We arrived in Cancun and had trouble locating our shuttle bus, I pre-booked a ride through the Cancun Airport website for $46 ($23 pp) for one way, had heard that the hotel was not prompt with picking people up. Once we found the company and got in our van it was a good 30 min later, but it was a cheep ride. Next time I might pay the extra for a taxi just to have a smooth arrival. We got to the hotel about 60 min later, there were other tourists the shuttle had to drop off in Playacar, but it was nice to get an idea of the whole area.

We were greeted and given a welcome drink as we checked in. Because this was our honeymoon they had placed a bottle of champagne and a bottle of wine, along with fruits and cheese in our room. We had room # 3319 in the newest building of the resort. We were very happy with the room; it was next to the adult’s only pool and away from the rest of the resort. We did have to do a lot of walking because we were off set but that was not a big deal. They do have a small fridge in the room stocked with beer, juice and water. We left tips and notes in the fridge with what we wanted and it was always full. You can also ask the front desk for bottled water they always had a supply. We also tipped the maid everyday and we got towel animals so that was fun!

The resort had a lot of things to keep you occupied, and different tournaments and activities everyday along with the everyday games and things. They had a cooking class, a bikini contest, bocce ball tourney, darts tourney and so on. They have a rock climbing wall, archery, a gym and a spa. We don’t have children but it seemed they did a lot to give the parents a brake and have activities for the kids. Every night they would put on a show, some were good others not really. I am a personal trainer and I was excited about the morning stretching/yoga but this was a let down for me, but happy to say it was the only thing I was disappointed with.

We did not go to the spa there, too pricey for me. We did find a small massage place in town and we got side by side one hour messages for $35 each we wanted to add on 20 min and they gave us a great deal, $90 Total. Were we very satisfied and happy that we did not fork over $200.00 to the hotel spa. It was called “The Luxuriant” they were located off of 5th Ave on 2nd underneath the All Riviera Hotel, it looks a little shady on the outside but it was clean on the inside and the owner was from Huston and had his certification from the United States so that was nice.

The food was great! No complaints about the buffet or the restaurants. There were plenty of healthy choices for me and unhealthy foods for my husband, so we were both happy. We tried all three restaurants the Italian was my favorite and my husband loved the Mexican one. We both like to drink and the first night we were there I think we tried every tropical and fruity drink they had, from that point on we stuck to pina coladas and margaritas. I did not care for the house wine, but the beer was not bad at all.

The beach is the best of the area, but it was a challenge to find a chair with some shade. One morning I did get up at 5:30am and put our towels down on a prime spot, and it was nice to have it for the day. So far as water activities we used the boogie boards frequently, took the kayaks out once and we really enjoyed the catamaran tour.
One day we took bikes into Play Del Carmen; it was a lot of fun for me. We asked the bike attendant for a lock and we locked up the bike in town and walked around, it is really beautiful there and there are many shopping options. We went back again at night ($5 taxi ride) and found hands down the best Mexican food we have ever had. The restaurant was called Corboncitos it was on 4th Ave off of 5th We went there because of all the good reviews on trip advisor and I am so happy we did, what a meal and it was only $35 usd with tip. We then headed down the street (5th Ave) and found a cool bar on the corner with swings as ball stools. The place was plastered with dollar bills, the bartender will give you a pen and you can right your message and glue up your dollar, just like they do in many other American bars. We just had one beer each $4 usd, but it was really neat. Down on 2nd off of 5th there is another bar with swings that has 2 for 1 beers but the bartender was not as entertaining. We ended our night at Viva Margarita, it is at the end of 5th in the Plaza in-between papa johns and starbucks. It is a very small place only outdoor seating but the margaritas were great and only $5 each (12oz)

We went to Xel Ha one day, it was worth the price, a beautiful eco park with plenty to do and the food there was surprisingly excellent. We paid $135.00 for the two of us, this include all food and drinks (The had corona on tap…nice), snorkel gear, towels and a locker. They say you can only use certain types of sunscreen there but nobody checked our bag but I did feel good using a eco friendly product being that I was swimming with some beautiful fish, but It did cost me $17 usd. Snorkeling was great once we found a spot away from the crowds, the rope swing was really a let down, don’t bother…the cliff jump was o.k. would have just spent more time snorkeling or lying around on Hammock Island next time. We are glad we did not pay a lot for transportation, there is a bus station on 5th in Playa Del Carmen for $4 usd you can get on a bus that stops at Xel Ha and Tulum. Thu bus was air-condition and very comfortable. The bus station is very unorganized and not really on time, but much cheaper.

