You could not be closer to the archeological site -- the Hotel Mayaland is actually located inside it. The original bungalows are scattered around its lovely gardens, with some newer rooms in the building that contains the lobby and dining room. This place has been here for a while -- it shows in the large trees and mature plantings.

We stayed in a room in one of the bungalows. It had a beautifully carved door, wooden shutters inside the screened windows, and a stained glass window in the bathroom. One of the several pools was just outside our front steps. The beds were comfortable, and the air conditioner worked well.

There is a terrace outside the dining room, which is another nice place to eat. Our group arranged a special early breakfast one morning in a building closer to where we were staying. There are facilities for meetings in still another building. Free Internet service is available near the main desk.

The hotel is especially convenient if you are going to the Light and Sound show at the ruins. The viewing area is a very short walk away.

If you stay here, or elsewhere in the area, I recommend visiting the cenote Ik Kil. It's a short trip by car, and is the most stunning place to swim we've ever seen. The changing rooms are new, large, and beautiful! There is also a restaurant and a large shop.

We stayed with two children (9 and 6) for one night in mid-April for about $162 on Expedia. The hotel, rooms and grounds are lovely- at one time this must have been a beautiful and exclusive hotel - but these days it is in need of some attention to both physical infrastructure and staff. A few improvements will hopefully allow this place to reclaim its former glory:

* The front desk staff were less than helpful. It seemed a bother to have to check us in and when repeated calls to the bellboy to get the luggage were not answered we carried it up the 2 flights of stairs ourselves (my husband in a full-length leg brace due to recent knee surgery). No map or guide was provided upon check-in, there was no information folder in the room and we kept having to return to the same unfriendly front desk clerk to ask questions.

* The grounds are nice but the pool is badly in need of a new deck with unvarnished, splintery boards and no safety railing. We were deluged in the afternoon by a tour bus crowd. None of these people were staying at the hotel - it appears as though the Mayaland has an agreement with the tour company to allow them to use the pool for a few hours. There was a big pile of dirty towels (with no clean ones in sight) and only 8 lounge chairs available for this large group (plus actual guests). The waiters studiously avoided taking an order (we finally had to go to them to order snacks).

*There are peacocks, and peacock droppings, everywhere, including the floors of the hotel hallways and the dining patio. These loud and pesty animals (not native to the area) were the source of most of the loud night-time noises we heard.

* We thought it strange that a hotel of this stature charged us $3.30 per bottle of water and $3.25 to use a small bag of coffee for the coffeemaker. Surely the Mayaland can provide two free bottles of water and a bag of coffee to its guests? Even the most modest places we stayed in the Yucatan did this.

In terms of the bungalow we stayed in, this was fairly nice and spacious, and pretty clean - though they could have been better with netting/protection to keep the bugs out. Location right next to Chichen Itza was great, very easy to get there before the mass crowds in the morning.

However, restaurant really lets it down, though wouldn't take much to sort it out. Tries to be elaborate in its service and presentation, but then doesn't get the basics right. Whilst we watched an elaborate display of a caesar salad being made from scratch in the middle of the restaurant (with gallons of oil when we overhead the lady ask for very little), my wife had to send her undercooked fish back, and the table next to us were complaining about being given the wrong meal (which the staff then argued about). At breakfast I was delivered 'bacon and eggs, sir', at which point I had to point out that there was no evidence of any bacon anywhere on the plate. Too many staff wandering around doing their own thing and no-one making sure things were happening as they should...

We reluctantly left Isla Mujeres to head to Cancun because we loved the island so much. We stayed on Isla from Sunday to Sat. and planned an overnight tour via Brant at Entertainment Plus to C-Itza for Sat. evening at the Myaland Resort right in the ruins, It was an amazing 2 days. We met the tour at 7am, it takes about 3 hrs on the bus, arrived to a very nice buffet at the beautiful Myaland and my husband and I were the only ones staying overnight-everyone was jealous-the hotel and grounds are beautiful! There were so many beautiful plants and birds-peacocks running all around, iguanas,Mango trees, etc. From the entrance archway you look out and see one of the ruins. We had a tour of the ruins with a very informative guide named Santos, had time to walk around ourselves and could not believe it was such a big village with so much to see. We walked back to the Myaland about 4:30 and went for a swim in the pool before going up to shower. We decided to go to the light show at the ruins first and have dinner after. The show was a nice experience, and then we went back for a lovely dinner outside. No BUGS even during dinner!!! Our deck looked over the beautiful grounds. The next day we checked out about noon and left our luggage in the closet at the front desk. They arranged for a taxi to take us to the caves and then wait for us so we would be sure to be back by 4pm to catch the tour bus back to Cancun. For 25 US dollars the driver took us to the caves about 10 minutes away and then waited for us and drove us to the Cenote which was also close. We were back in plenty of time to meet the bus and my husband even went for a swim in the Cenote. You will want to see it all!!!!! We highly recommend this C-Itza overnight tour, and it was a STEAL 99 US per person(check rates for family). The entrance fees for the caves and the cenote were about $6 US for adults if I remember-may have even been cheaper. Then the tour bus dropped us at the Marriot Courtyard which is where we spent our last night near the airport for a free shuttle for our 7am flight. It was a perfect trip. I would do the trip before you go to Isla or when you leave the island at the end of your trip like we did. It is a VERY long day if you do any of these tours during your stay on Isla because of the ferry back and forth and bus ride. We were so happy with our plan and most people we talked to said they wished they had known about it. The place was great, the room was clean and beautiful with a big bathroom. Stained glass windows and carved wood doorways. What a treat! We felt like it was Disney but it was a real jungle that we were in!!! The only thing I found negative being a bit germophobic myself was that the peacocks wander around the pool and then people walk around with their wet feet and then jump in. I seemed to be the only one it bothered though. We could not get over that there were no mosquitos or bugs. Of course we sprayed ourselves before we went anywhere and I would recommend the same.