Room Block:
boca
Arrival: we arrived this past may 27th, 2011. we were at the Boca Building. It is extremely hot and steamy this time of year. lousy check in. took over an hour and a half waiting our turn in line. we got upgraded to the honeymoon suite for our 30th anniversery which was nice. the service desk (especially night time crew) could use some manners and better english lessons. the travel service that bought us were very nice.
there were 6 of us traveling together. we rented a taxi to go 45 miles to Playa to shop-cost was $95.00 round trip. everything in playa is expensive. we rented a car after that and went ourselves. its alot cheaper when you visit the side road stands. just be mindful of not speeding and the speed bumps that show up with no warning.
Rooms: clean, nice linens. wonderful maid service. Please tip at least $2.00 US a day. they only make $5.00 US for an 8 hour shift. they come in all day long and remake beds and take and replace water and dirty towels. they bust thier tails. you have to put the card in the slot for electric and AC. if your smart, close the curtains, keep the card in after you leave (take extra card key with you)leaving the AC running and the fan on ceiling going if you want any relief from the heat and humidity. it worked pretty good. the only complaint we had of the room was the refridgerater. i have insulin that needs to be kept cold. these are not regular fridges, they are like wine fridges. they keep it tepid/cool inside. and i could not get the importance of keeping insulin cold across to them or the fact that i couldnt replace the medicine in mexico. they didnt seem to care (service desk) i had to go get ice twice a day in the bucket and keep the the insulin in the ice bucket. and we were in the Boca building and only 2 of the 9 ice machines worked and all the complaining in the world did not get them fixed either. of course the two that worked were all the way at the other end and on different floors.
there are no vents or fans or windows in the bathrooms. it can get kind of "close" in there. LOL
Restaurants and Bars: food is so-so, almost boring and its the same stuff every day with little change. they like to put out for breakfast some of the night before food too. the milk is not real milk either, so don’t go taking a big gulp of it till you try it, same with the "butter". its not real butter, its like the old time oleo your mom used to cook with. you might want to pack some butter pats and a ice pack with your lugguge. there is very little american quisine on the menu, so no chicken wings, roast beef, fried chicken, no ice berg lettuce. so not a great salad bar. taste the dressings first. they are not what you would expect. ala carte restaurants are fantastic with great service(MAKE THE RESERVATION UPON ARRIVAL) or you will not get in. we missed one of the 3 dinners we had already paid for. the steak house was great
the seafood was good, no crab or lobster or cocktail sauce
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
absolutely stunning, well kept and clean
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: in the Mayan Beach (where we stayed) there is nothing worth staying up for. it rolls up at 7pm (pool closes) no night time beach activites, no dancing (unless you want to go to one of the other hotels) the only thing open is the lobby bar (24hrs) and thats it. the two shows we caught were awful the only food available after 10 is room service and there is an 8.00 minimum 3 tv stations are in english off the resort- we went to tulan ruins, mayan village (not quite what we expected) it was two shacks in the middle of damn nowhere, not a like a town or anything. bring plenty of mexican change, they dont make change for american money, just give you an extra bracelet to make up for it. we went to Boca to see the mayan temple (two mile hike in the jungle or pay 10.00 to ride a rickshaw there) we swam in a cenoyte and we had lunch at a restaurant with a lake of alligators next to it. be prepared for thier versions of the bathroom and ask for the tpaper before you go in the stall. it was alot of fun. this was all in one day. we went to playa twice, once at night (very lively) and once during the day. hit senor Froggs if you can. thats a lot of fun. they have a bus that runs the whole complex so you dont have to walk everywhere.
and they have a Catholic church with mass on sat and sun at 6pm. that was nice to go to.
Other Comments:
would we go back? probably not. Next time i will spend the extra money for a higher end resort. but for this being our first vacation it was ok. the friends we traveled with made it fun.