We went to Tulum another day, we took the same bus. Make sure you have pesos with you the closest ATM was all the way in downtown Tulum, we had to pay $10 taxi ride to go to the bank and back. There was a shuttle from the gate to tulum it is only $2 round trip. It is worth the money to not have to walk on that dusty road in the heat. To get into Tulum was only $5 or $10 each. It was beautiful the beach there was very crowed, we had worn our bathing suits and had planned on going in the water but decided against it. We had paid round trip for the bus but found out the first bus was at 4pm it was 2pm and we were ready to head back. There were collectivos there and for $3 each, be careful they make you wait until they have a full van to leave so make sure you try and find a van that is almost packed you will make everyone inside very happy. The van really did not have air conditioning but it was faster then the bus.

We paid a total of $2,229.00 (1,100.00 for air fair & 1,129 to Viva Wyndham Maya for the week) so not a bad price. Things I would do differently…make sure to bring plenty of your own sun screen, just about everywhere they want $15- 18 usd for a small bottle, Exchange a large amount of money, most places would not take credit card. If you are going to one of the eco parks go early so you have more time to play, We had $100 in singles I think maybe $150 for next time.

food was ok, beach was great. tours were awesome. room was not that clean and we were not impressed w/ the resort itself. Xel -ha - ok if you like water parks. Tulum - awesome.

I stayed at the Wyndham Viva Maya with my three boys (7,10, 12) and my brother and his 7 year old daughter from June 28 to July 5, 2008 and was dissapointed overall. I`ve stayed at all inclusive resorts in Mexico for each of the last 5 years (three times with kids, twice on my own) and rank this resort at the bottom of the list. The food was only fair in the buffet (though the a la carte restaurants were good if you could get a reservation) staff attitude was very poor (excluding the cleaning staff ,bar and entertainment people who were just fine). The beach was nice, the pool was okay (the other resorts I`ve stayed at had much larger pools or more features associated with the pool).

Check In: 2 weeks before arrival I joined Wyndahm by Request (hereafter ``W by R``)for free as I read a review that said doing so provided some benefits. 10 days before arrival I emailed W by R and advised that as my flight was scheduled to arrive at midnight in Cancun, and the tranfer to the resort would likely take another hour or two, could they ensure that an additional cot would be placed in my room (as we were four people with only 2 beds) and explained I would have young children with me and would appreciate anything that could be done to help with a speedy check in so I could get them to bed. I recieved an email back from W by R 5 days before departure confirming that my request had been sent to the resort and ther would be no problem. When we arrived at 2:30 am there was only 1 person manning the front desk - it was only by sheer luck that my eldest son managed to run up and be 3rd in line for check in while I grabbed our bags - behind us in the check in line were about 12 other guests who had quite a wait - we only waited about 15 minutes for the 2 couples ahead of us to be checked in. When we got to our room our door keys did not work - we managed to get in as my brothers adjoining room key did work. When we got in the 2 rooms we found no towels whatsoever not even a face cloth in either room, no bottles of water - though my brothers fridge had 1 soda water and 1 can of sprite left in it. My brother (who is a spanish english interpreter asked the bell boy if he could get us some towels, some water bottles and my door lock fixed while all six of us walked over to the 24 hour snack bar for hotdogs and drinks. When we returned 40 mins later nothing appeared to have been done - we called the front desk and got no answer - I then walked back to the lobby and after ringing a bell for no less than 10 to 15 minutes someone arrived who couldn`t speak english but radioed for assistance. About 10 minutes later the check in fellow arrived and said someone would repair my door lock shortly and that he had put in a request for a cot but there was only 1 staff person working at night and they would get to me as soon as possible. I showed him my Wby R card and said I had emailed over a week earlier to avoid this delay. He responded by saying that `we don`t even look at emails until the guest has checked in at the resort`` . With regard to water bottles the fellow tells me if we don`t have any then were not entitled to them. I respond that were on the all inclusive plan and he tells me some rooms are not entitled to have free water bottles. When i get back to my room I review the hotel binder which says we`re entitled to 2 bottles each day of our stay. It took 1 more hour until our cot arrived though less time for our towels to come.

Room: Okay average, very loud but effective air conditioner though the one in my brothers room was just as loud but hardly cooled at all. The toilet in my room constantly trickled a small amount of water all around its base - I constantly kept a bathtowel wrapped around its base to soak up the slow leak.

