I was with my family in Cancun over Christmas (staying at Le Meridien on SPG points)...one day we rented a car, and at one point during the day toured the Mayakoba property to see whether we'd want to stay there in the future.
Overall, it seemed very nice, but very different from a stay in Cancun. Pros and cons we observed:
Pros:
- Grounds are very nice and well maintained. We didn't see a room, but the public areas, the beach, the restaurants, and the pools were all great, significantly nicer than the Le Meridien.
- If you are looking for a quieter trip (as I would be), the resort is much more isolated and placid (for lack of a better word) than any resort in Cancun would be.
Cons:
- Most people would probably spend all of their time on the property. I would imagine that it is expensive and difficult to go off-property to eat, for example. In Cancun, it is very easy to go off-property for dinner, which opens up a range of choices that you would just not have at Mayakoba.
- Because the property is so spread out, there are golf carts that run on a regular basis to take you from place to place. During Christmas week, there were often lines for the carts, so you could easily spend 1/2 hour getting from place to another. This is a hassle.
Overall we really liked the resort, so don't take these comments as being primarily negative. If FPC were better (as it was several years ago) I would choose Mayakoba over any Cancun property, but given the difference in price for an award stay (with Fairmont you can get at most one night free, vs. getting the entire stay free with most other programs), I'd probably go for the Cancun option and save the $$.