Mahekal Beach Front Resort and Spa

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4462 reviews

• 

  Our favorite place to stay for over 20 years--Consistent good quality and staff that treats you like family

  Mahekal is my favorite place to vacation, and has been for about 20 years! This year, many from my family stayed there for a niece's wedding. Many of us extended our stay because we have enjoyed our experiences there so much over the years. The breakfast buffet at Las Olas every morning is superb, but we are also able to order items from the made-to-order menu, including many local, traditional favorites. Manuel and Enrique are so attentive during breakfast!! Marcos, Ignacio and the rest of the wait staff are also wonderful. Yexiani, Emilia, and the hostesses always met us with radiant smiles in the morning! Supper buffets, whether at Las Olas or at La Cocina, are also fantastic--each evening had a different theme: including a Mayan Buffet, Carribean Buffet (our favorite--so much wonderful shrimp and sea food!), Mexican Buffet, and we were even treated to a Thanksgiving Buffet on Thanksgiving! Food was very flavorful, and beautifully presented. The desserts could not be beaten, either. We enjoyed tres leches cake, many fruit tarts, and peanut candy treats--we actually shared bites, so that my husband and I could try several each. Fuego Restaurant (on site) serves amazing seafood, and other culinary masterpieces. We enjoyed a birthday supper there, and ordered the jumbo Cuban Shrimp, which was the best shrimp I have ever eaten! I will have fond memories of that meal for a long time! Ruben, the manager of Fuego, has been at Mahekal for all of the years my family has come here. He truly is one of the reasons that we keep coming back, as he is so adept at making Mahekal visitors feel special! He told us that Fuego had very recently replaced its old pizza oven with a new pizza oven. Unfortunately, the oven was not year ready to be put into use, but we look forward to trying the pizza again on our next visit. Rooms were very comfortable. We like the individual palapa huts much better than high rise buildings that look so similar to hotels in our country. Our maid, Caty, did a lovely job every day to make our room spotless. Daniel and Roberto, who offered concierge services to many members of our family during our stay, were professional, efficient, and provided excellent services! I haven't even described the wedding services Laura provided my sister's family, or the wedding food, including hor d'ourves and dinner--again all superb, and beautifully done!

  Dec 03, 2025
• 

  The best Boutique Hotel on Playa del Carmen

  Mahekal is a beautiful resort located in downtown Playa del Carmen. The hotel is beautiful and the people are fantastic. Marcos, Enrique, Emilia, Juan, Manuel, Ignacio, Kimberly, Alondra, Isamel, Alberto , Roberto and the rest of the staff are amazing. This was our 6th time we visited. We can't wait to go back.

  Dec 02, 2025
• 

  Beautiful resort but needs some improvements

  The resort is attractive in a good location with an easy walk into town. It has well kept gardens but the rooms were tatty and in need of some TLC. Lacked basics like hairdryer/ bath mat. We found the resort noisy - loud music around pools / bars across the road and parties on the beach until 7am in the morning. Two large weddings at the resort which took over while we were there. Our biggest issue was that despite being half board and paying a hefty resort fee that at each meal we were expected to sign a bill - basically a means to giving a tip. This was ridiculous when majority of the time the only thing the waiter did was pour a glass of water. All meals were self service buffet! It was obvious from the different levels of attention/ service shown who the good tippers were. We were also disappointed that the restaurant was closed for a wedding but we were not informed until we turned up for our dinner. Check in was long and tortuous and little basic information given. Unfortunately we wouldn't return

  Dec 02, 2025
• 

  Highly recommend

  My experience at Mahekal was amazing! The scenery is beautiful, the location is very convenient for walking to other places in town and the beach it’s just right at your front step! But the best part of it all was the people working the place, honestly. They are always smiling, helping and welcoming you. Un saludo a Juan, Kimberly, Marcos, Alondra, Yexiani, Emilia, Ismael, Enrique, Ignacio, Uriel y muchos más! Fue un placer conocerlos a todos. Muchas gracias por su atención y hospitalidad! Hicieron mi experiencia mucho mejor la verdad.

  Dec 01, 2025
• 

  Beware! No refund and bad odor

  Beware - we cancelled our initial 100% refundable reservation to book a different room class and have yet to receive a refund despite asking at the hotel and emailing multiple times. Some takeaways on our stay — The Ocean View room was spacious and had a large deck, but overlooked the public beach entrance where people hung out all night playing loud music. Not the atmosphere of a five-star resort. The bathroom and other amenities seemed dated and there were maintenance issues around the resort (I.e caution tape at pool railing, etc). Service was kind and warm, especially At Las Olas. However, nobody told us Fuego restaurant was closed for remodeling and our “all inclusive” package really only included one choice for each meal. Not at all worth it for the price. The beach is eroding away and was very small with a strong undertow. There was a bad odor everywhere, I think from sewage and/or the sargassum. Do not stay here if you want to swim in clean water or hang out on the beach. The pools were nice and the grounds are lovely. In general, many of the facilities seem like they need a facelift. Staff at the front desk at both check-in and check-out were rude and unhelpful. The process took forever both times, especially at check-in when we were tired from our flight. Other staff were friendly and tried to make the stay pleasant. We had asked for rooms next to each other to accommodate my elderly mother, but were told the resort was full and they placed us far from each other. The resort was definitely not full. Mainly due to lack of responsiveness on our refund and the underwhelming beach, I will never stay here again or recommend Mahekal to others. They say your reservation is refundable but it’s not. We are now out double $$ for our stay and the rooms I cancelled.

  Nov 30, 2025