Viva Maya by Wyndham

Beautiful mid size resort. Kept very clean overall. Stayed for 2 weeks at the end of May 2026. My room was on the 4th floor close to the pool. It was the top floor so it had a vaulted ceiling which made it appear very spacious. The room was very clean. The hotel had a nice big lobby area with a small shop for souvenirs & necessities, as well as day tour booths etc. The staff was friendly and helpful. The hotel has a lot of jungle type areas, which gave it very much a tropical feel. The pool was nice, with a pool bar, and was the general gathering area for the day. It could have been bigger in my opinion for the size of the hotel. There was also a secluded adult pool a short walk away, as well as a kids pool and a hot tub. (Which was about the same temp as the main pool). The main pool was a bit crowded at times, especially during pool activities, like yoga and the foam party. Although the small size of the pool could be said to give a lively atmosphere. The food at the main buffet was good. Perhaps could have used a little more variety from day to day, but was quite well done. There are also 4 restaurants that req’d pre booking. Approx 1 booking for every 3 days stay. They had Italian, Mediterranean, International, and Mexican. All had excellent food. The steak at the Cosmopolita was one of the best I’ve ever had. There was also a lunch bar near the pool. In my opinion was a bit mediocre. The beach was great, with white sand and a huge amount of chairs under the cover of palm trees. Unfortunately there is quite an issue with Sargassum at the moment. The hotel tries to clean it up, but it’s a daily problem. Most days there is moderate strip along the beach and you need to wade in about 10 feet to get beyond the weeds. It is much worse beyond the Playa Car hotel zones to the north. The hotels do a fairly good job at maintaining their beaches, but it’s a endless job. The hotels is near the south end of PlayaCar, so if you wasnt to go into Playa Del Carmen, it’s just over 20 min of a brisk walk to the beginning of the famous 5th ave, and just a couple more minutes walk to the ferry terminal to Cozumel. For those not wanting to walk, cabs were available for I believe about 150 pesos. 100 pesos = Approx $8 Cdn. Also bikes can be rented for free, but not allowed outside the PlayaCar gated area. The famous 5th Ave is kilometres of various shops and restaurants. Definitely worth spending some time exploring. Be careful of scams targeting tourists. Like overcharging or on the exchange rate. Calculators on your iPhone  have an automatic exchange rate converter. One popular ‘scam’ is they see your hotel bracelet and then pretend to know you from the hotel to gain your trust. I had a couple of shop keepers try to do this on me. The nightly shows were well done. The dancing and visuals were very well done. My personal opinion is that I would have liked a bit more variety in their shows. It was basically dancing shows almost every night. Also had a trapeze set up for the brave. Overall, I give the hotel a 7.5/10. Was happy with my stay, and felt it was great value for the price.

Hotel & Service Our stay was deeply impacted by management’s failure to prioritize paying guests. The resort clearly overfills the property by selling day passes to non-guests ("locals") who occupy beach chairs all day, leaving actual residents with nowhere to sit. This policy led to a dangerous security incident where a group of over 10 people started a fight with a vacationer; the police were called and arrests were made. This is completely unacceptable for a family resort. Furthermore, the service at check-in was rigid and unhelpful. Arriving from an early flight, we were given a default "3:00 PM" answer without the staff even checking if our rooms were ready. We ultimately didn't get our rooms until 4:30 PM. The wait was uncomfortable as there is no air conditioning in the lobby or restaurants. Amenities & Facilities The resort lacks basic all-inclusive standards: * Water & Mini-Bar: The mini-bar is not stocked. No bottled water is provided; instead, we were given a plastic carafe to fill with warm water from hallway dispensers. * Pool Area: The "no reservation" rule for lounge chairs is not enforced evenly. Towels sat on empty chairs from 8:00 AM until late afternoon without any staff intervention. Food & Dining * Buffet: The main buffet was consistently good, though the selection was somewhat limited. Again: No A/C * A La Carte: The reservation system is essentially useless. During a 7-night stay, we could only secure one reservation. The Italian restaurant was never available, and the Mexican restaurant only had availability after 9:30 PM, which is far too late for a family meal. Rooms The rooms are in desperate need of an update and had significant maintenance issues: * Room 1: The AC was stuck "on" and wouldn't adjust. Despite being set to 24–26°C, it stayed at a frigid 20–21°C. * Room 2: While the AC blew cold, the room felt constantly stuffy and humid, as if the air wasn't circulating or being replaced. Beach While we enjoyed the ocean daily, the hotel's maintenance of the beach during sargassum season was poor. Neighboring hotels cleaned their shores daily, but our resort only cleared the seaweed 3–4 times during our entire week-long stay. Conclusion Ultimately, the combination of severe service failures, outdated facilities, and significant security concerns made our milestone celebration far less relaxing than it should have been. For a special occasion where reliability and safety are paramount, we cannot recommend this property and would advise looking at other options in the Riviera Maya. And if you do chose to stay at Viva, skip the upgrades and the useless Viva Club. You will not get your money's worth.

We visited Cosmopolita restaurant while staying at the resort. Omar was our server. He was exceptional! He made excellent recommendations and paired the most perfect wines with our dinner selections. The food was exquisite and the atmosphere so inviting and relaxed. I highly recommend visiting this premium restaurant while enjoying all this resort has to offer.

We visited this place 3 times in 2 weeks. The atmosphere within the restaurant perfect, all started off by a very warm welcome from Nicolas (each time) making jokes with the little ones. Oman made sure the four of us enjoyed each of our visits and couldn’t do more for us! He remembered our drink orders how how I liked my steak Would definitely recommend this place to all visitors (we already have) Brilliant 5 ⭐

Omar and the food was awesome and the food is food