upon arriving after a 4hr flight on Christmas eve with a screaming baby on my plane the LAST thing I wanted to do is TALK to a SALES REP! I checked in & they told me my Rep. would be right with me with my door key & complimentary drink. They did NOT take American dollars which I was told they did, which made it even worse!
A. I didn't want a drink
B. I didn't need a Rep. for a sales pitch

A very nice Latino man called my name & asked me to follow him, the lobby was decorated for the holidays, so we went into the lounge area where he proceeded to explain to me in broken English about the Casa Maya timeshare. I told him RIGHT OFF that this was a CHRISTMAS GIFT to me from my aunt, whom owns a timeshare that we use ALL OVER THE WORLD! He then asked me what I wanted to drink I replied WATER, bottled. I told him again & again I WAS NOT interested in buying into this resort & it was a GIFT. He still hassled me for 20 more minutes, I finally stood up & said I want to go to my room or I can leave & find a hotel that would let me have a room & ALL I WANTED was to put my bags down & go out on the beach & get some food & drinks. AFTER THAT he finally understood I was upset & took me to my room. I had requested a balcony & room facing East to watch sunrises.
Once my luggage reached my room, I changed & walked out on to WHAT I THOUGHT was a PRIVATE BEACH. Layed on a cabana (which is only for members of the Elite timeshare holders) it was after 5:30, so anyone could use them. I finally got relaxed & calmed down, had some food, which I had to charge to my room, since I had NO PESO's. The next day was Christmas, it was a GREAT sunrise & laying on my balcony sipping coffee was perfect. By 8am I was laying on the beach & enjoying the sun & then begin to notice this ton of people who kept a steady flow of tromping thru the beach area of the resort. When I asked the security guard why so many Security Guards, he didn't speak English, I found out there were PUBLIC BEACHES on BOTH SIDES of resort & they were tromping thru "OUR PRIVATE BEACH" to get from one to the other public beach! How can you call this a PRIVATE BEACH when the LOCALS are running thru, swimming in OUR roped off area & laying on the edge of the ocean near the water with a million umbrellas & kids all over our beach. I didn't feel my beach bag or things were safe while I was in the ocean with ALL the local people in OUR PRIVATE area!!!! So my beach time was limited to 8am to about noon, everyday thanks to that. Also I am an avid scuba diver & while snorkeling the beach area all I saw underwater at the resort beach area is TRASH, I have never seen so MUCH TRASH UNDERWATER IN MY LIFE!!!!!!
The servers at the Coco Lobo restaurant on the resort grounds was the best food I had at a resort, they made sure everything was GOOD! Juan & Erick took care of my needs every time I was out there. The buffet lacked in more ways than one, but I am not a buffet person.
The BEDS SUCKED, hard as the floors, I never slept good one nite unless I was drunk from the 2 for 1 drinks in the lobby bar. IF YOU HAD THE RIGHT MAID you might get some egg crate foam, when my family arrived on the 29th for the New Year celebration, she was given some foam for her bed, but she was tipping her about $20 every other day. We had to swap rooms once they arrived & rooms over looked the pool area which was very loud from the entertainment! IT WAS NOT enjoyable for me at all, it was LOUD, NOISY & OBNOXIOUS.

So over all my first 5days I was Solo there, got very little help from the staff for my needs found out where to exchange my American dollars from the scuba diving place across the street. Public transportation is the way to go for local things. I do recommend renting a car & driving to Tulum to the Ruins & seeing some of the better parts of the area. Cancun drivers are like LA drivers with NY peoples attitudes! When my family got there we took 2 trips to Isla Mujeres, I HIGHLY recommend going there, take the Fastcat over rent a golf cart for the day its about 50-60 dollars (DO NOT RENT FROM SALES PEEPS ON BOAT) soon as you get off Fastcat, there are several rental places & its so easy to get one there!
Go to NaBalam, Garrafon & the Ruins at the far end of island. There are so many GOOD places to eat, I can't list them all.

