We have been going here since they opened approximately 6 years ago. We go every year in June, weather is perfect, pool is warm, but not heated if you are going in Winter. They do have an indoor pool also. We save alot of $$ by bringing our own food, we meal plan to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in our rooms and sometimes order room service and split salads, desserts, etc. Service by the pool is slow, bring your own drinks, be discreet - no glass. Buy you alcohol in America or go to the shop and purchase your own. In the Suites you only have 2 electric burners and a microwave, no oven. This year we are going to try and bring our own Habachi grill. Activities are fun and you can win a lot of free coupons if your not mental. Service is expected for that part of Mexico. We have never had a complaint about service, except the pool guys are really busy around happy hour when drinks are 2 for 1. Mango daquari's are great! You have to pay for the fitness room, but the walk to the beach is a lot of exercise for most people and they have beach vollyball and soccer. Bring your own laptop, you can get free wi-fi in many spots. Rooms are always clean and comfortable. There was construction on the 2nd pool last summer, probably not completed yet, typical Mexico. Food is pretty good at the restaurants, not overpriced by the pool. We have never gotten sick from food or water. Did get sick at the Friendly Dolphin in town which is about 25 minutes away. There is fresh fish and shrimp in town along the main drag. Grocery stores are few and far between, havn't found a huge grocery store yet. We always have a great time, vacation is what you make it. Only complaint is not much to do after 10-11pm. You feel like your at summer camp and have a curfew. We have 3 now 4 kids ages 0-13. They have great memories of this resort.

I recently returned from the Mayan Resort near Puerto Penasco. First of all the staff is great. They really have put together a wonderful bunch of people to make their guests feel welcomed. The maids in particular went out of their way to make us happy. They made many great towel sculptures, and even showed us how it was done on one occasion. The grounds are beautiful, the pool was clean and the beach was huge and uncrowded.
The Mayan is and nice place but not without its problems. It is a long way from town. No bus or shuttle ran between them and a cab ride was $45. The meal plan was helpful but saved only about $5.00 person on a buffet. I have a difficult time finding $25 to $30 buffets a great value. Each buffet was of a different theme. Steak night was a good value, Mexican night was not. There is no good alternative to the expensive buffets unless you cook in your room. The coupons they sell you for the meal plan are not refundable so it is nearly impossible to use them all, which means you loose them when you leave. I gave mine to another guest when I was checking out. I believe the Mayan kind of dropped the ball on this one by not refunding the value of the coupons, it really isn’t in the interest of their guests and shows a greedy side.
Also at check in the front desk people say do not drink the water in the resort. I asked them the next day to make sure. Then they provide no bottled water for there guests. You have to buy water from them at the store. I travel quite a bit and nearly all resorts that recommend not drinking the tap water, provide free water for their guests. This once again seems a little greedy and not in the best interest of the guests.
The beach is not great for swimming. It is very flat and can be a long walk to get into waist deep water at low tide. There are many small “Sting Rays” in the sand, which are fun to see but you must be careful not to step on them. I did not hear of anyone getting stung while I was there. There are a great variety of shells to see and walking on the beach is very nice. We found a nice place to swim down the beach with many shells and more fish to see. Take water, it can be a very dry walk if your not prepared.
Overall the Mayan is as most of the Mayans are, very nice, great staff, overpriced!

Just got back from 1 week at the Mayan Palace in Puerto Penasco, and had a fantastic time. I went by myself, and found plenty to do -- bird watching on the beach, walking -- nice wide flat beach; swimming (indoor pool was getting cold though); always an activity going on. The activities staff was fabulous. Food was great; I ate at the buffet twice a day because I didn't have kitchen in my unit. Everybody was very friendly -- front desk, waiters, hostesses, etc... Loved the spa too!
Not much to the town; took a taxi ride in one day; round trip is $45.
Wish I had paid more attention to previous writer's posting about having small bills for tips. The staff members (especially the waiters) all work very hard. When you have the meal plan (coupons), you don't get a ticket on which to charge the tip. Everything else is "cashless", other than small tips.
A very nice resort; I'll definitely go back.

We just returned from the Mayan at Puerto Penasco. It was so great. We have stayed at the Mayan in PlayaDelCarmen before so we already knew what to expect. The beach was great. There were not very big waves but the water was clear. We found good shells and lots of strange sea animals washed up on the shore. The staff was great to us. We bought the meal coupons which saved us money on the buffets. The food was good. We ate at the buffet 3 times and the outside pool restaurant 3 times. We liked the outside restaurant better. I took 4 teenagers and they loved all the activities planned. They played ping pong, football, and volleyball. They went to watch a movie in the movie room. They also worked out in the gym. Our room was small like a hotel room. Next time, I will make sure that we get a one bedroom or bigger. Our view was great! We can't wait to return! Hints: Be sure an go to the pool early for a chair. It fills up quick.ly. It costs $3-7 to use the internet in the internet room. Happy hour is from 3-4 and 6-7. Towels are free at the activities desk. You can take these to the pool or the beach. They give you a towel card when you check in. Coffee is available in the morning at the gift shop. They also have good sweet rolls in the morning.