mberlew

Agreed. There were several criteria that all pointed to Fairmont - 1) all-inclusive option, 2) ~400 sq foot rooms, 3) pets allowed, 4) bikes/kayaks included, 5) ~$11 valet parking fee, 6) $30 resort charge for 2 people - the list goes on. Although when I was poking around the first day the sale went live on Jetsetter, they were charging ~$375/night for the all-inclusive option with ~$10/night in taxes, now that i'm checking again they are charging about $80 in taxes per night on top. So the discount vs normal rates (~$530 for my dates) was just cut in half. Hardly seems worth the hassle anymore for a non-refundable mystery hotel.

BeantownFlyer

The rooms are slightly larger and in my view the location is much more desirable.

correction - I read the OP too quickly - the Casita Suite is about double the size of the Beach Area Casita and is a lovely room. However I would probably opt for the Beach Area Casita - they are oversized (as large as 500+ sq ft) and the location is key, particularly if you are there during a holiday week when they are serving breakfast at the beach front restaurant. In any event being able to walk out to the pool and beach and back to the room is a big plus at this property, and my stays have always been beach area or oceanfront rooms or suites for that reason.

cdmca

Stay review August 2014

I've just completed a 3 night stay at the Fairmont Mayakoba over Labor Day weekend. It was a terrific experience, thanks to an amazing staff who seem to have mind-reading powers. That's how good they were.


Rooms: The rooms are sleek, luxurious and modern- much more so than the pictures suggest. There has been slight improvements since they took the "Expert photos" you might see on Tripadvisor. I actually stayed in room 803, a "Beach Area Casita" that is used in some of these photos. The room had improved color palate/paint (no red wall), updated chairs, new upholstery, accents and some new light fixtures. Beautiful and perfectly roomy for 2 guests at 500sq ft. I was afraid of a stuffy smell, being on the ground floor so close to the canals that permeate the property, but there was no such issue at all. The AC worked like a champ and you sure need it to given how hot it gets here. Thick wooden blinds function as blackout shades for sleeping in (this room faced west so morning sun wasn't a problem anyway). Water pressure in the shower is not the best, but adequate. I did not try the tub. Extremely comfortable bed, spotless high thread count sheets.


Food/Drink: Delicious overall and not too expensive for a resort!
El Puerto: (2 dinners) Best restaurant on the property. Monster sized appetizer portions (I am from LA), great quality fish. World class preparation, presentation and taste. Our waiter the first night had previously worked at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach and few other upscale OC restaurants. His service was top notch. I believe his name was Oscar (I forgot to write it down!). The only detractor of this restaurant is the pinkish color of the walls and the leafy indoor plants used along the ledge- does not mesh well for an upscale dining experience.
La Laguna: (3 breakfasts) Did 2 days a la carte, 1 day buffet. The buffet has a wide variety of offerings, both standard and exotic (for me), like lemon-cinnamon honey and huitlacoche (corn fungus?). Made to order quesadillas, omelets etc. Service is fully attentive but the a la carte items were slow to come out.
Las Brisas: (2 lunches) On the beach area. I did wish they had more Mexican dishes on the lunch menu (as I still can't get over the amazing seafood molcajete at Esperanza, Cabo). La Laguna does have a more Mexican menu for dinner that we did not get the chance to try. Next time!
(Bonus: We tried the Mexican restaurant at the Rosewood which was good and on par with Fairmont's restaurants.)

Beach: This is what makes this property. The beach by the Fairmont is wider, nicer than Banyan Tree or Rosewood. There are some kelp/seaweed issues but there is staff constantly collecting them as they wash ashore. A little rocky on the feet when going in the water, but the south end of the beach (near the presidential suite) is much smoother.


