starryeyedinsf
11 Januari 2024
This place is extremely expensive and if you think about the discrepancy between what you are paying versus the average cost of living in the region it will shock you. Having said that, we had an amazing family vacation. The villas are exquisite, and the availability of biking trails throughout the property, coupled with the shady bike paths, made it really fun for my family of 4 (including 2 teens). We stayed 2 nights in a family villa. The highlights: - Each guest has their own bike, customized to his/her height (they send you a survey beforehand), parked at the villa and ready to go - The resort wasn't very full when we went even though it was the week before Christmas, which was nice as we never had to wait at restaurants, at the pool, for the padel court, etc. though it would have been nice if it was a bit livelier - The staff was usually very friendly, though maybe not operating at an international level of polish that one might find at a Four Seasons (though this resort is pricier than many Four Seasons we've stayed in!) - The nicer restaurant Ixim is truly unique and delicious, though again, extremely expensive even compared to the fine dining restaurants in Merida What can be improved: - Other than at Ixim, the food served at breakfast and at the casual restaurant by the pool was underwhelming, and I found myself thinking even a mid-tier resort in Cabo like the Hyatt has better food - The padel court was deserted and not very well-kept, it seemed like the staff wasn't really focused on customer service, so whenever we went it felt more like going to a friend's panel court than a resort court with service (someone to handle beverages, towels, etc). We couldn't figure out how to turn on the lights and there was no way of getting a staff member there other than to bike back to the main reception area - The spa was fine, with a cool "Mayan ceremony," but at almost $1000 for my service I was surprised that the steam room was out of service and the hot tub had floating leaves and bugs in it - The Cacao ceremony experience at almost $400 for 3 people was interesting, but the explanation was only in Spanish so my teens had to translate using their high-school Spanish. This was not clearly indicated when we booked the experience, so we felt like we missed out on a lot of information. It was mainly watching her make the chocolate with limited participation. Overall, we had a wonderful time because of the gorgeous villa, the excellent communication with the villa staff over WhatsApp, and we made the most of the bikes and padel court. Two nights felt like it was enough, we would have been bored at three nights, especially with the lackluster food.
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