Accessibility: Hotel is accessible from the airport (we took Cancun Discounts shuttle - private which cost us $55 roundtrip for two). Took about 25 to 30 minutes. No need for us to rent a car because we used the public bus to go to downtown Cancun for restaurants and to ferry pier to go to Isla Mujeres. Bus is only 8.50pesos per person (about 80 cents at 12 to 1dollar conversion). We felt safe in public bus; clean; some with airconditioning- not needed in December 24-31 time period because the breeze is cool. For Cozumel, we opted to use Cancun Transfers to pick us up from Casa Maya to ferry pier in Playa del Carmen. An hour by driving; ferry is 45 minutes to Cozumel.
Casa Maya unit: Since we got there Christmas eve, there was a big crowd in the lobby at 6pm due to events and the hotel was booked we ended up in the second floor unit, even though I requested in advance that I wanted a unit at the 7th or 8th floor for better views. We exchanged an efficiency part of our 2bedroom timeshare and we got a studio with refrigerator and microwave and utensils. This was alright except that the microwave was rusty, room smell was moldy, balcony was ok - can see the ocean. We are used to better views so the next day, we requested to be moved to the higher floor. Several people have checked out the following day and we were able to get moved to the 5th floor after agreeing to attend their timeshare presentation. Customer service (Ismael)helped this to happen. was worth the move because we had full view of the swimming pool and the sea; cleaner room, nice smell and no rusty appliances. This made our trip more enjoyable. Even though the room is facing the swimming pool, it was quiet in the room even when there are swimmers at night till 8pm. There is an "anteroom" prior to each room where the additional door provided noise blockage from people talking loud in the hallway. This is more of people courtesy than hotel issue. When we leave the room, another beautiful view of the lagoon awaited us because the hallway leading to the elevator had windows where the lagoon view can be enjoyed. Sunset can be watched in this hallway. Beds were comfortable, airconditioning was just right. We sometimes turned off the airconditioning to enjoy the cool breeze from outside. Our room was 1518A.
Food: Hotel provides a selection of food at a reasonable price. Pizza choices were great - $10 to 12 value for a Large pizza for two. Since we attended the timeshare presentation, we were given Casa Maya $100USD that can be used for any expenses within Casa Maya. We used such money to pay breakfast, lunch and dinner. A breakfast buffet of 120 pesos was cheap- they offered freshly squeezed juices, omelet, fruits, Mexican food, etc. Even took a regular whole pizza (12 inch) for 100 pesos to the airport which was a good idea because one slice of pizza in the airport cost 120 pesos. We've been to Cabo and the prices of food were higher in Cabo. We went to El Porton across Walmart for lunch and food was great; clean restaurant. We bought our essential food items (fruits,milk, bottled water) from Walmart which is one bus ride away. Mexican food in Isla Mujeres and Cozumel were also delicious.
Time share presentation: We often stay away from time share presentation but since we had a better room alternative, we took this one. It was a pleasant experience, Frabizio did not pressure us at all; other ones we have attended were irritating, this one was not. Even got to know him personally. Other people who talked to us as part of the timeshare presentation were also pleasant. It was worth to see their Elite units - very nice cribs and views.
Staff: Casa Maya staff were all friendly and even humorous. While waiting for the Gray Line bus for Chichen Itza, they gave us the stark truth that such bus normally arrives late, and they were right. They made our wait more fun by telling us more about Mexican culture. We liked Andres, Jose, Eduardo.
Exchange: We were able to get good exchange in downtown El Centro (malls or banks - 13 to 1). Exchange only a small amount at the airport (we got 11 to 1). A bank in Cozumel charged a 21USD fee to exchange 200USD to pesos. Bring USD because they accept USD in Cancun to avoid bank fees. Casa Maya units have a safe in each room. Leave valuables in the safe including extra cash. Some restaurants do not accept credit card also. BRing cash.
Our stay was Dec 24 to 31. Husband and wife. For pleasure. Very nice vacation. At this time of year, residents were mostly Mexicans coming from different parts of Mexico since it is vacation time for them. This did not bother us; a way to experience the real culture. If you want to see more Americans and Canadians, go past New Year.