And the amazing staff: I worked with Ricardo B. to book the room and he was extremely responsive and helpful in accommodating our requests and helping us choose the room that would work best for us. His advice and recommendations were spot on, and he sent me a detailed map of the property so I knew exactly what room I was booking. Mariana Lozano is the FPC manager and emailed me before my arrival. She was extremely detail oriented and professional and no request was too small for her. She provided detailed recommendations and explanations every time we had a question prior to and during our stay. I worked with her and our “butler” (personalized concierge) Alberto on everything from dinner reservations to directions to Chichen Itza. Alberto was not at the property when we checked in but someone from the butler team called us a few minutes after we got to our room, checking to see if we were happy. Then, Alberto came up to us next morning while we were at the lobby and introduced himself. From that point on, he was helping us with our every need. For our off property dinner reservations, he made sure we had a golf cart ready in front of our room, 15 minutes prior to our reservation, without us even asking for it. When our key-card was deactivated on our last day (possibly due to late check out), Alberto delivered a new key card to our lounge chairs at the beach. He "ran into us" multiple times a day, making sure we were fully satisfied with everything and always knew where to find us, whether we were in the pool, beach, breakfast etc. The rest of the staff also seemed extremely well informed of the guests' daily plans. We walked up to the front desk to reschedule a massage and the staff knew exactly who we were and what time the massage was without us having to explain anything! Greeted by name everywhere, we rarely even had to say our room number when being driven back to our room on the golf carts. And this is just with a 3 night stay! I think if we had stayed longer, they would know our daily routine better than we do!

WIFI: Fast and works great everywhere, even the beach! No WIFI when exploring the grounds/canals/mangroves (obviously). I used email to communicate with Mariana and Albert within the resort, when phones were out of reach (at the beach, pool etc) and they were on top of every little request.

This is a very large property. The bikes are great for getting around but are hard to find at times. The golf cart shuttles run all day/night and we had to wait at most 5 minutes for one. 90% of the time, we did not wait at all, as they have golf carts stationed by at various stops around the property. The “Duffy” canal tour of the property is amazing (Mariana booked it for us prior to our arrival) and we saw an alligator, along with many exotic birds and turtles.

Many people do not prefer to walk back and forth between the beach area and the main resort due to the long distance. We did the walk a few times to burn off our dinners, but watch out for the golf cart shuttles! As they are not used to having people walk the paths (especially at night, when it is drizziling) the drivers are not exactly on the look out for the pedestrians! It would be wise to carry a flashlight if you are walking between the beach and the main complex at night.

We had our ice bucket filled during turn down service only on one of the nights. Would have been nice to have this done regularly, given how hot the weather is.

The resort provides biodegradable insect repellant in the rooms, which worried us at first, but we had very little issues with the mosquitos. They were almost nonexistent.

There is no traditional whirlpool/jacuzzi/hot tub near the pools! The only one we saw was at the spa complex, which you have to pay for. (Same for steam and sauna - pay for use). They have a section of the pool that has water jets but it’s not the same.

The car rental/travel agency services that operate at the property (Maritur and Budget) are not run by Fairmont. However, their services were satisfactory.

The drink/food service at the beach area was pretty slow at times, possibly depending on who was working the area. Also, the phone operator at times had long hold times, which was probably due to 2 large conventions taking place at the property during our stay.

And I second Beantownflyer- room location is key at this resort. Even with the golf carts, being at the beach area is extremely convenient as you can go back and forth between your room and the beach throughout the day. And you get the butler service which I describe above.

Overall, this is a phenomenal property, made even better by a staff that excels at communication and service. Fairmont Mayakoba truly delivers and I cannot wait to go back.

BeantownFlyer

Great review. Interesting check-in experience though. My butler has always met me upon arrival on the property and accompanied me to the room. Perhaps that is because we have always had a beach or oceanfront suite?

cdmca

Maybe that's it. Also, our assigned butler was not at the property when we checked in late in the evening, so it was someone else from the butler team that rang us up in the room.

