We are a family of four (2 kids 10 and 7) and just returned from a fabulous stay and trip at the Tucan from 7/23 to 7/30. We booked here mostly based on all previous reviews (thanks all!). It is really is a gorgeous hotel and setting. I'll do my best to summarize my review - but probably nothing that hasn't been mentioned before.

Layout:
Tucan and Quetzal are same hotels, just a jungle and the restaurants are in between the two sections. They both have 10 buildings each. The jungle was great! We saw all sorts of animals such as monkeys, agoutis (oversized rat-looking animals), peacocks, tortoises, flamingos, iguanas, etc. From going on a few excursions and talking to others, I believe this resort may the only one that has a jungle on its premises.

Rooms:
Standard size but well decorated with marble tiled floors and showers. Beds are hard and firm on concrete slabs for boxsprings, but we did not have any problems, slept very well. AC was a cool 22C (70F) all the time.

Food:
Good variety at buffets, plenty to choose from. The water is good too (resort seems to have very good filtration system). There are 2 buffet restaurants and 5 other dinner restaurants - reservations needed. We ate at Tropical and Japanese. Tropical was very good; excellent fried fish appetizers and good seafood. Japanese was fair; but what do you expect in Mexico. It's true - men must wear long pants to the restaurants (jeans are ok) and a sleeved-shirt at a minimum, one with collars preferred. But women can wear nothing - um...let me rephrase... they can dress casual (haha).

Staff:
For the most part, very excellent. Everyone from STAR friends to the lobby to the restaurant wait staff - no problems. However, we were quite disappointed with our housekeeping. They did a bare minimum job of making the bed, but the first day, we didn't get any new towels, our shampoo dispenser was empty, one evening they didn't even come (we had to summon them at 8 pm after being out ALL day), they did not replenish soap as needed. But they were still very polite - so I'll give them points on that.

Pool:
Excellent large pool. There are depths for all ages and the pool does not get any deeper than 5.5 feet. They also have 4.5 feet and walk-in gradually sections too. It was annoying to see people reserving the cabanas and beach chairs so early and then not be there for long periods of time, but we had no problems getting poolside chairs in shady areas. Water temps were extremely warm - probably about 90F (33C). But pool is closed after 7 pm for chemical treatment until 7 am next morning. The towel hut - they give you cards at check-in to exchange for towels here and you can rent out - free of charge - the beach umbrellas, books, sports balls to throw around.

Beach:
The most amazing clear-azure-blue water I've ever seen. The Carribean sea is breath-taking! However, no real sea life - probably have to go further down the beach to see any coral reefs. The beach is definitely big enough - only signs of beach erosion are the "beach whales" off shore to prevent further erosion and the visible hose on the Quetzal side that's used to pump sand in. Very clean - staff does a meticulous job ensuring it. We also saw many (10-20) topless women sunbathing or walking up and down the beach, but it wasn't really bothersome to us or to many other people - just a heads up.

Water Activities:
Star Friends does a few shows/aerobics to get the pool folks in the festive mood. However, if I hear the song "Hey Baby" one more time, I think I'm going to hurl...j/k (they must have played this song about 5 times each day). Twice a day, you can try scuba in the pool for free - a must do. But if you want to certify with PADI, it's a few days of intense training for about US$550. They rent free of charge kayaks, catamarans, snorkeling equip (up to 1 hr). The place on hotel site does not rent jetskis, but there's always people on the beach coming around from their companies renting them out for ~$65 for 1 hour. We also were able to do parasailing and found one for $50 per person, not bad and you get to do ride a jetski taxi out to the power boat (enjoy the ride) and then parasail for about 10 minutes!

Night shows/ night life:
Sorry no comment here. We really didn't get to see any (saw one first night for a few minutes but not very interesting) but heard them from our room. We were too tired to stay up past 10. We did do the Playa del Carmen thing one evening but we didn't see anything that was so special about 5th Avenue, the main shopping area. Mostly junky souvenir type of shops and a bunch of restaurants.

Other Amenities / Things to Do:
We didn't use any of them but we saw towards the front of the lobby area that they have 2 tennis courts, a gym, spa, a place to rent mopeds or bikes. Also, many of the other resorts are on the same street so looks like a nice walk. Also, towards downtown Playa del Carmen ($5 taxi ride each way - definitely too far to walk if you have small kids, about 2 miles or 3+ km) they have some Mayan ruins you can check out as well.

We also did 2 half-day side excursions - Mayan Adventure and Dolphin Discovery - both were excellent! I hope to post reviews of those in their respective sites.

Helpful Hints:
- Definitely bring your own sunscreen unless you plan on taking out a second mortgage to finance it - j/k! Any kind is fine; biodegrable/oil free only if you plan to swim with dolphins, etc.

- Bring bug spray with a good percentage of deet (25% minimum). This will keep the numerous bugs off of you, especially when walking through the jungle or going out at night.

- Bring Immodium or any other prescription drugs, just in case. The last evening, I got a severe case of dysentery. Immodium helped me out a bunch before I hopped on the shuttle to the airport. 3 out of the 4 of us got similar illnesses, so you never know what's going to hit you (e.g. food, water, heat exhaustion).

- Cancun airport arrival - as a few people have said before, definitely bypass anyone INSIDE the airport until you make it outside!!! I knew about this and still got sucked in. A gentleman with a tag "TOURIST ADVISORY" pulled us (there's about 30 of these people) and told us what we needed to know about Mexico, etc. Then they go on about if we are planning to do any excursions and try to get us to buy these excursions at deep discounted prices. The tip-off is that these are the time share people. We got out of there and met up with Olympus Tours, our tour people. They also warned us after the fact. Don't do anything with these people unless you want a free excursion, have 3 hours to spend with them, and can say "no" about 100 times.

- For Americans, if you decide to purchase with credit cards, Visa and MC will charge a 3% surcharge for any foreign exchange conversions on your credit card; but AMEX will only charge 2%.

- Men - don't forget to bring one pair of slacks/trousers/pants and a collared shirt (polo ok) for restaurants - if you plan to eat in them. This is true no matter what resort you decide to stay in. Dress shoes not required; sandals are fine. Also, if you eat dinner at buffets, you must wear a sleeved shirt to cover up armpit hairs. I guess they worry about them dropping in the food? I had to go back and change into a t-shirt one night because I went in with a sleeveless shirt. Oops!

- Bring a waterproof camera, or a waterproof case for your digital camera or camcorder if you desire.

- Bring enough cash for tips.

- Have fun! Any questions? Drop me a line.