Mayan Palace rooms - Page 2

Dagen · 02-28-2002

We also didn't have a problem with people entering our room except for the maid twice daily. It sounds like you didn't have quite as good of an experience as we did Linda.

shamalama · 02-28-2002

Katrina,

Great to see your response! We also are looking forward to not being at a resort with a million people and we plan on doing a lot sightseeing, so I think we will have no problem with the place. Thanks so much for your info!! You have really been such a help (I bet you never knew your reports (and your pictures) would become so valuable!!) We don't go until April 27th but I will post a report when we return. It is so helpful for people who are in need of information.

Thanks again.

Katrina G · 02-28-2002

Shamalama,

Thanks for the lovely comments. I'm glad if I have been able to help. This board was certainly an invaluable help to me before my trip. Between finding out info about the Mayan Palace, good places to eat, how to buy a hammock, etc. I don't know what I would have done without it. (I know I annoyed the heck out of the hammock guy because I whipped out the report I had printed off this site and wouldn't buy one until I had gone step by step through it. :smile: )

Speaking of hammocks....James, do you know of a hammock "factory" where you can buy hammocks for really cheap? A taxi driver, Carlos, was telling me about it. He said it is across the street from a school (I believe it was on Constituentes) and has a very small store in the front. He said the large cotton hammock I bought for $300 pesos would cost around $150 pesos. He said it is a very local place. I ran out of time before I went looking for it. Jorge, from the Mayan Palace, also told me a great place to buy nice hammocks for cheap is the prison. He said they sell them there. He was going to price them for me on his day off (Thursday) but I forgot to ask him about it on Friday, and I had to leave on Saturday.

Katrina

Linda · 02-28-2002

Quote:

On 2002-02-28 15:47, Dagen wrote:
We also didn't have a problem with people entering our room except for the maid twice daily. It sounds like you didn't have quite as good of an experience as we did Linda.

Hey everyone, slow down, I didn't say that we didn't enjoy our trip! We did have a good time, anytime in Mx. (one of my favorite places in the world), is better than being at work or in a cold midwest winter. Playa del Carmen is a quaint and lovely little town, we just had the unfortunate experience of bad weather (which is Mother Nature's decision) and a few unpleasant things that happened to us while at the Palace.

The problems with people in and out of your rooms was ongoing until we finally said no, come back and fix whatever after we are gone please. By nature I am a very easy going and laid back person, but when a maintenance man is in my room twice while I am in the shower, (and especially after he heard me call out my husband's name because I thought that it was him), this was a little bit too much for me. I actually stuck my head out of the shower the 2nd time and there he was, right in the hallway by the entry door. Needless to say, I was a bit stunned. Now, normally I would never call a hotel manager for anything, but after the second time and especially after the man heard my voice and knew that I was in the shower, he had no right to be in my room, and as someone here stated, he should have left immediately. He did not, so my husband called down to the desk and the manager Elias came up and talked with us, apologized of course and agreed that it never should have happened. The other room "happenings" were for new phones,(twice they brought us a new phone when there wasn't anything wrong with the first one), leaky sinks,light fixtures, etc. but after the 3rd time in one day, we had to call a time out.

By the way, I do not have a child (not anymore anyway), although our 58 yr. old friend could have passed for one last week, sorry if I somehow misled you all on that one. And I agree with Katrina about the shuttle into PDC, if only there were one, we paid many different fares for taxis during our 2 wks., anywhere from 100-170 pesos into Playa and 120-150 returning to the palace. We also took the bus many times but it wasn't always reliable coming back, one night we waited for 40 min. and then were told that it wasn't coming and they refunded our money.

We of course went to Cozumel on the ferry (twice) and did some snorkeling at Chakanaab Park, that was great. Our friends went on the day trip to Chicken Itza and pronounced it awesome. So, please don't think that we did not have a good time, we did but I am glad that I knew ahead of time about the construction, etc. And I am thankful to you all who helped me out on this board before we left, just trying to return the favors by giving you a "heads up" on a few things.

