Margarita Del Sol Costa Maya

The rooms are old, the kitchen wasn't clean, and the beds were hard. It's a 25-minute drive from Mahahual, with 5 km of bad road. The sea was brown here, unlike in Mahahual center. Compared with other Mexican hotels I've stayed in, the price and quality didn't match.

This place is definitely somewhere to disconnect from everyday stress. The beach feels almost private since there aren't other hotels nearby, and you can rent a kayak for 3 hours for just 7 usd or 150 MXN total. Swimming among the fish and seeing them on the corals was amazing. The hotel is right across from the beach, so you fall asleep to the sound of the waves. Getting there takes about 15 minutes by car from downtown, so you'll need a car. The road is unpaved and full of potholes. There is a kitchen, but nothing is provided for cooking, not even salt, just tableware, a coffee maker, and similar items. The beach was dirty, with lots of trash like plastic bottles. We asked the host for tools to clean it ourselves, but she wouldn't lend them and said she'd clean it. It looked like she tidied a little, but as the pictures show, nothing had really been done. One plastic oil bottle stayed there for two days. More beach cleaning would be good.

We left because we couldn't deal with the smell or the awful customer service. The room smelled disgusting, and there were nasty stains on the bedsheets. They required a deposit to use the kitchen to make sure it was clean at checkout, but it was already greasy. When we raised it, the guy hid behind a door and said it was clean. The owner just said the booking was uncancellable. I asked them to look at it from our position, and she came back, after he slinked off, saying the sheets could have been cleaner and the smell was probably gas leaking. There wasn't an apology or any attempt to fix things. The beach was very dirty, though that's common in the area and admittedly not their fault. Some places do make an effort to clean their part. I'm sure they'll try to justify it, but I'd avoid this place unless you're the hardcore 'grin and bare it' type.

A great choice if you want somewhere peaceful right on the beach.