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I came to Fairmont Mayakoba with my sister for a short special siblings trip for her birthday, and it was my second time stayed at this hotel, and her first. We have both worked at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise many years ago, so we know the amazing level of service and quality that is part of the Fairmont dna! From the moment we arrived to the time we departed, everyone went above and beyond to make our stay special. We stayed in a stunning Signature Casita right on the lagoon, and it was magical, it felt like we were in a luxurious treehouse right in the rainforest canopy.

Although it rained heavily during most of our stay, the hotel is a destination and experience in and of itself, so our spirits weren't dampened at all. The most special memory was going out for drinks before dinner at La Laguna/La Cantina, where Diego took care of us. He suggested the most amazing margaritas/mezcalitas and he didn't steer us wrong! he got behind the bar and made the most amazing cocktails, I'd say the best margaritas we've had in our lives. His amazing service and attention to detail was sincerely appreciated. Irving at the front was also a stand out for his amazing service. He was so helpful during the arrival and departure process and made things so seamless and easy.

Amazing stay in Paradise - this hotel is amazing!

The best family experience, (even with the rain) we wanted to connect more with our children spending quality time with them, these days were ideal and without a doubt it is an incredible hotel to spend as a family. We didn't want to leave the little kids alone because the idea was to spend time with them but thanks to Monse for letting us spend time with our kids, Monse and Rebeca were so cute and they had a great time.

great experience

We had a lovely tour of the Fairmont Mayakoba property and was at the top of our list to host our intimate wedding with family and friends. The decency ended as soon as the property tour ended. Xavier has failed to contact us after following up 3 different times. My fiancé and I have tried calling 5 different times to Fairmont and they connect us to the event coordinator line with no response.

Understandably, since we can’t seem to get a response, we have chosen not to move forward with trying to host our 2025 wedding here given we never given the opportunity. 

It is unsettling to me that a AAA diamond, 5 star resort does not have the decency to respond to the various follow ups after having an in depth tour of the property and having been told we would receive a prompt response. Make no mistake that language should not be a barrier either given I am a native Spanish speaker. I expected more from Fairmont Mayakoba and am largely disappointed in the lack of attentiveness and respect.

My fiancé and I both work with clients every day in our line of work - with very important executives at that. This is something we would never do to the clients we interact and meet. We are also heavy travelers having stayed at and experienced some of the best resorts in the world - we cannot believe this is the standard to which Fairmont Mayakoba holds. 

I hardly give poor reviews, especially at a place I’ve never stayed. But we were looking very forward to staying here this summer to start familiarizing ourselves with the area/the property and planning our special day here. I would have appreciated a note from the event coordinator simply telling me this would not be possible but instead our requests were ignored. The terrible customer service and indecency to communicate is not something I expected from Fairmont Mayakoba.

Terrible customer service, expected more

I am not kidding you, it rained the ENTIRE duration of our June visit. Nevertheless, our visit was spectacular and I would absolutely visit again, even if I was promised the same weather. Umbrellas were plentiful and were available at every possible location. Staff was on constant squeegee duty so slips on the gorgeous tile floors were prevented. 

The food on property restaurants was wonderful and incredibly creative, especially at the La Laguna dinner.  The cocktails were cold and delicious.  All our servers were attentive and friendly and I felt comfortable speaking English with everyone.  We felt welcomed and valued and our hosts and servers remembered us even though we only stayed 5 nights! Shout out to Leo at Hix Lounge, Armando at Bassano and Enrique at La Laguna/La Cantina. Israel at Tauro's bar made the *best* Old Fashioneds!

Our Signature Casita King Room was comfortable (an excellent mattress with comfy linens) and beautifully appointed. The bathroom was exquisite. I enjoyed the fact that the rain and heat caused me to take multiple showers per day!  Housekeeping was reliable and we loved the turn-down service.  A slight flooding issue in our room (due to heavy storms) was dealt with immediately and completely with a quick call to the front desk, even at 5am.  The manager followed up with a thoughtful thank you note.

We highly recommend the complimentary boat tour of Mayakoba (Juan Carlos was an excellent guide!).  Definitely plan to visit the Cooking School in nearby El Pueblito (walking distance or grab a golf cart from the lobby).

The only aspect that was slightly uncomfortable for me concerned the gratuities for the All Inclusive plan. I wanted to make sure I was tipping well for service but I wasn't clear on what was included in our package despite asking a couple different team members.  We decided to tip on top just to be certain. Thanks to all, our 20th wedding anniversary was such a special visit. Would love to bring the kids back with us next time!

Spectacular Visit, Despite the HORRIBLE Weather!

For me the sign of a great resort is if we would want to return.  In this instance, we wouldn’t.  There are too many other better options nearby, with true beachfront locations.

To be fair to Fairmont, we didn’t visit at the best time as it rained for most of our stay so we couldn’t experience everything we wanted but our interactions with the resort prior to arrival were not the best, especially it came to getting rates for golf and an accurate invoice about what would be charged once we arrived.  It became so frustrating that we eventually cut our vacation from 7 nights to 2 and went to a second resort for the remainder of our vacation.  We were glad we did.

