Mayan Palace Riviera Maya: Location, Location, Location!
Written: Jun 27 '04 (Updated Jul 08 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Huge swimming pool; Lots of activities and amenities
Cons: No nearby resorts or things to do; Rooms are a little damp; Large size
The Bottom Line: This is a very good, luxurious resort, but it is located all by its lonesome, far from the action of Cancun.
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Mayan Palace Rivera Maya - Cancun |
Mexico’s Caribbean coast is a popular place for vacationers from the United States and all over the world. Tourists are attracted to the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean Sea and the powder- like sand beaches found in Cancun and surrounding areas.
Many resorts are available for one’s choosing, with most all of them facing the Caribbean. The majority of the resorts in this region of the world are located on Cancun’s famous “Hotel Zone”- a long strip of continuous resort accommodations that runs for miles. But there are also some nice resorts located a little more out of the way, which often offer more activities and luxuries as those located in the Hotel Zone. One such resort is the Mayan Palace Riviera Maya, a large full- service resort located south of Cancun.
Location/Accomodations:
Mayan Palace Riviera Maya is located on the Caribbean Sea, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Cancun and 20 miles (32 km) north of the nearby city of Playa Del Carmen. The resort sits all by itself on the shores of the Caribbean. There are no hotels or other resorts adjacent to the property, making it more private than most of the resorts of Cancun and other tourist- oriented Mexican cities.
The resort itself is very large, with a grand entrance that leads to a golf course and then to the main buildings themselves, and finally, the main office where guests check- in and check- out. There are hundreds of rooms, ranging from large suites that sleep as many as eight to smaller hotel units that sleep only two. Rooms include marble sinks and showers, hair dryer, electronic safe, ceiling fan, cable television, and central air. Some of the larger rooms include full kitchens with stove and refrigerator, along with a private Jacuzzi on the balcony.
Attractions/Activities:
Around the grounds of this resort, visitors will find four different restaurants, a grocery store, a gift shop, cyber café, babysitting and medical services, travel activities services, etc. Parties, shows, and other events take place every day, in various locations.
Recreation includes snorkeling, beachfront swimming, diving, kayaking, bicycle rental, tennis, and golf. There is also a huge swimming pool that includes inter- connected pools on three levels, complete with poolside lounge chairs and covered beds for couples and families.
Getting There/Getting Around:
Arriving at this resort takes some planning. It is not located in the Hotel Zone, and it is about 25 miles (40 km) from the airport. Because of this, you can expect to pay a little more when you visit here. The taxi fare from the airport will run you about $25 to $45 and it will take about thirty minutes.
Once at the resort, you will find that transportation is still necessary in certain instances due to its size. Getting from the front gate to the main office requires riding in a taxi or in one of the resort’s courtesy vans or golf carts (it is too far to walk). Also, once you have checked in at the main desk, there is a very good chance that your room will be located a good distance away- closer to the pools and the Caribbean Sea. For this reason, the resort again offers the use of the courtesy vans and golf carts to escort visitors to their rooms.
Final Thoughts:
Mayan Palace Riviera Maya is the largest resort I have ever visited in Mexico or the Caribbean. I have been to several different islands and have sampled different types of lodging, but I have never been to a place that was so large I had to ride around on a golf cart or in a van to get from one place to the next. True, this wasn’t the case for every location at the resort. I didn’t need to hitch a ride to get to the restaurants, the pool, the beach, or the stores. But I did have to ride to the main desk and from the main desk to the entrance gate. This is something I have never experienced at a resort before.
When I first went shopping for a resort in the Cancun area, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to stay. I had heard many things, good and bad (mostly good) about various resorts in the Hotel Zone and I assumed that I would be staying at one of these resorts on the strip, close to the action and nightlife. But then, an offer popped up to stay at the Mayan Palace Riviera Maya. I had never heard of this resort before and I was concerned when I noticed that the distance was much further from the airport than the resorts on the strip. A little research quickly uncovered the reason why- this resort wasn’t located in the Hotel Zone strip. It was located further away, more than halfway to the city of Playa Del Carmen. Normally, the fact that the resort wasn’t in the thick of things would have convinced me to reject the offer. But for some reason, I decided that this resort sounded like one worth visiting. Maybe I was in need for some peace and quiet for a change. Or maybe I’m just getting older and the thought of all the noise and chaos in the Hotel Zone is starting to lose its appeal. Whatever the reason, I accepted the offer and planned my visit, which occurred in early June, 2004.
Arriving late at night, the first thing I noticed about the resort was the immense size. Like I stated above, I had never visited a resort before that was so large it required taking a ride from the entrance to the main office and from the main office to the rooms. I found this unusual, but as long as the transportation was readily available (and free), then I didn’t see any problem with it. I placed my bags on the cart and headed toward my room where I quickly fell asleep the first night.
The next day, I spent some time walking around the resort to see what it had to offer. This is when I saw the pool for the first time. I had seen photos of this million+ gallon pool before, but seeing is believing. It is probably the most impressive feature of this resort. It isn’t deep and there is no diving. But the expanse of this pool is amazing, stretching more than 1,000 feet (305 meters) when all three levels are taken into account (each of the three pool levels is about 320 feet, or 100 meters, in length). It currently holds bragging rights as the largest swimming pool in Latin America. Besides its large size, it also includes covered beds for couples to share, alongside the pool. Again, this is a first. I have seen plenty of pools in my day, and many of them included luxurious accommodations. But I had never seen one that included double beds, with sheets and pillows, right next to the pool covered by a palapa to protect against the rain.