Food: We arrived on Sunday morning so we made the mistake of waiting till monday morning to book our restaurant reservations. The only available reservations at that point were for 9:30 at night which we took though for one restaurant the computer only showed room for dinner for 5 though there were six of us - we took it anyways over much concern expressed by the staff member that only 5 of us could expect to be seated and served. The food at each restaurant was excellent though there were problems associated with having a 9:30 reservation. In each instance at the restaraunts we were the last people to arrive and found that only a handful of others were still seated - the result seemed to be that certain dishes or deserts were no longer available - not that they were out of supplies but rather that they had already shut down a grill or a station for making strawberry flambe for example and weren`t prepared to start it up again just for us. Also in two restaurants they shut the air conditioning off at 10 and when it became stifiling they said there was nothing they could do as the AC was on a timer. Also we got the sense that the restaurant staff were upset with us for keeping them there past 10 pm as in each instance we were the last customers in the restaurant being served.

The buffet was less than impressive I`d rate it fair to satisfactory but would not give it a good or above average rank - each of the other Mexican resorts I`ve been to did better. There was an eating area by the open windows (nice to have a breeze) which was reserved for VIP and Wyndham by Request memebers - when we sat there we were hassled because we didn`t have a special band needed to sit there - so I go to the front desk - show them my Wby R membership card and ask for the band - they tell me that I can only get the band if I booked my reservation through W by R whereas mine was booked through Sunwing holidays so i can`t get the band or the benefits of my membership (which benefits I`m told are an upgrade to an ocean view room and access to 2 VIP areas otherwise off limits to guests).

At the snack bar the pizzas are great when they decide to make them, the hotdogs often looked undercooked, we ordered 2 burgers and found pink and red (undercooked)areas in them after taking a few bites - both my son and I had stomach problems the following 2 days.

Check out: We had an early morning flight back so we had to check out before 4 am. I am told I owe $5 USD for a phone call no prob I pull out a us five dollar bill. The clerk tells me he can`t accept the bill because there is a small (less than a half cm tear in the exact center of the bill. I try to assure hime the bill is fine but he insists he can`t accept it. I offer a Canadian 10 or 20 dollar bill and he tells me he can`t accept canadian cash as the hotels money exchange does not open till 9 am. Iask if he has tape and finally convince him to tape the top of the bill. When we then proceed with check out were told we`ve only handed in 5 towel cards though they say we were given 6 at check in. I make room for the possibility that my 7 year old left a beach towel on a chair instead of returning it for a card. The clerk insists that we must pay $20 USD for the missing beach towel. We dispute that we ever got 6 and offer to open our luggage to show him we have not taken any towels whatsoever. He tells us that if we don`t pay the $20 then the security guard at the gate will be instructed not to allow us to leave the property until we pay.
After many attempts by my brother to resolve this in spanish and the clerk insisting he will not let us leave without paying, my brother suggests just have a securty guard on duty pick up any of the many towels by the pool which the clerk refuses to do so I finally decide to run all the way back to the pool and just pick up the first towel I find on a chair and return that to the lobby clerk who accepts that in the place of our missing towel card. Total frustration and no sense of practicality - similarly when I tried to take a plate of bread and cookies out of the buffet area to bring food to 2 of my kids too sick in bed to come to breakfast, I`m told I cannot take a plate out of the eating area - so I take a table napkin and try to wrap up the bread and cookies - I`m then told I can`t take a napkin out of the eating area- just no sense of serving the customer`s needs whatoever.

I`m generally not a complainer and I`m pretty easy going on vacation but the above and several other instances of the hotel staff being petty and unhelpful really bothered me at this resort and I cannot reccomend it. The Grand Palladium White Sands or Kannetah or Colonial about 1 hour south of this resort were far better in all areas than this place. Ièd also rank the El Cid Mazatlan or the Club Med Cancun far above this resort.

I was promised taxi rides from the airport to my hotel and from my hotel back to the airport. Well, Viva Wyndham never showed up. I was stuck at the airport for hours and then promised I would be reimbursed when I got to the hotel. Cost $98 for the taxi. While at the airport , I am being scammed by Taxi "organizer who gets us pulled over by the Federalies for being in the wrong taxi. I had to pay for my ride from the hotel to the airport and that cost $98. Total of 170 bucks Wannado and Wyndham won't reimburse me for thier mistake.
Wannado Vacations and Wyndham have been wasting my time since April both saying it was the others fault.
So, be careful what your promised, as they don't keep thier word.