CLUB VIVA MAYA
PLAYACAR
Here are some comments of our experience during a visit to Club Viva Maya in November of 1999
The Viva Maya is a mandatory all-inclusive resort and we grudgingly accepted this restriction in order to enjoy a week on the fabulous beaches in Playa del Carmen. First let me state that my opinion has usually ranged from moderately opposed to highly opposed to the all-inclusive concept. I always felt that being tied down to the resort was too restrictive, the food would be repetitive and low quality, the drinks watered down and we would miss our opportunity to visit other wonderful restaurants off the resort property.
How does Club Viva Maya stack up? Well, I won't admit to turning around 180 degrees on this, but I will now admit that there are a couple of good things about all-inclusive. Are the criticisms mentioned above still valid? To a degree, yes they are. While we found the food at the Club Viva Maya to actually be of better quality than we expected (I guess I expected the worst), the selections were still very repetitive, and obviously there were no higher priced entrees to choose from. We ate almost all our meals at the main restaurant, La Terraza, located right above the lobby. Never in the entire week did we see one shrimp, lobster or fine cut of meat such as prime rib. What was offered was clean, well prepared, plenty of it and it tasted fairly good. There was a good salad bar every night, hot soup, fresh cut fruit, bins with potatoes, rice, and veggies, pizza, fresh made pasta dishes cooked to order (the owner of Viva Maya is Italian) and a selection of grilled meats such as thin sliced steak, pork chops, chicken and fish. Oh, and a postre table with many different kinds of desserts, most of which were disappointing. Wine and beer was served with the meals. Breakfast buffet was good with made to order eggs, pancakes, fresh squeezed juices, sliced fruit and great bacon that would pass muster at any truck stop in Iowa. One additional comment concerning La Terraza is that it is not air conditioned and there aren't even any ceiling fans to move the air around. By the end of dinner, we were wiping sweat off our necks and faces as the heat generated by the cooking grills and a hundred people eating dinner made it very uncomfortable. I kept kidding the waiters to turn the "air conditioning" up just one notch. They laughed and said it was not hot as sweat dripped off their noses.
Viva Maya also has 2 "fine dining" restaurants which we tried. Both require reservations be made early in the morning. The seafood restaurant is quite fancy with table cloths and table service by waiters. (and the only restaurant with AC) However, there is only a fixed menu of the day offered. When we noticed that two of the three items served were squid and mussels, which I don't care for and you can't possibly expect a 5 year old child (my grandson) to eat, we got up and went back to La Terraza. You might actually enjoy this fare, so don't take it as a criticism. The other serves a Mexican dinner. It is open air under the palapa next to the pools. The food is once again a fixed menu but was tasty and well prepared. Still, I've had much better, and you only get what they serve that day, no selections allowed. At least since the pool bar is right nearby, you can go over and order some real margaritas to have with dinner.
Besides breakfast, lunch and dinner, there is a snack bar by the pools that operates during the day where you can help yourself to hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, pizza, fruit and ice cream.
There are a couple of bars, one by the lobby and one by the pools that serve cocktails and tropical drinks all day. The bartenders are very friendly and accommodating. The drinks were good and made to order. However, I did notice that even after a couple or three drinks, I did not feel much of the effect of the alcohol like I normally would. (I don't usually drink too much) If you watched the bartenders, they would pour copious amounts of "booze" from bottles labeled J&B Scotch and Bacardi Rum, but during the whole week's time, I never once felt even slightly drunk. Very strange...I wonder what was really in those bottles?
Other perks of the all-inclusive were use of non-motorized equipment like kayaks and boogie boards, a kid's club for the children (my grandson loved the club) and nightly entertainment at the stage which consisted of amateur shows, revues, fancy costumes and lip synched songs. I will say that some of the shows were good and all was good fun. Everyone watching was having a great time. And the actors and dancers were the same guys and girls who worked the health club, kid's club and beach equipment shacks. They sure put in a long day.
