Mini

i'd suggest to pick a 5 star hotel as last time i went to a 4 star in Maya Riveria, i think it's just comparable to a 3 star lor.  and the staff there can't speak much english and i had a little communication problem when asking for help/service.  but when i went to a 5 star hotel in cancun, the staff can speak fluent english which will be very helpful when you cannot speak spanish.

ppl in mexico are generally very friendly (tourist area and airport).  even if you reject to buy something from them, they'd be upset but would still thank you for your time.  but as utopia said, it's tipping everywhere.  when you land at the airport and if someone pass a cart to you, tip is required so you better get your own cart if you don't have that many luggage.

at the airport, there will be lots of ppl trying to sell "sound like cheap tour package" to you.  they'll tell u that u only need to go to their hotel for a 1/2 day trip then they'll give u a 1/2 price deal to travel to tourist site like tulum or chichiniza (can't remember exact spelling).  however, those are no good at all as i've met ppl in my hotel telling me these stories where they accepted and those ppl kept persuading them to switch to their hotel and they wasted like the whole day with those ppl.  so don't be greedy to get "jet so" like this.  it doesn't worth.

i went to a local supermarket and i found that the liquor are much cheaper than tourist sites.  but of coures if u want special liquor, then u may still need to go to tourist site as they may not be available in the local supermarket. and u need to speak spanish if u go to local supermarket as no one can speak english.  but if u just buy and pay, then it's fine without speaking anything.

when you join the local tour at the hotel, make sure you check that the tour is done in english.  there are lots of different tour agents in the hotel.  if u go to a "mix" ppl tour, it may be mainly speaking in a language that u don't understand.  and again, as utopia said, u can be a king in those tour.  there's one that i joined which is so deluxe that the tour bus is so comfy and they give you snacks and drinks on the tour bus for free.  so u leave the bus on a tour site la.  when you come back, your drink would already been refilled!  the tour guide has been taken care of us so well that the whole trip was very enjoyable.  ^^

you may also want to bring a bottle of aloe gel with you, in case u forget to apply sun tan lotion and gets sun burn.  last time i was exposed to the sun for 1/2 hr and i was already like a "burn pig".  but after applying the aloe gel for 2 to 3 days, my skins are pretty much okay lar.

since cancun is in the east coast, check the weather and avoid the hurrican season.  or buy trip cancellation insurance when you buy the tour package.