Trips south: where Canadians prefer to stay

The Riviera Maya

Photo: courtesy of Mont-Royal Holiday Tours.

André Désiront
Press

This is the Iberostar Grand Paraiso, a five-star hotel in the Riviera Maya, which is the big winner of the ranking of the best institutions sun destinations site Monarc.ca comments. Located a few minutes from Playa del Carmen, this property is at the top of the top 5 best quality / price and one of the best hotels for holidays for couples report.

This record was compiled from 16,000 comments published by Canadian consumers who stayed at sun destinations between January 1 and May 31, 2010.
Not surprisingly, the properties of the Riviera Maya occupy a commanding presence in all categories in this classification. Two others from the same region, the Dreams Riviera Cancun and Valentin Imperial, the Iberostar Grand Paraiso tailgating in the "best value for money."

The Valentin Imperial Riviera Dreams and occupy second and third place in the category "best food", including another hotel in the chain Dreams - Dreams Puerto Vallarta - the big winner.
Best Beach
The Riviera Maya is still out with the Catalonia Playa Maroma and Akumal Beach Resort, who are ranked first and third rows of the properties with the best beach. Iberostar Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, came second, while the Royal Hideaway Cayo Ensenachos and the Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba, completed the top five in this category.
Another hotel popular with Quebecers, the Paradisus Rio de Oro, located in the Cuban resort of Guardalavaca, also did well with a fourth place in the "restoration" and fifth for "holiday for couples."
Finally, it is a hotel in St. Lucia, Coconut Bay, which tops the list of the best properties for family holidays.
Comments on the Internet
Site comments Monarc.ca was launched in September 2009 by Softvoyage, a Montreal company that markets the booking engine used by the majority of wholesalers and Canadian travel agencies. Only consumers who purchased travel online from specialist tour operators in sun destinations (and Las Vegas) are invited to make comments and give a rating (from one to five butterflies).
"An evaluation form them automatically emailed two days after their return travel and focuses only on the hotel where they stayed, explains Fabrice Bozon responsible Monarc.ca .
This approach ensures the integrity of the process. Unlike what happens with other review sites, hoteliers can not ask their friends to write positive comments. "
Since its launch in September 2009, customers of 350 travel agencies have issued nearly 22,000 comments on the site. Just over one-third are from Quebec and the rest of English Canada. A record is on the site's home page, but it is constantly changing, given the evidence from evaluations recorded during the day.
Site managers have made a compilation of the results of the last five months to establish the top 5 discussed here.