_________________
Linda

[ This Message was edited by: Linda on 2002-02-28 21:50 ]

Linda · 02-28-2002

[quote]
On 2002-02-28 11:37, Munichchick wrote:
Linda! Thank you so much for the room number information. Since we will be in a Hotel Unit which number would you recommend as the best location?

Hey, are you getting excited? In answer to a couple of your questions; you can try to get a room overlooking the pool but only if you are in bldg. #1 and some of #2. And then it is only a "view" if you crank your head to the left. On the jungle side there is no parking lot, just a small service road next to the fence and the landscaping is still being done out there. But it is a lot more peaceful on that side and the songs from the various birds are quite wonderful to listen to. Our friends had the condo unit and we had the hotel, our room # was 2018 (coincidentally, right under Katrina's room from her stay), and it was fine, our view was the parking lot, a little bit of the pool, and of course the big old eyesore of a bldg. that is either the new lobby or the sales/additional restaurants and shops bldg. (we heard different responses depending on who you talked to). You will see when you get there what I mean by "eyesore", it's a darn shame that that bldg. was positioned where it is, it literally blocks the view of the rest of the pool and the sea, many people were saying "what were they thinking?" But we did spend time on our balcony (the room chairs will fit out there) at night and sometimes in the morning.

As for which room #'s, again try for the 2nd or 3rd floor. And for hotel unit #'s, for ex., 2002 would be a condo unit and 2004 a hotel unit, and then on down the line, every other room is one or the other. Same on the jungle side, 2001 would be condo, 2003 hotel. I would take anything say from 2007 or 2008 to 2025 or 26 that was a hotel unit. Bldg. # 3 is still not too far from the pool, but anything beyond that, you are really in for a long walk to and from the pool area and restaurant.

A couple of hints: we used our luggage rack from the closet to dry swimwear, etc. out on the balcony, things just blew right off the balcony otherwise. It was quite humid and took awhile for things to dry, bring 2 or more suits if you have them.

And if you are in one of the first couple of bldgs. you can have your cabbie bring you back to the back parking lot, just look for the dirt road with the sign that says "ventas", although I think that the "t" is missing, and have him make a quick left, it will save you a long walk back from the main desk.

By the way, I would not want room 2002 or 2004, they are right under the "models" and there is constant traffic in and out of those rooms all day, everyday.

Hope this helps!

Munichchick · 03-01-2002

I just spoke to the Reservations Department a the Resort and the guy was very nice. He said they have 9 buildings finished now and he noted on our reservation that we wanted to be in a quiet location. He said he will make sure we get a nice quiet room and we can let him know which building we like when we get there after we take a look around. I think that is pretty good customer service.

shamalama · 03-01-2002

Linda,
Thanks so much for your latest post. For all of us that haven't gone yet, all information is greatly appreciated!

Merk · 03-02-2002

Linda-Do they have irons available in the rooms? My t-shirts are pretty wrinkled but why iron them when they'll be crammed in a suitcase! I've packed my water shoes as I have a fear of stepping on unfriendly sea urchins. Also, do they have bottled beer and, if so, how much do they soak you for one?
Six days and counting :smile: Thanks again for your reports!

_________________
Anne

[ This Message was edited by: Merk on 2002-03-03 00:08 ]

Linda · 03-03-2002

[quote]
On 2002-03-02 21:15, Merk wrote:
Linda-Do they have irons available in the rooms? Six days and counting :smile: Thanks again for your reports!

_________________
Anne

Anne, you silly girl, so you're the one who they put the irons and ironing boards in the closet for! We were all wondering. Anyway, yes, a board and iron. By the way all, if I forgot to mention it before, there is a self service laundry, I believe it is behind bldg. #4 or 5. It's a small round orange colored bldg. It is open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily ( I think) and it costs 70 pesos for a load, includes wash, dry, soap, and softener. I believe it was another 30 pesos to have an attendant do it for you.

Cruise Ships also go into Cozumel daily but the big days seem to be Tues. and Wed., we counted 6 on the Tues. that we were there.