Erasmus

As I mentioned in my review upthread, our butler was nowhere to be seen at checkin or at all on our day of arrival. (We were staying in a beach-area suite.) Sounds like the butlers are very hit-or-miss.

cdmca

I guess that is the case Erasmus! Our butler did have someone shadowing him, most likely a "butler in training", so hopefully they are working on improving things on this front.

thestallion123

I'm considering applying for the Fairmont Cr. Card for an upcoming stay in the April/May time frame primarily for the suite upgrade. However, it looks like the lowest category suite is not available at the moment for my dates. Does the hotel allow upgrading to higher category suite if you are willing to pay for the difference?

cdmca

I would certainly contact the hotel and see what arrangements they are able to offer you.

habshabs444

I recently had another stay here for 7 nights which somehow even surpassed my experience from the last time I was here in January. I have a fairly detailed review a couple of pages back so I won't re-hash anything that I stated previously.

This time we went for the Appetite for Luxury option. We booked through Air Canada Vacations and got a fantastic deal - a little over $4K CAD for both including business class flights (not Rouged) from YYC - granted we knew we were talking a chance with the weather given it was rainy/offseason. The weather turned out to be perfect with only 10 minutes of rain in 7 days. I was able to use suite night upgrades to upgrade to a signature casita similar to last time. It should be noted that I was warned ahead of time by the FPC line that sometimes ACV doesn't submit guest info until the last minute and thus you can't use upgrades until they have the official booking. Despite this, Fairmont received the reservation just a few days after booking with ACV.

Between booking and check-in dates, we were contacted numerous times (almost too many) as to whether we had any questions/requests, etc. As well, we were provided with a list of discounted pre-ordering that we could take advantage of. For example, you could pre-book 60 min massages for only $99 each! (we booked 2 each) and I also ordered a bouquet of long stem roses for the room for only $50 which ended up being a huge bouquet in a vase along with some other assorted flowers included.

Upon check-in, we were put in a signature casita suite in the 300s and were informed that the resort was only at 18% occupancy! which didn't seem to change much over the week. Day after day we would be one of only a few couples max by the pool or at dinner so it felt like you had the resort almost to yourself. Despite the low occupancy, service levels were not compromised whatsoever.

I was curious as to how the all inclusive option would be handled and whether there would be somewhat of a two-tiered service given gratuities etc were included in the package, but this was not the case (we tipped beyond the included gratuities nonetheless).

Upon our first night at dinner, we were provided with a detailed pamphlet outlining what was included in the all inclusive package from a beverage perspective. Generally speaking anything liquor mid-range or below was included - ie Grey Goose, high end scotches etc were excluded. For any of the Fairmont signature cocktails or anything else on the drink menu, the liquor would automatically if higher end would be substituted (ie Grey Goose to Absolut) without prompting and thus would be included in the package. All dessert coffes were also included. As for wine, there were at least half a dozen both red and white selections by the glass along with a couple of sparklings. The only beer excluded were some Mexican craft beers. All bottles such as Heinken, Corona etc were included. Funny enough, the only non alcoholic beer available (O'Douls) was not included which was rather perplexing. (my wife is pregnant)

We ate at all the restaurants and all were very good to outstanding. El Puerto which we ate at twice proved to the best choice. There is a $25 per person surcharge here but we were only charged this once. There are a couple of items on the menu with a $10 upcharge - ie lobster entrée, Alaska king crab legs, etc, but everything else was fair game. There are a few different types of fresh oysters and even a chilled seafood platter for 2 that was surprisingly included. I was only charged for post dinner cigars one out of three times, however, I wasn't sure if this was a mistake or not. All sushi is also included at the lobby bar for those fish lovers out there.

We had the chance to enjoy the spa on two separate occasions for our pre-booked massages and both times had the whole spa to ourselves. One can enjoy use of the spa for the full day if an appt is booked. There are both mens and womens sides with large whirlpool, steam room, and sauna along with expansive lounging areas. There is also a co-ed area with large pool and whirlpool on a terrace. The service in the spa was over the top. I essentially had my own handler who insisted on doing such things as: taking my sandals off and drying them for me after getting out of the hot tub dripping wet and also while in the hot tub pressing a cold wet towel against my face and giving me a scalp massage. All of our massages were great and very similar to what we would receive at the Banff Springs.

