They have done my private transfers there a dozen or so times. Always on point and willing to stop for grocery’s , liquor , etc.
As mentioned earlier they do always try to do the return from Andaz to CUN about an hour too soon for my liking. Much cheaper than hotel car. We normally have a suburban or a clean van for the two of us

Got it, thank you I will arrange with them!

Hi there, a couple more questions. Thank you so much to everyone for contributing.

1. We want to arrange some tours, any recommendations? Looks like the hotel is the same price as Canada transfers. Has anyone used the hotel tours and can share their experiences?

2. Does anyone know if the hotel lets us rent tennis rackets or do we have to bring our own?

According to his LinkedIn profile, Pascal Dupuis was promoted to GM of HR Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa, & Casino, and is no longer with Andaz Mayakoba. Not sure who is his backfill.

“Promoted” seems debatable.

I never found him to be particularly effective - hopefully they’ll bring in someone who can address the major service inconsistencies at this property.

I would agree that the move from Andaz Mayakoba to HR Tahoe seems more like a demotion, so who knows.

I'm staying at Andaz end of October, so while that isn't much time to implement any real change perhaps, I'll report back if I notice anything different from when I stayed there last year.

Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe is about to go through a massive transformation and Pascal was indeed promoted to handle this major project.

A new GM has not been announced yet for Andaz. They have task force in place at the moment.

Considering how poorly the front desk at this property has historically treated guests (and that accounting has consistently made significant billing "mistakes" in the property's favor), it's disconcerting to hear that the GM has been promoted.

well I do agree that the front desk is absolutely the worst part about this hotel, I’ve talked to Pascal both times I’ve been on property and he seems great and always willing to make things right. The rest of the resort seems to be very well run.

Admittedly, I don’t know anything about “promotions” in the hotel GM world but is going from the Andaz Mayakoba to the HR Lake Tahoe really a promotion? I’ve never been to the HR Lake Tahoe but I can’t imagine it’s better or has the bones to be better than the Andaz Mayakoba.

To me that’s the hallmark of a bad manager.

The front desk is the one area that EVERYONE is guaranteed to deal with at some point during their stay. If you can’t get that right (or at least if you can’t get it right enough that guests don’t have to regularly seek out senior management to fix issues the staff create) then you haven’t done a very good job as a general manager.

Sorry, and I'm sure he is a "great," but if Pascal really intended to "make things right," as the General Manager, he would have fixed the poor operation of the front desk, so that he wouldn't need to continually "make things right" for frustrated guests.

Completely agree, well said.

Regards

Working for the 3rd (or maybe the 4th today) richest person in the world as he transforms the property into a (rumored) Alila and Park Hyatt could probably be considered a promotion.

Pascal always treated me wonderfully as a Hyatt Globalist! Every time I visited Mayakoba he would go out of his way to greet and meet with my wife and I. He was generous with upgrades and always made our stays special with room treats , boat rides and anniversary gifts. I believe it’s a loss for that Andaz and a huge benefit for HR Tahoe.

Same. I've only been once (so far), but he was fantastic to us and I was disheartened when I heard the news he left.

My trips in a few days. And I'm still trying to lock in tours. Any recommendations? Should I just go with what's on TripAdvisor or do any of you have a tour company that has done really well?

Canada transfers does offer tours. Was wondering if anyone had any experience on their tours?

I’ve been 4 times ,and other than going off main property to other Mayakoba hotels to eat, I’ve never felt a need there to tour or go off property.The front desk arranges free transportation to the other Mayakoba hotels to use their restaurant. I treat this property as a destination resort . They have a daily scedule they put out with Mixology classes , yoga , mescal tasting daily. Their spa is great with cold and hot plunge tubs, sauna , steam and massages. Globs get discounts but you have to ask.
Breakfast buffet for globs is fantastic and lunch in their coffee shop restaurant where breakfast is served is reasonably priced and good as well as the pool service. Restaurants by the ocean side.
As mentioned in an earlier reply Canada transfer has always been right on and dependable.
The only issue I’ve ever had there is the sea weed ( sargusum) and it’s a crap shoot if it’s there or not. They have tra too and crews cleaing n the beach all day when it’s there.

there is no four seasons close to this hotel. Are you thinking about the property in Costa Rica?

thanks …corrected above.

Just returned from a stay here recently- my impressions:

Overall:
Very good hotel, but makes little errors that stops it from being a great hotel. The property is wonderful, as is the entire Mayakoba enclave. For those who desire a "stay on property" vacation, you won't find much better from Cancun to Tulum, though the Fairmont and certainly the Banyan Tree on property might provide a better overall experience (and a more costly one!). Part of my experience was a bit of a 'nickel and dime' trap, where little things got in the way of the overall experience being 5-star. More on this later. I will say that venturing into Playa for an evening was worth it, and I would have done it a time or two more had I done it earlier in the stay.

Check In:
I'm a Globalist but there was no Globalist recognition during the check in process, which was a little unrefined. This was slightly disappointing and not on par with other upscale Hyatt properties globally but I suspect this was due to our check in person being new and being slightly uncomfortable with English for most of our group, but even our communications in Spanish were not particularly welcoming. Only Globalist mention was to tell me where to get Breakfast at Cocina Milagro. The bellman and cart transportation was quite the well oiled machine. By the time we had finished check in (with a small popsicle and bottled water), our bags were on a cart and we were being whisked over to the beach side. There are always carts around which makes transportation a breeze.

Room:
We had a "Beach Area Suite" which was quite nice. The bed is very comfortable and the room is quite large (~800 sq ft I'd wager). We did not avail ourselves of our plunge pool on the patio; the pool was quite warm and there was some bugs constantly around. The snack bar in room is wonderful and keeps any peckish behaviors at bay! Not particularly luxurious and if I had to choose again I would have taken a Lagoon area room, as there is no view from the Beach Area suite. It looked like there was quite a lot of available rooms during our weekend so I'm a bit surprised at where the room ended up but a minor detail that wasn't at all concerning (nor is it Hyatt's responsibility to upgrade beyond the suite).

Food:
By far, the most disappointing part of the stay. We had food at four locations: Cocina Milagro, Casa Amate, Sotavento and Tinto del Pulpo.
-Overall, the breakfast at Casa Amate is quite good. If I did not get as part of the Globalist benefit I might have eaten elsewhere because after VAT + Tip the price is $45 for the buffet per person and I'm not a huge breakfast eater. But overall, food was quite tasty and got the day started right.
-Lunch was at Tinto Del Pulpo and I thought the food here was quite good. I had the Octopus Tacos more than one time and I thought they were delicious. Otherwise, standard fare.
-Sotavento had the best food, I thought, and certainly the best ambiance. I had a lobster dish on the beach and enjoyed it quite a lot but it was still a "very good" dish; not great. The drinks at Sotavento are not good and easily the weakest part of the meal. Considering their price, they should be a much higher quality.
- Casa Amate was such a disappointment. We enjoyed some happy hour drinks in their bar prior (5-6pm local) which were tremendous. An absolute opposite from Sotavento. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. We had a number of different meals amongst our group, none of which left us with a desire for more. The mechanics of the service were trying to be 5*, but the food just didn't live up to it, and for the price, it was really, really poor. I would not eat here again.
- I did not try the Vegan bar but apparently the smoothies are quite good.

Pool/Beach:
- Didn't spend any time around Lagoon Pool due to mosquitos (they love me) but I thought the Beach Pool was great. The resort did a great job keeping the actual beach clear of Sargassum, so it was not an issue. Overall, this is clearly a focal point of the resort and they do a good job. The only particular room for improvement is that early in the day (before 1) there is limited pool side service, which isn't a big deal-- Tinto Del Pulpo is pool side and drinks are readily available! Service at the Beach is terrific and quick. They take great care of you.
- I will make one comment about the beach-- I seem to remember in years passed there were amenities like Kayaks and Paddleboards-- it seems like that is a Fairmont thing and they run that show. Getting one was going to be expensive and would take some time so prepare in advance. Overall, the ~40ish USD for an hour of paddleboarding is a bit much. So, just be prepared for there to be few, if any, "fun things" at the Beach.

Spa:
- Went for a massage- they have a nice weekly special that I thought was great. The massage was good, and the masseur was clearly skilled. The whole process of the thing is a bit much-- jumping from room to room waiting to actually get picked up, and then taken to another room....could maybe be done a little better. The facility itself is not particularly great (the hydrotherapy beforehand is really just a sauna, steamroom and hot tub in a relatively confined space that feels a lot like a gym locker room). The special made it reasonable on price.

Lastly-- the people are WONDERFUL. Everybody that worked there aside from the initial check in was effusive in both their level of welcoming and their helpfulness. I always enjoyed my morning chats with the cart guys and overall I can't say enough good things about the friendliness of everybody involved. It took what might have been just an expensive resort stay, and turned it into a positive experience.

Overall, it was a very good stay that with a little refinement and a little more focus around the little things could become a great stay. 8/10 and I'd consider visiting again.

Staying here now...Initial impressions/questions:

1. Transfer service was ok....had to wait maybe 20 minutes for Canada transfers to get there, and when they did the van they gave us smelled strongly of smoke

2. Got in late last night so room service was the only option but food was a mixed bag. Burger and Caesar salad were good but pizza was one of the worst we've ever had.

More to share as our stay develops...let me know if anyone has questions. Where did everyone get their money changed? I just have dollars and it's getting pricey handing out $20 tips as thats the smallest bill I have lol

Ok...quick update...

3. Food here is pricey, seriously. It's like steakhouse prices for every meal. For my family and I it actually made sense to get the all-inclusive. Drinks at the pool after breakfast were $100, lunch was $200, dinner looks to be about $600. That works out to $900 while the all inclusive would cost us about $1025. Still lots of money but that extra $125 is worth not worrying about the drinks and being able to eat at any of the restaurants.

Just be ready to spend $$$ on food here as you are a captive audience and they know it.

how’s the seaweed at the beach ?

Seaweed isn't bad at all, there were a few clumps out in the water but none on the beach at all.

