I was very nervous about booking a stay here after reading thru previous reviews. It sure sounded like a hit or miss experience.

Our stay on the other hand was wonderful. For full disclosure purposes though, let me first say that my wife and I lived in Costa Rica for 9 years, running our own small ecolodge, so we are fluent in Spanish and accustomed to things not always being "perfect." Also, we rented a car and went into Piste for meals to get a better feel for the area, eat a wider variety of food, and save a few dollars as the Mayaland restaurants are experience. Therefore I can't comment on the dining experience here.

We flew into Cancun late on Feb 14th, stopped in Vallalidod for dinner and supplies, and didn't get to the Mayaland until 9pm. If you drive, I highly recommend taking the toll road "quota" one direction and the free road "libre" the other. We took the toll road out and the speed limit is 110 kilometres an hour. I did about 120, there was very little traffic, the road was in good condition, and we made it in a couple hours. Coming off the toll road, thru Piste, you then pass the main entrance to the ruins before reaching the Mayaland, which we found out actually has two entrances (the other entrance is the main entrance and accessed off of the other highway). There was a watchman at the gated entrance, and then there is an outer reception area where we were greeted very nicely and taken via golf cart up to the main reception. It was actually kind of exciting arriving at night, not quite being able to see everything, but hearing jungle sounds around us and the main pool had candles placed all around it. The principle building looked very appealing, and we were quickly checked in. We had pre-paid for 2 nights via the hotel's website. I was a little uncomfortable with this as you can only reserve on your own via this method and have to disclose your credit card information and there was a cancellation fee if it came to that. We were happy to hear that we had been upgraded to a "jacuzzi suite." I think the main difference between this room and one of the regular rooms in the main building is that the bathtub has jets and is oversized. Our room did have a great spacious outer entrance balcony with a view over the jungle canopy and the terrace dining below.

I think that what visitors to this area need to remember is that they are staying in the jungle. Everything has to be brought in from great distance, and it can be very hot and humid here that presents certain challenges in terms of upkeep. Yes, our toilet lever did need to be pressed back up after flushing, but that was the only thing that did not work 100% as designed. Our room was airconditioned and was not overly noisy. With the windows closed, there were no intrusive sounds. The room was spotless. There was an ice cube container which you could fill up at the downstairs bar. We had two double beds that were a bit hard, but perfectly adequate. Yes, the rates sound pricy, but like real estate, the Mayaland is situated at the best location, directly adjacent to the ruins.

The grounds are beautiful. I got up at dawn both mornings and strolled the grounds, watching and listening to the jungle come alive. I highly recommend taking advantage of the relative coolness of this hour and peace before other guests and workers arrive.

Check out was smooth. No surprises on the bill. Throughout the stay, we were treated graciously and all of our questions were answered thoroughly. And although I spoke in Spanish, I heard English speaking only guests being served with the same level of service.

We were debating whether to spend the night at Chichen Itza, or join a tour group for a day trip. I thought it would be more useful to actually spend the night there.

We drove from Cancun, stopped over for lunch in Valladolid, and then checked into Mayaland around 4ish. The hotel is absolutely gorgeous. It's right outside the archaelogical grounds of the ruins, with it's own private entrance to the ruins.

We stayed in one of the bungalows, which were quite large. The beds were comfortable, the service was excellent, hot water, clean room, and amazing views. Also, considering it's in the jungle, I was surprised we weren't swarmed by mosquitoes---not sure if was a seasonal thing, or if the hotel sprays every day.

Overall, the hotel was quite beautiful and comfortable. Service was superb. The only negative is that the restaurant's food isn't really worth the high price, but then again, there's not much of a choice unless you drive or walk into Piste.

We went to the Mayaland for one night as part of the Gray line overnight tour. We had been to Chichen Itza once before and wanted a bit more time this trip. We booked online in November so I had concerns about whether it would all come together but all was good. We met the bus at the entrance of our resort (Mayan Palace)and they were on time. We were the first pick ups so we then filled the bus at other resorts as we travelled south to Tulum. This was a different route than our last tour 3 years ago so went through some small towns and by Coba. We stopped at a shop and bathroom 1/2 hour away from Chichen Itza and then went to the Mayaland for our included lunch. We asked William our guide about check in and he said we could do that when we finished lunch. All was smooth-we went to the desk, checked in and were brought up to our room right away. We dropped our stuff and then went to rejoin our tour to go into the ruins. William took us around for 1 1/2 hours and then we said our goodbyes to him and asked who the tour guide would be for our pick up the following day. He told us and went off on our own to tour the rest of the grounds. It was cloudy and we had a couple of showers during the day and evening so it was cooler and easier to walk around than our previous VERY hot visit. It started to rain quite hard after another hour so we headed back to the hotel. We settled into out room and wandered around to get our bearings and shopped a bit in the little store. We also went back into the ruins for the night show but did not get the interpreters so were not sure what was being said. It was interesting to see the ruins lit up and to be among them in the dark but it started to rain a little while into the show and because we did not have the interpreters we decided to cut it short and walk back to the hotel. We had supper that night and breakfast and lunch the next day in the main dining room and the food was very good, the service attentive and timely and the atmosphere was lovely. The stained glass windows and the moorish influence in the main hotel were charming. There are peacocks wandering around and lots of other kinds of birds in th trees. The room was comfortable for one night but may not have been for an extended visit. There was a mini bar with a few beer, soft drinks and snacks but we didn't use it except to keep our water cold.
The next morning we had arranged to have a horse back ride at 9 am so after breakfast we went to the front desk and they had a bellman take us by shuttle to the horses. Two Mexican men took the two of us for our ride into the jungle. We rode for about 1 1/2 hours including a climb into a dry cenote(without the horses) half way along the trip. Very cool!! One of the men did not speak any English but the leader did his best and so did we with our bits of Spanish to communicate! The horses were well cared for and it was a lovely way to spend the morning! After that we decided that we really did not need to go back into the ruins instead we toured the beautiful grounds of the hotel, had a late lunch and spent the afternoon at the small pool. After 3 pm we went to the lobby to meet up with Tomas, the tour guide who would be on the bus we were to take back. After a few tries we hooked up with him and the only glitch to the trip is that he did not have our names on his list but there was room on the bus so we just waited until the other day trippers boarded the bus and then we found our seats. On the way back to the Mayan Riviera we stopped at another cenote. This one had water in the bottom and stairs down into it. It was very interesting but I would not want to swim in it. On our tour 3 years ago we had gone to another cenote, Ik Bil and it was very pretty and commercial - this one was not commercial and just interesting! We then got to Tulum and dropped off at resorts until we were dropped off about 8:30 pm. Everything worked out well as long as we asked questions and made sure we were aware of times. This option is only offered by Gray line I think and we enjoyed every minute of the two days. I would go this way again on our next trip to the area.

Hotel is closest to the ruins. Other than that the hotel offers lousy service, tired food, musty rooms, etc. Rooms are overpriced and hotel is often overrun with tour buses and large groups. Check-in and check-out can be a hassle. Hacienda and the Club Med Villas may be better alternatives. We left Mayaland and stayed at the Villas (a suite was same price as Mayaland's standard room) and had a lot better experience.