The mayakoba resort complex is gorgeous, maybe a little too manicured to my taste, but very enjoyable. The way the property likes to milk guests over everything  on the other hand is to be avoided, especially if you're a globalist. I think it's a great property to stay on points but to be avoided if staying on cash rates, and sincerely not worth it you're paying more than 800 USD / night even for an ocean front /view/ beach area room.  Three thumbs down for the checking staff imo, and the food was average at best!  If you're paying cash go to one other properties in Mayakoba you'll have more bangs for your bucks!

Check In

The check in area is beautiful and relaxing with a big water pond in the middle. Upon getting there I was invited to sit down in an area. Passport & credit card details were taken,.

I was then offered some icecream popsicle which i politely refused. I just had a nice lunch 1 hour ago and being T1 diabetic was not in need of another sugar intake.  First misstep for them is not to ask proactively if  you want something else, would have loved a glass of water for example.

The lady taking care of me starts to explain the property for me, telling me where the restaurants are and a few other things. Breakfast is offered at two places but if you don't want a surcharge you can only take it at Cocina Milagro. At first this annoyed me because the other place serving breakfast was much closer to my room aka 50 meters while cocina Milagro was more than 1 KM away. But then i enjoyed doing a little bit of cycling every morning before and after breakfast.

Several other things were forgotten (voluntarily?) to be mentionned, like the fact that you can enjoy other restaurants not part of the andaz complex but in mayakoba and charge them to your room. I am guessing Andaz makes no money on those so they try to avoid telling it. 

There is also a cenote you can visit and a nice little plaza with a few shops & restaurants in the middle of Mayakoba. All of this was not mentionned. 

No upgrade was offered. in fact seeing the reaction of the person taking me to my room when he asked for my room number I almost felt i was downgraded from the room i was allocated in originally. His face and reaction was priceless, like i was supposed to be somewhere else and stuck in my head. Maybe i am making too much of this? 

Room

The ocean view plunge pool is close to the beach area, and very spacious and nicely laid out. Not a fan of plunge pool, but thats ok.  Instead of 2 chairs in the patio outside, i would have put a reclining one, but thats ok. 

 I had two main issues with the room i  was allocated .

1- It was on the ground floor in front of two main pathway where if you didnt have your blind closed you had no privacy whatsoever whether in the bathroom bedroom or hallway.  

2- since it was on the ground floor there was one room above you, and you would hear every time a chair was pulled, walking with heels, and since i was coming from europe would go to bed early and wake up early, so that proved to be a major annoyance.... 

faw small issues  i had : last day there was construction / repairs all day on the building in front of me so the noise was a nuisance, the restaurant / bar was not far away and music was a little loud in the evenings.  Lastly i felt there was no welcome amenity in the room. I had 4 fruits when i got there and maybe that was it? but there was no card or point of contact. if those were it thats a really cheap welcome amenity IMO. Since the last 2 were taken away on the second day i was there.....

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Dining

I tried a few restaurants and room service. For lunch & diner they were nothing to be excited about, not bad but not great in any way. Didn't get around to go to Casa Amate which people seems to be very exicted about. 

Breakfast: Breakfast was not bad, but once again not the best. One thing I was surprised: first time i stayed in what is supposed to be a higher end property that doesnt have a real green tea for breakfast. I usually like a good light sencha, but will settle for jasmine, since for a lot of places thats green tea.  At the Andaz when you ask for green tea they bring you something ressembling a mix of infusion with camomille / verbena / etc, but its as far away from green tea as possible.   Heck the GH PDC where i am staying now has one, not the best, but its drinkable, and the HR MXN has a great one. 

Service

Was supposed to stay 6 nights, but after the second i decided to cut it short because this place really wasn't what i was expecting. So i told the front desk that i would be shortening my stay. They told me that i would have to pay for another night! I started arguing with them about it and during that conversation the lady i talked with made me understand that i should be happy that they will not charge me the entire 6 nights. After this exchange I was pissed! In the end they didn't charge me for an extra night but nonetheless this exchange reflects well what I think about the property.

I sent an email to the GM, but to this day,  he still hasn't taken the time to answer me. For a GM that used to manage an O&O and a Kemp property...

Overall

I just realized I was still charged for resort fees and breakfast tips, which I thought both were waived for globalists. Once again I think this property is gorgeous, but the way they go about treating guests makes it feel extremely cheep. Banyan tree Mayakoba seems much better priced for better accomodations.