richhagelin:
On site dive op is Dive Paradise.
Minor point... the dive operator at the Grand is Dive Palancar.
Anyway, wife, son and I just spent the better part of 9 days at the Grand (after getting a free upgrade from the Allegro, where we stayed the first 5 days). Going from the Allegro to the Grand was like going from a 30 year old Best Western to the Ritz Carlton, even though the Allegro claims to be 4-star and the Grand 5-star.
According to the desk manager at the Allegro, the Grand cost about $30/day/person more than the Allegro. I don't know if we would have paid for it, but hey, it was a free upgrade, so what can I say? (Apparently, they were trying to get buildings empty over at the Allegro so that they could continue the upgrading - the Allegro was FULL, and the Grand a little less than full.)
The Grand is an incredible hotel... great setting, super rooms (ultra-cool air conditioning, a big plus for me) with lots of tile, REAL beds. Food was absolutely fantastic, especially compared to the Allegro. Fresh fish every meal, lots of fresh fruit (though lots of canned stuff too), friendly staff. Wife and I weren't too impressed with the pizzeria, but my son liked it.
I did notice that the Grand is not nearly the party place that the Allegro is. No one walking around with 64-ounce drink cups full of margaritas at the Grand. The lobby bar is very nice for an afternoon or before/apres dinner drink. We didn't go to the disco at night, so I can't comment on that.
The view from the La Hacienda restaurant (a reservation only place for dinner, but open for lunch too) is great - right on the beach. If you decide to eat dinner there, try to get your reservation for just before sunset. We ate there once and twice at the Sonora restaurant - once Mexican, once steak (it alternates cuisines by night.)
All three were good meals, good selection. We didn't eat at the Olivos, the third reservation only restaurant (mediterranean cuisine)... we liked the buffet dinner, so ended eating there a lot. Plus, standing in line for a reservation at 8:00 am was a bit of a pain, but necessary to get the time you wanted.
I might suggest that you consider upgrading to a "gold level" (not sure what its actually called.) People we met there had done that, told us it was about $150 for the week. You get a nicer room, personal concierge service, internet access, preferential restaurant reservations (no lineup), tequila tasting party, etc.)
The only negative we had was that there was no ATM at the Grand. No big deal (we thought), just walk down the beach 5 minutes north to the Allegro. Unfortunately, we got nabbed by the Allegro security guard. "Day pass, day pass...", which we didn't have... he got kind of hostile, and although we were able to get to the ATM without getting shot (just kidding, I don't think he had a gun.. at least not one I could see), he wouldn't let us walk down back down the beach. Had to take the road. Not a major hardship, just a pain. Other people we talked to said they had no problem going over to the Allegro, day pass or not. Guess they just didn't caught. So the moral is, ask for your "day pass" if you need to go over to the Allegro...
As for the dive op, I've used Dive Palancar before (when we stayed at the Allegro last year), but this year I mostly used an off-site dive op (Scuba with Alison). However, I did do 6 dives with them (including the twilight/night dive combo) and they were okay. Much shorter dives... usually got back int he boat with about 1200 psi in my tank (when they say its a 40 minute dive in the briefing, they MEAN a 40 minute dive...)
But like Rich said, most dive ops will pick you up there. During the time there, we saw all kinds of different dive ops picking up there (although they don't like the pier - too high). Just don't expect to do too many of the northern reefs... its a long haul for them back to the Grand, then back north. We worked out a deal with Alison, so we got to do some of those reefs. My understanding is that Dive Palancar will only do the extreme northern reefs (like Paradiso) or southern dives (like Devils Throat) if there are at least 6 people ahead of time.
whoohoo. I plan to write a longer post but am in middle of packing for a wreck diving trip coming up next week. Sorry had to plug that one.
