Viva Wyndham Maya All-Inclusive

Loved the Viva Maya

by A TripAdvisor Member

My girlfriend and I spent ~1 week during March at the Viva Maya resort in Playa del Carmen and had an absolutely wonderful time. About us...we're both grad students (27 and 30), and we were looking for a mellow mid-semester break away from the undergrad spring break scene. Playa del Carmen was great, and the resort definitely exceeded our expectations. The food and restaurants were good, the facilities were very clean, the staff was exceptionally friendly, and the room was great. We were there the third week of March, and had no problem with waits for restaurants or things like bike rental or tennis court usage. It would be nice if there were more lounge chairs at the beach and pool. I imagine if the place were at 100% capacity (December?), it may be crowded.The crowd was significantly Eurpoean, and was a mix of couples, families, and groups traveling together. It's not a place to go if you're traveling alone or looking to make lots of new friends. I'd say it was an older/mellower scene. As far as a relaxing trip, overall it was GREAT. We did a day-trip to Xel-Ha and Tulum, which were also great.I'm posting this note since tripadvisor.com helped us pick the Viva Maya, and I wanted to return the favor to others!

Viva!! Viva Maya

by A TripAdvisor Member

2002... Club Viva Maya... RExcellent Stay!! Excellent service!! Excellent food and drink..Loved it so much that we are going back for 2003.

Native animals

by Dabs

If you look closely at the ground or in trees, you most assuredly will see lizards and iguanas near Playa del Carmen. We saw a lot at our resort, the Viva Maya, there was a small garden area where several of them spent their day sunning themselves. You could get pretty close to them to take pictures.

Great Place, Playa and People

by A TripAdvisor Member

We just returned on 3/15/03 and had a fabulous time. The beach is beautiful, the weather fantastic. The pool was quite refreshing although the tiles outside are slippery. Our girls 7 &12 had a blastwith new friends and the kids club activities werea great additon. The food was also very good and our picky eater was always pleased with the buffet. Great location. The rooms are ample, not fancy. We highly recommend Viva Maya and hope to return.

Had a Good Time

by A TripAdvisor Member

My wife(27) and I(31) just returned from the Viva Maya. Overall, we had a good vacation. The location of the resort is great. It's in Playacar, on a beautiful beach, sandwiched between about ten other resorts. It's two miles from the city of Playa del Carmen, which has good shopping and a couple bar/nightclubs(Captain Tutix is fun at night). It's approximately a 30 min. walk to the city, 10 min. bike ride(the bikes are free from Viva Maya), or a $4 taxi. We met some nice and fun people from all over the world( keep in mind that this place is 70% European).
The daily sports and activities were fun, and the nightly shows were also enjoyable. We really enjoyed the restaurants that required reservations. The Italian restaurant at the Azteca was superb, the Mediteranian and Mexican restaurants were very good. My wife did not like the buffet at all; I thought it was mediocre. There is a snack bar at the pool during the day which was a little repetitive, but O.K.
Everyone there was complaining about the drinks being watered down.
Yes, they were watered down, but it didn't bother me. The worst part about our trip was the room situation. The rooms are modest, think Holiday Inn. However, the problem was with the air conditioning. Our room's air conditioning did not work. We asked them to look at it (numerous times), and they finally came by and "fixed" it the second day. It still did not work properly, so I asked for a new air conditioner or a new room. They brought a new air conditioner that next day(which was not new). This did not work either. Finally, by the third day, they got us a new room, which worked out great. Unfortunately, we spoke to others at the resort who were not happy with the air conditioning. The funniest part of the whole situation is that one hour after we switched rooms, they put someone else in our old room with the broken air conditioning. This area is a wonderful place for a fun, relaxing vaction. The Viva Maya is O.K. for the right price (we payed $440 pp for the week, which is pretty cheap). However, we would probably stay at a different resort next time. Have fun.

Nice Place

by A TripAdvisor Member

We just returned from Viva Maya on the 25th of June and we had a blast for the most part; one person in our group steped on a "Stone Fish", very painful. She steped on the fish at Xcaret not at the hotel. So always wear your water socks anywhere in the ocean! The hotel was very good. The food was very good it is easy to overeat because of the variety. There are three resteraunts on the property, one is a buffet, we ate there all but one time and that is when we ate at the Mexican resteraunt, which was excellent. We could not reserve a table at the Italian resteraunt. You have to be up at 8am to reserve a table for the next evening at the Italian resteraunt. This was a pain in the butt so we didn't try but once. The beds are very hard. All rooms have tile floors ( easier to sweep up sand). The air conditioners are a bit noisey but they are very cold. The waves at the beach were larger than I have experienced here before and the beach had more seaweed than usual because a storm had came through the day before we arrived. The staff cleaned the beach every mourning so all was well. AVOID at all costs the people with MAYAN PALACE on their shirts unless you want to be tricked into a 3 hour sales pitch OUCH! Be patient with me I will add some tips for people who have never been to the Mayan Rivera before. Be sure and bring sun screen and if you can, go to a tanning bed for a couple of weeks before you go it will save you much pain.
Also some water parks require you to wear eco-friendly sun screen cheeper if you by it at home. Bring an extra bag for your souvenirs.
Exchange rate is 10 pasos to the dollar. No need for travellers checks.
Passport is best ID for Mexican customs. No need to bring a hair dryer or a clothes iron the rooms have them. You might want to bring a bar of soap I didn't like the liquid shampoo, body soap combination. Take a good pair of sandles for all purpose use. Use the safe in your room it may be a little difficult to set the first time but be patient it works well. Taxi's to Plya del Carmen are $4. Ferry to Cozumel only by round trip tickets are $16. When dealing with the vendors on 5th ave. in Plya start off at 50% of their asking price at the most pay 60%, if you go into the nicer air-conditioned shops it will cost you much more. Don't be affraid of haggling with them they expect it and respect you for it, it is also alot of fun. Don't be affraid to say no and walk off. Bring more than one pair of sun glasses. Pack half as much clothes as you think you need. Pack a good first aid kit with benadryl in case you are stung by a fish. If you go to a medical facility it is a minimum of $50. Don't take the tours that the hotel offer take a Taxi and pay the park admission you will save a bundle. When you take a Taxi it is the same price for one person or a car load, find another couple and split the price. The Taxi drivers are very dependable and trustworthy. If you have any questions feel free to email me and I will be glad to help you. Excuse me for any spelling errors. JIM

