I’d never been to an all-inclusive resort, or Mexico proper. I had concerns, but lots of friends and family assuaged said frets.
Will the airport be a madhouse? What if we’re hijacked by a drug cartel? If I open my mouth in the shower, will I get sick from the water? What about ice? Will the food be bad? It’s an adult resort, is it going to be too hedonistic? What is too hedonistic? Will it get boring day in and out at the same place? Is seaweed a problem? What about Dengue fever?
Absolutely everything I worried about was unfounded.
The Cancun airport was nicer than most I’ve been to. Our ride to the resort was comfortable and eventless.
We stayed at Ocean Maya Royale just outside of Playa del Carmen. (45 minutes south of the airport)
Check-in was breezy. The staff, super friendly. The grounds well maintained. It’s a resort with a relatively small footprint, above average vibe and solid value.
Ice is filtered. Bottles of water plentiful. The food was good, sometimes great. There’s tons to do if you want and it’s just as easy to keep it chill and spend time with a book. (which I did a good chunk of today.) The beach was well maintained.
The lack of screaming children was absolutely zen.
There were minor annoyances. Getting reservations to restaurants outside of the buffet was complicated. Said buffet wasn’t labeled very well (not great for food allergies). You have to learn how to say no to upgrades and wandering vendors from time to time. But overall? It checked every box for a lovely beach vacation.
All this said, it matters less where you are than who you’re with and everything was all the better being with friends.
So happy they extended an invitation.
I see why they keep coming back. I’d happily return.
Thus concludes my Yelp / TripAdvisor review. Here’s a smattering of photos from around the place:
