Robinson Club aka Royal Maeva Tulum

superwally · 12-13-2003

Has anyone stayed here lately? A good deal is being offered for 1 week in January for this place that would fit our budget. Hoping to go with 2 other couples.

I would appreciate good/bad feedback, best part or wing of the hotel to stay at. Has it changed for better or worse since ownership switch? Any horror stories to report?

Thanks,
Wally
London, Canada

**Shammy** · 12-13-2003

Here are some reviews you can read Wally. Looks like some people like it and some don't...the way it usually goes.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Peninsula.html

I had clients come back in October and they said they were not crazy about it. Didn't say exactly why other than it was an OK deal for the money but they wished they would have spent a few $$ more and stayed someplace else.

Guess it can't hurt to take the deal..as long as it's a really good deal.

superwally · 12-19-2003

thanks for the link shammy, lots of good info there.

wally

superwally · 01-19-2004

Stayed at Club Maeva from Jan 10-17 with 2 other couples.
Reasonably priced (got a deal).
Only holds about 250 people because 1/3 of resort "closed for renovations" ; it apparently is sinking.
Seems to be in an improvement phase since Maeva resorts bought the former Robinson Club. On our last day, about 300 brand new mattresses showed up and were being replaced. Everyday, workers were repainting stuff around the resort. Las Palapas beach bar/restaurant was getting a new floor.

Best features: The beach and the food, and the low-key atmosphere.

The resort is located on the south edge Xel-Ha beach; heard there was problems last year with rocky beach but it was perfect on the wide beach in front of our resort. It is rocky on the far side of the pier ; but there is good snorkelling there so it is not an issue as long as you just snorkel over there (no beach). There are patches of reef off-shore which attract fish, but you can run from the sand into the surf safely just about anywhere. A guy walking down our beach from Moon Palace said that we had the best beach he had seen in Mexico? His was rocky.

Food was pretty good. There are two buffets. One is upstairs within the main building and has a variety of nightly features. Fair amount of variety but you can count on your favourites most nights. Second buffet is at The Palapas beach bar. One day the buffet was held outside including fresh grilled fish, and pizza cooked in the stone oven. Pizza was available everyday. Palapas buffet was more modest but you didn't have to dress up since it was right by the beach. You could get fresh grilled stuff like burgers and fries here if your tastes are more tame. There are 3 a la carte events per week that you need to book by 7am (only 35 spots and it fills very quick) the day BEFORE. We enjoyed the steak night with grilled shrimp, tbone, chicken, corn on the cob, followed by special coffees, special ice cream dessert etc. Nice meal. I have enjoyed much better ala carte at AI in the Dominican Rep. but this was just fine.

Activities: Tennis; big plus!! 8 newly painted fenced courts. Free good quality rental racquets and balls. Golf. Driving range with free loaner clubs. 30 pesos for a bucket of balls. BAD: went to hit some balls and told "no golf balls today" ?? Deck shuffleboard, foosball, basketball court, beach volleyball, gym (thumbs up by friends that used it), soccer field, dance lessons, art studio, etc.
BIG PLUS: Tequila tasting/history course hosted by Jesus (Maeva head bartender). This 1.5 hour course was fantastic and totally educational and fun (6 shots of tequila/mescal = no pain).

SHOWS, ATMOSPHERE, KIDS, ETC: Nightly performance in the THEATRO by staff. Usual cheesy All Inclusive themes like Riverdance, but hey I gotta hand it to these guys/girls, they really try for amateurs, and the ones I watched were entertaining. Show leader is Phil, from New Brunswick of all places.
Atmosphere is lively, but peaceful. Not a huge megawatt resort. No lineups except for ala carte. No loud music blasting every minute of the day (music is at a comfortable level). However, I am sick of "the Chihauhau song" and "follow the leader" is still stuck in my head!
Kids: not very many families with screaming, barfing children at this place all though they have a kids club, and 2 sizable wading pools. This was nice! There was maybe 4 families with kids under 8 here. People from the Copacabana that stopped in to our resort said they wished they were staying here because there place was extremely noisy (music etc) and lots of kids.
Had a fun "casino" night with poker, black jack, roulette hosted by staff (we were given poker chips to play with). Winners of most chips got prizes. I think the thing was rigged - some guy that always stays there somehow won 4x the amount of chips of anyone else and no one saw him win it at any game?

