My fiance and I just returned from Cancun on May 29. I did an exchange through Interval International with the intent of us staying at Casa Maya for the entire week. I'm the planner, and take great pride in researching where we stay on vacations. Initially, we had reservations for Los Cabos, but due to demands at work, had to switch my weeks and the resort I booked in Cabo was no longer available, so in a short time span, chose Casa Maya. I read all of the reviews, and felt pretty ok with this place, until we got there. Some of the reviews spoke to the fact that it is an older hotel, but well maintained....which is true. Another said that if you are use to 5 star hotels, this is not the place for you....which is also true. I realize now that after staying there for one night (more on that later), I am a 5 star hotel type of gal.

Check-In - We got there around 3:00 and was told that our room was not ready. We found out later, that everyone who was checking in was told that same thing. I kept asking for an ocean view, and was told that they have to check to see if it's available. Now, if you know our room isn't ready, then you should know whether it's an ocean view. Plus, the hotel was not at full occupancy. They were sending everyone to the lobby (or bar), to wait for a pitch from the hotel timeshare staff. It was obvious they were struggling for business. We had to sit and listen to this woman (who also called my home in the US just to confirm that we were still coming), for over a hour. She kept going back and forth telling us that the room was still not ready. She even bought us a round of drinks. Finally, when we get to the room (which she goes with us), as soon as we got off of the elevator, we were hit with this moldy, musty smell. It was like when you leave clothes in the washer for days on end, she even noticed it. Once in the room, the smell did not go away. We did have a balcony with an ocean view (which was nice), but there were two full size beds (which we didn't like), plus they were very hard (which I didn't care for, but my fiance didn't mind), and the room was so outdated there was rust on the appliances. I requested another room, and was told that nothing could be done until the next day. In the meantime, we went to Walmart and was talked into going on a timeshare presentation the next day. When the person came to pick us up, she was not allowed to come on Casa Maya's property (she warned us of that the day before). As we were going through the lobby to meet her, we were literally harassed by the staff at Casa Maya telling us that it is illegal for them to show us another property, and we felt like we were being ganged up on. On top of that the staff was taking pictures of the person picking us up, and giving her the "finger". It was very annoying and an uncomfortable experience. We should be able to go where ever we want without scrutiny from the hotel staff.

We viewed Mayan Palace in Riviera Maya which was absolutely gorgeous. To make an already long story short, we didn't buy, but we worked it out where we could stay there, so we checked out of Casa Maya and was in a one bedroom suite at Mayan Palace for the next five nights. It has an 18 hole golf course, nine restaurants, and a pool that is unbelievable. They also have a spa and fantastic work-out room that overlooks the ocean. I'm not knocking Casa Maya, but it just wasn't the place for us.

This is our first trip to Cancun - and second to Mexico - Our first being Tulum in December. We found the Casa Maya very well run - all staff memebrs super friendly - the place exceedingly clean. A great value! The resort is not in the middle of a big commercial area ( a plus for us) but the bus service made it easy to get anywhere very inexpensively. We found most everyone eager to assist us if we had questions or needed directions - despite our lack of Spanish language. The restaurants at the resort were very reasonabley priced - we love the atmosphere of eating at the beach at night. Perfect!

Being at KM 5.5 on the Bike path gave us a great place to run and walk and we were close to old town and the new commercial area.

Cons - if you want to sit on the beach only there are no negatives. The beach is a rather large, quiet beach with shallow, mellow water activity - perfect for sunbathing and children. However, we like to walk miles on beaches and this was a bit difficult - but not impossible if you bring shoes. (we have been totally spoiled by the Aruba & Grand Caymen Beaches)

This hotel was extremely clean and in a great location. The room was super spacious and it had a kitchen which allowed us to save by cooking meals at times. The staff was super friendly and very courteous.

You can take the bus anywhere! The bus drivers are extremely friendly and speak English. They will guide you and let you know when your stop is coming up. No need to take taxis which charge too much. The bus is less than a US $1 ($7.50 Mexican Pesos). Dollar value is $13.50 pesos per dollar. Extremely easy on the bus.....can't get lost.

This was our first trip to Cancun and I am sure we will return again someday. We traded our timeshare week through Interval . Before we left I reserved transport to our hotel through USA Transfers. For about 100 dollars they picked us up at the airport, took us to Wal-Mart and brought us to the hotel. The fee also included a 2 for 1 entertainment card and our return trip to the airport. Their service was very good - I recommend them highly. We arrived at the hotel after 11 pm on Easter Sunday Night. Check in was simple and we went to our room. It was a studio - 2 double beds - bathroom, refrig, microwave. Bathroom was clean but the tiles were not in good shape. We had a decent view of the pool and beach from the window. However we noticed a very musty smell and the AC was not working. We called the front desk and someone came up to check the AC. The person did not speak English so we didn't know if it was fixed or not. By morning the AC was still not working. We then called the front desk - they told us they would send someone to repair it. Bottom line - we spent a great day on the beach and ended up changing rooms. We got a room that had a balcony with an awesome view. The bathroom was updated nicely and we also had a "mini" kitchen area . Now, had the AC been repaired in the 1st room - we would have been happy also - we just lucked out and got a better view. Casa Maya is a lovely resort and everyone there is always working hard. The beach is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! The water is calm and perfect for kids. The pools are nice but we spent 90% of our time at the beach area. I am glad I read the reviews here from March and Feb. I knew to go out early to claim my beach area. By 10 am all the spots were taken. I made sure I was there by 7:30am - I am up early so that was no prob for me. I loved sitting there reading a book and enjoying the early morning sun. The waiters were great during the day - bringing drinks and food - mixed drinks are weak though. I had a pretty good mojito - All in all We had a great week. Weather Beach Food and Drink. We went to 2 rest. within walking distance to casa maya - Capt. Charlies (seafood) and Dolce Pompeii (Italian) - both were good and reasonably priced. We ventured down the hotel zone on the bus. We ate at Crab House Caribe across from the JW Mariott - using the 2 for 1 entertainment card. We each had 2 drinks, appetizer, dinner (seafood) and dessert for about 100 dollars including the 20% tip we gave. We met alot of nice people at Casa Maya - from all over the USA ! The only sight seeing we did was xcaret- very expensive and to me not really worth the money. The snorkeling was not great - I have seen much better in Bermuda and Puerto Rico. However, the evening Mexican show was fabulous. The week flew by!