There were some other outstanding service points that really stood out in my mind:
- After Day 1 of sitting out by the pool closest to the beach, towels were automatically set up on our preferred chairs for each day of our stay. Keep in mind, that there were no towels put out on any other chairs by the pool and this request was never communicated.
- Again after the first day of ordering two bottled waters and a ginger ale for my wife, these also automatically showed up every morning in a bucket of ice without prompting.
- My wife is an extremely picky eater and is a server's worst nightmare, but all substitutions and/or changes were met with 'it's a pleasure' and were spot on every time despite the language barrier of not speaking English as a first language.
-Constantly being addressed as Mr.X regardless of where we were or whether we had dealt with that certain employee previously. It was almost odd how everyone knew our name whether it be the hostess, wait staff, front desk, etc. I realize that they were low on occupancy, but this was still impressive.

I wasn't sure how the final bill was going to look as after each meal you would sign for the gross amount and then add an optional gratuity. Despite the final bill being four pages, all it showed was the resort fees and optional gratuities and a few add ons that we purchased during the week. There were a couple of inconsistencies but these were taken care of without any issues at the front desk.

Overall, this was another fantastic stay and puts any other 5 star all inclusives that we have stayed at in the past to shame. If one can get a decent rate on this deal, it can be great value. We were charging approx. $450-500 per day in food/bev. That being said, I'm sure the other two options in Mayakoba are a whole other level above the Fairmont in terms of luxury and service, but they are also in another price point all together. Part of the allure of this place for us is the peace and tranquility, so going during busy season with lots of kids running around wouldn't be ideal for us, but any other time of year, we would without a doubt come back for sure.

sruly

You were successful upgrading to a Beach area Casita suite in advanced ?
You used 2 suite upgrades ?
Who did you talk to ?
Thanks

Erasmus

Yes, I secured the upgrade in advance. As I said, I spoke with the on-property FPC manager--a very nice lately whose name escapes me at the moment, unfortunately.

politico_pk

Hello FT Gang - does anybody have contact info (that they're willing to share) for a manager or FPC Plat rep at the Maykoba? I have emailed the main email address with a query about an upcoming stay but have gotten no response. Hoping I can send a more specifically directed question.

Would be grateful for a PM if possible!

Cheers!

Silvercity

My wife and I have stayed at the Faimont Mayakoba 12 times. In fact on few years we went down 3 times. The last 4-5 times we have stayed in Beach Area Casitas Suite. Where the lounge pool is a top your suite via a deck and its 20m from the beach. We stay at the Fairmont truly for 2 reasons. 1) the service relative to cost. The Fairmont has very good service but the Banyan Tree and Rosewood is that much better. It's also that much more expensive
2) hands down the Fairmont has the very best beach. The other resorts have both a lousy beach. Other thing to know is you can take a car (no fee) just tip. To the other resorts for dinner. The restaurants in Banyan Tree and Rosewood hands down are much much better. You can charge the bill back to room at the Fairmont. Last 3 times I have eaten in Faimont once. I was told the last time that extensive Reno is going to happen this summer in the Fairmont restaurants and also they intend to upgrade the beach loungers. This needs it big time. Reading this theard it seems they have started the Reno cause there is no press release regrading it.

habshabs444

Just returned from another 9 night stay which was our third stay in a little over 18 months. Given I have already discussed the resort at length, I will just address some of the changes that have been made at the resort along with some highlights.

