Playa Del Carmen Hotel Review: Mahekal

On the first two days of the trip, we opted to stay somewhere a little more modernized and relaxed – as we knew the latter part of the trip had much more exploring and charm in store. Thus, we decided to stay at Mahekal, a fairly luxurious beachfront spot which seemed to have a lot of the things we were looking for in the area (which – as I’m sure you may believe if you’ve ever searched – is actually really difficult to triangulate and arrive at an option that meets “most” of your wants/needs in the area).

Here’s the review:

  • Location: The location is great, as it is actually within short walking distance of the bustling Fifth Avenue shopping/dining/entertainment district in Playa Del Carmen. But it also feels like a secluded oasis, as the grounds and beach scene make it seem like this could be the only such resort for miles. A HUGE plus is that the resort is right next to an Oxo (convenience store), which is great for necessities like personal hygiene items, water, or other beverages.
  • Facilities: The facilities are great, and the only downside may be the volume of seaweed on the beaches (very common to the area though). The beach area has tiki huts, cabanas, and suspended day beds. The views  are incredible, and can be even nicer from your own room if you have an ocean view (pictures at the end of the post).
  • Amenities: The amenities are great as well, as they have several pools, bars, restaurants, and a clubhouse area loaded with TV’s, ping pong, and billiards. If you consider meal plans an amenity, theirs is great and flexible – allowing you to trade out meals if you prefer to dine in town for certain meals.
  • Staff: The staff are very friendly and helpful. The bartenders and servers will help provide you whatever you need wherever you are throughout the property. They are also helpful with nightlife/food recommendations throughout town.
  • Rooms: I was very impressed with the rooms, and a nice bonus is that each room gets two hammocks to suspend from your balcony/terrace seating area.
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View from balcony out onto beach with palapa umbrellas and chairs
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The room, very nice with an authentic palapa style roof
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The infinity pool, which has its own bar and restaurant – the same area where breakfast is served

Til Next Time,

Michael

Air/Hotel Travel Tips

At some point, I’m going to convince a few of my friends to do some guest posts on Air/Hotel Travel Tips and Rewards Program Best Practices.  They are much more intelligent than me when it comes to those things, although I’m not completely asleep at the wheel when it comes to frequent flying and maximizing hotel points.  Whether you travel once a day or once a year, it doesn’t make sense not to take advantage of preferred rates, loyalty programs, and the host of deals that are available if you’re willing to look.  It’s free money.

In the mean time, though, I wanted to point you all to a couple good articles run by Travel & Leisure recently on how to maximize Air/Hotel Travel:

Air Travel Tips

Hotel Travel Tips

Also, be on the lookout for the December issue of T&L/online for the full writeup of 100 Ways to Travel Better.  Fair warning though: don’t sign up for anything from them.  Ever.  You’ll be handcuffed to an obnoxious mailing list where they send you hardbound travel books and conveniently charge your credit card something absurd like $34.95 every time you don’t return to sender.  I seriously cannot figure out how to delete my information from their records.

Til Next Time,

Michael