This hotel was clean and quiet for our week long stay. While making our trip arrangements, I chose this hotel because in the pictures the hotel looks very new and clean and looking at the map it didn't seem that far from the beach and fifth avenue.

The Positives:
Hotel staff were friendly.
Rooms were clean and quiet.
Breakfast wasn't fancy (very very basic) but hey, it was free and one less meal a day we were buying.
The A/C worked well.
Nice tv with lots of channels.

The Negatives:
-The beds were small and ultra firm. (Like in firm as a stone bench, we both woke up with sore backs and had very poor quality sleep the entire trip.)
-The window leaked every time it rained hard which made the tile floor in the room treacherous to navigate. This was mentioned to staff but nothing was fixed.
-The shower clogged everytime someone showered. This was mentioned to the staff but nothing was fixed.
-They give you two small bottles of water in your room on check in, but do not replenish them daily when you stay longer than a day. In a country where it tells you right on the bathroom mirror in the hotel that the water isn't potable they should give you new water each day.
-The distance from the beach and Fifth avenue. We were getting such a value on the hotel that we did not think it was a big deal to grab cabs and use the hotel's free shuttle. Wrong.
The hotel shuttle was not reliable, and that many cabs adds up fast. We would have actually saved money in the long run staying at a more expensive hotel closer to the beach. I had thought we would be able to walk sometimes, but the neighborhood between the hotel and the beach is not one that I would feel safe with an armed escort walking through.
Regardless of the negatives, we still very much enjoyed our stay in Playa. However I think our vacation would have been even better if I had chosen a different hotel.

I wen to the riviera maya with my family for vacations, our schedule included visiting tulum, chichen itza, cancun, coba, cenotes, etc, so basically we only wanted the hotel to come back at nigh and sleep. And for the price I would say we were really happy with Magic Express, Room was very comfotable and clean.
We rented a car so we were able to move everywhere, and since we were in Playa del carmen everything was very closed.
If you are looking for a hotel on the beach all inclusive, this is not for you, but if you are going to the riviera to know the places and the hotel just to sleep and rest, then this is for you.
Breakfast very basic but good, i never went to the pool, gym basic, had internet and in general we were happpy with the hotel and the staff, they were very frinedly. We had a blast!

the beds were hard like concrete slabs, the beach shuttle was "not working", the floors of the hotel were all large ceramic tiles and the noise in the hallways reverberated throughout,
the pillows were hard and full of clumped stuffing, after being washed I guess, the front desk did not speak English after 8 PM and the breakfast was toast with jam or corn flakes and milk.
The place is right next to an electrical tower and quite a distance from the beach. We had to take the taxi several times a day back and forth, there is no way to walk that far. It is also in the slums area, which looks like a bombed out war zone, due to unfinished construction etc.
Full of locals and their children, the internet is available at a charge, and yes it's cheap, about $40/night, U.S., but we moved to another hotel near the beach, at $120/night. The hotel would not give us our money back, even though they had an empty room for three nights. We bought this hotel online through name your own price at Priceline, and Priceline would not give us our money back either. My advice is do not go to this hotel unless you are really broke.

This is just like a Holiday Inn Express and sometimes that is just what is needed to fill in a night or two between great airline price days and the availability of your expensive beach hotel. You can purchase cervesa, other drinks, and snacks. The gratis breakfast is skimpy but the coffee is fine and the price is very fair for a very clean place to rest your head.