The bathrooms are great , I think that we all established that before but here are a couple of other things. There are hair dryers on the wall, good ones, but if you use a diffuser like me, it won't work with them. The toilet is in a separate room all its own, kind of nice really. And there is a pull out clothesline in the shower, bring your own clothespins, but NO bathroom exhaust fan, we put that on our suggestion form. It makes for a really humid bathroom after a shower. But boy would I love to have a bathroom like that at home!

Merk and Munichchick--I know you are leaving this coming Fri. If you have any troubles while there, my recommendation is to speak with Elias (prounounced E-lee-as) the front desk manager directly, he seemed to really be the man in charge and eager to please.

Hope we have a few more chances to chat this week before you leave.

Dagen · 03-04-2002

Anne,
In addition to Linda's last post, they do have bottled as well as canned beer. not cheap though, worked out to around $5 each after tax+tip....compared to $1 in PDC.

[ This Message was edited by: Dagen on 2002-03-04 13:18 ]

Munichchick · 03-04-2002

Thanks for the additional info Linda! Can't wait to get there. Only 2 more days at work now. Yeah!!!! I hope I will not need a sweater at night and hope for those balmy tropical nights.

Linda · 03-04-2002

Munichchick--bring along that light sweater or whatever, I sure was glad that I had thrown mine in at the last minute, in my 20 odd yrs. of going to Mx. only one other time did I need one and that was in Mazatlan, many yrs. ago. Better to have one than not, we saw a lot of people wearing those lightweight gauzy "jackets" that you can buy in all of the T-shirt shops during our 2 wk. stay, obviously most people hadn't counted on cooler weather at night.

Hope that when you and Merk meet up that both bars at the pool will finally be open, there was only the one while we were there. We thought that the second one was about to open one day, they actually had glasses and juice and all of the essentials in it and then the next day, it was empty again and they were working on its roof! Where are you staying for your first couple of nights? Did you not get the MP for the whole week or did you just book it this way?

Merk · 03-04-2002

OHMYGOSH! $5 a beer! Think I'll try to sneak in my own - shame on me :sad:
I don't mind spending a few bucks on a good drink but that's nuts!

Linda-I plan to head over to Cozumel on Sunday. I've read other posts that there are no cruise ships in port that day. Did you do Chankanaab? I'm debating between that and Dzul-ha. I've never been to Cozumel and am really looking forward to it.

I've rented a car for the week and am beginning to think that it was a pretty smart move. I just hate dealing with the whole "hurry up and wait" business. I'd like to spend some time exploring the coast south of PDC.

My original plan was to bring my twin boys but the airfare is just not dropping in price! Both MLT and Transglobal have a fair amount of availability which would make me think they would be lowering their prices. :sad:
So...the boys will spend the week with some very jealous family friends. The only thing they've requested are some seashells. Cool, I can do that! Wonder if those conch shells are still there? :smile:

My flight leaves Mpls. early Friday morning so I may have a few more questions before I head out.

This board has been so helpful-Thanks all!

_________________
Anne

[ This Message was edited by: Merk on 2002-03-04 23:25 ]

Munichchick · 03-05-2002

We did get MP for the whole week but we want to be in town for while!!!! We are staying at Corto Maltes in a Cabana right at the beach with my favorite Palapa Roof and hammock. And if we don't like MP at all we will only stay there 3 nights and find a nice little Cabana somewhere else along the Coast. Even than we still had a good deal at MP. But who knows we might like the place and stay. There is no way we are paying US$5 for a beer. We are going to the store before we check in and buy a styrofoam cooler and fill it with our favorite liquers and mineral water. This will be mostly for before dinner drinks while we get ready and we will not spend that much time at the resort anyway since there are lots of places we love and have much lower prices.

Linda · 03-05-2002

Linda-I plan to head over to Cozumel on Sunday. I've read other posts that there are no cruise ships in port that day. Did you do Chankanaab? I'm debating between that and Dzul-ha. I've never been to Cozumel and am really looking forward to it.

