Playa Natural

The room was very clean, the AC worked great, and the security gate made us feel safe. Staff were friendly, quick to respond, spoke great English, and were very helpful. When our key wouldn't open the office, someone helped us get in. The mini fridge made a loud noise every now and then. The shower water was warm, just not as hot as I'd like.

The best part of our stay was checking out. I'd already posted a review on Booking about how miserable a choice this place was for our vacation, and then saw their response there, which was so full of lies that it showed how shady and unscrupulous Maya Vacanze Playa Natural is, on top of being incompetently run. I'll post this here and elsewhere to help keep the same thing from happening to other people. How this place manages a passable rating is one of life's greater mysteries. Unless you're the Better Business Bureau, there's no reason to spend time considering it. They use “boutique” in the description to excuse infrastructure that predates the Mayan civilization, which is probably how it got its name. The first night, the world's oldest refrigerator groaned and rattled all night. The next night, the toilet plumbing gave out completely and toilet water seeped into the hallway. Reception barely exists, so getting immediate help to avoid sleeping beside smelly toilet water was hopeless. Check-in was the worst and shadiest process we had during a month in Mexico. We had to pay extra for late check-in, yet the guy kept complaining that it had interrupted his sleep. He also tried to overcharge us when we paid in dollars without saying so. Luckily, a bank notification about the pending charge tipped me off. The place responded to my Booking review with lies that are easy to disprove, instead of making improvements, so I'll answer those claims here too. They said we thought we'd booked an all-inclusive and that I had to explain this to my “wife.” That's hilarious fiction. I had thought the hotel staff were just incompetent, but apparently they're great liars and fiction writers too. The story also reflects their prehistoric mindset, where the “wife” has no say in decisions. They also claimed we arrived at 2am and complained about the late fee. The time can be checked online. The receptionist was the one complaining the whole time that we'd disturbed his sleep, even though we'd told them our arrival time many times in advance. And we never complained about the $5 fee. The lies keep flowing, much like the leaking toilet water. Then they said they “feel sorry” for my wife. What a hilariously bad comeback. An 8-year-old could do better. They should stick to running hotels instead of making lousy, irrelevant retorts, though we already know how incompetent they are at running hotels.

The owners were so nice, and we had a great time. It was our first time in Mexico, so we didn't know what to expect, but the place was perfect. It's about 10 minutes from the beach, away from the noise, with free parking and a few restaurants in the neighborhood.

I've been to Playa del Carmen plenty of times, and this is easily my favorite place to stay. Juliano was friendly and accommodating, went out of his way to make things enjoyable, and moved things around so I could extend my stay. I'm heading back to PDC and will definitely stay here again. Great service and a quality place, close enough to attractions.