Stephaine Hayes

Review of Mayan Palace

If you look at photos of the rooms, grounds, and p...

If you look at photos of the rooms, grounds, and pools of Mayan Palace online, you will be shown photos from the assortment of resorts located on the property. Only after reviewing the Vidanta website did I actually see what kind of room I would be getting. You will not see Vidanta when you are looking at the individual resorts, you must make sure if it is on the Vidanta property or not. Depending on which of the resorts you are staying at, you may be denied entry to certain pools, restaurants and cabanas.
My family, and I visited Vidanta, in early April 2018. From the airport, we were dropped off at the parking, taxi lobby. We stayed at the Mayan Palace in building 18. Which was MILES from anything. There does not appear to be a room with a view of the ocean in the entire resort.
After being dropped off at the central lobby, our bags were taken, and we did not see them again until after we got to the room. I did not like this. I do not know who may have been doing what to my bags between check-in and the room. We had to take a tram from the central lobby, to the Mayan Palace lobby. After nearly an hour to check in, and a million people in the steaming hot lobby we were immediately left to find another tram or shuttle which would take us to our building. Most of the trams from the lobby are actually somewhat frequent. Most other tram stops will leave you waiting longer, especially when they are busy. Many trams are full, and if they have room for one person they will stop and tease all others waiting.
From the airport to our room took about 3 to 3 and a half hours, and the drive is only 30 minutes.
The following days we spent doing more walking then enjoying anything. From building 18 to the pool was at least a 15 minute walk. There were miles of maintained wooden pathways around everything. But you can easily get turned around and end up miles from where you want to be. If you wanted to waste quite a bit of time on you vacation, which I DID NOT, you can wait for the trams. E You must get on a tram in one place, ride it to another, and catch a second to get to your final destination.
We walked mostly, which helped us too see the sights. The grounds were ABSOLUTELY beautiful. The abundant amount of walking left us nearly exhausted at the end of every day. It is almost impossible to find a chair anywhere near the shade after 8am. The beach is too shallow and rocky to swim, and or snorkel unless you are willing to venture almost all the way out to the break wall. Unless you wear water shoes you are unable to get almost anywhere in the water. There is a sandy beach, about a 20 minute walk north, but you walk through at least 4 signs that says restricted to blah, blah, blah hotel residents only. I do not know if we were even allowed to swim at the beach we found, but it was the only sandy beach we were able to encounter.
If you visit Vidanta, and take the 20 minute walk down to the sandy beach, BRING BREAD!!!!!!! When we arrived the second time, there was a women in the water feeding bead to a giant school of fish.
There were only 4 or so restaurants that were close enough to get to without taking multiple trams. The majority of this food, was also exactly the same. Room service took no less than an hour, even for only a bottle of water and a few cokes. When the food did finally arrive it was cold and soggy.
If you wish to drink at night and enjoy the night, you have to start early. One of the pool bars closes around 8pm, and the other at 10. They look at you funny if you ask for shots, however the drinks were good. After a few long islands, I was finally able to the miles I was required to walk back to my building.
Even though I do not speak the native language, the staff is more than accommodating. THE TRAM DRIVERS ARE NOT HELPFUL. They will not do anything to get you to where you are going, even if they are leaving with an empty tram. The one thing I will more than praise is the helpfulness of almost every staff member, except the tram operators.