Merk, I love Cozumel and Chakanaab. It is quite a beautiful little spot, $10 admission fee and you can rent a locker for about $3 to put your stuff in and then snorkel or whatever and not have to worry about your things. They also have showers (bring a little bar of soap with you) just to clean up enough to go do whatever else you want for the rest of the day. They have dolphins and you can swim with them (for a price, quite high though I think)and a nice beach with palapas, a restaurant/bar and snorkel rental on site. And no, I don't think that the ships come in on Sun. By the way, someone told us that if you are at Chakanaab early, you may not have to pay the entrance fee, the attendants don't get there til later.

If you didn't read Munichchicks post, do what she is doing, go to Chedraui or San Francisco's and pick up a small styrofoam cooler and then buy your Dos Equis in town and keep them in your room, we always do that on vacation, and then just try to give the cooler away to someone that we meet who is staying on for the next week or so.

Let me know if you need anything else before Fri. I am off tomorrow (Wed) and will check the board once or twice during the day. Linda

p.s. we have never done this but met a couple this year that rented a car on Cozumel and then drove to the other side of the island after visiting Chakanaab, they said it was wonderful. Next time!

03-02-2002	#23 (permalink)
Merk very sparkly Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Bemidji, Minnesota Posts: 28	Linda-Do they have irons available in the rooms? My t-shirts are pretty wrinkled but why iron them when they'll be crammed in a suitcase! I've packed my water shoes as I have a fear of stepping on unfriendly sea urchins. Also, do they have bottled beer and, if so, how much do they soak you for one? Six days and counting :smile: Thanks again for your reports! _________________ Anne <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Merk on 2002-03-03 00:08 ]</font>

03-04-2002	#25 (permalink)
Dagen toe in water Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Posts: 40	Anne, In addition to Linda's last post, they do have bottled as well as canned beer. not cheap though, worked out to around $5 each after tax+tip....compared to $1 in PDC. <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Dagen on 2002-03-04 13:18 ]</font>

03-04-2002	#28 (permalink)
Merk very sparkly Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Bemidji, Minnesota Posts: 28	OHMYGOSH! $5 a beer! Think I'll try to sneak in my own - shame on me :sad: I don't mind spending a few bucks on a good drink but that's nuts! Linda-I plan to head over to Cozumel on Sunday. I've read other posts that there are no cruise ships in port that day. Did you do Chankanaab? I'm debating between that and Dzul-ha. I've never been to Cozumel and am really looking forward to it. I've rented a car for the week and am beginning to think that it was a pretty smart move. I just hate dealing with the whole "hurry up and wait" business. I'd like to spend some time exploring the coast south of PDC. My original plan was to bring my twin boys but the airfare is just not dropping in price! Both MLT and Transglobal have a fair amount of availability which would make me think they would be lowering their prices. :sad: So...the boys will spend the week with some very jealous family friends. The only thing they've requested are some seashells. Cool, I can do that! Wonder if those conch shells are still there? :smile: My flight leaves Mpls. early Friday morning so I may have a few more questions before I head out. This board has been so helpful-Thanks all! _________________ Anne <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Merk on 2002-03-04 23:25 ]</font>

02-28-2002	#16 (permalink)
Dagen toe in water Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Posts: 40	We also didn't have a problem with people entering our room except for the maid twice daily. It sounds like you didn't have quite as good of an experience as we did Linda.

02-28-2002	#17 (permalink)
shamalama lost on fifth Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 10	Katrina, Great to see your response! We also are looking forward to not being at a resort with a million people and we plan on doing a lot sightseeing, so I think we will have no problem with the place. Thanks so much for your info!! You have really been such a help (I bet you never knew your reports (and your pictures) would become so valuable!!) We don't go until April 27th but I will post a report when we return. It is so helpful for people who are in need of information. Thanks again.