The BAD: Part of the resort is closed for renovations, but apparently is sinking (closed forever?). Noticed a seizmic monitor attached to a crack in the wall on the part of the resort that is open so I have to wonder about this?? However this is a good thing in a way, because the resort is nice and quiet, not like places with 1000 rooms (Barcelo and Copacabana are up the beach about 1-2km).
Rooms are musty and bathroom area is not too well designed, especially the toilet area. But hey, how much time do you spend in your room? There was a hot-water problem in the section one the resort that friends was staying in (which was fixed after 3 days of plumbers working on it), but we had no shortage of hot hot water every day.
There is a picturesque lagoon running all through the resort that separates the rooms from the beach. What this means is a bit of a walk from rooms to the beach, and it was a little far from our room in the COBA area to the hub of the resort. Also, all of us were on our honeymoon (got married in sept, oct, and aug), and resort did nothing special for us even though we showed them our marriage certificate when we checked in. Resort should get rid of the two miserable German women working at the front desk left over from Robinson Club era.

Anyway, bottom line...i don't think it is a 4.5 star resort, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the reviews i read. We all enjoyed it and would return. I would rate it closer to 3.5-4 stars, but like anything it depends on what you are looking for and what you expect and what you paid.

Feel free to post with any questions!
Wally

superwally · 01-19-2004

I just wanted to correct that the beach we were on is Xpu-Ha, not Xel-Ha.

12-13-2003	#1 (permalink)
superwally lost on fifth Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: London, Canada Posts: 10	Robinson Club aka Royal Maeva Tulum Has anyone stayed here lately? A good deal is being offered for 1 week in January for this place that would fit our budget. Hoping to go with 2 other couples. I would appreciate good/bad feedback, best part or wing of the hotel to stay at. Has it changed for better or worse since ownership switch? Any horror stories to report? Thanks, Wally London, Canada

