I would have preferred to stay in Playa del Carmen in a small hotel rather than an all inclusive but Expedia found us a great deal on a package at the Viva Maya, which had been recently reopened after repairing damage from both Emily and Wilma, cheaper than just the airfare alone.
Room-since the hotel had been recently renovated, the rooms were very clean and no signs at all of age, very spacious, our room had two double beds. Amenities included an iron, an in room safe, a small refrigerator and complimentary water which you could refill in the hall with filtered water. We had a TV but it had a faulty cable connection (which we called them on but they didn't fix) so I'm not sure what kind of stations it was supposed to get. The rooms are all angled so that every room has some sort of ocean view.
Bathroom-big fluffy towels, a hair dryer, terrific water pressure and plenty of hot water. My only complaint here was that after the first day, they didn't replenish the toiletries, you shouldn't have to ask to have that done.
Restaurants-there are two reservation only restaurants-one Mediterrenean, the other Mexican. We only ate at Portofino, the Mediterrenean one, the service was great, the food good but not terrific. You could also eat at the restaurants at the Viva Azteca, two resorts down but we didn't. The other option is the buffet restaurant, I liked the breakfasts with the made to order omelets, pancakes, fruit, cereal and most everything else I would think to eat for breakfast. Lunch was only so-so, a couple of times I grabbed only a bite and then we went off to town to eat. Dinner was hit or miss but we never had anything truly great.
Beach-big enough for a volleyball net and 5 or 6 rows of beach chairs. No umbrellas or palapas and the shade from the palm trees were wiped out by the hurricanes so there was no shade on the beach, not good for a pasty faced Chicagoan like me!
Pool and activities-there is one pool and regularly scheduled activities during the day, there is a gym with good equipment and an onsite spa that we did not visit. They had bicycles that you could use to ride into town but they were of poor quality and not many of them. I am still nursing my wounds from when I fell off after the chain fell off my undersized one. I may be in need of an amputation soon!