To elaborate, we were initially quoted one rate, with a deposit in USD, which actually should have been in Pesos.  When the final quote came through, bearing in mind that we had a non-refundable deposit for the first night, the additional taxes and fees for the week for all 4 of us (3 adults & 1 kid), were an additional $3500.  Check out the small print – lots of taxes and resort fees.  We also had requested golf rates on several occasions and completely got the runaround from El Cameleon.  If you stayed at a different resort the rates were lower than if a Mayakoba guest (my travel agent got prices from another resort), then they were doing aeration, so rates were supposed to be lower, then they weren’t.  So frustrating!  Our intention was to stay a week and play 3 rounds or so.  Let’s say we started on the wrong foot.

Pros
The resort is very secluded, peaceful and private.  It is extremely beautiful with winding paths and bridges crossing tranquil canals.  
The resort has been cut into the jungle and there is lush vegetation throughout.  It is very well maintained and clean but is essentially a jungle resort with a beach club.  
Only a few rooms are located near the beach, all the others are a good 10–15-minute walk away.

Tauro restaurant is very good, although VERY expensive.  Even more than a high-end US steakhouse.

The rooms are elegant and very comfortable, they are serviced twice a day.  The mini bar is nicely stocked with drinks and snacks.

The WhatsApp virtual concierge is very responsive, although it did appear a little impersonal to never actually meet our concierge.

Maya coffee bar is fabulous- great drinks, pastries and ice cream (although this appears to be yet another upcharge)

La Laguna pool area is beautiful, the beds are comfortable and the service excellent.  It’s odd though, that only kids under 14 can use the water slide.

The staff throughout are very helpful and professional.

El Cameleon Golf course is beautiful but VERY difficult and there are lots of mosquitoes.  Take bug spray.

Cons
We chose the all-inclusive option, and it turned out to not be such a great option for us.  2 nights, 2 rooms - $4600.  The price difference between room only and all-inclusive is about $500 per room / per night and there are a number of exclusions for all-inclusive.  For example, you can’t have breakfast at Brisas (beach front) restaurant or eat at the Korean BBQ and there are several items on the regular menu that come with an upcharge.  

The breakfast buffet was nothing special and at $40 per person, I would have expected better.  No berries, limited gluten free options and you had to ask for cereal!

Lunch at Brisas was $200 and was pathetic.  Shrimp tacos were literally grilled shrimp and a couple of cilantro leaves on corn tortillas.  Chicken tacos were the same.

Dinner at Tauro was good but was over $550 (before tip) and we didn’t go crazy!  The pavlova dessert however was inedible as they left the smoke on too long. (Yes smoked pavlova – looks stunning).

Dinner at Gaia was OK.  We asked for the raw scallops to be cooked and that incurred an upcharge of 1000 pesos and a visit from both the Restaurant Manager and Chef.  They were very happy to accommodate but we were taken aback that it was the equivalent of $50 USD to cook scallops.

You also have to sign for everything, so tipping is seemingly expected on top of the all-inclusive package.  

This is not a beach resort.  It is located in the middle of a jungle and there are lots of mosquitoes.  The resort does provide bug spray but it’s ineffective.  We got eaten alive waiting for the shuttle to the beach restaurant one evening.

The beach itself is not as beautiful as you would expect.  The beach erosion mitigation (look like beached whales) is not pretty to look at and the seaweed was also plentiful.  The resort works hard to clean the seaweed, but no one wanted to wade through it to swim.  The water inside of the sandbags also appeared to be murky.  Not what we imagine when thinking of a Caribbean white sand beach.

There did appear to be beach volleyball available, and we saw a couple of people using Kayaks.

Our boat tour was cancelled without notice and we only found out when asked where to meet.  They stated that the weather was to blame. 

There was a lot of flooding while we were there because of the rain, and we had to paddle in and out of our room.  We also ended up getting completely soaked on the shuttle to dinner one evening and sat shivering in the air-conditioned restaurant, wearing beach towels to dry off.  The shuttle they sent didn’t have any kind of rain protection.  There were also no umbrellas left after dinner, so we got soaked again going back to the room.

All in all, the resort was not what we expected.  We didn’t appreciate that the main body of the hotel was so far away from the beach.  During the heat of summer, I can 
imagine that La Laguna and main hotel areas would be uncomfortably hot.

Beautiful resort but won’t return

Natural luxury. Enjoy five distinct ecosystems within 240 acres of tropical forest intersected by crystal clear waterways and surrounded by a pristine Caribbean shoreline. Fairmont Mayakoba is located 40 miles south of Cancun near Playa del Carmen, in Mex ico's fabled Riviera Maya. This AAA-5 Diamond and Rainforest Alliance verified resort offers the flexibility of room only and Inclusive plans. Savor Fairmont Mayakoba's culinary era in renovated restaurants.

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Fairmont Mayakoba