Restaurants are abundant at this resort, with different levels of casual vs. finer dining to choose from. There is the Tumtah restaurant (seafood and American cuisine), Tramonto restaurant (Italian), Del Lago restaurant (buffet style, under a giant Palapa), and the poolside snack and bar, with swim- up drink service. My personal favorite among these was the Del Lago. Several nights per week, this restaurant offers a live show (often with audience participation) and an all you can eat buffet and unlimited drinks for a flat price that ranges between $35 and $60 per person. Not only can you eat and drink to your heart’s content, you can also watch the show on the large stage and enjoy the scenery on the outside. The restaurant is housed under a huge Palapa, shaped like a teepee, with open sides so you can see (and feel, and hear) everything that is going on in the immediate vicinity. There is also a gift shop, grocery store, and cyber cafe. And in the middle of the resort, there is presently construction going on. Once completed, the center of the resort will include a small shopping mall, making it one of the most complete resorts in the region.
Happy hours begin early in the day and continue until the late hours of the night. They alternate back and forth, from one restaurant bar to another. This is done, I was told, to keep crowds of people from accumulating in one place for a long period of time and to encourage visitors to sample all of the bars. During these happy hours, the price of drinks is reduced to two for one (roughly $5 for two, as opposed to $5 for one). This makes the drinking experience a little more economical than it would otherwise be.
Speaking of costs, Mayan Palace Riviera Maya allows guests to purchase all- inclusive packages as an option, but the price per person is rather steep. It makes it more convenient, since you don’t have to carry money around. But it is doubtful that most people will consume enough to get their money’s worth. Even if you don’t opt for the all- inclusive, items can still be charged to your room, with payment for the services rendered settled when you depart. Guests always have this option- pay cash or charge to the room- for anything they purchase at the resort.
Room service at this resort is very nice and very handy. I got tired of paying the price to eat at any one of the four restaurants, choosing instead to rely on the room service to bring my food to my room on a few occasions. The cost is less than that of the restaurants and it made for a nice change of pace. It is also good when bad weather strikes and you don’t feel like walking through rain to get to one of the restaurants. And the resort personnel were more than friendly- not just with the room service, but with everything. They went out of their way to make the visit the best it could be.
The sales presentation given by Mayan Palace Riviera Maya is high- pressure and annoying. I sat through four grueling hours as the management and sales people tried their best to sell me a unit at this resort. I turned them down over and over again- many more times than I have had to do at other presentations. Finally, after much frustration, they gave up and sent me on my way after I had turned them down at least ten times. My gift for sitting through all of this?- a $30 certificate good for anything at the resort. In retrospect, it wasn’t worth the annoyance to get such a small gift. I recommend avoiding this presentation, if you can.
Since this resort is located between Cancun and Playa Del Carmen, guests have some incentive to visit both cities. They are both worth visiting, and each offers its own unique tourist attractions. Cancun is noted more for its nightlife and for many well- known tourist restaurants, like Hard Rock Café and Planet Hollywood. Playa Del Carmen is known for some nightlife, too, but is a better place to shop. If you want or need to buy groceries, Playa Del Carmen is the place to go. The prices on food items at a large grocery store in Playa Del Carmen are less than half what they are at the resort’s grocery store. It is worth paying the bus fare, which is only about $2 per person, to take a ride into Playa Del Carmen to stock up on food and drinks.
As far as the rooms themselves go, the ones offered at this resort are nice, and they do have a good number of luxuries if you stay in a suite or a one- bedroom unit. Keep in mind, however, that the hotel units (the smallest rooms available) do not have kitchens, dining room tables, or couches and chairs. They are just basic units. But they are well- kept and pleasant to stay in. One thing to note is that, in my room, things often felt damp, even when the air conditioner was running all day, non- stop. I don’t know if all the rooms are like this or if it was mainly caused by the time of the season (early June), when the weather in Cancun is the hottest and the most humid. Whatever the case, the dampness made the sheets of the bed feel a little uncomfortable and it also gave the room and the resort a “wet” smell- something I have experienced in tropical climates before, where many things take on the smell of damp laundry.
Overall, the Mayan Palace Riviera Maya is a very nice place to spend a vacation. Before one decides to plan a visit here, it is important to first decide if you like the idea of vacationing far away from the action. There are no nearby resorts to walk over to; no restaurants (other than those owned by the resort) to sample; and no outside nightlife within walking distance. If you want to see and do these things when you stay at Mayan Palace Riviera Maya, you have to take a bus or taxi into the city. You also need to ask yourself if the sheer size of this resort will be a turn- off. Some will enjoy the enormous acreage but others will be turned off because it often takes on the feel of a small city. It doesn’t offer the cozy, intimate feel of some of the smaller resorts.
Would I visit Mayan Palace Riviera Maya again? Well, it is certainly good enough to give it another try at some point in the future. But for now, I think I will continue to visit more and more resorts. My next trip to Cancun will probably include a place of lodging right in the middle of the action, in the famed Hotel Zone. But don’t let my decision to lodge in other places affect your decision to stay here. Mayan Palace Riviera Maya is still a good place, with plenty of fun and lots of activities. It is worth a visit, just to see and experience the massive swimming pool and its location is nice for those who want to divide their daily activities between Cancun and Playa Del Carmen.
Great Hotel Write- Off
Recommended:
Yes
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