02-28-2002	#18 (permalink)
Katrina G very sparkly Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 34	Shamalama, Thanks for the lovely comments. I'm glad if I have been able to help. This board was certainly an invaluable help to me before my trip. Between finding out info about the Mayan Palace, good places to eat, how to buy a hammock, etc. I don't know what I would have done without it. (I know I annoyed the heck out of the hammock guy because I whipped out the report I had printed off this site and wouldn't buy one until I had gone step by step through it. :smile: ) Speaking of hammocks....James, do you know of a hammock "factory" where you can buy hammocks for really cheap? A taxi driver, Carlos, was telling me about it. He said it is across the street from a school (I believe it was on Constituentes) and has a very small store in the front. He said the large cotton hammock I bought for $300 pesos would cost around $150 pesos. He said it is a very local place. I ran out of time before I went looking for it. Jorge, from the Mayan Palace, also told me a great place to buy nice hammocks for cheap is the prison. He said they sell them there. He was going to price them for me on his day off (Thursday) but I forgot to ask him about it on Friday, and I had to leave on Saturday. Katrina

02-28-2002	#20 (permalink)
Linda toe in water Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Oakdale, Mn. Posts: 51	[quote] On 2002-02-28 11:37, Munichchick wrote: Linda! Thank you so much for the room number information. Since we will be in a Hotel Unit which number would you recommend as the best location? Hey, are you getting excited? In answer to a couple of your questions; you can try to get a room overlooking the pool but only if you are in bldg. #1 and some of #2. And then it is only a "view" if you crank your head to the left. On the jungle side there is no parking lot, just a small service road next to the fence and the landscaping is still being done out there. But it is a lot more peaceful on that side and the songs from the various birds are quite wonderful to listen to. Our friends had the condo unit and we had the hotel, our room # was 2018 (coincidentally, right under Katrina's room from her stay), and it was fine, our view was the parking lot, a little bit of the pool, and of course the big old eyesore of a bldg. that is either the new lobby or the sales/additional restaurants and shops bldg. (we heard different responses depending on who you talked to). You will see when you get there what I mean by "eyesore", it's a darn shame that that bldg. was positioned where it is, it literally blocks the view of the rest of the pool and the sea, many people were saying "what were they thinking?" But we did spend time on our balcony (the room chairs will fit out there) at night and sometimes in the morning. As for which room #'s, again try for the 2nd or 3rd floor. And for hotel unit #'s, for ex., 2002 would be a condo unit and 2004 a hotel unit, and then on down the line, every other room is one or the other. Same on the jungle side, 2001 would be condo, 2003 hotel. I would take anything say from 2007 or 2008 to 2025 or 26 that was a hotel unit. Bldg. # 3 is still not too far from the pool, but anything beyond that, you are really in for a long walk to and from the pool area and restaurant. A couple of hints: we used our luggage rack from the closet to dry swimwear, etc. out on the balcony, things just blew right off the balcony otherwise. It was quite humid and took awhile for things to dry, bring 2 or more suits if you have them. And if you are in one of the first couple of bldgs. you can have your cabbie bring you back to the back parking lot, just look for the dirt road with the sign that says "ventas", although I think that the "t" is missing, and have him make a quick left, it will save you a long walk back from the main desk. By the way, I would not want room 2002 or 2004, they are right under the "models" and there is constant traffic in and out of those rooms all day, everyday. Hope this helps!

03-01-2002	#21 (permalink)
Munichchick life=playa Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Corona, California Posts: 857	I just spoke to the Reservations Department a the Resort and the guy was very nice. He said they have 9 buildings finished now and he noted on our reservation that we wanted to be in a quiet location. He said he will make sure we get a nice quiet room and we can let him know which building we like when we get there after we take a look around. I think that is pretty good customer service.

03-01-2002	#22 (permalink)
shamalama lost on fifth Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 10	Linda, Thanks so much for your latest post. For all of us that haven't gone yet, all information is greatly appreciated!

