When we stayed at the Sun Palace in 2001, they were offering free transportation and $75 towards a massage at the Spa Palace as it was just opening, and with the 9/11 thing, no one was going. Anyway, we took them up on it and amazingly, they did not even try to do a sales pitch!
I looked at my photos and the buildings are all 3 stories tall and it seemed like all the public areas - pool, restaurants, massage buildings, etc. were closer to the beach than the buildings. I do remember that the massage buildings overlooked the ocean. There was not much of a beach there - seems like little rock-filled lagoons were outside the massage buildings. I remember that the resort was awesome and food was delicious at one of the outdoor restaurants near the pool.
The Mayan Palace & Grand Mayan are only 3 stories tall too, so there must be some kind of regulation for timeshare resorts in the area. With 3 stories, and the buildings further back, it is hard to get an ocean view even on the 3rd floor if there are many trees.
