GPR... worst food ever...

[fryman]

I visited the grand porto real a couple of weeks ago. I must say it was quite a bad experience.

The beach is horrible, a stack of sandbags on one side and a bunch of ugly fishing boats on the other. And forget about trying to swin in the sea or you will break a toe since there are al kind of hidden rocks

I ended in a standard room. The front points to the open hall, so you need to close the shades, and the rear faces to some construction, so you also need to close the shades. You end up in a dark room with no where to look at.

Saturday... 8:00 a.m... banging all over the place, drilling noise and shouting from the construction give you a nice way to wake up.

I could live with this... but I am always picky about the food. If I am paying for an all inclusive I expect decent meals. Here the food is terrible. Lots of junk like burgers, hotdogs, etc.
Meat is greasy. Fish is tasteless. I actually ended up going to the nearby Subway to buy myself something for dinner while I was there.

I would never go back to that place. A few months ago I went to the Barcelo (not exactly in playa, but nearby) and wow, that place is AMAZING. There was a "sea theme" buffete dinner where you could eat all the shrimp, crab and lobster you wanted to. That is what I call an all inclusive, not the junk you get a GPR.

Oh, and don't forget to visit their wonderful "24 hour snack bar". It is actually a tiny room where the snacks consist of cold sandwiches and all kind of cookies. Who the heck would want to eat some cookies at 3 a.m.??

[GRASSYASS]

Anyone know if the RPR and the GPR use the same quality food?

[Babaloo]

fry...
so...i guess you are saying you aren't too keen on GPR

[taylorfamilytx]

Originally Posted by GRASSYASS

Anyone know if the RPR and the GPR use the same quality food?

I statyed at eh RPR and thought the food was great! Also the beach there is great, nothing like the GPR.

[Doggiemom]

I think I read your review on Tripadvisor....

[ssguns]

I plan on staying at the GPR in 3 weeks but I did the AI mainly for the drinks. I travel to Mexico for work quite a bit so I am ok with refried beans and tacos. I am just looking for a relaxing time.

[beer_dude]

If you like good food......stay away from the AI's.

[Doggiemom]

Originally Posted by beer_dude

If you like good food......stay away from the AI's.

Agree!

[Shammy]

Originally Posted by GRASSYASS

Anyone know if the RPR and the GPR use the same quality food?

This is not at all what you should expect from the RPR.

And let's also not forget that opinions regarding food are extremely subjective. We don't all like the same things and can have varying thoughts on the exact same meal. After all, the original poster said he went to Subway for dinner. I on the other hand, would have gone anywhere BUT Subway if I was looking for a meal in Playa.

I'm not saying the poster is wrong to dislike the food at the GPR, I'm simply saying he is entitled to his own opinion of it, but this doesn't mean everyone will have the same experience.

[Rissask]

Sorry you had a bad experience there! I have yet to have really great food at any of the AIs we stayed at, even the 5 star one- and even if it is good, we get tired of it after a few days. (Although the Barcelo sounds a lot better. )

I have to say that hotel mars the view and the gorgeous northern beach part of Playa, huge AIs should not be that close to town to begin with.

I must agree with you about that beach there too, with all the sandbags and that stinky little oxbow slough they have made, icky.

[beer_dude]

Originally Posted by Shammy

And let's also not forget that opinions regarding food are extremely subjective. We don't all like the same things and can have varying thoughts on the exact same meal. After all, the original poster said he went to Subway for dinner. I on the other hand, would have gone anywhere BUT Subway if I was looking for a meal in Playa.

I'm not saying the poster is wrong to dislike the food at the GPR, I'm simply saying he is entitled to his own opinion of it, but this doesn't mean everyone will have the same experience.

I must agree with ya Shammy! With the hundreds (thousands?) of outstanding restaurants in Playa the last place I would go would be an American fast food place.

[TnJ]

thanks for the report. we crossed this place off our list just from the looks of it on the outside. sounds worse that we thought. we'll stick 2 the small beachfront hotels..

[GRASSYASS]

Thanks Shammy, good points....

[ssguns]

Our main reason for trying an AI is the free drinks. Whenever my wife and I travel we very seldom eat in the hotel we are staying. Most meals will be in Playo del Carmen.
Thanks for the heads up on the food though. Hopefully the beach is in good shape or I guess we can walk farther up the beach to find a good one.

[Shammy]

Originally Posted by ssguns

Our main reason for trying an AI is the free drinks. Whenever my wife and I travel we very seldom eat in the hotel we are staying. Most meals will be in Playo del Carmen.

If you eat most meals out and only stay AI for the included (weak and not top shelf!) drinks, I can pretty much guarantee that you are spending more money staying AI than if you booked a non AI hotel IN Playa and paid for all as you went along.

Drinks are NOT that expensive in Playa, not at most places anyway. Sure, if you sit at the ****** every night you'll pay. But you can sit at La Ranita, the Beer Bucket and even the Tequila Barrel and others with all their specials, happy hours, etc. and spend nothing compared to what that AI plan is costing you at the Gran Porto. My question would have to be how much can one really drink if the cost of doing AI just FOR drinks makes more sense than paying for them one at a time?

Now if you DO eat all your meals at the hotel, then that's a different story - but my comments are in response to you saying that you eat out more often than not.

And the beach at the Gran Porto really isn't nice at all - that much I DO agree with the original poster about. Unfortunately, when staying at the Gran Porto, you can't use the beach at the Royal Porto - you would have to find a public beach or beach club and sit there if you didn't sit in front of the Gran Porto.