I love this hotel. It is right on the beach, with its white sand. The lunch room has a palapa roof, and the food is good. The pool is beautiful, with a bridge. The lounge chairs under the palm trees are inviting. The rooms have the feel of a Spanish villa mixed with native Mayan wall decorations in the lobby. High ceilings and tile floors make the rooms cool. As I recall, there are no other hotels on either side of the Reef Hotel. You know it is good because cruise boat passengers docked in Progresso have day passes to the hotel. The Reef Hotel is a short distance from Progresso's fish restaurants and canoe trips on the estuary. A little further away is the pretty Mayan pyramid complex of Tzibilchaltun, and a little farther on is the 400-year-old capitol city of Yucatan--Merida, with its cathedral and lovely old plantation owners' mansions along the Paseo Montejo. There is also a huge shopping mall just before you get into Merida. Other wonderful places around Merida are the restored haciendas of the jute plantation owners. You can overnight in some of them, and they have good food available. On the way to Chichen Itza, there is a deep cenote with a wonderful restaurant on its rim. By the way, the beach at Progresso includes the site of the asteroid strike that changed geological history--Chixsalub.

To start, I did not stay at this hotel. I visited it to see if I wanted to stay.

Lacking a standard definition, and an adequate advertising budget, anyone can claim a million star rating on a chicken coop. I go this quote from some website after I checked to see what a five star rating on a hotel really means.

Carnaval in Merida runs from Feb 10 to Feb 17, 2010 and I hate it. The street barriers, the noise, the beer stands and the crowds make this the most unpleasant time in Merida for me SO I want to go elsewhere for this time.

I have gone to several beach towns nearby and have not found anything that appeals. Yesterday, I went to the Reef Yucatan http://www.reefyucatan.com/index_ing.php in Telchac Puerto, a small fishing town about 40 miles from Merida.

Their ads and their website promised a wonderful experience. I took the bus to Telchac Puerto, then a moto-taxi to the hotel (50 pesos about $4 US). AS we turned into the Hotel Area, the beach scene was beautiful. The Hotel Zone consisted in one hotel: the Reef Yucatan.

The entry was incredible – a huge palapa (straw) roof about one hundred feet high surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens. The beach and ocean in the background added to the ambience.

The dining room was lovely – light, airy and with a nice e buffet.

Then I toured the place and learned:

1. The gym was not available for the weekend. Maybe this did not matter since I was not staying this weekend but…

2. The hot tub did not exist. When I mentioned that I had seen it in the website, they told me it was not in service. They did not mention WHEN it would be in service.

3. The website mentioned nightly entertainment and the clerk confirmed this but did not tell me what the entertainment was for the next few days. The theater appeared to be unused for a long time.

4. There were neither refrigerators nor coffee makers in the rooms.



I thanked the clerk and asked about a taxi back to Telchac Puerto. He quoted me a rice of 200 pesos (about $16 US). After I declined this, he finally told me I could use the employees´ bus back if I waited two hours!



All this in a five star hotel with a price of $100 US per day!

I think not!

Lacking a standard definition, and an adequate advertising budget, anyone can claim a million star rating on a chicken coop.

There is beach outside... :) Very nice hotel with nice employees... :)

My stay at Yucatan was great!
Service:The bellhop brought our luggage straight to the suite. The maid did not arrive on time.We were out until 8 pm.and the maid had just arrived.She quickly apologized and changed the sheets on time.Cleanliness:Dirt,sand,and the occasional spider.Plus,a wasp hive and a bee hive were right outside our suite.Location:Great is all I can say.Value:Great!It only cost $600 because we had half the Airmiles needed for the trip.The Lobby:A guest Spanish-cursed us but apologized.Rooms:Loud music from next door,and fear of bedbugs.Although we slept with long pants and long-sleeved tops whose sleeves/legholes had masking tape put on them to hide any skin,it was fine.Although I recommend washing everything thorougly after arrival (including the luggage.)