Would Use This Hotel Again . . .

by A TripAdvisor Member

Just returned from 7 night stay at the Viva Maya (July 16-23). If this is your first trip to Mexico or out of the US I would recommend a higher rated hotel. If you are a repeat traveller then I would give this hotel a great recommendation. We will use it again. The rooms are fairly small and would be considered economy style in the US. Our room had two beds and a small balcony. There was a large closet (bring some hangers) and 3 shelves to put clothes. There was an iron, ironing board and hair dryer. Bathroom had tub (small) and shower. High water pressure and VERY HOT water at all times. Hard beds like all Mexico hotels we've ever stayed at. But we were not in our rooms much so the sparse style did not matter. The property EXCELLED in its outside features. Great beach. Great shaded palpas and extra umbrellas which staff member would dig a hole and place them where you chose. Needed to get to beach by 8ish to reserve a place - though signs say not to do so. The staff was excellent, friendly, and always helpful. The beach staff became good friends and always help our girls. Nonmotorized sports included in all-inclusive were boogie boards, snorkle equip, wind surfing, hobie catamaran, single/double kyaks. Nighly shows are worth seeing. Heard some complaints but hokie shows in Branson MO cost $40 per person and Broadway type shows in Kansas City can cost $75-100.
These are free folks! The same staff that works the beach and provide service all day do the show and then are expected to mingle at the disco until 12:30 am. We enjoyed all we saw. Also heard complaints about the food. Boring buffets. If you don't want boring buffets then you should not be doing an All-Inclusive package. We thought the buffets were above average for what we experienced on 7 previous Mexico trips. Yes they tend to get a bit old by 7 days but so would eating at Applebees every meal. We ate everything and did not experience any illness. By day 7 we had some slight intestinal difficulties (this is to be expected and not confused with with full bore bacterial intestional illnesses that lay you up). All food handlers wore hairnets and mouth/nose covers. Cold food tended to be cool and hot foods hot.
Cleanliness was above average for Mexico. We ate live bacteria yogurt (Yoplait) for a week before the trip and took 1 Pepto Bismol tablet per day for 3 days before the trip and through the trip. Check in is typical for Mexico. Plan on packing beach wear handily so you can use the beach before your room will be ready from 2-4 pm on check in. Hotel processed all paperwork on arrival, put the wristbands on that allowed you food and drink. Just had to come back and get key when room was ready.

We did not use it but the Kids Club appeared excellent. We have kids 9/14. I was impressed with the intereaction of the staff with the kids.
Many very good activities. You can drop your kids off at the club at 9:30 and they will keep them all day (we have never liked this idea) or you kids can walk up and participate in any activity you see if you have filled out paperwork. We did this and our youngest had fun.

The hotel has a definate European crowd. German and Italian and French.
All announcements are made in 5 languages. The pre-shows at night get a little long with the announcemnts but the theme and music of the shows are all US influenced. Lion King, Broadway, etc. Don't go here if you feel the need to talk with everyone you see. I think this is a Playa del Carmen issue not just this hotel.

We paid $737 per adult with Apple for air fare (St. Louis) transfers, food and drink for 1 week. At this price range this is an Outstanding hotel. We will use it again. Write me with questions.

3 out of 4 Sick by end of our Week Stay

by A TripAdvisor Member

By the end of our week long stay at this hotel, 3 out of 4 had all the symptoms of Montezuma's revenge. Mine was medium, but lasted for weeks once I got home, I took immodium d twice and had to eat pepto bismo for days to feel better. My room mate was throwing up all the way home on the airplane, and was also sick for several days days (more than a week) after she got home. The last one only had to take one dose of immodium d, then pepto bismo for a few days. I've been to the Riveria Maya area 3 to 4 times and this is the first time that I've gotten sick from the food. Beside the food problem, this hotel was really great. The nightly enterment is great. the rooms are nice.The pools are fun. and the beach is beautiful white sand. although the water was a little rough for me. This could have been the weather as it was rainy of and on 3 to 4 of the days we were there.

Fab resort!

by sarah1983

"Way nicer than Cancun!"

At the end of my Central America trip, myself and 2 friends decided to treat ourselves to a few nights staying in an All-Inclusive hotel in Playa del Carmen, The Wyndam Viva Maya.

Not only was the hotel gorgeous and right on the beach, the resort of Playa is absolutely fab! Its a proper resort (unlike Cancun which is so spread out and a motorway going through it) and it kind of has a European feel to it. It also has a WAY better nightlife than Cancun. Great bars and clubs down by the beach. Theres also great shopping. Would definately recommend it over Cancun!