Stayed at Casa Maya from December 3 through the 10th.
From the moment we walked into the Casa Maya, we were told to sit in the lobby to wait for the person to check us in. Carlos approached us and stated he wanted to give us a welcome drink. (We are timeshare owners and knew what this was about) We went into the lobby lounge and he started his talk about wanting to take a tour. We told him that we already own 3 timeshares and were not interested in another. We asked him just to let us go to our room and relax, and he was very insistant about us taking a tour. My husband finally had enough and left his drink and demanded that we just get our room. Carlos came back with our room keys, second floor. Of course, we knew since we were not exactly into wanting to go on the tour, we weren't going to get a room on an upper floor, but were not quite expecting the view we ended up with. Our villa was on the second floor on quiet side of the resort, overlooking the tops of trees. We had to step on the tips of our toes to see the water. I traded in a 2 bedroom villa from a very nice resort in the US for a 2 bedroom villa in a so so resort to look at trees? No wonder why this resort always have openings! I went to the front desk and complained on the treatment and the view, and they told us that this was the only 2 bedroom left. This resort was at 50% from what I could see and hear from the staff! I found out that the front desk is not in control of deciding on who gets what room, it is the marketing department. I continued to complain on the view every day to the front desk, Juan was the manager that I had been talking to since the day we checked in, it wasn't until late Tuesday that they offered us a new room, but they also knew that we were spending Wednesday at another hotel, so we would be moving for 2 days? Not worth it at this point! It wasn't until Thursday that the supervisor from marketing talked with me, who again at that point also offered another room! 2 days left? I think they need to rethink how they do business! We talked to many people that were staying there, one also traded a studio to come there, but since they took the tour, they got a 2 bedroom on a high floor.....is that fair? The idea of time shares is that you trade yours to go to theirs, not to be treated like dirt! I told them that they should read some of the reviews on trip advisor, that maybe they could learn something, but they didn't seem to care. It is too bad, the resort itself is nice, a bit outdated, but nice, rooms were large, staff such as waiters, barstaff, maids were all very nice, very friendly and helpful. Food was good. It is just way too much pressure with check in. Juan told me that he wrote a report and that the Hotel Director would contact me, I gave him my business card (travel advisor) and also told him that we were going to be in Cancun for another week at another resort, but haven't heard back and it has been 2 weeks. Would I stay there again? That is something that I would seriously have to think about!

My husband and I just returned from a week in Cancun at Casa Maya. Even though it was a promotion thru Interval INternational for $199, the place was not worth 2 pesos. We went down there to celebrate my one year anniversary of having my back fused, little did I know that the "beds from hell" would put a damper on my great recovery. The floor was softer than the beds.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the timeshare sharks, that refused to let us go to our room, but spent their "90 Minutes" asking us for a date to do their spiel for a $100 credit on the resort tab. They sharks could not offer enough Cervasas to rope us to say yes to a tour.

We had a small efficiency based on our 2 bedroom and Platinum Interval International level.
Although we had a nice view of the ocean, which is all I can say good, we had no hot water 6/7 days. We told the desk clerk every day and still nothing was done. Not even an attempt to change rooms.I can gratefully say thanks for the Upper Respiratory Infection I came back with from the lack of hot water.

The resort was clean but empty of guests. The restaurants served cold food (temperature wise) and dinner was outside under a grass hut in the constant blowing wind.

The internet was not free and you had to get a new code for every hour you were on the internet. You could only access it in the lobby.

I only saw at the Hot Tub Cleaned one time. There were children in the hot tub constantly. The other hot tub was bone dry.

The only good thing was the location was close by bus to either the bars/restaurants or downtown Cancun.