Viva Wyndham Maya Hotel

First impression of the hotel as you enter by mini-bus is "oh" especially when we were the last drop off and the other hotels entrances were pretty spectacular - the Wyndham Maya was left a little in the shade!!

However, by the first morning we soon overcame the first impression and the grounds, staff, hospitality make up for the lack of a sumptuous reception. Though First Choice classed this as a 4 star hotel I would have put it at a 3 star and had I more information on the hotel I would not choose to stay here.

The rooms are not very spacious and storage space was very limited with everything on show - though it was kept very, very clean and the "towel animals" gave us something to smile about when we came in from hard day round the pool or beach!! A fridge would have been nice to have in room just so you could have some cold bottled water.

Food & drink was in abundance though in the brochure it did say 24 hours but what we didn't know is that you had to call room service after the bars closed to get this and most of the bars closed between midnight & 1.00am, and the disco leaves little to the imagination though when "3 couples from the UK took it over" and got disco played we were looked at as if to say who are they - but we were just holidaymakers having fun!! So Tracy, Steve, Yvonne & Peter wherever you are Tony & I (Julie) have the pictures and some great memories so thanks very much!!

Overall the resort of Playacar was the right choice for us - you can walk freely past all the other hotels (which are built round a golf course and there is a lovely little shopping centre that sells all kinds of mementos) or you could go into Playa del Carmen and have the life pestered out of you!!

Excursions and there are quite a few Xel-ha an ecological park was well the £50 each - all you can each & drink plus all your snorkeling, swimming or relaxing you can do it was my best day out of the whole fortnight and I wish we had gone back (I snorkeled for the first time and it was amazing). We swam with dolphins in Cancun but wasn't impressed with facilities in which they were kept & Cancun is very built with huge hotels and very American (I love America but if I wanted a holiday there I would have had one). Loads of shopping malls in Cancun so all you shopaholics can shop til your hearts content.

Staff were friendly & courteous and kept you entertained every day & night with shows games etc.

Overall I can honestly say that hubby & me had a fantastic holiday and would go back someday though we would pick another hotel with a few more facilities.

Clean and friendly hotel in Playacar. Having travelled to nearby Playa Del Carmen, I was delighted to be staying in Playacar.

Staff were very pleasant and never looked for a tip.

The Wyndham Maya is a great centre for various sightseeing trips. We went to Xcaret and did the dolphin swim and underwater walk with the bubble on our heads. In the evening at Xcaret there is a big show in the amphitheatre well worth seeing. Also went to Chichen Itza - impressive, but it was very hot with very little shade.

This area has beautiful sea - turquoise in colour, quite choppy and the beaches are golden. The hotels look after the beach and make sure it is always clean.

We joined the Wyndham Club a year before we went, but it did us no good and we did not get any special treatment.

The hotel food in the Terrace restaurant was excellent. A great variety to suit everyone.

Entertainment consisted of a nightly show put on by the staff. Although not all the staff have dancing backgrounds (some are sports instructors) they work their butts off and the end result is usually very good. They tend to do their version of big musicals such as Chicago or do a show on a pop artists music such as Madonna or Michael Jackson. All the music is mimed to, but it is still entertaining.

In the reception bar most nights there was a guitarist/singer.

One thing I did not like about the hotel was the time share sellers. They work for Wyndham, which have other hotels and time shares around the Caribbean. There are usually three of them and they are based by the reception. They are like rotweillers and you have to be firm. Usually when we explained we were English and not American they gave up, realising that a 10 hour flight to a time share is not feasible.

I would definitely recommend this hotel but the weather when we went was too hot (May). I asked when was a more pleasant temperature and was told February.

We recently returned from a family vacation at the Viva Maya. We took our 2 children, 12 and 10.The kid's club is great!! We found the staff to be mostly friendly and accomodating. You get better service at the bar, stronger drinks, if you tip the bartender a few times. We only ate at the buffet,we found the food was very good with lots of variety. One night they had a lamb roasting on a spit outside. Another night, it was a Mexican theme,the room was decorated and the food was all Mexican. The Mexican coffee made hot in front of you was awesome. There was even a mariachi band playing!! There was no reserved seating, just show up and sit where ever you want to. The nightly entertainment was fun and good. We met lots of fellow Canadians. My husband took the kids deep sea fishing, we went to Tulum and Xel-ha (most excellent) and went shopping in Playa-del-Carmen, which is a short walk or taxi ride away. The things I think they need to improve upon are: The Beds!! They are rock hard, my back was very sore by the end of the week. There was lots to do in the daytime, but between supper and the nightly show, there was nothing to do. The TV only had 3 English speaking channels. The beer was very watery, as a results you make many trips to the bathroom. It would be nice if they served beer in a bottle, as well as having a room mini-bar.But I feel overall for the money, this is a good resort. It's not huge, which is great because you are really close to the beach and the pool at all times. It is not really fancy and snooty, just a really good place for a family vacation.