01-19-2004	#4 (permalink)
superwally lost on fifth Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: London, Canada Posts: 10	just returned from Club Maeva; pretty good place Stayed at Club Maeva from Jan 10-17 with 2 other couples. Reasonably priced (got a deal). Only holds about 250 people because 1/3 of resort "closed for renovations" ; it apparently is sinking. Seems to be in an improvement phase since Maeva resorts bought the former Robinson Club. On our last day, about 300 brand new mattresses showed up and were being replaced. Everyday, workers were repainting stuff around the resort. Las Palapas beach bar/restaurant was getting a new floor. Best features: The beach and the food, and the low-key atmosphere. The resort is located on the south edge Xel-Ha beach; heard there was problems last year with rocky beach but it was perfect on the wide beach in front of our resort. It is rocky on the far side of the pier ; but there is good snorkelling there so it is not an issue as long as you just snorkel over there (no beach). There are patches of reef off-shore which attract fish, but you can run from the sand into the surf safely just about anywhere. A guy walking down our beach from Moon Palace said that we had the best beach he had seen in Mexico? His was rocky. Food was pretty good. There are two buffets. One is upstairs within the main building and has a variety of nightly features. Fair amount of variety but you can count on your favourites most nights. Second buffet is at The Palapas beach bar. One day the buffet was held outside including fresh grilled fish, and pizza cooked in the stone oven. Pizza was available everyday. Palapas buffet was more modest but you didn't have to dress up since it was right by the beach. You could get fresh grilled stuff like burgers and fries here if your tastes are more tame. There are 3 a la carte events per week that you need to book by 7am (only 35 spots and it fills very quick) the day BEFORE. We enjoyed the steak night with grilled shrimp, tbone, chicken, corn on the cob, followed by special coffees, special ice cream dessert etc. Nice meal. I have enjoyed much better ala carte at AI in the Dominican Rep. but this was just fine. Activities: Tennis; big plus!! 8 newly painted fenced courts. Free good quality rental racquets and balls. Golf. Driving range with free loaner clubs. 30 pesos for a bucket of balls. BAD: went to hit some balls and told "no golf balls today" ?? Deck shuffleboard, foosball, basketball court, beach volleyball, gym (thumbs up by friends that used it), soccer field, dance lessons, art studio, etc. BIG PLUS: Tequila tasting/history course hosted by Jesus (Maeva head bartender). This 1.5 hour course was fantastic and totally educational and fun (6 shots of tequila/mescal = no pain). SHOWS, ATMOSPHERE, KIDS, ETC: Nightly performance in the THEATRO by staff. Usual cheesy All Inclusive themes like Riverdance, but hey I gotta hand it to these guys/girls, they really try for amateurs, and the ones I watched were entertaining. Show leader is Phil, from New Brunswick of all places. Atmosphere is lively, but peaceful. Not a huge megawatt resort. No lineups except for ala carte. No loud music blasting every minute of the day (music is at a comfortable level). However, I am sick of "the Chihauhau song" and "follow the leader" is still stuck in my head! Kids: not very many families with screaming, barfing children at this place all though they have a kids club, and 2 sizable wading pools. This was nice! There was maybe 4 families with kids under 8 here. People from the Copacabana that stopped in to our resort said they wished they were staying here because there place was extremely noisy (music etc) and lots of kids. Had a fun "casino" night with poker, black jack, roulette hosted by staff (we were given poker chips to play with). Winners of most chips got prizes. I think the thing was rigged - some guy that always stays there somehow won 4x the amount of chips of anyone else and no one saw him win it at any game? The BAD: Part of the resort is closed for renovations, but apparently is sinking (closed forever?). Noticed a seizmic monitor attached to a crack in the wall on the part of the resort that is open so I have to wonder about this?? However this is a good thing in a way, because the resort is nice and quiet, not like places with 1000 rooms (Barcelo and Copacabana are up the beach about 1-2km). Rooms are musty and bathroom area is not too well designed, especially the toilet area. But hey, how much time do you spend in your room? There was a hot-water problem in the section one the resort that friends was staying in (which was fixed after 3 days of plumbers working on it), but we had no shortage of hot hot water every day. There is a picturesque lagoon running all through the resort that separates the rooms from the beach. What this means is a bit of a walk from rooms to the beach, and it was a little far from our room in the COBA area to the hub of the resort. Also, all of us were on our honeymoon (got married in sept, oct, and aug), and resort did nothing special for us even though we showed them our marriage certificate when we checked in. Resort should get rid of the two miserable German women working at the front desk left over from Robinson Club era. Anyway, bottom line...i don't think it is a 4.5 star resort, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the reviews i read. We all enjoyed it and would return. I would rate it closer to 3.5-4 stars, but like anything it depends on what you are looking for and what you expect and what you paid. Feel free to post with any questions! Wally

01-19-2004	#5 (permalink)
superwally lost on fifth Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: London, Canada Posts: 10	correction I just wanted to correct that the beach we were on is Xpu-Ha, not Xel-Ha.

12-13-2003	#2 (permalink)
Shammy Moderator Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: The Joisey Shore Posts: 10,453	Here are some reviews you can read Wally. Looks like some people like it and some don't...the way it usually goes. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Peninsula.html I had clients come back in October and they said they were not crazy about it. Didn't say exactly why other than it was an OK deal for the money but they wished they would have spent a few $$ more and stayed someplace else. Guess it can't hurt to take the deal..as long as it's a really good deal.

12-19-2003	#3 (permalink)
superwally lost on fifth Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: London, Canada Posts: 10	thanks for the link shammy, lots of good info there. wally

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