We arrived home yesterday from a 1 week vacation at the Mayan Palace and thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. This resort does not compare in size or have the amenities available as other Mayan Palaces that we have stayed in but for the size, they did a very good job at making our stay enjoyable.
We were traveling with another couple and had a 2 bedroom unit on the 3rd floor of the newer Tower behind the Reception area. We had a view of the ocean but we were just above the palm trees so we could not see the beach. We had a very small balcony which was great to watch the beautiful sunsets every night from but did provide much in the way of having a place to sit and lounge around on. The rooms are all huge and and it had a very nice, small but efficient, kitchen which we used every day for Breakfasts. It had an under-counter refrigerator but no dishwasher. All of the kitchen utensils, pots, pans and glassware were available. The coffee maker did not work but had another one there within an hour of when we called about it.
The air conditioning worked great and kept our rooms at a cool 65 degrees. The unit was very clean when we arrived and it was cleaned every day. We really enjoyed the towel sculptures and Hershey Kisses that Ignacia, our cleaning lady, provided everyday.
The TV programming was a little to be desired but we did not go there to sit and watch TV anyway. The only English speaking programs were HBO, Fox News, CNN and Nat Geo. They had good recreation center and internet room which I used everyday with business back home. There is no WIFI available at the resort.
The pool is a lot smaller than most Mayan Palaces but was clean and we had plenty of seating available. The pool bar service is a little spendy and we used sparingly. The beach access had plenty of palapas available but we did not use them The ocean was really rough due to the hurricanes south of Mazatlan and we had some pretty good winds at times. We saw very few beach vendors and that was not a problem. The ones we did talk to, had some great bargains as they were really anxious to make any kind of sale at all.
We only had 2 encounters with the Time Share people and I gently but firmly told them I was not interested and not to waste their time on me. They left us alone except for a couple calls that left a message on the phone but we never did return the calls.
We only ate at the restaurant on site the first night we were there and tried breakfast the next day. After that, we only tried the Poolside Bar / Cafe for lunches and did Room Service on three different evenings. Food was all average to good. Room Service was probably the better of all venues available. Pricing was moderate to high. We found eating at the recommended restaurants in town a little better in quality of food and value. Restaurants recommended to us were Pancho's, Bruha and another one downtown that I have forgotten. They were all good. We had the fresh shrimp at all of them with Bruha being the better place.
We are not into the local tourist attractions and tours so we talked with Manuel, the concierge that was on duty every afternoon, about setting us up with a local guide to show us around Mazatlan. He lined us up with a local Red Line Pulmonia driver named Marcos Antonio Pina who spoke very good English but was confused at times with how fast we Americans speak. He toured us all over Mazatlan for the day and then we rented a car and he took us up into the mountains the next day to a little town called Copala and to a couple other little towns they call Ranches. We were looking for silver and we got some great deals.
The best deals were made in Copala. It was off season so we were the only tourists in the town. We went through the local church (500 years old) and stopped at several little shops. We had lunch at the local hotel / restaurant and had the best meal of our trip. Just local fair with a their famous banana cream pie for desert. All in all, the service and recommendations were right on.
Business was really down and the locals seem to blame most of it on the drug problems they have been having around Mexico along with our recession here in the states. There was a problem downtown on Thursday in an area that we were in on Wednesday and the police killed 7 drug people in a confrontation. But again, if your not looking for drugs and stay in the typical resort areas, you should have no problems. To me it is as safe as any big city if
you use common sense.
We used the King David shuttle from the airport and back. The resort covered the cost from the airport in a big air conditioned bus but cost us $9 ea for the return trip back in a van that was jammed full with very little AC. We were not impressed with how they handled that part of the trip. We used the air conditioned cabs the first couple trips to town but they were so small we started using the pulmonias We rather enjoyed the open air trips over the taxi's. Same price so I guess it is just up to the individual.
All in all, we had a wonderful trip and would recommend to others with no hesitation.
Room Tip: Try to get a room above the 3rd floor in the Tower for a much better view. Even numbered rooms are o...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
