Mahekal Beach Resort

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.

I stayed here for a couple days for an early birthday celebration. I’d always seen the cool Palapas during my visits to Playa and was super excited to finally stay here. I was so utterly displeased by what happened during my stay. First, there were very few people staying at the property. Yet, they put me in a room the farthest away from the beach. I awoke one morning to find a 2 inch cockroach that had crawled on my arm and I screamed and jumped out of the bed and notice that between the nightstand and bed in this second floor Palapa were numerous dead or alive bugs. I immediately brought it to the attention of the staff and they just said “oh sorry”. WTH. I requested to be moved to another room but it was still to the rear of the property. Service and accommodating customers left much to be desired after dealing with bugs and an undesirable part of the property. I gave two stars only because the servers in Las Olas were very kind and helpful. The location is great. Most other things were a disappointment, including the spa for the prices being charged.

This was our first trip to Mexico, and we agonised over a hotel and decided on Mahekal. I'm so glad we did. The hotel itself is nicely laid out, an oasis in the middle of busy Playa del Carmen, close enough to Avenida Cinco to be convenient but peaceful enough that you're not distracted trying to relax. The atmosphere is partly elevated by the design of the hotel, but enhanced by the staff, who are warm, polite and incredibly helpful whatever you need - and not just the hospitality staff. Security, cleaners, maintenance all greet you with kindness, which should be standard but in my experience isn't. This is true Mayan hospitality, which we encountered on a couple of excursions out of the hotel (booked in reception - both of which were outstanding) and was further embedded here. We spent a lot of time at the swim up bar pool near Fuego, which has enough shade when the UV is high to keep you safe but enough sun that when you do want to top up your tan, you can. Our presence by the pool was enhanced by Mario and his team, who kept the drinks flowing while we relaxed, was happy to chat when you wanted to but also intuitive enough to know when you want to spend some time with those you're there with. He'll remember your drink order and suggest new drinks to try that fit what you like - he was a pleasure to be around during our stay. We were there in low season which meant not all the restaurants were open, but the food we had was excellent and there are good restaurants on the doorstep. I found out beforehand that vaping is banned in Mexico, so resorted to smoking - it's testament to the care of the ownership and staff that the smoking areas are among the most scenic I've ever been in, normally you're dumped out by the bins but the spots here were really nice. If a chain hotel isn't your vibe, if you want something traditional and peaceful where staff go out of their way to make your stay as relaxing as possible, this is a great spot.

My wife and I began our honeymoon at Mahekal and everything was amazing. Silvestre deserves a special mention. He is the perfect concierge whose passion for hospitality and attention to detail is outstanding. He was happy to arrange a special private dining experience for us by the pool. The food was delicious and the experience was unforgettable. Luis also deserves credit for being a great server during our meal. We were also impressed by the tour booking service onsite with helpful and friendly staff along with the morning yoga. The whole experience at Mahekal was perfect and Silvestre was the star of the show.

Our family of 9 from 3 countries stayed at Mahekal in September for 5-9 days and we paid for an all-inclusive at 3 garden rooms and 1 beach villa. For 3 of us it was the first trip to Mexico. We absolutely loved staying by the famous and very loud 5th avenue while Mahekal felt like a quiet, peaceful island oasis. All three garden rooms were very quiet and cool. The front beach villa was very luxurious, cool and noisy because of the public beach. However, the family members who stayed there actually loved the noise! We really liked that the beach was public - as it should be everywhere - people watching is fun and the beach is very vibrant at sunrise because of open water swimming clubs, suppers, boot camps etc. Mahekal’s sun lounger area by the beach is very well setup and has plenty of shade. Despite being next to the public beach it felt very private, quiet and secure - we could leave our belongings without worry and go for a swim at all times. We had a whole week clear of sargassum - it only arrived on our last day and barely affected the beach due to the very effective barriers in the sea. While the seaweed stays in the sea and healthy until it’s collected, there is no bad smell at all. Next, the hotel has an army of very helpful, friendly staff. Whenever I had a minor issue I would message the hotel on WhatsApp and all matters were addressed within minutes. If we didn’t have cash to leave tips they weren’t bothered at all and said “just bring some later” which we did. The included, non-premium drinks selection is more than plenty and there are lots of choices. Only one restaurant was open due to the low season which makes complete practical sense, however it still had the a la carte menu from the closed restaurant (Fuego) for lunch and buffet for dinner. The food was absolutely delicious, fresh and lots to choose from. The gym is cooled off by AC and has good treadmills and weight selection. I used it a number of times. It closes at 7pm because it only has natural light, however I was able to sneak in and run on the treadmill at night :). It has towels and bottled water, only the right side door works with the key card. We were very impressed by all the swimming pools. We used four swimming pools - they were all clean, beautiful, all with their own characters. While there are no lap swimming lanes, I was able to do laps in the infinite pool by the restaurant and in the biggest pool. They were never crowded and the water was warm. The infinite pool was also great for a baby as it had steps and some shade. One of our favourite meditative activities was painting ceramics with Shilo. She was there for two days of the week - a few of us painted mugs, turtles and sea horses with acrylics to make highly personalized gifts, which were then glazed and baked the next day. Great value and fun! There was also morning yoga and stretching on a number of days. One of the most spectacular characteristics of the place is its immaculate gardens. As someone in the hospitality business I can only imagine how much effort goes into maintaining the grounds. There were gardeners at work at all times. We sincerely hope Mahekal does not sell out to be replaced with one of the many concrete condos. The grounds make it magical and very organic with the spirit of the land. We really loved seeing all the animals - white-nosed Coati, Agouti, cats and raccoons - all were shy and not aggressive. And cheeky birds trying to steal cheese. We also enjoyed exploring the smaller, abandoned wild part of the resort, the site of a future condo development. Finally, the price of the all inclusive. At first we thought it was more on the expensive side (before we arrived). Some nearby condos really slashed their prices and I stayed in one of them for a couple of nights after we had a last minute family addition. However, PDC is fairly expensive overall and what I saved in staying at another place (which did not have even have coffee in the room) I quickly spent on eating out. We are not a wealthy family and we all agreed Mahekal was a good value by the time one adds up rooms, service, food, drinks, swimming pools and sun loungers/beach. And there is no price to be attached to how enjoyable this place is. The only criticism I have (which is reflected in some negative reviews) is the lack of response from the corporate reservations team when making a direct reservation on their website. At first it made me nervous about staying at Mahekal, but all was quickly forgotten on arrival. If you’re worried about that, book through Booking.com. We were not charged any unexpected extras, everything was just fine. We all had a fantastic stay and everyone said they really wanted to come back again. We did not want to leave. Thank you!