$600 for dinner? You seem to be really over-exaggerating. Unless you're eating at Casa Amate every night and drinking A TON. Not to mention kids 5 and under eat free and kids up to 12 years old are half price. Yes, it's a somewhat pricey resort, but there is no way the all inclusive option is ever a good deal unless you drink a whole lot of alcohol.

Not exaggerating at all. I have a family of 6 and if my kid eats a steak at soravento (which he did a couple of nights ago) it's 1400, just the steak. He gets dessert too and that's 345, then a couple of drinks 120. So that's 1800+ just one of my teens...that's already 105 USD. That's one meal. All inclusive is 225 pp, that's easily made up by lunch and drinks at the pool.

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$150-200 per person per day for F&B (with free Globalist breakfast) is about right. This is discussed pretty extensively in the thread (and is also consistent with high-end resort pricing in Mexico generally). If the resort's in an isolated area (like Mayakoba) the alternatives will be limited.

Crazy. Andaz Mayakoba had reasonable pricing for F&B when they opened up shop. Mexico resorts have gone off the deep end with their price gouging in the last couple of years.

Some updates after having stayed here for 7 nights (checking out tomorrow):

4. The seaweed, I know earlier I said I didn't see any...and there isn't much of any because they have workers going all day cleaning the sea shore. They also have two barriers set out in the ocean to trap the seaweed. It works for the most part but it makes the beach kinda feel like a big pond. Still nice, just not very clear water.

5. Food, I'll stand by my assertion that all-inclusive makes sense if you are a regular eater and eat lunch and dinner. Easily hit 200+ per person per day and sometimes more. The all inclusive removes that "stress" and you can just not worry about it. For us, after having eaten at all restaurants for dinner we rank them like this:

1. Sotavento, picana is amazing
2. Cucina milagro (their east Asian and south east Asian dishes are great)
3.tinta del pulpo (it says it's closed but really they moved the tinta menu to the vegan bar). Food is just ok.
4.casa amate, while it was cool, it felt like they tried to make it more pretentious on purpose. Food was good but the level of pretentiousness really turned us off. Also you are going to need to like to eat insects to eat here, just a warning.

WARNING on all-inclusive, I missed the fine print but it includes a service charge. I had been tipping 20% but after finding out it included a service charge I dropped it to 10%.

6. If you are staying here more than 3 nights and have kids or like video games I highly recommend the arcade at pueblito, $10 to play all day and you can leave and come back. My arm is still sore from the punching machine.

7. We used Kay tours to see cenotes and do some amazing snorkeling. Highly recommend them. Half the price of the tours arranged through the hotel and much better in our opinion. Private tour and great tour guides.

8. For those that use the spa, you get a 10% discount on massages if you are a globalist. Also you can stack that with the addon that they have where you can purchase a $200 gift card for $150. That makes the massage a more reasonable price. I do agree with the earlier poster about the whole room to room thing being weird.


That's all I have for now, lmk if you have any questions, checking out tomorrow.

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How do you get to the arcade at pueblito?

You can cycle or take a golf cart.

Take a golfcart from the lobby of the Andaz, the arcade is at the far end of the pueblito.

Nice tip about the arcade! Didn't know that existed. Is it $10 per person or per family for all you can play?

Btw, I still don't understand your take on the all inclusive, but maybe I never will. I just crunched the numbers for my upcoming 4 nights. The all inclusive for the beach area plunge pool suite is $6286 for the 4 nights. Or, you can do the LP Suite Upgrade for 36k points + $2068. That's a difference of $4218 or $1054 per day for food and drink. Given that breakfast is free as a globalist, and because it's a buffet we'll only need a light snack (if anything) for lunch, and that both of my kids are under 5 and eat free as well, I just don't see how essentially my wife and I could possibly spend over $1000 a day on food and drink. I also don't like that most of the menus have supplement charges for certain items for those on the AI plan (an additional "stress" in my opinion). But maybe we just don't eat and drink that much, and/or our family is just different in terms of numbers and ages.

In regards to your question on the arcade its 10 per person but for the whole day.

So we are talking about two different all inclusives, one is an add on at 225 per person per day (half that for kids) and the other in the room rate. There were NO supplements to my all inclusive plan, all was included EXCEPT top shelf alcohol. For example, we were able to order anything from casa amate and sotavento. The only thing we couldn't order is fancy alcohol. Believe me you will come close or over 225 per person per day. Unless you don't eat a mid day snack or meal....then I can see that, but it's not 1000 per day like your situation, it's only 225.

So somehow your rate all inclusive economics aren't nearly as good as the add on economics for my add on. If you want to know more about the add on let me know

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The upsell/add on at check in has always been less than booking the All Inclusive rate up front.

The add on can be done before check in using the link below. If your kids are below 5 then you are set.

https://vivaandaz.com/guest/addons

Oooh did not know about all this. Thanks, friend!

The price shown is much higher and the link just seems to open an email form?

This is what I see when I click on the link, price is 450 but it's for 2 people so 225 per person

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...796d55d95c.png

Is the all inclusive add-on eligible spend?

Not sure but I'll be able to tell you when points post tomorrow, assume that's what you're getting at.