So have I changed my opinion of all-inclusive? I can see where it would have some advantages for those who just want to relax for a week and never leave the resort. Also, it does seem cost effective at the rate we were charged at Viva Maya which was only $40 per day and half price for kids. My grandson totally loved the concept of eating and drinking whatever and whenever he wanted without having to ask permission. He would just walk up to any counter and ask for what he wanted and they would gladly give it to him, or at the buffets, just serve himself. I could see us doing this again, but one week seems to be my limit. If going to Cancun for more than one week, I suggest doing what we did. Namely, staying non-inclusive in Cancun for one week and visiting all your favorite restaurants and getting your fill of shrimp, lobster, prime meats and fancy fixins before heading to the all-inclusive for a little R and R.
The resort itself is relatively new construction. The grounds are beautifully landscaped with tropical plants. A jungle separates the lobby from the hotel buildings. A waiter brings you a fruit punch cocktail as you arrive. Check in went well, although the trainee who took care of us screwed up the credit card charges for the all-inclusive and we were summoned back that evening to redo everything. I will admit, the errors that were corrected were in my favor, as they over charged me the first time. Now that was very honest of them. I probably would never have noticed the difference.
There does not seem to be much timeshare activity at Viva Maya. Almost every other guest there was traveling on some type of package and staying in the hotel rooms. We could tell the difference as we had red wrist bands (owners) and the non-timeshare guests had white wrist bands. We only saw one other red band the entire week. Most guests were European and predominantly German. We did talk with some of these guests and heard many times that the damn lucky Germans get 6 weeks of vacation every year. We Americans were the distinct minority here. Very different from the Royals in Cancun where almost every guest is from the USA. But also very interesting. There was only one half-hearted attempt to lure us to a sales presentation. They offered us a gift which consisted of a blanket, a bottle of tequila, a cheap mayan pyramid replica and a t-shirt. We said no thanks.
We had obtained a one bedroom, sleeps six unit through RCI. The unit was actually two units, a studio and a hotel room connected by a lock-off door. There were 2 bathrooms of course, one for each side. The hotel room had two full size beds and the studio had one murphy bed, a small kitchen, and a dining area. The size of the units seemed small to me after a week at the Royal Islander. They were generally clean. There were several maintenance items that were never repaired even after telephoning the front desk such as burned out bulbs and a disconnected cable to one of the two televisions. All of the kitchen equipment is kept locked up in the cabinets and we had to call for someone to open them up. The kitchen is minimal. Dorm sized refrigerator, 2 burner range, and very little of everything else. But you really don't need a lot of kitchen equipment at a mandatory all-inclusive resort. The beds were not very comfortable, the television only provided about 12 choices with NO network feeds of ABC, NBC or CBS. There was HBO and CNN and a German and an Italian station each. Oh, and don't drink the water, it's not purified. Bottled water is provided but that's a hassle. Why not spend the extra bucks for pure water? Anyway, nobody got sick so I can't complain too much.
The one redeeming feature of the units we were assigned was that they were ideally located. They were ground floor beach front with patio doors that took us directly out to the beach. Very nice. And boy what a beach! In my 10 years of traveling to Mexico, Cancun, Cabo, PV, Ixtapa, Huatulco etc., I have never experienced a finer, more beautiful beach than this one. Pure white sand leading you to crystal clear aquamarine water. Cozumel could be seen in the distance. The beach is great for swimming as the waves break about 120 yards out when they encounter the reef and are calm closer to shore. There are no rocks, just delicious sand all the way out to the reef. We spent every afternoon swimming in this heavenly water. It's just fantastic!
Everyone we encountered who worked at the resort was happy and friendly as could be. Not one sour puss in the bunch. That's incredible. In conclusion I would definitely recommend the Viva Maya Beach as a first class place to stay where you will be treated very well and is a good value for the money. The actual accommodations are marked down a little on size and maintenance but the beach is simply fantastic! We will go there again if RCI is willing to allow us.
Here are some photos we took while visiting
Click on the thumbnail photo to see the full size version.
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