Mahekal Beach Resort

Having read other reviews we felt a little prepared for the pros and cons. However our biggest shock was having to pay $35 DOLLARS per day ( 10 day trip) for what they call their ‘Resort Fee’. We’d trusted our travel agent , who had correctly advised us of the environmental tax and tourist tax at the airport but as you can imagine this amount of money on top of what was already an expensive holiday was very upsetting and a complete surprise to us. Check out the hotels website for further details about this fee. It includes things like ‘ free’ WiFi, ‘complimentary welcome drink, hand massage, concierge, beach towels ,( which my husband had to go looking for everyday because there were none). This is a mandatory fee and applies to everyone. The staff who work in the grounds are so friendly and keep the place immaculate. The resort whilst set next to the beach is only kept private by a rope and staff who stop passers by from crossing it. Beyond the rope and directly opposite the resort is a public beach . Anyone can sit there with their sun umbrellas and music playing. We’d seem on a previous review that you only get ONE coffee pod and that it was a Lavazza machine. We’d taken our own pods but unfortunately they didn’t fit . In the end we bought our coffee from the OXO supermarket opposite for 75 pesos for two. So much cheaper than their on site Starbucks. We did find the mosquitoes a big problem. Top tip - take antihistamines and spray . The hotel does provide spray in your room and a burner. We explored lots of restaurants nearby and they were great. Consistently good and not expensive. If you venture down 5th Avenue you’ll get pestered non stop by shop keepers, street entertainers and people trying to sell excursions. In my view this is not a 5 star hotel. The toiletries were very basic. The room and hammock both had a damp foisty smell about them. I would definitely go back to Playa del Carmen but stay somewhere else.

Massive disappointment - had a surprise bill of another $690 when we arrived with no warning and no justification for what the ‘resort’ or ‘service’ fee’s were for especially when the holiday had already cost north of £5k!! The rooms flooded on two occasions with water coming in from the ceiling (light fitting) and the windows and after asking, they didn’t change the bedding for the entire 10 days.

14 family members and guests gathered to celebrate an 80th birthday. This would be the 3rd time my wife visited here. 2nd time for me. The good: Nice grounds, nice people, easy access to 5th avenue, okay food. The bad: countless billing and refund issues - never did receive all our money back despite calls, emails, filing with our credit card company. What money we did get back took forever! In a few cases, original reservations were increased - i.e. more days added - inexplicably the extra days got treated as a new reservation (we learned when we arrived) - with more fees added - and we had to go back to the front desk as if we were checking in anew to get a new key. Asked and paid for an ocean view room for our 80 year old mother whose birthday we were celebrating. She initially was put in a 2nd floor of a palapa which was not ocean view and right next to the public beach access. Finally after two more tries she ended up in what we originally booked. Checking in and out seemed to take forever - like the longest amount of time of anyplace we have ever travelled. It also would have been nice if the staff told us it would be loud on the weekends due to the neighboring nightclub - which would explain why we had earplugs in our bathroom up arrival. Some parts of the resort were also showing wear and tear and needed updating. We enjoyed being together but sadly we will never return given so many other options.

The resort is a stunning and relaxing place in quite a busy area of Playa del Carmen. The green and vibrant gardens surrounding the cottages make you feel like you’re in a paradise! We thoroughly enjoyed the amenities, beach, pool and restaurants! We took daily yoga classes with Ashley which were amazing! We had an individual beach cottage and it was fabulous! Beds are very comfortable! The rooms and the surrounding areas are well looked after, clean and safe. The staff were amazing, making us feel welcome with their friendly approach! We felt that the food was of a very good quality, super tasty and fresh! Special thank you to Roberto, Ismail, Antulio, Braian, Kimberley and Daniel, to name a few! The two negative experiences in this resort was lack of hot water for four days and the activities manager was challenging in accommodating guests and yoga instructor’s request re class times! Despite that the stay was still very enjoyable! The wild life on site are also super friendly, we thoroughly enjoyed their company! We definitely would return! Thank you to all for a wonderful time here!

I am writing this review because before I left for my stay at Mahekal I read a lot of negative reviews and was worried I had made a mistake booking out stay here. Let me tell you I did not. This resort was beautiful and very relaxing. Every one that worked at Mahekal was friendly and helpful. The rooms were comfortable and clean. I think this is the place you stay when you want to feel connected to nature yet still comfortable. When the sargassum came up on the beach it was cleaned away. Dinner every night we ate at the buffet was delicious. Breakfast was just okay. Lunch was good. Very short walk to 5th avenue with tons of shopping and food options. If you think this place looks like somewhere you would like to stay don’t let the poor reviews scare you away. We enjoyed our stay very much.