We booked our hotel about a month ahead of time using Expedia. We received a confirmation two days before. We were very excited about staying there and in addition we had a great rate. We arrived after traveling all day to fine that they were "overbooked" but they booked at another hotel that was more expensive because of the TV. They should have covered the difference. The hotel was not as nice, since it did not have a pool and we partly booked the hotel because of the atmosphere--we were the only guests we saw at the other hotel. Additionally, we took a cab to the hotel as it was a rather hot and muggy day, they did not offer to pay for a new additional taxi. We were handed a letter to sign accepting our fate, we had no choice to sign, what else were we to do. The only reason I didn't give them a terrible was because we went back and asked them to call our tour schedule for the next day and direct them to pick us up at the proper hotel. The clerk did this after asking the owner. I believe the hotel bummed us because they found someone who would pay the posted rate. Don't trust their reservations. We will also launch a complaint through Expedia.

The Fiesta Banana is a great value located far north the corner of 5th Ave and Calle 32 in Playa del Carmen. While it's about a 10 minute walk to the ferry pier, its only a five minute walk to one of the best beach clubs in Playa del Carmen - Mamitas. It's also very close to one of our favorite restaurants, La Cueva del Chango on 38th just off 5th.

Our double room was clean and comfortable, air conditioned, and managed to hold our 12 bags plus our family of three. The rooms are colorfully decorated in bright colors with faux painted walls. We stayed during the first few days of our move to Playa. The Banana Cafe is next door. A continental breakfast of juice, toast, and coffee/cappuccino was included in our room rate. There are several other good cafes, restaurants, and bars a short walk away.

On the second floor you'll find a nice breezy veranda with a television and water cooler where we refilled our water bottles. There is no drinking water in the room, but this worked fine for us. The veranda didn't seemed to be used much, but we found it one of our favorite spots to enjoy the breeze and check our email. We had no problem getting an Internet connection on the veranda using the Haagen Dazs / Mamitas open wireless network with our laptop. Haagen Dazs is a block away. The signal was too weak to be useful in our first floor room, however you may have better luck if you have a 2nd or 3rd floor room.

Overall, the Fiesta Banana is an excellent value and choice in its price range. We were lucky enough to get a relatively short fused reservation, but we would recommend you plan ahead, particularly during the busy season.

I found this hotel thanks to tripadvisor and after sleeping there four nights, I think it should be better ranked than others in Playa del Carmen.
The Fiesta Banana is not right on the beach, but three blocks away. Nevertheless, they have an agreement with the Mamitas Beach Club and we received a 50% discount for renting a palapa with three chairs, for about five bucks (tip included).
The rooms have a/c and a ceiling fan. We traveled in March and we never needed to turn the a/c on. We took a two double bed room, which was clean and comfortable. The bathroom, without a tub, was nice and clean. The hotel does not have a pool nor parking lot, but I left my rented car right in the street besides the hotel. There was no TV in the room, but there was one on the premises and my teen-aged children went there in one of those strange moments when they didn't want to walk outside.
The Fiesta Banana is right on the Quinta Avenida (5th ave) and there is a lot of restaurants with a sort of European-Mexican flavor. There are also nearby minimarts in the area, something that is excellent to save some bucks (a six pack of cold beer for five dollars, for instance). If you take a taxi or your rented car, you can go to nearby supermarkets like Wal-Mart and Megacomer to buy wine, cheese, sunscreen lotions and so on.
Managers seem to be Italian and all the guests we saw were European or American, all young adults. We were somehow unusual in the place: a family of three, and Mexican.
I paid 90 dollars per night and I would definitely come back again. Playa del Carmen is in the center of action for a traveler in the Yucatan peninsula: Cancun, Cozumel, Tulum, Coba and Chichen Itza. Of course you can find nicer hotels in the area (paying 200-500 dollars a night), but I doubt you can find a price/quality relationship this good.

My Girlfriend and I stayed in this hotel for our "valentines holiday" and it was great. Time went by a little too quickly, we stayed here for 10 nights and it was very enjoyable. Maid was good with our towels making lovely model swans and that. Only downside was our last day there was no towel put out and our sheets werent changed. But apart from that we had a lovely stay. The hotel was right on 5th avenue and we had a room on the first floor overlooking the street. Although there is building work going on so dont leave your curtains open, unless you want builders to stare at you through the window. Staff were lovely and even though there was a mess up with our bus for the airport they put on a taxi for us as it was their fault. They speak English and the girl at the front desk was cool. Overall was a great holiday.