and communication to match the effort put into the production. The biggest area that needs clearer communication is the resort credit system. We booked spa and excursions before arrival without knowing about category caps or the 16% service fees, which led to unexpected charges at checkout. The staff ultimately resolved the issue, and the sales team was polite and respectful throughout, but clearer upfront guidance would help guests avoid surprises. Overall, it’s a beautiful resort with excellent service, and we would return—with a better understanding of how the credit system works.