03-03-2002	#24 (permalink)
Linda toe in water Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Oakdale, Mn. Posts: 51	[quote] On 2002-03-02 21:15, Merk wrote: Linda-Do they have irons available in the rooms? Six days and counting :smile: Thanks again for your reports! _________________ Anne Anne, you silly girl, so you're the one who they put the irons and ironing boards in the closet for! We were all wondering. Anyway, yes, a board and iron. By the way all, if I forgot to mention it before, there is a self service laundry, I believe it is behind bldg. #4 or 5. It's a small round orange colored bldg. It is open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily ( I think) and it costs 70 pesos for a load, includes wash, dry, soap, and softener. I believe it was another 30 pesos to have an attendant do it for you. Cruise Ships also go into Cozumel daily but the big days seem to be Tues. and Wed., we counted 6 on the Tues. that we were there. The bathrooms are great , I think that we all established that before but here are a couple of other things. There are hair dryers on the wall, good ones, but if you use a diffuser like me, it won't work with them. The toilet is in a separate room all its own, kind of nice really. And there is a pull out clothesline in the shower, bring your own clothespins, but NO bathroom exhaust fan, we put that on our suggestion form. It makes for a really humid bathroom after a shower. But boy would I love to have a bathroom like that at home! Merk and Munichchick--I know you are leaving this coming Fri. If you have any troubles while there, my recommendation is to speak with Elias (prounounced E-lee-as) the front desk manager directly, he seemed to really be the man in charge and eager to please. Hope we have a few more chances to chat this week before you leave.

03-04-2002	#26 (permalink)
Munichchick life=playa Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Corona, California Posts: 857	Thanks for the additional info Linda! Can't wait to get there. Only 2 more days at work now. Yeah!!!! I hope I will not need a sweater at night and hope for those balmy tropical nights.

03-04-2002	#27 (permalink)
Linda toe in water Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Oakdale, Mn. Posts: 51	Munichchick--bring along that light sweater or whatever, I sure was glad that I had thrown mine in at the last minute, in my 20 odd yrs. of going to Mx. only one other time did I need one and that was in Mazatlan, many yrs. ago. Better to have one than not, we saw a lot of people wearing those lightweight gauzy "jackets" that you can buy in all of the T-shirt shops during our 2 wk. stay, obviously most people hadn't counted on cooler weather at night. Hope that when you and Merk meet up that both bars at the pool will finally be open, there was only the one while we were there. We thought that the second one was about to open one day, they actually had glasses and juice and all of the essentials in it and then the next day, it was empty again and they were working on its roof! Where are you staying for your first couple of nights? Did you not get the MP for the whole week or did you just book it this way?

03-05-2002	#29 (permalink)
Munichchick life=playa Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Corona, California Posts: 857	We did get MP for the whole week but we want to be in town for while!!!! We are staying at Corto Maltes in a Cabana right at the beach with my favorite Palapa Roof and hammock. And if we don't like MP at all we will only stay there 3 nights and find a nice little Cabana somewhere else along the Coast. Even than we still had a good deal at MP. But who knows we might like the place and stay. There is no way we are paying US$5 for a beer. We are going to the store before we check in and buy a styrofoam cooler and fill it with our favorite liquers and mineral water. This will be mostly for before dinner drinks while we get ready and we will not spend that much time at the resort anyway since there are lots of places we love and have much lower prices.

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03-05-2002	#30 (permalink)
Linda toe in water Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Oakdale, Mn. Posts: 51	Linda-I plan to head over to Cozumel on Sunday. I've read other posts that there are no cruise ships in port that day. Did you do Chankanaab? I'm debating between that and Dzul-ha. I've never been to Cozumel and am really looking forward to it. Merk, I love Cozumel and Chakanaab. It is quite a beautiful little spot, $10 admission fee and you can rent a locker for about $3 to put your stuff in and then snorkel or whatever and not have to worry about your things. They also have showers (bring a little bar of soap with you) just to clean up enough to go do whatever else you want for the rest of the day. They have dolphins and you can swim with them (for a price, quite high though I think)and a nice beach with palapas, a restaurant/bar and snorkel rental on site. And no, I don't think that the ships come in on Sun. By the way, someone told us that if you are at Chakanaab early, you may not have to pay the entrance fee, the attendants don't get there til later. If you didn't read Munichchicks post, do what she is doing, go to Chedraui or San Francisco's and pick up a small styrofoam cooler and then buy your Dos Equis in town and keep them in your room, we always do that on vacation, and then just try to give the cooler away to someone that we meet who is staying on for the next week or so. Let me know if you need anything else before Fri. I am off tomorrow (Wed) and will check the board once or twice during the day. Linda p.s. we have never done this but met a couple this year that rented a car on Cozumel and then drove to the other side of the island after visiting Chakanaab, they said it was wonderful. Next time!