My boyfriend and I went to this resort for 7 days and that was not long enough! This was a perfect resort for us, I loved it! It is a smaller resort with only 3 restaurants ( which is kind of a pain to make reservations, but they all are) it was beautiful, VERY clean and had a wonderful staff who put on great shows everynight. The food is pretty good especially the snack bar by the pool. There were always activities going on too such as volleyball, soccer, salsa lessons, bingo,stretching class or aerobics. The pool is a little crowded and quite a few kids, but no bother because we were on the most beautiful beach all day long. Soft sand and crystal clear water, the best I've ever seen. It is also in a great spot in the town of Playacar and Playa del Carmen is only 10 minutes away. Here there is a street called fifth avenue that has many shops, restaurants, and bars. I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone!! It was an amazing time, I'm planning my next one !already!

just got back from the viva maya on sun march 2. the place was great, the food was very good, some other reviews did not like the food but the 5 of us that went thought it was very good. yes the marble around the pool got very slippery and while we were there a lady slipped and fractured her hip. the service was excellent from everyone who worked there. bit of a pain booking reservations for the restaurants. if you want kahaula shop around in playa we paid $8.00 us for the totem shaped bottle. blankets $5.00 us, jewelry? around the corner form senior frogs. by were you buy your ferry tickets to cozumel. take and use lots of SUNSCREEN. taxi ride from viva to playa $4.00 us but only 4 people per taxai.... have fun

Pool was great, though slippy, Food was generally good, Lunch buffet was excellent, Restaurants were ok though the booking rules are a pain (have to be up early to book). Animators/Kids club/Entertainers were the best I have come accross.Rooms very average, corridors need decoration, bed very hard, Air con is in need of an upgrade. Lovely beach, staff very friendly (not always in all-inclusive), town worth a look. Mexico more expensive than it should be. Overall we had a blast with 4 children (11-2).

First time at Viva Maya, I want to warn anyone wanting to travel to avoid. The food is TERRIBLE, it is the same below truck stop horror show every night. You will be left craving 7-11 food by the time you crawl out of this hell hole. My first meal back in Canada tasted like I was finally out of jail, Bill

My husband, two daughters (aged 13 and 7) and I spent 2 weeks at the Viva Maya this winter - Dec 26 to January 9, 2003. We LOVED it. The beach is beautiful, the staff warm, friendly and fantastic. The rooms are pretty average - but given the fact that we spent very little time there - it was not an issue. The whole complex, including the rooms, is very clean, very well maintained and well cared for. The size of the resort was perfect for us - with only about 400 rooms, it is a nice size. If you're looking for a large, elaborate resort this is not the place for you. If you're looking for a smaller, quieter resort you will love it. We loved that the pool and rooms were very close to the beach. There are other resorts in the area where you would be taking a good hike each day to get to the beach. The staff are fun and friendly. The nightly shows were excellent. The food was good - not out of this world, but always something different and everyone could always find something to their tastes (pasta bar and desserts were especially good). It's a great family resort, people having fun without wild, out of control "tourists". We would most definately return. It's a good value and affordable for travelling families.

we just returned from the VivaMaya on February 13, 2003. The rooms were ok, the beach was nice, but crowded, and the food was horrible. i think they served the same food for every meal. Much of the food we jokingly referred to as mystery food. it's bad when airline food tastes good in comparison. The fruit should have been ripe and it was kind of hit and miss whether it actually was.The room was adequate, nothing fancy, but fine. The staff people were not very friendly, they didn't seem happy. Quite a contrast to the staff at the Iberostar where we stayed last year.Most of the beach chairs were reserved early in the morning although nobody used them for most of the day. I would not return to the Viva Maya or recommend it to my friends. However, we knew a head of time that the food was bad, but the price was right (cheap).If you don't mind risking getting sick from the food and don't care what you eat, this is the place for you.

We stayed here last week for 8 days. It is a 4 star hotel (which basically means to me, no room service and no real fancy shows). I have stayed at 3, 4 and 5 stars. This one was clean, the staff was very nice, the food and everything was fine. In the evenings it was sweater and jeans weather, but during the day it was awesome. I go every June to Mexico and try a different hotel every time. There are a couple I will never go back to, but this is one I would stay at again if the price was good. I paid $695.00 pp before taxes. That is an excellent price.The beach has approximately 8 hotels (6 of which are pretty upscale, but have way too many people)The beachfront is totally wonderful; I actually walked to Playa Del Carmen from the beach and also from the street out front of the hotels. There was more to do than you would think. It was as busy in the water there as it is in Cancun. Jet Ski rental, boogie boards, banana boat rides, hobie cats, parasails, you name it.