Once again, we booked the appetite for luxury package and used suite upgrade certs to book the signature casita suite and were given a suite in the 200s backing on to a lagoon overlooking the golf course in the background. The FPC manager personally walked us to the room and discussed the recent changes at the resort. The resort is currently overhauling all of their restaurants and accompanying menus. For the majority of our stay, La Laguna was closed which meant that breakfast was served at both Las Brisas and El Puerto. As well, the $25 surcharge would be removed when dining at El Puerto.

As a whole, the menus at each of the restaurants have vastly improved over prior versions, however we did not get an opportunity to try Las Brisas as it opened a day prior to us departing. I did get a chance to peruse the menu and it is almost completely focussed on Mexican specialities. As a whole, I would say that the menus have become much more inventive, especially their cocktail menus. Some observations:

Breakfast - Previously, the breakfast buffet was at La Laguna, but due to the renovations, they had virtually identical buffets at El Puerto and Las Brisas. As a whole, the buffets were much less expansive than my last two visits. The last morning we tried the buffet at La Laguna and there were not as many options as there had been previously. I'm not sure if this was due to it being low season or a scaling back in the revamp. I will note that it was still sufficient but could get repetitive over time.

Lunch - We thoroughly enjoyed lunch outside at Las Brisas each day. The menu has a few more items that the old menu and wasn't as focussed on the typical beach/pool type fare. Some highlights include the fish tacos and the burger (both beef and chicken).

Dinner - We did Las Brisas (4x), El Puerto (2X), and the Lobby Bar (2X). It should be noted that the full El Puerto menu can be ordered from the Lobby Bar as they use the same kitchen. Some of the better items from the Las Brisas were the bbq oysters, roasted sweet corn soup, filet mignon and lobster mac and cheese. At El Puerto, the miso black cod was spectacular - in fact I enjoyed it three times for dinner. Similar to last time, all raw clams and oysters were included in the AI option.

Service - Overall service was great once again. We were continuously addressed by our name wherever we went and enjoyed many of the same servers day after day who had whatever drinks etc we enjoyed waiting for us on a daily basis. A few days into our stay, I developed a gastro-intestinal type bug and was feeling ill for a day and a half and could have only come from something I ate on the resort given we did not leave for the duration of our stay. I let the front desk know of my illness only to find out if anyone else was sick or if they knew what it was from. Within the next day I received a voicemail from the chef at Las Brisas enquiring as to how I was feeling and whether I needed anything - ie chicken soup etc. The next night at dinner, we were approached both by the GM of the restaurant and the chef separately to find out how I was I was feeling. I ended up chatting with the chef (Diego) who originally hailed from Italy for around 30 minutes about the new menu, travels, etc and he ended up inviting us to a private cooking class the next afternoon in the main kitchen. I wasn't sure what to expect of this the next day, but he ended up spending 2 hours with us while we made homemade pasta and sauce which was to be served to us a couple of hours later for dinner that night. We were even given Fairmont aprons as a souvenir. All in all it was a fantastic experience as was our homemade meals we enjoyed later that night.

Despite all of the positives, there were a couple of very minor service issues:

- We only received a morning paper on our door the first 3 of 9 nights. As well, the only option is the USA Today which is barely a paper in itself. It would be nice if they had another couple of international options.
- Initially we were only going to stay a week and spend the last 2 nights in Cancun, however, we decided to stay the last 2 days here as well. I confirmed this with the front desk ahead of time prior to our initial planned departure and that it would not be a problem as I wanted to book one more night at the AI option and then use a free night cert for the last night and pay for any meals incurred. For whatever reason, this turned into a major issue later that day as apparently I had to stay on the same AI plan for the entire stay. After a couple of very frustrating phone calls and a subsequent discussion with the manager, it was all resolved, but it should have never been an issue to begin with. It was not as if I was insisting on receiving free food/bev on a free night certificate.

All in all, this was another fantastic stay and our preferred choice for any sun holiday as there is great value to be had from the appetite for luxury option. I was actually told by several employees that anywhere between 50-80% of guests now utilize this option. I can only hope that the food quality doesn't suffer as a result.