We were really excited to book Mahekal Beach Resort for the Christmas - New Year's break given the discussion here and other reviews we read online.
The location is outstanding - Playa del Carmen was a treat compared to the Cancun Hotel Zone, and the immediate area surrounding Mahekal is great and leads nicely into a walking strip that is touristy yet felt like it had locals as well. The rooms are not super-luxurious but they are nice and airy and the architecture is distinct. The grounds are well-kept and the pools and activities are good, especially if you have kids to worry about.
I think [MENTION=160]KatW[/MENTION] may have mentioned the restaurants are whatever. Yeah, they're fine - good for lazy breakfast and pool/beach-side snacking. Dinners are middling - the effort seems to go to the desserts.
But we were really disappointed by the service and the staff. I can't tell if COVID did a number on their team, but people just didn't know what was available and were genuinely unhelpful. And they would simply not give us pricing in pesos, which seems like a massive red flag.
Two things stuck out to me that shows there's something off there right now:
1. The concierge team suggested we do a beach dinner at the restaurant. When we said we had kids and couldn't wait until 7:30p they said no problem, for an extra $120 (cash, not on the bill) we can set it up early at 6:30p with appetizers ready to go. Guess what time they actually started...
2. On the last day, they provide COVID tests so you can fill out the immigration paperwork. Other hotels this seems to be lightning fast. At Mahekal it literally took 2.5 hours so we lost our afternoon. And yes, we could have gone elsewhere, but the complaint is more about communication - they wouldn't tell us what was going on and they wouldn't tell us how long it would be. When we asked for an update, their response was "well this is complementary", and they would all smirk and laugh.
One last caveat - my spouse thought we were being treated differently because we were not white. Slower service, less active help, etc.