Review of Golden Parnassus & Spa

The Golden Crown Paradise Spa (now better known as Golden Parnassus Resort & Spa) in Cancun prides itself on being one of the best hotels along the entire, beautiful beach front. With its Caribbean views and five star amenities including indoor mini golf, fitness centre, small shopping gallery, volleyball and swimming pools to name a few, you don't really need to look far for something to do. My friends and I decided to book at this particular hotel with 'First Choice' because of its good reviews and amenities that were on offer and it didn't disappoint. The hotel is adults-only and mainly for all inclusive while also sharing it's amenities with its sister hotel 'Crown Paradise' just down the road so you can even experience two hotels in one stay. This hotel is far better than the other though as many of the visiting guests have said.

The hotel rooms offer ample space and a beautiful view of either the ocean or a lagoon view although sometimes you do find it very difficult to get a sea view with bookings. We ordered a sea view but settled for the lagoon view when it was offered to us on arrival. Amenities in the rooms include air conditioning (very useful in a Mexican climate and quite powerful), telephone, cable TV with lots of English speaking channels, clock radio, wardrobe and drawers and a safety deposit box to keep personal belongings that you don't want to carry around with you. It's very safe to use and you only need to ask for a key at the desk.

When going all inclusive, all meals and drinks are free as is the 24 room service, taxes and gratuities and its enjoyable daytime and nightly entertainment shows which are worth the viewing and taking part. These are often repeated in the second week so I wouldn't worry if you miss them the first time round if you’re spending two weeks at the hotel. There are also many bars in the main town which is a short bus ride so you can always try something different if you wanted to. The hotel organise trips into town as well in the evenings so you can always go with them if you fancy an experience of the town's nightlife.

The Golden Crown Paradise provides many restaurants and bars to cater for its guests throughout the day and evening along the beachfront and within the hotel. From the three main restaurants to cater for your evening meals before going off to watch the evening entertainment, these include:

The Pier 12 restaurant provides seafood and grilled specialities for lunch and dinner from around the start of the afternoon right up to almost midnight. Its dress code is casual and you can choose whether to eat inside its restaurant doors or on its balcony with wonderful sea views and moonlight in the evenings if you get that privilege.

Old Barn is a steakhouse grill, serving grilled specialities for dinner from around the start of the evening right up to midnight. Its restaurant is situated just opposite the main hotel entrance and runs a casual dress theme with country and western style decor and music inside. This was my favourite choice for dinner as the meat was always cooked wonderfully and not everything has to have a sauce on which you find at the other restaurants.

Shangri-La is an international gourmet restaurant with live music running from around the start of the evening. It requires proper attire as a dress code so shorts, sandals and top are not acceptable (funny watching people try though) but worth the effort for a romantic evening starter or an experience of international cuisine.

There is a new restaurant that has been added to hotel in the last year or so called the 'Sumo' which as you can guess, offers Japanese and oriental cuisine for dinner and its casual dress. I cannot give anymore insight into this place however, due to it being built after I left!

There are a number of bars that run throughout the day and evening so you can always hang round the hotel for the full day if you wished. The 'Paradise' during the day offers a wonderful buffet of food selections and this runs from breakfast. Whatever they don't have, you can usually ask them to make for you which I took advantage of most days with them offering fish and different meats for lunch. Most of the time, I could never quite make it for breakfast! 'The Breeze' offers hot dogs and burgers all day and through the night for any light snacking which my friends and I did a lot after spending the night drinking (why I rarely made breakfast). You also have 'The Beer Garden' for a few quiet drinks in the evening and a few rounds of pool or karaoke. The hotel staffs is always in there after the main entertainment and they isn’t that good at pool as they are at volleyball so it's always worth a go!