Which Mayan Palace Location - help me choose.

GrayFal · #1 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 10:53 AM

Thanks to SFX, I am going to 'gift' a honeymoon week to my DDs college room mate using a bonus cert. They would be flying out of Boston.

The certs are good for MP resorts not Grand Mayan.

Here is what I know....

Mayan Palace Acapulco - the Mayan Palace units there are VERY old - when I was there in 10/2008 they were tearing them down to build the Grand Luxe units - and the resort was 25 minutes outside of town...so I am not considering this property.

Mayan Palace Riviera Maya - Mayan Palace units are very nice - as nice as the grand Mayan units here and actually better located then the GMs ..... plenty of things to do and see in this area. I had to cancel my trip to this location but friends went and really liked it.

Mayan Palace Nuevo Vallarta - Mayan Palace units are nice and well located in the resort, close to the beach. A bit outside of town but easily reached by bus....again, lots of nice activities for an active young couple. No access to the really nice 'crazy river' which is too bad but not a deal breaker - really like the restaurants onsite here as well.

Edit just saw there is also a Puerto Vallarta location - anyone stay here before?

Mayan Palace Mazatlan - anyone been here?

Mayan Palace Puerto Penasco - I don't feel it would be 'warm enough' in December.

Is there no Mayan Palace in Cabo?

So what do you think? Pros and Cons appreciated!

pkfox · #2 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 12:23 PM

We were at PV Mayan Palace over Thanksgiving. We loved it. Small resort very close to Marina. Easy bus service to down town & old town. If they go tell them not to miss Victors in the Marina, good time!!
Riviera Maya, Nuevo and Puerto Peñasco are away from town. I am not sure about Mazatlan or Acapulco have not been to these. If you can not get them to Cabo my choice would be PV

bigfrank · #3 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 12:48 PM

MP NV the units can be Ocean view or near the pool. We liked NV the best so far but we have not been to Cabo, Rivera Maya the units are newer as is Cabo. Is there any way you Can you do Grand Mayan? Acapulco the units and the resort was one of there first so it is old and it is away from the town which is a about a 15 cab ride away. There is IMO a lot to do in Acapulco that they might love and the Romantic restaurants over looking the city is breath taking. I can help you out with any area restaurants and things to do but Cabo just let me know,

cirkus · #4 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 01:50 PM

You can upgrade a bonus week to GM for a price. I don't remember exactly, but I think I recall it was either $149 or $200 when I did it. I'm sure if you post the question in the Ask SFX forum, Mark will respond.
Bill

GrayFal · #5 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 01:54 PM

No Frank, going to stick with the MPs - as I can use the bonus week for that.

I am leaning toward NV or RM - but was curious about PV.

The Mayan Palace buildings in Acapulco are quite old - while the ones at RM ans NV are comparable to the GMs from what I have heard - in fact friends that stayed at both GM and MP riviera maya like the location of the MP units better then the GMs which are further from the beach and said the furnishings/quality was the same.

GrayFal · #6 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cirkus

You can upgrade a bonus week to GM for a price. I don't remember exactly, but I think I recall it was either $149 or $200 when I did it. I'm sure if you post the question in the Ask SFX forum, Mark will respond.
Bill

Thanks Bill, I am a wonderful person but prefer to keep the cost of my gift to $299

That is why I am looking for the 'nicest' and 'newest' of the MPs - which I believe are RM and NV

also, I know see that airfare from BOS to CUN is around $330ish and to NV would be closer to $500.

These are kids that are definitely on a budget so that could weigh in their decision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkfox

We were at PV Mayan Palace over Thanksgiving. We loved it. Small resort very close to Marina. Easy bus service to down town & old town. If they go tell them not to miss Victors in the Marina, good time!!
Riviera Maya, Nuevo and Puerto Peñasco are away from town. I am not sure about Mazatlan or Acapulco have not been to these. If you can not get them to Cabo my choice would be PV

pk, have u stayed at any other MP location? I ask because I wanted to compare the 'quality' of the units there to other MP locations.
There does not seem to be a MP in Cabo - only GM.

Thank God we are all 'getting' all these abbreviations!

bigfrank · #7 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrayFal

No Frank, going to stick with the MPs - as I can use the bonus week for that.

I am leaning toward NV or RM - but was curious about PV.

The Mayan Palace buildings in Acapulco are quite old - while the ones at RM ans NV are comparable to the GMs from what I have heard - in fact friends that stayed at both GM and MP riviera maya like the location of the MP units better then the GMs which are further from the beach and said the furnishings/quality was the same.

I have not stayed at the PV one but I can tell you what I heard, It is much smaller than NV and it is in PV strip but it is on the begining/end of it. You know you can most likely ask Mark at SFX what he would recommend

GrayFal · #8 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfrank

I have not stayed at the PV one but I can tell you what I heard, It is much smaller than NV and it is in PV strip but it is on the begining/end of it. You know you can most likely ask Mark at SFX what he would recommend

Thanks Frank, my feeling was that it is a smaller, older property.
Yes, I will be checking with Mark as well.

pkfox · #9 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 05:07 PM

pk, have u stayed at any other MP location? I ask because I wanted to compare the 'quality' of the units there to other MP locations.
There does not seem to be a MP in Cabo - only GM.

Thank God we are all 'getting' all these abbreviations![/quote]

We have been to Riviera Maya a few times and liked the resort ok but did not like the feeling of isolation being so far from town.
We have been to PV once. We thought the resorts were the same in quality and food and drinks were good and priced alright. We are not Mega resort people. We prefer smaller resorts. We are not big tour people, we go to relax and get away from Minnesota cold. But we like to be able to get away from the resort without taking a 20-30 min cab ride, thus we liked PV with the marina area almost right across the street.
We love San Jose del Cabo and that is where we will return to most, not because it is a Grand but because of location.
I have not found a difference between the three resorts in quality except Grand rooms are larger.

As a note: food and drink at Grand Mayan Cabo are terrible and over priced. We will never eat there again. But we enjoyed very good food in town, and the walk back was enjoyable after a good meal.

GrayFal · #10 (**permalink**) 01-31-2010, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkfox

pk, have u stayed at any other MP location? I ask because I wanted to compare the 'quality' of the units there to other MP locations.
There does not seem to be a MP in Cabo - only GM.

Thank God we are all 'getting' all these abbreviations!

Quote:

We have been to Riviera Maya a few times and liked the resort ok but did not like the feeling of isolation being so far from town.
We have been to PV once. We thought the resorts were the same in quality and food and drinks were good and priced alright. We are not Mega resort people. We prefer smaller resorts. We are not big tour people, we go to relax and get away from Minnesota cold. But we like to be able to get away from the resort without taking a 20-30 min cab ride, thus we liked PV with the marina area almost right across the street.
We love San Jose del Cabo and that is where we will return to most, not because it is a Grand but because of location.
I have not found a difference between the three resorts in quality except Grand rooms are larger.

As a note: food and drink at Grand Mayan Cabo are terrible and over priced. We will never eat there again. But we enjoyed very good food in town, and the walk back was enjoyable after a good meal.

Thanks pk - so u think the quality of the furnishings at PV were similar to Cabo? I know the GMs have that modern look but I do not want to send my honeymooners to a shabby place. That really is my concern - that the resort is well maintained and the rooms do not show neglect.
The rooms in Acapulco had not been updated in quite a while as the Grupo Maya is tearing down the buildings to build more luxurious units.