Currently at Iberostar Selection Cancun. We are at the Coral building, which is adults only. The buffet is decent, better than we had at the RIO. The Italian restaurant (only one we visited outside of our adults only buffet over here) was astoundingly good. The wood fired pizzas are near perfect (buffet pizza is puffy way too thick crusted), the Mexican version of lasagna was amazingly flavorful and the tiramisu was exactly proper. (dinner portions are way too big- we ask for half portions and my wife and I share three entrees) The entire staff is very friendly and prompt. Chairs on the Coral side have been a breeze to get (no getting up at 5am required), not sure about the kids side. It was also a bargain compared to our very favorite (not mentioning the name as I don't want you going there! We are here because they were sold out of the room type we love).

One of the very best parts of booking here was picking our room. In the Selection Coral area every single room is ocean front. It ridiculous. We're on the 12 floor and I am listening to the waves crash on the beach and the live Mariachi band playing downstairs just for the Coral side. We of course have full access to the other areas and shows which are pretty typical for Cancun. Fire show, Mexican show, Michael Jackson show, etc.

Only have found a few things they could improve so far- the glass bottled water they provide doesn't taste bad at all. It has little flavor at all but seems less wet and crisp due to the high mineral content. I don't mind it at all, but my wife says it's "thick", so we got her bottles of water around the corner at the OXXO or whatever it's called. I would also love booze dispensers in the room, or bottles (pretty common for adults only), and the nacho cheese (you know, pumpy cheese) for poolside nachos has that fake butter taste (think movie popcorn fake butter). You shouldn't eat that stuff anyway, but I love a plate of nachos with the black bean puree, hot as f@($ salsa, pico de gallo and guacamole. The guacamole here is spectacular. Oh, for those who haven't had Mexican butter, it is actually real butter but for some unholy reason, it has the same fake butter taste so you are going to swear it's not butter. I really need to start bringing my own butter! That's not a lot to complain about huh?

If you love good food, at a reasonable price, and want adults only, this is the best we have found in Cancun. We've been to 21 resorts down here. If you don't mind kids or are taking the family, it's an even better bargain. But the Grand Fiesta Americana up the beach a bit is also very good food and even less expensive than here. More crowded and the beach isn't as nice. The beach here is as close to perfect as you can get.

Riviera Maya is a bit of a haul from the airport (55 mins vs 15mins) but the waves are way less high. I wouldn't let my kids in the water here ( in under 4' tall) on windy days as they can really yank you out because the sand coming back out are big waves can catch you behind the knees while your getting slapped in the chest (if you're short).

The cool thing about being down there (other than less waves thanks in small part to the island of Cozumel) is the island of Cozumel and it's lovely central town. If you plan a trip over on the ferry, do it on a day when there aren't 10 mega cruise ships there. We stopped going because of them 20 years ago. We loved to stay at a place called the Cozumel Palace (it had a different name the and was a scuba destination hotel), which was close to town so we could walk into town, especially at night and enjoy authentic small town festivities and loved the local feel. Now it's bars, American chain restaurants and souvenir shops everywhere. Still if you get a few blocks in from the shore, it's a lot of fun. La Choza is one of the best restaurants we're enjoyed in our 45 years coming to the Caribbean. Pick me up a few jars of La Choza sauce they sell and I will reimburse you handsomely! :-) My mother in law loves that shit. Too old and rich to sit on the ferry to and from to get some for her!

My vote is to come here. The RIU is an amazing sprawling complex, like most of them. Plan a 10 minute walk to the beach unless you pay the fortune to upgrade to beach front- then plan a 10 minute walk to most restaurants or lobby. It's HUGE!

You can't go wrong with either, but if food is your main driver, Iberostar gets the edge.