MEXICO TRAVEL GUIDE: THE GRAND AT MOON PALACE
MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER, KATIE!
I just wanted to quickly introduce you all to Katie Devaney, founder + owner of Be Light Photography. I was so excited when Katie agreed to tag along with us on our Mexico getaway. She is an extremely talented photographer & a gem of a human! I had the best time getting to know Katie better on this trip & can’t wait for more fun times with her in the future. If you’re looking for an amazing photographer for weddings, engagements, events, or anything… She is your girl! All of the professional quality photos you’ll see on this post were shot by Katie during our trip to Cancun! You can find her website and Instagram accounts below.
Be Light Photography // Katie Devaney
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ABOUT THE RESORT:
We stayed at The Grand at Moon Palace Resort which was a short 10 minute drive from the Cancun airport. The Grand is one of three Moon Palace Resorts in Cancun and its sister resorts were just a short golf cart ride away. As soon as we got there we were greeted with flowers, a welcome drink, and a chilled towel which made the check-in process a breeze. While we waited for our room to be ready we walked the property and were absolutely blow away by its beauty. The property was large enough to walk anywhere you wanted to go but still felt spaced out and secluded. The resort has 10 amazing restaurants, tons of great pools with swim-up bars, a spa, a top-notch workout facility, a water park, and of course is located on the beautiful beach in Cancun. Our resort had everything we needed and we didn’t need to leave the resort for anything. The rooms at The Grand were also fabulous and we stayed in a Grand Deluxe Garden View Suite that had a beautiful view. Every afternoon when we came back to our room their was either a bottle of wine, a bouquet of flowers or a cheese plate waiting for us which made coming back to our suite each afternoon a fun surprise of what would be there. Our resort also offered COVID tests to everyone staying there because a negative COVID test was required for us to get back into the US. The resort made this process as seamless as possible so we could enjoy every minute of our time in Mexico.
SHOP THIS LOOK
WHERE WE ATE + DRANK:
The food at The Grand was amazing and they had so many different restaurants to choose from. We could also take a golf-cart to the other Moon Palace Resorts which had amazing food as well. Each restaurant had hand sanitizer for us at the welcome desk and all of the staff members were wearing masks. We felt extremely safe and the entire resort was very clean + well taken care of.
The Grand Buffet: We ate at The Grand Buffet most mornings of our trip because they had so many different options to choose from. From traditional breakfast food to breakfast tacos and everything in between, this buffet was no joke. This was the only restaurant on property that required masks since it was a serve yourself buffet. I tried to get something different each morning since there were so many options to choose from. They even had a station with hand-made tortillas and quesadillas.
Los Tacos: We ate here for lunch the day that we arrived and they made a great first impression on us. This restaurant served real Mexican tacos and I was absolutely blown away. After our long flights these tacos and margaritas really hit the spot and were a great start to our vacation.
Jade: We ate at Jade for dinner our first night there. Jade is a contemporary Asian cuisine spot and after studying the menu we decided to get a small portion of pretty much everything to share so we could try it all (perks of all-inclusive). All of the food was amazing and I would highly recommend the spring rolls and korean-style chicken.
The Library: The Library is an adults-only speak-easy bar hidden behind a bookcase in the Lobby of The Grand. We came here for drinks twice and it has such a fun, 20s-style bar vibe. You can’t go wrong with an espresso martini to cap the night off.
JC Steakhouse: JC Steakhouse was a casual American Steakhouse with an amazing atmosphere and even better food. This place does require a reservation and was the only restaurant we went to that did require reservations. We each got a different cut of steak and decided to share all of the sides, I would highly recommend doing that at JC’s, it worked out great. We also had a sample of all of the desserts there and you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Tavola: Tavola’s has Italian food and was my favorite of the trip. The staff there was amazing and the chef brought out items that were not yet on the menu for us to try. They served bread rolls out of paper bags and had a gorgeous pizza stove. It was very laid-back and is open for lunch and dinner. They also have Homemade Limoncello made with “lemon and love”.
La Gondola: Our last night of the trip we decided to try this fabulous Italian restaurant from one of the other Moon Palace Resorts. It was only a short golf-cart ride away and was definitely worth it. They served us pasta made table-side in a cheese wheel and it was pretty unreal! La Gondola is open for breakfast and dinner, breakfast is an international cuisine but transforms at dinner to a “celebration of Italy”. This was an amazing place to end our trip and we left Cancun with very full bellies.
Since we were only staying in Cancun for a few days there were also some other restaurants that we did not get to try but wish we could have:
Le Chateau (reservations required)
Cielito Lindo y Querido (reservations required)
SHOP THIS LOOK
WHAT WE DID:
The Grand has tons of cool features and activities from the beaches and pools to the night club, water park, and spa there was something for everyone and we tried to do it all.
Unique Day Club: Unique Day Club is an adults only pool bar with the best music and drinks. They also have cabanas that you can rent for the day and next time we go this is something I definitely want to do. This pool bar was very picturesque and was the place to be during the day. We soaked up a lot of sun here and the pool was very relaxing.
Unique Night Club: Much like Unique Day Club this an adults only club with amazing drinks, music, and service. This club was only open 2 of the nights that we were there (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) so make sure you check before making plans to go here. It is open from 10pm-3am so make sure you bring your dancing shoes.
Beach Club Coconuts: The Grand has a cabana on the beach that makes fresh coconuts drink and we HAD to try them. They chopped the coconut right in front of us and let us pick what drink they mixed in with the coconut water. I think this drink was my favorite from the trip and would say the beach club coconuts are something you should not skip out on when coming to The Grand.
Flow Rider/WaterPark: Hands down the most fun thing we did this trip. You can find the Flow Rider at the water park at The Grand and at Sunrise Moon Palace. It was basically a huge wave simulation that you could try to surf on and was much harder than I was expecting. I would highly recommend trying something like this if you haven’t yet. We did not go to the WaterPark at The Grand but it looked incredible. Furnished with several slides, the flow rider, a lazy river, wave pool and a splash pad. The Grand would be a great spot to bring your family for this reason.
Fitness Facilities: We spent each morning at the gym and were amazed by all of the equipment they had available to us. They have a spin room, a yoga studio, and a full state-of-the-art fitness gym. They also had a sauna and steam room that was amazing!
Walking the Property and Taking Pictures: Another great workout was walking the property. Going just about anywhere we saw something new and beautiful. The whole resort is very picturesque and tropical and super easy to walk to the places you need to go. While golf carts are available, we opted to take the scenic route most day. You could make any area of this resort a photoshoot location and thats exactly what we did.
Awe Spa: We did not get the chance to try the spa but we did however take a tour of it and it looked incredible. In addition to all the features you would think of when you think of a spa, they have a juice bar, barber shop, waterfall hydrotherapy facilities, and atelier (a place where you get to practice the best kept beauty secrets on yourself).
Our stay at The Grand at Moon Palace was comped in exchange for the social media coverage we provided for the resort. However I am not being compensated for this post. Thank you to The Grand for hosting us!