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We just got back last week from 2 weeks at the Grand Mayan - Riviera Maya. This was our 4th 2 week stay in the past 4 years.
The first night ( Friday, April 24 ) we had to stay in building 10. We asked for building 7 but there was nothing available as some of the buildings were closed for maintenance. However they did move us the next day to Building 7, 3rd ( top ) floor where we spent rest of our 2 weeks. It was nice to be able to check-in at the new Grand Mayan lobby rather than the tent like last year. Saturday morning we went the Mayan Palace pool to reserve our Palapa. We were happy to see that our friends Francesca and Miriam were still working there. We reserved our favorite Palapa for the rest of our 2 week stay. We then spent some time catching up with Francesca and Miriam. And then one of other friends, Julio - poolside waiter came over to talk to us. Julio always brought us special dishes from the restaurant and he gave my wife some special earplugs for the pool. We did check out the new Grand Mayan pool but we don't like it nearly as well. It is somewhat enclosed so there is no breeze, there are beds but no palapas and you cannot reserve the beds like at the Mayan Palace pool. It is also very boring.
Food and services prices have gone up since last year. Many of the increases are in line with the decline of the Peso so the US dollar cost is the same. Actually a few restaurants are cheaper in dollars and some are higher. However food prices in general are still very reasonable for a high end resort. The Palapas at the Mayan Palace pool cost 350 pesos/day to reserve them. This is credited toward any drinks or food you consume at the pool and will be adjusted at checkout. In our case they just took it all off without checking our purchases.
The weather for the first few days was cool and windy. As has been pointed out by others, the weather is unstable unlike Puerto Vallarta ( and other west coast locations ) where the weather is consistently warm and clear at that time of the year.
The shuttle service was much better than last year until the last few days.
So everything was going OK until the "Swine Flu" crisis hit shortly after we arrived. It was ridiculous but it sure took its toll. People left early and others canceled their trips. As usual. the Mexican workers were the ones to suffer. By the end of our stay, occupancy was down to 20% and more than 60% of the employees were laid off. There were some resorts that closed completely. It was so stupid. Some guests told me they were leaving because they were afraid they would close the border. Obviously they have no understanding of the US/Mexican border. There is no way the border would ever be closed. The economic impact to both countries would be disastrous. The resort closed many of the restaurants and many days we didn't know which ones would be open. The only good thing that came out if it is we had no trouble upgrading to first class for $100 on the flight back to LAX. When we arrived at the Cancun airport to return, every first class seat was available for upgrade. We really like the new Cancun airport terminal and I had one of the best cheeseburgers ever at the airport.
We stayed at the resort all the time this visit. We were going to take the Xcaret tour for the 3rd time but decided not to. They canceled the night Mexican show at Xcaret due to the "swine flu" scare. The show is one of the major reasons to visit Xcaret. Julio invited us to his home in Cancun which we accepted. Other than that we were always at Palapa 45 by the pool everyday. We did have a late checkout.
The first night ( Friday, April 24 ) we had to stay in building 10. We asked for building 7 but there was nothing available as some of the buildings were closed for maintenance. However they did move us the next day to Building 7, 3rd ( top ) floor where we spent rest of our 2 weeks. It was nice to be able to check-in at the new Grand Mayan lobby rather than the tent like last year. Saturday morning we went the Mayan Palace pool to reserve our Palapa. We were happy to see that our friends Francesca and Miriam were still working there. We reserved our favorite Palapa for the rest of our 2 week stay. We then spent some time catching up with Francesca and Miriam. And then one of other friends, Julio - poolside waiter came over to talk to us. Julio always brought us special dishes from the restaurant and he gave my wife some special earplugs for the pool. We did check out the new Grand Mayan pool but we don't like it nearly as well. It is somewhat enclosed so there is no breeze, there are beds but no palapas and you cannot reserve the beds like at the Mayan Palace pool. It is also very boring.
Food and services prices have gone up since last year. Many of the increases are in line with the decline of the Peso so the US dollar cost is the same. Actually a few restaurants are cheaper in dollars and some are higher. However food prices in general are still very reasonable for a high end resort. The Palapas at the Mayan Palace pool cost 350 pesos/day to reserve them. This is credited toward any drinks or food you consume at the pool and will be adjusted at checkout. In our case they just took it all off without checking our purchases.
The weather for the first few days was cool and windy. As has been pointed out by others, the weather is unstable unlike Puerto Vallarta ( and other west coast locations ) where the weather is consistently warm and clear at that time of the year.
The shuttle service was much better than last year until the last few days.
So everything was going OK until the "Swine Flu" crisis hit shortly after we arrived. It was ridiculous but it sure took its toll. People left early and others canceled their trips. As usual. the Mexican workers were the ones to suffer. By the end of our stay, occupancy was down to 20% and more than 60% of the employees were laid off. There were some resorts that closed completely. It was so stupid. Some guests told me they were leaving because they were afraid they would close the border. Obviously they have no understanding of the US/Mexican border. There is no way the border would ever be closed. The economic impact to both countries would be disastrous. The resort closed many of the restaurants and many days we didn't know which ones would be open. The only good thing that came out if it is we had no trouble upgrading to first class for $100 on the flight back to LAX. When we arrived at the Cancun airport to return, every first class seat was available for upgrade. We really like the new Cancun airport terminal and I had one of the best cheeseburgers ever at the airport.
We stayed at the resort all the time this visit. We were going to take the Xcaret tour for the 3rd time but decided not to. They canceled the night Mexican show at Xcaret due to the "swine flu" scare. The show is one of the major reasons to visit Xcaret. Julio invited us to his home in Cancun which we accepted. Other than that we were always at Palapa 45 by the pool everyday. We did have a late checkout.
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